Wyatt Earp Swindler?

 October 7, 2026

   "When he opened the door, three detectives walked in and placed the 'sharpers' under arrest. All three were booked as suspected confidence men."

Graphic Cinema sequence by Rob Mathiasch

   So starts a sordid newspaper report from 1911 with this headline:

 "Detectives Trap Wyatt Earp,

 'Gun Man,' In Swindle"

—The Los Angeles Herald 

   In addition to the unsavory headline, in the article, Earp is accused of being devoted to "fleecing the unwary in card games" and it was he who conceived of the plot to defraud a real estate tycoon out of $2,500 in a rigged faro game. I actually find that last part to be a bit of a stretch because one of the trio in on the alleged con was none other than Walter E. Scott and if you don't know who that is, hang on to your hat!

Bunco Men Booked

   As far as I know there are no photos of the three "swindlers," but the Los Angeles Police Department was using mug shots during that time period and here is a good example:

LA Police Mug Shot 1911

So I asked bandmate and AI artist, Rob Mathiasch, what he thought a Wyatt Earp mug shot might look like for our graphic cinema application and he sent me this:

W.W. Stapp Mug Shot 1911

   It says "W.W. Stapp" because that is the phony name Wyatt gave the arresting officers (which didn't do much for proving his innocence). Now, this is for illustration purposes in our movie on paper, not to pass this off as authentic, so I asked him to do it again just for grins:

W.W. Stapp Mug Shot 1911 Part II

Not quite the likeness of our guy, but still amazing as all get out. And, trust me, we'll get it right before we go to press.

   Now, as for Walter Edward Perry Scott, he was infamous throughout the west as a con man supreme who specialized in defrauding wealthy people. And, in one famous case, the person he defrauded in a bogus gold mine, ended up liking him anyway and financed a second home in Death Valley, where he made Walter the caretaker, and which became known as Scotty's Castle.

   You cannot make this stuff up.

Death Valley Scotty

(with the twinkle in his eye)

   Oh, and this is Rob's favorite True West cover and he informs me he plans on getting it tattooed on his personage.

July, 2003

BBB & Rob Get Serious

About Graphic Cinema

"You won't like him. He's not who you think he was."

—Historian John Gilchriese to me regarding Wyatt Earp