A tree of the Wild, Wild West. (Highlighting Historic Trees).

Growing up, I always loved stories of adventure, especially those of the American "Wild West." As I grew older, I discovered that one of those old-time heroes, the lawman Wyatt Earp, grew up near my hometown in Iowa. Earp and his brothers started life on a quiet street in Monmoth, Illinois, in a small clapboard house shaded by a stately black walnut. In later years, he remembered Monmoth fondly, especially the fences that were almost too tall to climb, nearby wild spaces that needed investigating, and streams and rivers that charted the course to adventure.

After fighting for the Union in the Civil War, Earp headed West to find his fortune. Although he is most famous as a lawman in Dodge City and Tombstone, Arizona, Earp also worked as a farmer, stagecoach driver, boxing promoter, church deacon, saloon keeper, gambler, prospector, bounty hunger, and Wells Fargo agent.

His career as a lawman began in Witchita, Kansas, when he got into a fistfight with hotel owner Doc Black, whom he felt was mistreating a young boy. Earp knocked out Black without much trouble and was arrested. Down at the jail, the marshal and the mayor together decided that anyone who could handle Dec Black--known for a temper only slightly less fierce than that of his wife--would make a good peace officer. Earp was hired.

During his colorful career, Earp became well known as a man who religiously followed his own code of honor. According to Bat Masterson, "He never in his career resorted to the pistol excepting in cases when it was absolutely necessary."

Thus it's ironic that Wyatt Earp is best remembered for "two minutes in Tombstone." Wyatt's older brother Virgil was marshal of that "wild and woolly" town in Arizona on October 26, 1881. when a feud developed there between the Earp brothers and a gang led by Ike Clanton. The result, the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral that left three members of the Clanton gang dead, became folklore almost immediately.

Less than a year later, another brother, Morgan, was murdered, and the remaining Earp boys took their revenge. Wyatt had to flee to Colorado, and later California, to outrun a murder charge. He was ever remorseful that his years of making peace were forever overshadowed by two unfortunate turns of events.

To me, Wyatt Earp was a real man who experienced the true taming of the Wild West. That black walnut tree that stands so fruitful over his birthplace still speaks of the heartiness of American stock and the legacy the Earps left behind.--Jeff Meyer

Jeff Meyer, host of the public television series "TreeStories," directs AMERICAN FORESTS Historic Tree Nursery. For information about purchasing a Wyatt Earp Black Walnut or other historic trees, visit www.historic-trees.org or call 800/677-0727.