Charles Smith

Origen Charles "Hairlip Charlie" Smith (4 May 1844 – 28 November 1907) He was named "Origen" after an early Catholic priest. There is confusion over his birth date and place, though, as in various census reports he claims other dates throughout the 1840s, and a birthplace of Illinois. As a boy, he had been a good runner, and used this talent later to outrun muggers in Tombstone. he learned Spanish and was fluent in it before leaving the state. He also frequently got in fights, but is reported to have bad aim and not killed anyone. He had also been among the deputies to accompany Morgan Earp's body when it was returned to family in California. After this, he initially sought exile with them in Colorado, but quickly returned to Arizona and began ferrying the Earps money from their holdings in the state. He was ambushed and arrested on occasion doing this. Though at odds with the Tombstone Sheriff he was deputised under, Smith retained his badge, as he did under the next several sheriffs, as well. Smith is reported to have ridden with Dodge, a lawman and undercover operative seeking thieves in Western Arizona, "always [...] when urgent". When Dodge could no longer ride due to arthritis, he named Smith his successor as the nightwatchman and special officer. One Earp-era history suggests that Smith had married a daughter of Winders when they worked together in Texas,

He was described as "a man of sterling quality, steadfast in his friendships and zealous in his duty". He is also amongst the Vendetta riders who were ignored or forgotten until interest was sparked in the real cowboys, with Smith being "rediscovered" in 1997.

Smith letters

In 2000, a man called Clifton V. Brewer claimed to have found a collection of documents belonging to Smith in a trunk from his great-great-grandfather, supposedly a friend of Smith's. The find was "dubious" but still widely publicised until an intricate investigation proved it to be false. Some letters were the main documents, and the proof of fakery then cast doubt on related documents, like a newspaper article said to be from Sulphur Headlight which detailed Smith's eyewitness accounts of the last days of Doc Holliday in Glenwood Springs.