Birds & Barrels now stands on the original foundations of the Headquarters Saloon, faithfully reconstructed to match its historic design. The front and side doors remain in their original positions, and the new bar sits exactly where the old one once stood. Standing in the same spot as Johnny Boyett, one can visualize the distance between him and Warren Earp as Earp re-entered through the side door—visible at the left edge of the image.
Warren Baxter Earp: A Fatal Encounter.
In the early morning hours of Friday, July 6, 1900, a tragic shooting occurred at the Headquarter Saloon in Willcox, Arizona, marking the culmination of a long-standing feud between Warren Earp, the youngest of the Earp brothers, and Johnny Nathan Boyett. Though Warren Earp may not have enjoyed the same level of recognition as his older brothers—Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan—whose names were synonymous with the notorious Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the events that unfolded at the Headquarter Saloon held significant historical weight.
Though officially renamed Brown’s Saloon after its sale to Henry Brown, the establishment was still widely known as the Headquarter Saloon at the time of the shooting.
The animosity between Earp and Boyett had simmered for years. Both men were intoxicated when Earp accused Boyett of being hired by unidentified parties in town to kill him for a sum of $150. Boyett denied the claim, stating he was unarmed and expressing a desire to avoid conflict, though he made it clear he wouldn’t back down if challenged. The situation escalated when Earp dared Boyett to retrieve a gun, asserting his readiness for confrontation.
Boyett left the saloon and entered the adjoining Willcox House, where he retrieved two Colt .45s from behind the bar. When questioned by the saloon’s proprietor, Boyett cryptically explained that he might need the guns and promised to return them. He then reentered the Headquarter Saloon through the front door, asking for Earp.
Earp returned to the bar through a rear entrance. Boyett fired two shots at him but missed. Earp quickly retreated through the same door, circled around the building, and re-entered the saloon through a side door that opened onto the street. As he approached Boyett, Earp threw open his coat and said, “Boyett, I am unarmed; you have the best of this,” continuing to advance. Boyett warned him repeatedly to stop. Earp did not. Boyett fired a single shot, killing Warren Earp instantly. He was arrested on the spot. Earp was found with only a partially opened pocket knife in his hand—he was otherwise unarmed.
John Boyett faced a preliminary hearing before Judge W.F. Nichols the next day. The District Attorney was absent, and Boyett was represented by O. Gibson. After reviewing the evidence, Judge Nichols discharged Boyett. He believed the case was unlikely to result in a grand jury indictment, and even if it did, a trial jury would probably not convict. Warren Baxter Earp was buried in the Willcox town cemetery.
After the shooting, life in Willcox carried on. But the Earp name—particularly Wyatt’s—was far from finished.
From Saloon to Storefront
When Arizona enacted statewide prohibition in 1915—five years ahead of national prohibition—saloons across Willcox were shut down or repurposed. The Headquarter Saloon, like many others, was converted to serve more practical needs. It eventually became Valley Hardware, part of a broader shift as the town moved from frontier barrooms to functional trade. The photo below, taken between 1928 and 1932, captures the building during that transitional era.
Railroad Avenue, Willcox, Arizona, c. 1928–1932. This photo shows the former site of the Headquarters Saloon, where Warren Earp was killed in 1900. When Arizona enacted statewide prohibition in 1915—five years ahead of national prohibition—saloons across Willcox were shut down. Many, including this one, were converted to new uses. The Headquarters Saloon became Valley Hardware, reflecting the town’s shift from frontier barrooms to more practical trade. Photographer unknown. Image believed to be in the public domain.
The historical marker on the exterior wall of the Birds & Barrels lists the incident.
The interior of the Birds & Barrels (formerly the Headquarters Saloon) in 2024. On July 6, 1900, Johnny Boyett stood to the right of the image, near the water jar, while the back wall, now adorned with a decorative feather design, once housed a door leading to a poker room. It was from the poker room that Earp re-entered the bar, prompting Boyett to fire two shots across the room, hitting the wall and door frame. According to witness testimony, Earp exited through a back door in the poker room, circled the saloon, and re-entered through the side door on the left of the image. Approaching Boyett from this direction, Earp met his tragic fate when Boyett shot and killed him, leaving him dead roughly where the table stands today.
A view of the interior of the Bird and Barrels from the side door indicates the precise location where Baxter Earp would have re-entered the bar. The camera angle shows Earp's viewpoint towards Boyett, who is standing at the far end of the bar near the water jar in the image. Earp then proceeded to walk towards Boyett, gradually closing the distance between them.
The Earp Legacy:
By 1910, as Arizona sought statehood, the Earps were widely seen as problematic symbols of lawlessness in southeastern Arizona. Though they still had allies, their reputation as “the fighting Earps” made them more burden than asset in the eyes of territorial officials.
Warren Baxter Earp, known locally as a “merciless bully,” was buried in an unmarked grave on Sunday, July 8, 1900—two days after his death. Cochise County paid the burial costs, and little more was said. The exact location of his grave has since been lost to history.
Following Wyatt Earp’s death on January 13, 1929, a wave of books emerged—most notably Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal by Stuart N. Lake and Tombstone by Walter Noble Burns. These works helped turn the Earps into folk heroes, romanticizing their lives and brushing aside the contradictions.
That reinvention gained traction again in the 1990s, when two major films—Tombstone (1993) and Wyatt Earp (1994)—brought renewed interest. Both drew from those embellished books, portraying the Earp family as stoic lawmen carving order from chaos.
Around 2000, a grave marker for Warren Earp suddenly appeared at the back of the Willcox cemetery. Modern, oversized, and ornately designed from steel, it marked a stark contrast to the simple stones around it. The marker is also a promotional tool—its inscription includes the name of a book and publisher, along with a list of contributors. As symbols go, it reflects more of the Earp brand than the man himself.
The location of Warren Baxter Earp’s grave is unknown, lost to history. This gaudy memorial serves as nothing more than a tourist spectacle and an advertisement for a book. The inscription reads: “Michael Hickey’s ‘A Closer Look’ Talei Publishers Inc., remembering a man of the West." The description then goes on to list several names, presumably those who had made a contribution to the research material.
Willcox Pioneer Cemetery remains a notable historical site. The modern grave marker, bold and outsized, stands as a strange final chapter in the long and uneven legacy of the Earp name.
References
Arizona Range News (Ed.). (1900, July 11). Warren Earp Killed in Willcox. Southern Arizona Guide. Retrieved October 6, 2023, from https://southernarizonaguide.com/warren-earp-killed-willcox/
Wikipedia. (2023, September 21). Warren Earp. Retrieved October 6, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Earp
Arizona Genealogy Trails. (2016, September 18). Reckoning Time Came. Retrieved October 6, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20160918235121/http://genealogytrails.com/ariz/cochise/news-murders.htm
Image Source
Historic photograph of Railroad Avenue, Willcox, Arizona, c. 1928–1932. Photographer unknown. Believed to be in the public domain. Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.