She Had the Last Laugh: Wyatt Earp’s Common Law Wife

Sitting on a fabric laced seat in front of a small table, looking into a broken mirror, as she thought to herself as broken. In anger she threw her shoe at the mirror last night, a mirror that sometimes seems to look into her soul with longing. But now, a jagged piece of mess, with shards of glass thrown everywhere. Will she have seven years bad luck or is she already suffering with bad luck? She lifted her right hand and ran it through her hair. She was a mess. Her makeup was caked under her eyes from a crying spree and she gently wiped it with her finger, smudging it a bit more.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling it with a sob, she knew she had to get ready for the evening’s clients but honestly, she was not interested. She wanted her freedom. Picking herself off her well worn seat, she slowly walked to the only window in the dimly lit room and peered outside for a moment. She loved to people watch when no one knew she was watching them. Looking down from her second story room, she wondered who they were. Are they kind and helpful? Are they rough and tough? Could they help her? Would they help a lady of the night?

Staring absentmindedly out the window again, she was looking for an escape. Perhaps an escape to a better life, full of hope and dreams that she desperately desired even at her young age. But how? She was a teenager, a young age of 16, employed by her mother at a job that no parent should ever put their child through: A BROTHEL.

She looked down at her dress and noticed how tight it was. She complained to her mother but she did not care. The tighter the better the mother thought, especially when it came to show some cleavage. Cleavage was important for the guys who came to the brothel after putting a long day of work in a mine or something else. When she wore a tight corset, it would leave her with a breathless type of talk, but sultry in her mother’s eyes. Sexy. She knew what she had to do. She walked away from the window. She primped herself, walked to the door and out into a cold world once again.

Walking down the stairs, she thought if she had to turn one more trick, one more man, one more thought of running away from this prison, she would scream. The stairs were well worn by the many customers that were serviced. Standing at the bottom, leaning on the banister as she looked around what man may have her next, she saw someone.

Not someone she recognized but someone that did not fit in this place of ill repute. Where she was short in stature, he was tall, a face chiseled like a Greek god in her mind. He had a good amount of brown hair on top of his head that she could see herself running her delicate hands into and sideburns that defined a well built jaw. He was gorgeous. Maybe he could be her means of escape. He was a man full of possibilities of leaving this horrid place and start over somewhere else where no one knows your name or what you did for a living.

Maybe this would be her ticket to freedom, a freedom she had been dreaming about since she entered this dreaded place and obeyed her mother. She approached the handsome stranger with her hips swinging in a seducing way, the way her mother taught her.

Wyatt Earp

Welcome to my Women of the West series! I am doing a 4 part series of Wyatt Earp’s wives. Here is a LINK to part one, The Only Woman He Loved: the True Story of Wyatt Earp’s First Wife. Wyatt Earp’s second wife, Sally, is the star of our story today. The above story is fictionalized, but a part of it may have been true.

Sally Haspel or Sally Heckell was the daughter of Jane Haspel, who was a bordello owner in Wichita, Kansas. Jane brought her daughter in the family business, it is assumed, and Sally was around the age of 16. I don’t think Jane would get a “Mother of the Year Award” for that! Wyatt was a part time bouncer at a bordello and it may have been this one or possibly he may have extended his services to more than one bordello.

After his first wife died, he kind of went over the edge and became a horse thief out of grief over his wife. He was caught by the long arm of the law, served his time in jail, and moved to Kansas to become a part time lawman. Even though he became a law man again, being a bouncer at a bordello was not anything looked down at. Looking at this I am surprised how Wyatt changed from a civil person to a criminal and then back to a civil person!

Wyatt met Sally at her mother’s bordello and there was an instant attraction. Even though he was older, Sally was smitten. She wanted out and was hopeful Wyatt would lead the way. Wyatt also felt attracted to her despite her lifestyle and was the type of guy that enjoyed female companionship.

She may have been a common law wife to Wyatt and his second, but there are disputes whether she was really married to him or not. But they were definitely and item for a time. Being a common law wife was “common” in these times as sometimes a couple may not be able to afford to get married or they just rather stay together as a couple and not worry about facing a justice of the peace.

But fate stepped in and changed all that.

Dodge City, Kansas, late 1800s.

As Wyatt and Sally were moving to Dodge City for Wyatt to return to law enforcement, he met another woman. It was an instant attraction. Her name was Celia Ann Blaylock, aka Mattie Blaylock.

He only wanted one woman in his life and it was not Sally. Sure he did care for her, but she was really young and he wanted someone closer to his age. He made a plan to get rid of Sally without her knowing it. He took her to his brother’s farm and promised he would be back for her. Apparently Wyatt either did not love Sally or got tired of putting up with her. Maybe they argued? Did not have things in common? Or she may have pressured him into having a family and he did not want to. After losing his first wife to possibly childbirth he did not want to go through that again. Beside the age gap, what do you think?

Do you think he kept his promise of returning for her?

NOPE!

Despite the rumors she heard about Wyatt and his new girl, she refused to fight the new woman in his life. Sally left Wyatt and was again hopeful to meet a man that would bring all of her dreams of marriage and having a family come true. And she did. She met a new man, left the prostitution lifestyle, had the family she always wanted and lived well into her 90s complete with her hopes and dreams she once hoped for as a teenager.

Sally had the last laugh. Good for you Sally!

References:

The Wives of Wyatt Earp, from Aurilla Sutherland to Sadie Marcus. Harris, Karen. 2026

Wyatt Earp’s Relationship With Women Was…Complicated. Quick and Dirty Tips.