The office was a political plum; the sheriff kept 10 percent of all the fees and taxes he collected, and with the Southern Pacific running through the county, the office was worth tens of thousands of dollars annually.85 Imagine thousands of Wyatt Earps, and the problems, and opportunities, of American governance during this period become clear. Many American officials who got paid little could make a lot, which was one reason so many men and women aspired to what seemed like such minor offices and why political machines so valued the ability to bestow them.
