 FACT: Upon arrival, the Earps are greeted by Johnny Behan, the  sheriff of Cochise Country. When the Earps really arrived (1879),  there was no Cochise County. Tombstone was still in Pima County and  Charles Shibbell was sheriff. Cochise County was gerrymandered out  of Pima County in 1881, when Democrat Behan was appointed sheriff by  the Democrat governor. Much of the history involved the conflicts  between Republicans (miners, townspeople, the Earps) and Democrats  (Behan, ranchers, the "cowboys").