[1] Frank's older brother Edwin McLaury joined the 14th Iowa Volunteers, which saw action at the battle of Fort Donelson and Pittsburgh Landing (Shiloh).

Edwin was captured and imprisoned at Macon, Georgia, and after he was paroled he came home but died in October 1862 from the effects of starvation and disease.

[2] After the war, the McLaury family moved 50 miles (80 km) north to Buchanan County, Iowa, to farm land in an unincorporated portion outside Hazelton Township known as Buffalo.

Their older brother Will had completed college and moved with his family to Fort Worth where he opened a law practice.

[2] Will later became a judge in Fort Worth, and both Frank and his younger brother Tom McLaury studied pre-law.

[4] By 1879 the two brothers were experiencing some success in their cattle business, and they purchased land and built a house at Soldiers Hole[4] along the Babocomari creek, a tributary of the San Pedro River.

Frank briefly assisted local constable Melvin Jones in apprehending soldiers who had stolen government horse harnesses.

The McLaury brothers were suspected of stealing cattle from Sonora, Mexico and re-selling them to Old Man Clanton and local butchers.

[7]: 27 To avoid bloodshed, Cowboy Frank Patterson promised to return the mules and Hurst pressed the posse to withdraw.

Hurst responded by printing and distributing a handbill describing the theft and promising a reward for the "trial and conviction" of the thieves.

It said, "It is known that the stolen animals were secreted at or in the vicinity of the McLaury Brothers ranch, and it is also believed that they were branded on the left shoulder over the Government brand. "

[9] Early in 1881, shortly after Cochise County was created, Tom and Frank moved their ranching operations to the Sulphur Springs Valley.

They dug a well and built a substantial adobe ranch house, a barn, corrals, and irrigation ditches for farming.

They began planning a visit to their sister Sarah Caroline McLaury in Iowa, who was set to be married on November 30.

Some witnesses testified that Frank and Billy Clanton drew their weapons first, while others loyal to the Cowboys supported their version of events in which Tom opened his coat to show he was unarmed.

[citation needed] Tom left his pistol at a nearby saloon at some point that afternoon, but the Earps had no way of knowing that.

Tom McLaury had $3,000 in his possession when he died during the shootout, a fact that the prosecution emphasized during the preliminary hearing that followed the shoot out.