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VOICE ONE:
This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Doug Johnson with EXPLORATIONS in VOA SpecialEnglish. Many stories have been told about the old American West.Some are true. Many more are just interesting stories. Today we willtry to tell the true story of one of the most famous and dangerousAmerican gun fighters. His name was John Henry Holliday. He wasbetter known as “Doc”.
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VOICE ONE:
The little city of Glenwood Springs is deep in the RockyMountains in the western state of Colorado. The mountains here risesharply out of the ground and surround Glenwood Springs.
A small burial area in Glenwood Springs is called the PioneerCemetery. You have to walk up a steep hill on an old dirt road toreach it. The walk takes about twenty minutes. Visitors can stop atseveral places along this walk to look at the city far below.
In the cemetery, large stones mark most of the burial places.Some of the stones look new. Many are more than one-hundred yearsold.
VOICE TWO:
A dirt path leads to the back of the cemetery and one, lone,burial place. This one is the reason most people come to the PioneerCemetery. The stone over the burial place is colored red, and largerthan most of the others. A small black metal fence surrounds thegrave.
The name on the stone says “Doc Holliday… He died in bed.” Thisman’s real name was John Henry Holliday. He was called “Doc” becausehe was a doctor of dental surgery, a dentist. But he was best knownas a gun fighter and gambler, a person who plays games of chance formoney. Many people who knew him considered him the most dangerousman in the Old West.
VOICE ONE:
It is extremely difficult to separate truth from the falsestories that were spread about some of the more famous people in theOld West. Many of these famous stories are very interesting andexciting. But they are not true. Many of these made-up stories tellabout the man who was Doc Holliday.
History experts say he was a very dangerous man because he wasalready dying when he came to the West. He knew he had the lungdisease tuberculosis that causes a slow death. Many experts said hewas not afraid of a gunfight. He thought a quick death from a bulletmight be better than waiting to die a very slow, painful death fromthe disease.
VOICE TWO:
Another interesting fact about Doc Holliday is that many historyexperts now believe he may have spread several of the stories thatwere told about him. He may have done this because it caused peopleto fear him. If they feared him, they would not cause him trouble.It was not difficult to find trouble in many towns in the AmericanWest. And disputes about who had won a game of chance were always apossibility for a professional gambler like Doc Holliday.
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VOICE ONE:
John Henry Holliday was born in the southern state of Georgia ineighteen-fifty-one. He was born into a family that included severalmedical doctors and dentists. Like most young men of the AmericanSouth at that time, John Henry Holliday learned to ride a horsewell. He learned to shoot several kinds of weapons.
He also was well educated. He learned math and science. Helearned to read, write and speak Greek, Latin and French.
A young black woman who worked for his family taught him to playcard games. John Holliday became a very good card player. He couldeasily remember which cards had been played in a game. This was verydifficult to do. It helped him much later in life when he became aprofessional gambler.
In eighteen-seventy, John became a student at the PennsylvaniaCollege of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia. He graduated ineighteen-seventy-two.
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John Holliday was a tall man. He was thin and always dressedwell. He was a quiet, friendly man who always smiled. People likedhim. Doctor Holliday began working as a dentist in the southern cityof Atlanta, Georgia. He soon began to show the signs oftuberculosis, the same disease that had killed his mother. Hisdoctor said he would live longer if he went to a warm, very dryplace — perhaps the American West.
In eighteen-seventy-three, John Holliday said goodbye to hisfamily and left Georgia on a train. He began his new life in thewestern city of Dallas, Texas.
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VOICE ONE:
Doctor Holliday tried to work as a dentist for about four years.He was not very successful. Many people did not want to be treatedby a dentist they knew had tuberculosis. He spent a great deal oftime drinking alcohol in a saloon. It was here that be became knownas “Doc” Holliday.
Holliday traveled in Texas and Colorado for the next severalyears. He became a professional gambler. In eighteen-seventy-seven,he was living in the small town of Fort Griffin, Texas. Here he meta man who was to become one of his best friends. That man was aformer law officer, gunfighter and gambler. His name was Wyatt Earp.Soon after meeting Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday killed a man during acard game.
The man had reached for a gun. Doc Holliday was much quickerusing a long knife. He had to leave Fort Griffin and Texas veryquickly.
The friendship continued betweenDoc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. In Dodge City, Kansas, Holliday savedEarp’s life late one night. A man drew his gun behind Wyatt Earp.Doc Holliday yelled a warning, drew his gun and shot the man.
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Wyatt Earp had several brothers. They were a close family. Manyexperts believe that the Earp brothers were a replacement for thefamily Doc Holliday had left in Georgia. Wyatt and his brothersMorgan and Virgil remained close friends with Doc Holliday for therest of their lives.
Doc Holliday had become well known in the West. He became evenmore famous after he followed the Earp brothers to the town ofTombstone, Arizona. In Tombstone he took part in the most famousshooting incident in western history.
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VOICE ONE:
That shooting incident inTombstone is known as “The Gunfight at the O-K Corral.” It tookplace on October twenty-sixth, eighteen-eighty-one. It involvedWyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday. Virgil Earp was anofficer of the law. He was on his way to arrest several men. Wyattand Morgan went with him to help.
Doc Holliday joined them as they walked down the street. The menthey were going to arrest were also brothers — Ike and BillyClanton and Frank and Tom McLaury.
VOICE TWO:
As the two groups came together, Virgil Earp demanded that theClantons and McLaurys raise their hands and surrender. They refused.No one knows who fired the first shot. All the men began shooting atonce.
When it was over, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury and Tom McLaurywere dead. Ike Clanton had run away. Morgan and Virgil Earp werewounded, but they survived. Neither Doc Holliday nor Wyatt Earp washurt.
Political enemies of the Earp Brothers wanted a trial. The EarpBrothers and Doc Holliday were arrested and tried. The jury foundthem innocent. It said they were trying to disarm a group of men whowanted a fight.
A few months later, an unknown gunman killed Morgan Earp. WyattEarp and Doc Holliday began to hunt the killers. They killed severalmen known to have been involved in the murder of Morgan Earp.
VOICE ONE:
No one really knows how many gunfights Doc Holliday took part in.No one knows just how many people died as a result. Some books sayhe was responsible for the deaths of as many as thirty men. But mostexperts say the number is closer to eight.
History books will tell you Doc Holliday was arrested severaltimes. Most of the time he was arrested for playing illegal games ofchance. He was also arrested after several shootings. Often thecharges were dismissed because he was only defending himself. Thefew times he faced a criminal trial he was found to be innocent.
In the last years of Doc Holliday’s life, the West had changed agreat deal. The people there no longer wanted gunfighters orgamblers.
Doc Holliday may have won in games of chance and in severalgunfights. However, he could not use his guns against tuberculosis.He died in his bed, in the little city of Glenwood Springs, Coloradoon November eighth, eighteen-eighty-seven. He was thirty-six yearsold.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byMario Ritter. This is Doug Johnson.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week foranother EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.