Wyatt Earp and The Cowboy War (2024) s01e01 Episode Script
Trouble in Tombstone
1
[suspenseful music playing]
[grunts]
[Ed Harris] That guy right there,
that's Wyatt Earp.
[operatic music playing]
The toughest son of a bitch in the West.
And right now,
he's in the middle
of the most famous gunfight in history.
You might have heard of it.
The gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
But here's what you probably don't know.
This gunfight wasn't the end of a story.
Nope. It was just the beginning.
[tense music playing]
[man 1] The shootout at the O.K. Corral
is one of those stories
where you think you know it
[horse neighs]
but the more you learn about it,
the crazier the story becomes.
We're going back to the old ways.
[dramatic music playing]
The whole Earp family got targeted
as revenge following the O.K. Corral.
I'm gonna kill every one of 'em.
Wyatt's action was cold-blooded murder.
He was just overwhelmed
with the desire for vengeance.
Wyatt. Please.
[tense music playing]
[Ed] But this small-town feud got so big
[gunshot]
it affected the entire country.
[tense music continues]
Even the president of the United States
feels he has to intervene,
he has to do something.
[Ed] And then J.P. Morgan got involved.
What the hell is this?
[tense music continues]
[Ed] Things got so bad
it threatened to spark a second Civil War.
We will not be trodden on ever again!
[cheering]
[dramatic music playing]
We were just wondering
when all this is gonna stop.
I'm not stopping until Ike's dead.
[dramatic music continues]
[Ed] This is a war that no one's heard of,
and yet it was going to determine
the future of the West,
and really, the future of America.
[dramatic music continues]
[gunshots]
[horse squeals]
[dramatic music continues]
[gunshot]
[music fades]
[tense music playing]
[Ed] On March 15th, 1881,
$26,000 worth of silver
was loaded onto a stagecoach
to be transported
across the Arizona desert.
- You good?
- Yep.
Giddap.
[tense music continues]
[Ed] Now, this stagecoach had made
countless trips like this before.
[tense music continues]
[Ed] But today was different.
[music stops]
[man whistles]
[dramatic music playing]
[man yells]
[music fades]
[Ed] The driver and a passenger
were both shot dead,
and the robbers
Well, the robbers got away.
Even for the Wild West,
this was a pretty brazen crime,
and the news spread quickly
["The Devil You Know" playing]
making its way back to the town
where the stagecoach started from.
Tombstone.
["The Devil You Know" continues]
[Ed] Now, when you think
about an Old West town,
your mind probably conjures up
some dusty, dirty, lawless hellhole
that you see in old Hollywood movies.
Well, Tombstone wasn't like that at all.
It was a mecca of wealth and culture
in the middle of nowhere.
[man 2] Tombstone was an unusually
sophisticated town for the time.
There were a lot of upper-class people.
They had reading rooms,
libraries, bookstores,
and the comforts of a real town.
[Ed] They even had an oyster bar.
Think about that. Oysters in the Old West.
So, how did Tombstone
become the Paris of the desert?
Well, one reason and one reason alone.
Silver.
[upbeat music playing]
[Ed] There was
close to 1,000 metric tons of silver
in the hills surrounding Tombstone.
That would be worth
over a billion dollars today.
[man 3] There's something
about that old saying,
"There's silver in them thar hills."
Why eke a living out as a dirt farmer
when suddenly you can have
a pan full of silver and live like a king?
So it's part of the American dream,
fortune-seeking, get rich quick,
that finally make it
to a town like Tombstone, Arizona.
[Ed] All right, so back to those murders.
[tense music playing]
[Ed] Now, in the event
of a stagecoach robbery,
or any robbery, for that matter,
there was a procedure.
First, the sheriff,
the top lawman in the county,
was notified.
[tense music continues]
[Ed] And in Tombstone
that sheriff was Johnny Behan.
But it wasn't his job
to chase after criminals.
[Johnny] Kid.
You go wake the Earps.
[tense music continues]
[music fades]
[Ed] The day-to-day peacekeeping
was done by three brothers.
["7th Born Son" playing]
Virgil, Morgan, and Wyatt Earp.
I was born ♪
On the seventh day alone ♪
[Ed] Virgil was the oldest,
and he was the levelheaded one.
Morgan was the youngest,
and he idolized his older brothers.
He said, "You can run
You can run, but you will find ♪
[Ed] And then there was Wyatt.
He was a man of few words
and he had his own special way
of dealing with crime.
[rock music playing]
[man 1] We think of him as a gunslinger,
but he much preferred using his fists.
So he was very useful
for keeping law and order
without shoot-outs breaking out.
[Ed] Wyatt would walk right up to thugs
and just punch 'em.
Usually so fast
they wouldn't see it coming.
[funky music playing]
[Ed] It wasn't exactly by the book,
but you couldn't argue with the results.
I mean, the guy was rough.
[man groaning]
[Ed] A little unhinged.
[man] Wyatt! You bastard!
[Ed] You could say he lived
by his own moral code,
but he was determined
to see justice served.
Now, Wyatt set out
to catch the stagecoach robbers,
and this time it was personal.
Because one of the men who was murdered
was Wyatt's close friend Bud Philpot.
[dramatic music playing]
[music fades]
[quiet Wild West music playing]
[Ed] Wyatt followed the horse tracks
of the robbers for three days
and one of those tracks led to a ranch,
where they found this guy, Luther King.
[pot clatters]
Gun.
[suspenseful music playing]
[music fades]
Why'd you kill the driver?
Who pulled the trigger?
You give us a name, we'll work out a deal.
- [body thuds]
- [Luther groans]
You didn't have to do that.
Yeah, I did.
[Luther groans] Get your hands off me!
All right! [groans]
All right, all right!
[Ed] In no time, Luther confessed
to being one of the stagecoach robbers,
and even gave up the name
of one of the killers, Billy Leonard.
Wyatt had no idea
who this Billy Leonard was.
But there was a clue.
[Wyatt] All right, let's go.
Hey.
Don't forget your hat.
[Ed] Now, everyone out west wore hats.
But if your hat
had a band made out of rattlesnake,
that meant that you were
a member of a gang
that was known as the Cowboys.
Now, forget everything
you know about cowboys.
You think they're heroes, right?
Like in the old John Wayne movies.
Nope.
[man 4] Beginning in 1880,
the term "cowboy" became
a dirty word in Arizona territory.
It meant "outlaw,"
"desperado," "robber," and "murderer."
[Ed] You see,
the Cowboys were a notorious criminal gang
that dealt in stolen cattle.
Let me explain.
Out west, beef was big business.
A cow worth three bucks in Texas
was worth 60 bucks in Chicago.
Modest ranchers became cattle barons.
The railroads boomed
and everyone was getting rich.
But when droughts,
disease and harsh winters
began wiping out the cattle in Texas,
a gang of outlaws from Arizona
started stealing cattle from Mexico.
[man 5] The Cowboys were notorious
for doing
a lot of midnight raids into Mexico,
stealing 500, 1,000,
1,500 heads of cattle,
hustling 'em across the US border,
then finding buyers on the black market
so they could make a lot of money.
[Ed] Nobody cared that they were stolen,
because they were getting cheap beef.
The money flowed
and the Cowboy gang grew and grew.
They were like the mafia.
And just like the mafia,
they had a mob boss.
His name was Ike Clanton.
[whip cracks]
[suspenseful music playing]
[man] Ooh.
[Ike laughs]
[Ed] Ike used a dangerous mix
of fear and charm to get what he wanted.
You never knew
if he was going to cut your throat
[Ike shouts]
or buy you a drink.
But one thing's for sure,
Ike could always be counted on
for a good story.
I say to him, "Where the hell you been?"
And he says, "I've been at church."
And I'm thinking,
"He's gone all religious."
- [laughter]
- And then he insists on taking me there.
Now, I'm getting really worried,
and sure enough, inside this church
there's people singing hymns,
and at the front is the priest,
only he's stark naked
and he's a-dancing and a-hopping
like a chicken on heat.
I say, "Curly,
what the hell have you done?"
[laughter]
[Ike mumbles]
[Casey] Ike was short-tempered, boastful,
he drank too much, he liked to go out
and have fun with the Cowboys
and shoot up towns and brag
and talk about how important he was.
Yet he somehow developed
respect among people
for his leadership of the Cowboys.
Now, that hand is gonna be good.
I've arrested Luther King
for the stagecoach robbery.
Can't say I know who that is.
I found his hat. He's one of yours.
And?
Luther named Billy Leonard.
[Ed] Now, Ike knew that Billy Leonard
had carried out the robbery
and Ike hadn't sanctioned it,
but he still wasn't just
gonna give Billy up to the law.
You know what I've been hearing?
What?
I've been hearing Doc Holliday did it.
- What are you talking about?
- That's what people are saying.
Doc Holliday was
one of the stagecoach robbers.
Ain't that right, Curly?
Yep.
Horse shit.
[Ike] You should ask around.
Let me know if you need any more help.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Ed] Now, you may have heard
the name Doc Holliday before,
but I bet you don't know the real story.
Doc Holliday had a reputation
as a drunk and a gambler.
Morning, ma'am.
[Ed] Not many people in Tombstone
realized that he really was a doctor.
Ah.
[Ed] Doc was a doctor of dentistry
and he had a flourishing career back east.
[Casey] He grew up
in a fairly wealthy family,
went off to dental school in Philadelphia
and became a very good dentist.
You have some decay
on your second upper molar.
That's what's causing the pain.
[coughs] Now, a lot of dentists
would just whip that tooth out,
but I think I can save it.
[Doc coughs]
[Doc coughs]
Uh, I'm so sorry.
[coughs]
[Ed] Doc was cursed with
a life-threatening disease of the lungs.
[Edward] Doc Holliday is diagnosed
with tuberculosis,
what in the time was called consumption.
It was a very common disease,
often led to death.
It was also a disease
that did not discriminate,
so poor people came down with consumption,
rich people came down with consumption.
[horse whinnies]
[Ed] To stay alive,
Doc was told to go west
where the climate was warmer
and the air dryer.
And to help with the coughing,
the doctors advised him to drink whiskey.
So when Doc called whiskey his medicine,
he meant it.
And he drank it.
Lots of it.
[coughs]
[Doc] Well, here I am
in this shithole town.
Hey. I could deal
with all these crocodiles.
Come play cards.
What the hell did you say to me?
Damn it! Huh?
Whoa! Whoa. Everybody calm down.
It's all fine. We're fine.
[Ed] So you can see
why this rumor spread so quickly,
that Doc was
one of the stagecoach robbers.
I mean, it wasn't hard to believe.
[whispering]
Well, why is it that the people
who know the least
are the ones who talk the most?
[Ed] Here's the crazy thing.
It wasn't the rumor
that got him into trouble.
It was his girlfriend, Kate Elder,
also known as Big Nose Kate.
There's debate as to whether
she got her name because of her nose
or because she was nosy.
- I am not a jealous person
- [Doc] You are a jealous person.
- You're always
- You're a drunk.
[Ed] Doc had a fiery,
love-hate relationship with Kate Elder.
After one really bad argument,
Kate was so angry
that she actually signed an affidavit
saying that Doc had confessed
to the stagecoach robbery.
So the judge demanded his arrest.
You know I didn't do it, right?
[Wyatt] Yeah, I know.
[Ed] The arrest of Doc
put Wyatt in a difficult situation.
You see, Doc was actually
Wyatt's best friend.
Their paths first crossed
in Dodge City, Kansas
[man] You ain't getting my gun.
where Wyatt was deputy marshal.
[indistinct shouting]
[Casey] Doc was playing cards
and he looked out the window.
[men shouting]
He saw that a group of young men
had surrounded Wyatt Earp,
and Wyatt Earp was in danger.
If you're going inside,
you're giving me your goddamn guns.
I can go wherever I want with it.
Who made you
Goddamn cow-poking clowns.
Why can't you keep
your shit-munching mouths shut?
[Ed] Now, this is
one of those strange twists of fate
that sometimes happens in history,
because while everyone else
was watching Doc,
this guy was about to put
a bullet in Wyatt's back.
[tense music playing]
Give me your gun.
You too. Put it down there.
[tense music continues]
[Douglas] Doc Holliday
saved the life of Wyatt Earp,
and they formed a kind of a code,
an allegiance,
that you saved my life,
so I'll be loyal to you forever.
[Wyatt] Don't worry, Doc.
I'll figure something out.
Can I get a drink?
Yeah. Sure.
[Ed] Not only
was Wyatt's best friend in jail,
but one of the actual stagecoach robbers,
Luther King, was out.
Nobody knows exactly
how Luther King got out of jail.
The most likely reason
was that the Cowboys bribed some official.
The only thing we know for certain
is that the Cowboys
wanted him out of jail for a reason.
Curly. Curly, I didn't say nothing.
Curly, I didn't say noth
[John] The Cowboys
were bloodthirsty and remorseless.
When it got out that Luther King
had provided information
about the robbery,
a group of Cowboys lynched him
in the mountains outside of Tombstone.
The Cowboys were bound together
by friendship,
by greed and by knowledge
that, you know,
"We have committed all these crimes."
It was very much like the mafia.
If you ratted out, you got killed.
[Ed] With Luther King dead,
Doc was the only one in jail
for the stagecoach robbery.
Wyatt wasn't gonna let his best friend
hang for a crime he didn't commit,
and he knew Billy Leonard
and his gang were responsible.
But Wyatt had no idea where they were,
and the only people
who did know where they were,
guys like Ike Clanton,
well, they weren't talking.
So the case was at a standstill,
and that was starting
to cause real problems.
You see,
this was about something much bigger
than just a couple
of dead bodies in Arizona.
Let me explain.
[explosion]
Twenty years earlier,
America went to war with itself.
The Civil War was bloody,
but it was also expensive.
So expensive that the US
had to borrow millions of dollars
from European countries
in order to win the war.
Fast-forward 16 years,
and America was nowhere near
paying off those loans.
So the Civil War debt
in the 1870s into the 1880s
looms as this huge problem.
So people in the banking world
are really keen
on reducing that massive debt
that was rung up
during the American Civil War.
[Ed] But then some folks in Washington
had a brilliant idea.
Remember all that silver
that was coming out of the west
in places like Arizona?
We'll just use that to pay off our debts.
Now, Tombstone had more silver
than it knew what to do with,
but the only way to get it back east
was to rely on the stagecoaches
of an express business
founded by two men,
Henry Wells and William Fargo.
You know, Wells Fargo.
[man] Giddap!
[Ed] So now you had
people back east panicking,
because, if the stagecoach robbers
couldn't be caught,
then sure as hell
other robberies would follow,
and that would significantly disrupt
the flow of silver.
This was actually a big deal
and it weighed on the minds
of some very powerful people.
[fanfare playing]
I mean really powerful people.
[rock music playing]
[Ed] The Prince of Wales.
Lord Rothschild.
And this guy.
American banker, J.P. Morgan.
[rock music continues]
[Prince of Wales] Pull!
[gunshots]
I think you clipped that one, sir.
Horseshit. He missed.
[Ed] Yep, that's how J.P. Morgan
spoke to the Prince of Wales.
- That's how he spoke to everyone.
- Pull!
[gunshots]
[Ed] Back then, British aristocrats
would have said he was uncouth
or rough around the edges,
and in some ways they were right.
- [J.P. Morgan] Pull.
- [gunshot]
[Ed] You see, bankers behaved
like they were in some gentlemen's club.
It was all about rules and etiquette.
But J.P. Morgan
didn't give a damn about that.
If he thought someone was wrong,
he'd tell you.
What the hell is this?
[Ed] And in no uncertain terms.
Why didn't you just do it?
[operatic music playing]
You are riding your luck, Morgan.
Luck has nothing to do with it.
[Ed] Now, you're probably wondering,
"What the hell
does this have to do with Tombstone,
or America for that matter?"
The answer
is railroads.
[train horn toots]
[Ed] Railroads were
America's biggest industry.
They accounted for
80% of the stock market,
but they were a mess.
Overbuilt, run by corrupt directors,
and on the verge of bankruptcy.
Morgan believed he could save them,
but to do that, he needed to own them.
[Edward] In the early 1880s,
J.P. Morgan is just emerging
as that sort of
towering figure of Wall Street.
He's one of the more powerful bankers
and he's perfecting
what's gonna become his calling card,
which is to consolidate businesses
and to revive businesses,
and particularly the railroads.
[Ed] Control of America's railroads
would give J.P. Morgan
unprecedented wealth and power.
But for Morgan's plan to work,
he needed an enormous investment.
And he could only get that from London.
That's where Lord Rothschild comes in.
He owned the biggest bank in the world
and had access to billions of dollars.
Do you know what the London banks
are calling America?
A nation of swindlers.
I assure you
we've learned from our past mistakes.
Let's hope so.
We wouldn't want a repeat of '73.
A disaster if ever there was one.
[Ed] But like many financiers,
he thought America
was a dangerous investment.
And what of the dollar?
The dollar will be silver backed.
Until we raise our gold reserves.
Silver?
[Ed] Morgan's plan
to take over the railroads
hinged on persuading Britain
that America was a safe place to invest.
And that's why the stagecoach robbery
was a problem to even him.
[Edward] People like Morgan, what they
prized more than anything else was order.
If America seems like an unstable society,
then that'd maybe give
European investors pause
when it comes to investing
in the American economy.
And when there's marauding and banditry
on the southwest border in Arizona,
that's bad for business.
[Ed] Within days,
one of the largest rewards
ever seen in the Wild West was posted.
Close to $6,000
for the capture of the stagecoach robbers.
[tense music playing]
[Ed] Now, six grand might not sound
like that much money,
but today that adds up to $180,000.
And it's just what Wyatt needed
to blow this murder case wide open.
[indistinct chatter]
What do you want?
I need your help
to find Billy Leonard and his gang.
Didn't I already tell ya?
- I don't know
- There's a reward.
How much?
Six thousand.
What's your cut?
Nothing. It's all yours.
When do I get the money?
When they're arrested.
Do we have a deal?
[Ike] Yeah.
[tense music playing]
[man 7] Ike accepts the deal.
He's willing to give up these men
and entice them to a place
where they might be killed,
or certainly arrested, uh, for money.
You know, this is a fellow Cowboy.
This is your buddy.
But, uh, enough money,
"I'm gonna turn you over."
And Wyatt knew that.
He knew Ike's character.
He knew that he could get him
to rat these guys out.
[Ed] Ike told Wyatt exactly where
he could find Billy Leonard and his gang.
[tense music continues]
Hey, bring me another.
[Ed] Billy was already planning
his next heist.
Billy Leonard and his cohort
were hired as assassins
to get rid of a couple of ranchers.
But these ranchers got word of it.
And they get killed.
[Ed] Billy Leonard and his gang died
before Wyatt could arrest them.
And that put an end
to the hunt for the stagecoach robbers.
But Doc Holliday
was still being held as a suspect.
Luckily for him,
Kate Elder finally came to her senses.
[lawyer] Miss Elder, please tell the court
what you overheard Doc Holliday say
about robbing the stagecoach
on March 15th, 1881.
I never heard him say anything about that.
[Ed] She withdrew her allegations.
[judge] Case dismissed.
[Ed] And Doc walked free.
[rock music playing]
[Ed] Wyatt closed the case,
satisfied that justice had been served.
[music fades]
[Ed] Our story would have ended there
but there was just one problem.
[ominous music playing]
[Ike] Where's my goddamn money?
Haven't you heard?
Billy Leonard got shot.
So?
So there's no reward.
What are you talking about?
Billy died before I had a chance
to arrest him.
I don't give a shit.
No arrest, no reward.
Hey. Hey!
[tense music playing]
[John] Once Billy Leonard died
in that gun battle,
the reward could no longer
be paid for him.
[tense music continues]
[music fades]
Another.
[Ike] Leave the bottle.
Here's to Billy.
What?
Billy Leonard, a great poker player.
Now, he could look you in your eyes,
and see straight into your soul.
What do you mean?
He knew all your little secrets.
[tense music playing]
[Ike] What secrets?
[tense music continues]
What do you know?
Huh?
[tense music continues]
[Mark] Ike became convinced
that Doc Holliday knew about the deal
and was telling other people.
And this was all in Ike's head.
But now he's fearing for his life
because he thinks that the knowledge
is out that he was a rat.
[tense music playing]
[jaunty piano music playing]
We need to talk.
Alone.
Go on.
- I'll be at the bar.
- [Wyatt] Yeah.
You told Doc about our deal.
- No.
- [Ike] Horse shit. He knows.
I didn't tell anyone.
I was with Doc. He told me.
I don't know what you're talking about.
[Ed] Now, Wyatt really hadn't told a soul,
but sticking to your word
wasn't something Ike understood.
I don't believe you.
You calling me a liar?
[Ike] Yeah.
I'm calling you a liar.
Get out.
[tense music playing]
Get out.
[tense music continues]
[music fades]
- [Morgan] What was that about?
- Ah, nothing. He's drunk.
Come on, let's play.
["God's Gonna Cut You Down" playing]
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
You can run on for a long time ♪
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time ♪
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down ♪
[Ed] Ike wondered
how he could have been so stupid,
doing a deal with a lawman
and then ratting on another Cowboy.
And now Doc knew?
How long before everyone knew?
[music fades]
He needed to think, stay calm.
The whiskey was making him more paranoid.
Maybe Doc had told others.
Did any of these Cowboys know?
[Ike gasps]
[Ed] Maybe everyone knew.
After drinking all night,
Ike knew that Wyatt Earp and Doc
needed to be dealt with.
[Ike] Wyatt.
[Ed] Ike was so drunk when he left the bar
he could barely walk.
Ike Clanton,
he's apparently drinking all night.
He's drunker and drunker. He's enraged.
And in the morning,
he's going around town with a six-shooter,
threatening to kill the Earps
and Doc Holliday.
I'm coming for ya!
You and your goddamn brothers!
[tense music playing]
[Ike] Wyatt.
Where are ya?
- You cheating son of a bitch.
- Shut up and go home.
[Ike] Kept all the money
for yourself, did ya?
What's he talking about?
You and your brothers
are scum of the earth, sons of a whore.
He was asking for it, you know.
Yep.
[Ed] For the Earps, Ike's threats
were just the whiskey talking.
They locked him up.
Once the courthouse was open,
the judge fined Ike $25
for threatening behavior
and told him to leave town.
We should get that bandaged.
I'm fine.
[Ed] Now, the last thing Ike needed
was his kid brother, Billy Clanton,
fussing over him.
Billy was the opposite of Ike.
He might describe himself
as cautious, a thinker.
But Ike would say gutless.
The others are meeting us at the Corral.
[Ed] To get Ike safely home,
Billy arranged
for four of the toughest Cowboys
to wait for them
where they kept their horses.
At the Old Kindersley Corral.
Only the townspeople had shortened it
to the O.K. Corral.
[Ike spits]
[Ed] Billy just wanted
to get Ike out of town,
lay low for a while.
[tense music playing]
[Ed] But Ike believed
it was only a matter of time
before Wyatt told everyone
that he was an informant.
And if the Cowboys found out,
he'd end up like Luther King.
We'll get that bandaged up
soon as we get home.
You okay, Ike?
[tense music playing]
We're not going anywhere.
We're going to kill Wyatt Earp.
Why don't we get him another day?
[Ed] Truth is it was freezing,
and all Billy wanted to do was get home
and put his feet in front of the fire.
[tense music continues]
You see what they did to me?
If we let them get away with it,
they'll think they control the town.
[Casey] Billy was trying
to get his crazy brother, Ike,
to leave town,
and was trying to calm him down
while Ike was making threats.
That's why we need to kill the Earps
and that son of a bitch Doc Holliday
right now.
[Casey] And townspeople were passing by,
hearing Ike
make threats against the Earps.
[tense music continues]
[music fades]
Mr. Clanton and his boys, they're out
I saw 'em. I was by the Corral.
I heard them talking
and they're coming to kill you.
There's five of them. They're coming here.
You just get inside, and you take care.
I appreciate your information.
- Good luck, Mr. Earp.
- Thank you.
[Wyatt] Two cigars, please.
[tense music playing]
Ike is still here.
God dammit.
Come on.
[tense music continues]
[Ike] You coming?
[tense music continues]
[Ed] Three lawmen
against Ike and his boys.
If it came to a fight,
the Earps would be
outnumbered and outgunned.
[tense music continues]
- [Doc] Where are you headed?
- Ike Clanton.
You need help?
[Ed] Now, listen up.
Doc wasn't a marshal,
and he wasn't exactly
what you'd call stable either.
Bringing him along could backfire.
Come play cards.
[Ed] But he was still a hell of a shot.
And Wyatt knew
he could use all the help he could get.
Give him the shotgun.
You sure?
Yeah.
Keep it under your coat.
[rock music playing]
[Ed] Now, Ike and Wyatt don't know it yet,
but they're moving headlong
into the most famous showdown
in the history of the Wild West.
[rock music continues]
[Ed] Let's get one thing straight.
Wyatt and his brothers
had no intention of starting a gunfight.
Their plan was to disarm the Cowboys
and tell them to get out of town.
Now you can imagine Ike was thinking,
"Maybe I should have listened to Billy."
Virgil was thinking,
"This is all bravado."
And Billy Clanton was thinking,
"What the hell
was Doc doing there with a shotgun?"
Oh, we don't want that.
- [gunshots]
- [man] Don't
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
You can run on for a long time ♪
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time ♪
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down ♪
They're gonna tell
That long tongue liar ♪
Gonna tell that midnight rider ♪
Tell the rambler, the gambler
The back biter ♪
Tell 'em God's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em God's gonna cut 'em down ♪
You can run on for a long time ♪
Run on for a long time ♪
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down ♪
Sooner or later God'll cut you down ♪
[suspenseful music playing]
[grunts]
[Ed Harris] That guy right there,
that's Wyatt Earp.
[operatic music playing]
The toughest son of a bitch in the West.
And right now,
he's in the middle
of the most famous gunfight in history.
You might have heard of it.
The gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
But here's what you probably don't know.
This gunfight wasn't the end of a story.
Nope. It was just the beginning.
[tense music playing]
[man 1] The shootout at the O.K. Corral
is one of those stories
where you think you know it
[horse neighs]
but the more you learn about it,
the crazier the story becomes.
We're going back to the old ways.
[dramatic music playing]
The whole Earp family got targeted
as revenge following the O.K. Corral.
I'm gonna kill every one of 'em.
Wyatt's action was cold-blooded murder.
He was just overwhelmed
with the desire for vengeance.
Wyatt. Please.
[tense music playing]
[Ed] But this small-town feud got so big
[gunshot]
it affected the entire country.
[tense music continues]
Even the president of the United States
feels he has to intervene,
he has to do something.
[Ed] And then J.P. Morgan got involved.
What the hell is this?
[tense music continues]
[Ed] Things got so bad
it threatened to spark a second Civil War.
We will not be trodden on ever again!
[cheering]
[dramatic music playing]
We were just wondering
when all this is gonna stop.
I'm not stopping until Ike's dead.
[dramatic music continues]
[Ed] This is a war that no one's heard of,
and yet it was going to determine
the future of the West,
and really, the future of America.
[dramatic music continues]
[gunshots]
[horse squeals]
[dramatic music continues]
[gunshot]
[music fades]
[tense music playing]
[Ed] On March 15th, 1881,
$26,000 worth of silver
was loaded onto a stagecoach
to be transported
across the Arizona desert.
- You good?
- Yep.
Giddap.
[tense music continues]
[Ed] Now, this stagecoach had made
countless trips like this before.
[tense music continues]
[Ed] But today was different.
[music stops]
[man whistles]
[dramatic music playing]
[man yells]
[music fades]
[Ed] The driver and a passenger
were both shot dead,
and the robbers
Well, the robbers got away.
Even for the Wild West,
this was a pretty brazen crime,
and the news spread quickly
["The Devil You Know" playing]
making its way back to the town
where the stagecoach started from.
Tombstone.
["The Devil You Know" continues]
[Ed] Now, when you think
about an Old West town,
your mind probably conjures up
some dusty, dirty, lawless hellhole
that you see in old Hollywood movies.
Well, Tombstone wasn't like that at all.
It was a mecca of wealth and culture
in the middle of nowhere.
[man 2] Tombstone was an unusually
sophisticated town for the time.
There were a lot of upper-class people.
They had reading rooms,
libraries, bookstores,
and the comforts of a real town.
[Ed] They even had an oyster bar.
Think about that. Oysters in the Old West.
So, how did Tombstone
become the Paris of the desert?
Well, one reason and one reason alone.
Silver.
[upbeat music playing]
[Ed] There was
close to 1,000 metric tons of silver
in the hills surrounding Tombstone.
That would be worth
over a billion dollars today.
[man 3] There's something
about that old saying,
"There's silver in them thar hills."
Why eke a living out as a dirt farmer
when suddenly you can have
a pan full of silver and live like a king?
So it's part of the American dream,
fortune-seeking, get rich quick,
that finally make it
to a town like Tombstone, Arizona.
[Ed] All right, so back to those murders.
[tense music playing]
[Ed] Now, in the event
of a stagecoach robbery,
or any robbery, for that matter,
there was a procedure.
First, the sheriff,
the top lawman in the county,
was notified.
[tense music continues]
[Ed] And in Tombstone
that sheriff was Johnny Behan.
But it wasn't his job
to chase after criminals.
[Johnny] Kid.
You go wake the Earps.
[tense music continues]
[music fades]
[Ed] The day-to-day peacekeeping
was done by three brothers.
["7th Born Son" playing]
Virgil, Morgan, and Wyatt Earp.
I was born ♪
On the seventh day alone ♪
[Ed] Virgil was the oldest,
and he was the levelheaded one.
Morgan was the youngest,
and he idolized his older brothers.
He said, "You can run
You can run, but you will find ♪
[Ed] And then there was Wyatt.
He was a man of few words
and he had his own special way
of dealing with crime.
[rock music playing]
[man 1] We think of him as a gunslinger,
but he much preferred using his fists.
So he was very useful
for keeping law and order
without shoot-outs breaking out.
[Ed] Wyatt would walk right up to thugs
and just punch 'em.
Usually so fast
they wouldn't see it coming.
[funky music playing]
[Ed] It wasn't exactly by the book,
but you couldn't argue with the results.
I mean, the guy was rough.
[man groaning]
[Ed] A little unhinged.
[man] Wyatt! You bastard!
[Ed] You could say he lived
by his own moral code,
but he was determined
to see justice served.
Now, Wyatt set out
to catch the stagecoach robbers,
and this time it was personal.
Because one of the men who was murdered
was Wyatt's close friend Bud Philpot.
[dramatic music playing]
[music fades]
[quiet Wild West music playing]
[Ed] Wyatt followed the horse tracks
of the robbers for three days
and one of those tracks led to a ranch,
where they found this guy, Luther King.
[pot clatters]
Gun.
[suspenseful music playing]
[music fades]
Why'd you kill the driver?
Who pulled the trigger?
You give us a name, we'll work out a deal.
- [body thuds]
- [Luther groans]
You didn't have to do that.
Yeah, I did.
[Luther groans] Get your hands off me!
All right! [groans]
All right, all right!
[Ed] In no time, Luther confessed
to being one of the stagecoach robbers,
and even gave up the name
of one of the killers, Billy Leonard.
Wyatt had no idea
who this Billy Leonard was.
But there was a clue.
[Wyatt] All right, let's go.
Hey.
Don't forget your hat.
[Ed] Now, everyone out west wore hats.
But if your hat
had a band made out of rattlesnake,
that meant that you were
a member of a gang
that was known as the Cowboys.
Now, forget everything
you know about cowboys.
You think they're heroes, right?
Like in the old John Wayne movies.
Nope.
[man 4] Beginning in 1880,
the term "cowboy" became
a dirty word in Arizona territory.
It meant "outlaw,"
"desperado," "robber," and "murderer."
[Ed] You see,
the Cowboys were a notorious criminal gang
that dealt in stolen cattle.
Let me explain.
Out west, beef was big business.
A cow worth three bucks in Texas
was worth 60 bucks in Chicago.
Modest ranchers became cattle barons.
The railroads boomed
and everyone was getting rich.
But when droughts,
disease and harsh winters
began wiping out the cattle in Texas,
a gang of outlaws from Arizona
started stealing cattle from Mexico.
[man 5] The Cowboys were notorious
for doing
a lot of midnight raids into Mexico,
stealing 500, 1,000,
1,500 heads of cattle,
hustling 'em across the US border,
then finding buyers on the black market
so they could make a lot of money.
[Ed] Nobody cared that they were stolen,
because they were getting cheap beef.
The money flowed
and the Cowboy gang grew and grew.
They were like the mafia.
And just like the mafia,
they had a mob boss.
His name was Ike Clanton.
[whip cracks]
[suspenseful music playing]
[man] Ooh.
[Ike laughs]
[Ed] Ike used a dangerous mix
of fear and charm to get what he wanted.
You never knew
if he was going to cut your throat
[Ike shouts]
or buy you a drink.
But one thing's for sure,
Ike could always be counted on
for a good story.
I say to him, "Where the hell you been?"
And he says, "I've been at church."
And I'm thinking,
"He's gone all religious."
- [laughter]
- And then he insists on taking me there.
Now, I'm getting really worried,
and sure enough, inside this church
there's people singing hymns,
and at the front is the priest,
only he's stark naked
and he's a-dancing and a-hopping
like a chicken on heat.
I say, "Curly,
what the hell have you done?"
[laughter]
[Ike mumbles]
[Casey] Ike was short-tempered, boastful,
he drank too much, he liked to go out
and have fun with the Cowboys
and shoot up towns and brag
and talk about how important he was.
Yet he somehow developed
respect among people
for his leadership of the Cowboys.
Now, that hand is gonna be good.
I've arrested Luther King
for the stagecoach robbery.
Can't say I know who that is.
I found his hat. He's one of yours.
And?
Luther named Billy Leonard.
[Ed] Now, Ike knew that Billy Leonard
had carried out the robbery
and Ike hadn't sanctioned it,
but he still wasn't just
gonna give Billy up to the law.
You know what I've been hearing?
What?
I've been hearing Doc Holliday did it.
- What are you talking about?
- That's what people are saying.
Doc Holliday was
one of the stagecoach robbers.
Ain't that right, Curly?
Yep.
Horse shit.
[Ike] You should ask around.
Let me know if you need any more help.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Ed] Now, you may have heard
the name Doc Holliday before,
but I bet you don't know the real story.
Doc Holliday had a reputation
as a drunk and a gambler.
Morning, ma'am.
[Ed] Not many people in Tombstone
realized that he really was a doctor.
Ah.
[Ed] Doc was a doctor of dentistry
and he had a flourishing career back east.
[Casey] He grew up
in a fairly wealthy family,
went off to dental school in Philadelphia
and became a very good dentist.
You have some decay
on your second upper molar.
That's what's causing the pain.
[coughs] Now, a lot of dentists
would just whip that tooth out,
but I think I can save it.
[Doc coughs]
[Doc coughs]
Uh, I'm so sorry.
[coughs]
[Ed] Doc was cursed with
a life-threatening disease of the lungs.
[Edward] Doc Holliday is diagnosed
with tuberculosis,
what in the time was called consumption.
It was a very common disease,
often led to death.
It was also a disease
that did not discriminate,
so poor people came down with consumption,
rich people came down with consumption.
[horse whinnies]
[Ed] To stay alive,
Doc was told to go west
where the climate was warmer
and the air dryer.
And to help with the coughing,
the doctors advised him to drink whiskey.
So when Doc called whiskey his medicine,
he meant it.
And he drank it.
Lots of it.
[coughs]
[Doc] Well, here I am
in this shithole town.
Hey. I could deal
with all these crocodiles.
Come play cards.
What the hell did you say to me?
Damn it! Huh?
Whoa! Whoa. Everybody calm down.
It's all fine. We're fine.
[Ed] So you can see
why this rumor spread so quickly,
that Doc was
one of the stagecoach robbers.
I mean, it wasn't hard to believe.
[whispering]
Well, why is it that the people
who know the least
are the ones who talk the most?
[Ed] Here's the crazy thing.
It wasn't the rumor
that got him into trouble.
It was his girlfriend, Kate Elder,
also known as Big Nose Kate.
There's debate as to whether
she got her name because of her nose
or because she was nosy.
- I am not a jealous person
- [Doc] You are a jealous person.
- You're always
- You're a drunk.
[Ed] Doc had a fiery,
love-hate relationship with Kate Elder.
After one really bad argument,
Kate was so angry
that she actually signed an affidavit
saying that Doc had confessed
to the stagecoach robbery.
So the judge demanded his arrest.
You know I didn't do it, right?
[Wyatt] Yeah, I know.
[Ed] The arrest of Doc
put Wyatt in a difficult situation.
You see, Doc was actually
Wyatt's best friend.
Their paths first crossed
in Dodge City, Kansas
[man] You ain't getting my gun.
where Wyatt was deputy marshal.
[indistinct shouting]
[Casey] Doc was playing cards
and he looked out the window.
[men shouting]
He saw that a group of young men
had surrounded Wyatt Earp,
and Wyatt Earp was in danger.
If you're going inside,
you're giving me your goddamn guns.
I can go wherever I want with it.
Who made you
Goddamn cow-poking clowns.
Why can't you keep
your shit-munching mouths shut?
[Ed] Now, this is
one of those strange twists of fate
that sometimes happens in history,
because while everyone else
was watching Doc,
this guy was about to put
a bullet in Wyatt's back.
[tense music playing]
Give me your gun.
You too. Put it down there.
[tense music continues]
[Douglas] Doc Holliday
saved the life of Wyatt Earp,
and they formed a kind of a code,
an allegiance,
that you saved my life,
so I'll be loyal to you forever.
[Wyatt] Don't worry, Doc.
I'll figure something out.
Can I get a drink?
Yeah. Sure.
[Ed] Not only
was Wyatt's best friend in jail,
but one of the actual stagecoach robbers,
Luther King, was out.
Nobody knows exactly
how Luther King got out of jail.
The most likely reason
was that the Cowboys bribed some official.
The only thing we know for certain
is that the Cowboys
wanted him out of jail for a reason.
Curly. Curly, I didn't say nothing.
Curly, I didn't say noth
[John] The Cowboys
were bloodthirsty and remorseless.
When it got out that Luther King
had provided information
about the robbery,
a group of Cowboys lynched him
in the mountains outside of Tombstone.
The Cowboys were bound together
by friendship,
by greed and by knowledge
that, you know,
"We have committed all these crimes."
It was very much like the mafia.
If you ratted out, you got killed.
[Ed] With Luther King dead,
Doc was the only one in jail
for the stagecoach robbery.
Wyatt wasn't gonna let his best friend
hang for a crime he didn't commit,
and he knew Billy Leonard
and his gang were responsible.
But Wyatt had no idea where they were,
and the only people
who did know where they were,
guys like Ike Clanton,
well, they weren't talking.
So the case was at a standstill,
and that was starting
to cause real problems.
You see,
this was about something much bigger
than just a couple
of dead bodies in Arizona.
Let me explain.
[explosion]
Twenty years earlier,
America went to war with itself.
The Civil War was bloody,
but it was also expensive.
So expensive that the US
had to borrow millions of dollars
from European countries
in order to win the war.
Fast-forward 16 years,
and America was nowhere near
paying off those loans.
So the Civil War debt
in the 1870s into the 1880s
looms as this huge problem.
So people in the banking world
are really keen
on reducing that massive debt
that was rung up
during the American Civil War.
[Ed] But then some folks in Washington
had a brilliant idea.
Remember all that silver
that was coming out of the west
in places like Arizona?
We'll just use that to pay off our debts.
Now, Tombstone had more silver
than it knew what to do with,
but the only way to get it back east
was to rely on the stagecoaches
of an express business
founded by two men,
Henry Wells and William Fargo.
You know, Wells Fargo.
[man] Giddap!
[Ed] So now you had
people back east panicking,
because, if the stagecoach robbers
couldn't be caught,
then sure as hell
other robberies would follow,
and that would significantly disrupt
the flow of silver.
This was actually a big deal
and it weighed on the minds
of some very powerful people.
[fanfare playing]
I mean really powerful people.
[rock music playing]
[Ed] The Prince of Wales.
Lord Rothschild.
And this guy.
American banker, J.P. Morgan.
[rock music continues]
[Prince of Wales] Pull!
[gunshots]
I think you clipped that one, sir.
Horseshit. He missed.
[Ed] Yep, that's how J.P. Morgan
spoke to the Prince of Wales.
- That's how he spoke to everyone.
- Pull!
[gunshots]
[Ed] Back then, British aristocrats
would have said he was uncouth
or rough around the edges,
and in some ways they were right.
- [J.P. Morgan] Pull.
- [gunshot]
[Ed] You see, bankers behaved
like they were in some gentlemen's club.
It was all about rules and etiquette.
But J.P. Morgan
didn't give a damn about that.
If he thought someone was wrong,
he'd tell you.
What the hell is this?
[Ed] And in no uncertain terms.
Why didn't you just do it?
[operatic music playing]
You are riding your luck, Morgan.
Luck has nothing to do with it.
[Ed] Now, you're probably wondering,
"What the hell
does this have to do with Tombstone,
or America for that matter?"
The answer
is railroads.
[train horn toots]
[Ed] Railroads were
America's biggest industry.
They accounted for
80% of the stock market,
but they were a mess.
Overbuilt, run by corrupt directors,
and on the verge of bankruptcy.
Morgan believed he could save them,
but to do that, he needed to own them.
[Edward] In the early 1880s,
J.P. Morgan is just emerging
as that sort of
towering figure of Wall Street.
He's one of the more powerful bankers
and he's perfecting
what's gonna become his calling card,
which is to consolidate businesses
and to revive businesses,
and particularly the railroads.
[Ed] Control of America's railroads
would give J.P. Morgan
unprecedented wealth and power.
But for Morgan's plan to work,
he needed an enormous investment.
And he could only get that from London.
That's where Lord Rothschild comes in.
He owned the biggest bank in the world
and had access to billions of dollars.
Do you know what the London banks
are calling America?
A nation of swindlers.
I assure you
we've learned from our past mistakes.
Let's hope so.
We wouldn't want a repeat of '73.
A disaster if ever there was one.
[Ed] But like many financiers,
he thought America
was a dangerous investment.
And what of the dollar?
The dollar will be silver backed.
Until we raise our gold reserves.
Silver?
[Ed] Morgan's plan
to take over the railroads
hinged on persuading Britain
that America was a safe place to invest.
And that's why the stagecoach robbery
was a problem to even him.
[Edward] People like Morgan, what they
prized more than anything else was order.
If America seems like an unstable society,
then that'd maybe give
European investors pause
when it comes to investing
in the American economy.
And when there's marauding and banditry
on the southwest border in Arizona,
that's bad for business.
[Ed] Within days,
one of the largest rewards
ever seen in the Wild West was posted.
Close to $6,000
for the capture of the stagecoach robbers.
[tense music playing]
[Ed] Now, six grand might not sound
like that much money,
but today that adds up to $180,000.
And it's just what Wyatt needed
to blow this murder case wide open.
[indistinct chatter]
What do you want?
I need your help
to find Billy Leonard and his gang.
Didn't I already tell ya?
- I don't know
- There's a reward.
How much?
Six thousand.
What's your cut?
Nothing. It's all yours.
When do I get the money?
When they're arrested.
Do we have a deal?
[Ike] Yeah.
[tense music playing]
[man 7] Ike accepts the deal.
He's willing to give up these men
and entice them to a place
where they might be killed,
or certainly arrested, uh, for money.
You know, this is a fellow Cowboy.
This is your buddy.
But, uh, enough money,
"I'm gonna turn you over."
And Wyatt knew that.
He knew Ike's character.
He knew that he could get him
to rat these guys out.
[Ed] Ike told Wyatt exactly where
he could find Billy Leonard and his gang.
[tense music continues]
Hey, bring me another.
[Ed] Billy was already planning
his next heist.
Billy Leonard and his cohort
were hired as assassins
to get rid of a couple of ranchers.
But these ranchers got word of it.
And they get killed.
[Ed] Billy Leonard and his gang died
before Wyatt could arrest them.
And that put an end
to the hunt for the stagecoach robbers.
But Doc Holliday
was still being held as a suspect.
Luckily for him,
Kate Elder finally came to her senses.
[lawyer] Miss Elder, please tell the court
what you overheard Doc Holliday say
about robbing the stagecoach
on March 15th, 1881.
I never heard him say anything about that.
[Ed] She withdrew her allegations.
[judge] Case dismissed.
[Ed] And Doc walked free.
[rock music playing]
[Ed] Wyatt closed the case,
satisfied that justice had been served.
[music fades]
[Ed] Our story would have ended there
but there was just one problem.
[ominous music playing]
[Ike] Where's my goddamn money?
Haven't you heard?
Billy Leonard got shot.
So?
So there's no reward.
What are you talking about?
Billy died before I had a chance
to arrest him.
I don't give a shit.
No arrest, no reward.
Hey. Hey!
[tense music playing]
[John] Once Billy Leonard died
in that gun battle,
the reward could no longer
be paid for him.
[tense music continues]
[music fades]
Another.
[Ike] Leave the bottle.
Here's to Billy.
What?
Billy Leonard, a great poker player.
Now, he could look you in your eyes,
and see straight into your soul.
What do you mean?
He knew all your little secrets.
[tense music playing]
[Ike] What secrets?
[tense music continues]
What do you know?
Huh?
[tense music continues]
[Mark] Ike became convinced
that Doc Holliday knew about the deal
and was telling other people.
And this was all in Ike's head.
But now he's fearing for his life
because he thinks that the knowledge
is out that he was a rat.
[tense music playing]
[jaunty piano music playing]
We need to talk.
Alone.
Go on.
- I'll be at the bar.
- [Wyatt] Yeah.
You told Doc about our deal.
- No.
- [Ike] Horse shit. He knows.
I didn't tell anyone.
I was with Doc. He told me.
I don't know what you're talking about.
[Ed] Now, Wyatt really hadn't told a soul,
but sticking to your word
wasn't something Ike understood.
I don't believe you.
You calling me a liar?
[Ike] Yeah.
I'm calling you a liar.
Get out.
[tense music playing]
Get out.
[tense music continues]
[music fades]
- [Morgan] What was that about?
- Ah, nothing. He's drunk.
Come on, let's play.
["God's Gonna Cut You Down" playing]
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
You can run on for a long time ♪
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time ♪
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down ♪
[Ed] Ike wondered
how he could have been so stupid,
doing a deal with a lawman
and then ratting on another Cowboy.
And now Doc knew?
How long before everyone knew?
[music fades]
He needed to think, stay calm.
The whiskey was making him more paranoid.
Maybe Doc had told others.
Did any of these Cowboys know?
[Ike gasps]
[Ed] Maybe everyone knew.
After drinking all night,
Ike knew that Wyatt Earp and Doc
needed to be dealt with.
[Ike] Wyatt.
[Ed] Ike was so drunk when he left the bar
he could barely walk.
Ike Clanton,
he's apparently drinking all night.
He's drunker and drunker. He's enraged.
And in the morning,
he's going around town with a six-shooter,
threatening to kill the Earps
and Doc Holliday.
I'm coming for ya!
You and your goddamn brothers!
[tense music playing]
[Ike] Wyatt.
Where are ya?
- You cheating son of a bitch.
- Shut up and go home.
[Ike] Kept all the money
for yourself, did ya?
What's he talking about?
You and your brothers
are scum of the earth, sons of a whore.
He was asking for it, you know.
Yep.
[Ed] For the Earps, Ike's threats
were just the whiskey talking.
They locked him up.
Once the courthouse was open,
the judge fined Ike $25
for threatening behavior
and told him to leave town.
We should get that bandaged.
I'm fine.
[Ed] Now, the last thing Ike needed
was his kid brother, Billy Clanton,
fussing over him.
Billy was the opposite of Ike.
He might describe himself
as cautious, a thinker.
But Ike would say gutless.
The others are meeting us at the Corral.
[Ed] To get Ike safely home,
Billy arranged
for four of the toughest Cowboys
to wait for them
where they kept their horses.
At the Old Kindersley Corral.
Only the townspeople had shortened it
to the O.K. Corral.
[Ike spits]
[Ed] Billy just wanted
to get Ike out of town,
lay low for a while.
[tense music playing]
[Ed] But Ike believed
it was only a matter of time
before Wyatt told everyone
that he was an informant.
And if the Cowboys found out,
he'd end up like Luther King.
We'll get that bandaged up
soon as we get home.
You okay, Ike?
[tense music playing]
We're not going anywhere.
We're going to kill Wyatt Earp.
Why don't we get him another day?
[Ed] Truth is it was freezing,
and all Billy wanted to do was get home
and put his feet in front of the fire.
[tense music continues]
You see what they did to me?
If we let them get away with it,
they'll think they control the town.
[Casey] Billy was trying
to get his crazy brother, Ike,
to leave town,
and was trying to calm him down
while Ike was making threats.
That's why we need to kill the Earps
and that son of a bitch Doc Holliday
right now.
[Casey] And townspeople were passing by,
hearing Ike
make threats against the Earps.
[tense music continues]
[music fades]
Mr. Clanton and his boys, they're out
I saw 'em. I was by the Corral.
I heard them talking
and they're coming to kill you.
There's five of them. They're coming here.
You just get inside, and you take care.
I appreciate your information.
- Good luck, Mr. Earp.
- Thank you.
[Wyatt] Two cigars, please.
[tense music playing]
Ike is still here.
God dammit.
Come on.
[tense music continues]
[Ike] You coming?
[tense music continues]
[Ed] Three lawmen
against Ike and his boys.
If it came to a fight,
the Earps would be
outnumbered and outgunned.
[tense music continues]
- [Doc] Where are you headed?
- Ike Clanton.
You need help?
[Ed] Now, listen up.
Doc wasn't a marshal,
and he wasn't exactly
what you'd call stable either.
Bringing him along could backfire.
Come play cards.
[Ed] But he was still a hell of a shot.
And Wyatt knew
he could use all the help he could get.
Give him the shotgun.
You sure?
Yeah.
Keep it under your coat.
[rock music playing]
[Ed] Now, Ike and Wyatt don't know it yet,
but they're moving headlong
into the most famous showdown
in the history of the Wild West.
[rock music continues]
[Ed] Let's get one thing straight.
Wyatt and his brothers
had no intention of starting a gunfight.
Their plan was to disarm the Cowboys
and tell them to get out of town.
Now you can imagine Ike was thinking,
"Maybe I should have listened to Billy."
Virgil was thinking,
"This is all bravado."
And Billy Clanton was thinking,
"What the hell
was Doc doing there with a shotgun?"
Oh, we don't want that.
- [gunshots]
- [man] Don't
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
You can run on for a long time ♪
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time ♪
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down ♪
They're gonna tell
That long tongue liar ♪
Gonna tell that midnight rider ♪
Tell the rambler, the gambler
The back biter ♪
Tell 'em God's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em God's gonna cut 'em down ♪
You can run on for a long time ♪
Run on for a long time ♪
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down ♪
Sooner or later God'll cut you down ♪