Outlaws and Lawmen of the Wild West, Part 1

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2004-1-13

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS from VOA Special
English. Today we present the first of two programs about some of
the most famous people who lived in the American West many years
ago. We tell about lawmen, criminals and gunfighters. And we will
try to tell as much truth as possible about this interesting time in
American history.

(WESTERN MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our story begins in
eighteen-eighty-three in Dodge City, Kansas. Dodge City was a
railroad town. Huge herds of cattle were brought there from western
states to be transported by railroad to markets in the eastern
United States.

A man named Luke Short owned a small store where he sold alcohol.
People also took part in gambling -- games of chance -- in his
store. Several people who owned similar businesses wanted Luke Short
to leave Dodge City. They did not like the business competition.
Luke Short was threatened several times. He knew his life was in
danger. So he left Dodge City.

VOICE TWO:

Several weeks later, the people in Dodge City began to see
something that frightened them. Strangers were entering the town.
All of these men carried guns. The men said they were friends of
Luke Short. They caused no trouble. A newspaper in Dodge City
printed a story that identified the men.

One of the first of these men to arrive was a former Dodge City
lawman. His name was William Masterson. The newspaper said he was
well known as an expert with guns and had killed several men. His
friends called him "Bat."

Two other men arrived together. One was Wyatt Earp. He was a
famous gunfighter from Tombstone, in the Arizona territory. He also
was a former lawman who had killed men in gunfights. With him was
his friend, a dentist, John Holliday, who also survived several
shooting incidents. His friends called him "Doc."

About twelve other men also arrived in Dodge City to help Luke
Short. They were not as famous as the three named in the newspaper.
But they were also considered to be very dangerous.

VOICE ONE:

Luke Short returned to Dodge City wearing his guns. The chief
lawman of the town quickly sent a telegram to the governor of the
state asking for help. He was afraid a major civil war would begin
in his town. The men who had forced Luke Short out of town decided
to negotiate a settlement. They did not want to face his many
dangerous friends.

A few days after the settlement, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Doc
Holliday and the other dangerous friends of Luke Short left Dodge
City. No one ever fired a shot. No one was even threatened. All it
took to force a negotiated settlement was for these dangerous men to
show their faces in Dodge City. Just the fear of them settled the
argument in favor of Luke Short. No one wanted to deal with men who
were not afraid of a gunfight.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Who were these dangerous men? Why did people fear them so much?
Why did they become so famous? The story of these famous men began a
little before the American Civil War of the eighteen-sixties.

This wild and lawless period in the West has been shown in
hundreds of movies, television programs and books. It only lasted
for about seventy years. The first shooting incident by a person who
could be considered a professional gunman took place in Texas in
eighteen-fifty-four.

Most of the shooting incidents between professional lawmen and
outlaws took place during the eighteen-seventies in Texas.

VOICE ONE:

The real movement into the American West began after the Civil
War. Many families moved west to build new lives after the war. Land
was almost free. Some people wanted to find gold or silver and
become rich. Other families wanted to raise cows or horses or begin
a farm and start a new life.

But living in the American West was not easy. There were no laws,
no courts and little or no government. There were few lawmen to keep
order. The people who arrived in the West included many criminals.
Many were escaping punishment from their crimes. They knew that an
area with no law would provide them with safety. These professional
criminals often used force to take what they wanted -- cows, horses
or money. Often, there was little to stop them.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Honest people who moved to the
West carried weapons to protect themselves and their property. These
settlers began to build small towns when they found areas they
liked. They tried to improve their towns with churches, schools and
the rule of law. But it was often difficult.

To protect their towns, the settlers often had to employ people
who were expert in the use of firearms. Several lawmen in the Old
West had learned to use their weapons when they were criminals.

Both the outlaws and the lawmen in the Old West had something
else in common. They could do something many other people could not.
They were willing to risk their lives to enforce the law or to
commit a crime. And they were willing to do this with a gun.

VOICE ONE:

A good example was a man named William Matthew Tilghman
(TILL-man). He was arrested two times and charged with stealing when
he was a young man. However, he later became a deputy United States
marshal, a law officer.

On July fourth, eighteen-eighty-eight, a man named Ed Prather
began shooting his gun in the street in Farmer City, Kansas. People
ran away in fear. Tilghman made him stop. Prather left the street
angry and went into a drinking place. He began drinking alcohol and
making threats.

Later, Tilghman went into the drinking place looking for Prather.
Prather put his hand on the gun he was carrying. Tilghman told him
to move his hand away from the gun. When he did not obey, Bill
Tilghman pulled out his gun and shot Ed Prather two times. He died
immediately.

VOICE TWO:

That was only one of the many times Bill Tilghman used his gun as
a law officer. He served in many other towns. Often, all he had to
do was walk into a room to stop a fight. Outlaws feared and obeyed
him. Most criminals stayed away from a town where Bill Tilghman was
the marshal.

Bill Tilghman was shot to death on November first,
nineteen-twenty-four. He was trying to arrest a man who had been
drinking too much alcohol. He was seventy years old and still
working as the marshal of Cromwell, Oklahoma. His life had lasted
exactly the seventy years of the American Wild West.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The famous American gunman named Wyatt Earp has been the subject
of at least four major motion pictures, one television series and
many books. He served as a marshal in Tombstone, Arizona. He took
part in one of the most famous gunfights in American history -- the
gunfight at the O-K Corral.

Wyatt Earp was once asked how to win a gunfight. He said a good
gunfighter took his time. He said he had to go into action as
quickly as possible -- as fast as he could move. But then he should
take his time with the shooting. He said a successful gunfighter
could not let fear or anything else force him to shoot too soon and
miss the target. Missing the target could get him killed.

Wyatt Earp was very successful. He was only wounded once in a
gunfight. He is one of the few successful gunfighters who lived to
old age. He died in nineteen-twenty-nine. He was eighty-one years
old.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Experts on the American West often disagree about who were the
most dangerous gunmen in that period of American history. Was it one
of the famous lawmen? Was it Bill Tilghman, or perhaps Wyatt Earp?

Or was it one of the outlaws? Maybe it was the famous bank robber
Jesse James or an extremely dangerous gunman named John Wesley
Hardin.

Those questions will never truly be answered. However, join us
next week when we tell about two of the most dangerous gunfighters
of the Old West.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by
Mario Ritter. This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS
in Special English on the Voice of America.


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