Transcript of Spicer Hearing and a Tip from Hemingway

Researching a Legend.

During my stay in Georgia the romance questions about young John Henry Holliday and his cousin Mattie were constant. And I suppose what kept the story alive was the differing opinions – was there a romance or not? Both sides were passionate in their beliefs either pro or con. Even a Catholic nun or two go into argument.

I was on the pro side and I made my case through the relationship between Margaret Mitchell and Mattie, Sister Mary Melanie once she took the vows. There was a close relationship between the writer and her cousin. Margaret paid weekly visits to Sister Melanie where they sometimes talked for hours sharing family stories. Now this could be coincidence but the name of Scarlett's first husband was Charles Hamilton, a name that was prominent on John Henry's graduation program as receiving an honorary degree. That as I said could be coincidence but Margaret Mitchell's story line in 'Gone With the Wind' Ellen O'Hara's early romantic tie to he cousin Philippe Robillard was not. And the fact that Ellen died with the the name Philippe on her lips were not lost on Mammy or this writer.
After Doc went west there were numerous letters written between Mattie and Doc Holliday that could play a part in my story.
In my first draft none of those things were prominent, but they should be.
I suppose I could talk about the romance angle in a prologue, but for now my mind was too clouded with the new facts I'd uncovered back east to do more than let it settle in. Taking a leaf from Hemingway's 'A Memorable Feast' regarding the subconscious and giving it time to work on the problem I decided to go to work on my other large question regarding what really happened after the shootout at the OK Corral?
The fact is Cochise County political ring and the cowboy's swore out a Warrant, in Ike Clanton's name, accusing the Earp's and Holliday for murder and hauled them into court.
Judge Wells Spicer called the hearing and it lasted 28 days. Now you'd think a 28 day court hearing would raise some interest and in some quarters it did, but it some how got lost on the biographers, historians and movie makers. Dozens of books and movies were done about Tombstone and the gunfight at the OK Corral, but little about the hearing.

As a storyteller I figured that a good courtroom battle would tell a lot more about Tombstone and its citizens in 1881 than the wild tales that had hardened into myth about what happened on the streets of Tombstone or who shot Johnny Ringo? It had to be factual though and it had to involve the attorneys, witnesses, defendants and the judge.
I read a book 'The OK Corral Inquest' edited by Alford E. Turner that told the story in a kind of oblique way. Not what I had in mind. 'Inquest' was based on court transcripts. The witnesses and Judge Spicer were prominent, but not the names of prosecution or defense attorneys .
The Tombstone newspapers, Epitaph and Nugget must have covered the trial, so I had to look around for copies published during that period. I had some copies of the Epitaph in my possession and I quickly realized that they didn't do much with the story. But what about the Nugget?
I recalled seeing a few copies of the Nugget at the Arizona Historical Society and gave them a call. Fortunately they had microfiche copies of about half of the Spicer Hearing. We made a deal and they sent me what they had.
I scanned a number of issues and I could immediately see that the Nugget did a great job in reporting on the business of silver mining in and around Tombstone. From what I could tell their reports on the industry were straight forward and objective. On the other hand there was no covering up the fact that the Nugget was in opposition to the Tombstone Safety Committee and law and order. They were a tool for the Cochise County ring and backed the cowboys.
It only took me a couple of days to realize that the Nugget had reported the the Spicer Hearings gavel to gavel. But did they report like they did the mining news or with a bias as was their custom in their general opinion and commentary on Tombstone life and politics.
That question had to be answered before I would take their court reporting seriously.
I started out by comparing the Nugget with what the Epitaph had to say in their sparse reporting. I next went to the Turner Inquest and compared line by line witness testimony. That was quite a long process. Then I took every mention of the Spicer Hearings from other sources and tested them against the court reporting in Inquest as well as the newspaper reports.
I finally concluded that the Nugget was reporting courtroom dialogue just as straight as they did the mining news.
Why they didn't appear to use their normal bias in favor of the cowboys, I didn't know. In any event I decided to work through the Spicer Hearings using the Nugget as my base, but to challenge every line.
Next I had to assemble the cast of characters for the courtroom drama. Judge Spicer and all the witnesses were in the court record along with the District Attorney Lyttleton Price and his chief assistant Earl Smith. Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp were there, Morgan and Virgil Earp were excluded because they were in bed recovering from wounds they received during the shootout.
Doc and Wyatt were at the defense table with their attorneys Tom Fitch and Judge T.J. Drum.
District Attorney Price was in the first chair at the prosecution table and to his right was his chief assistant Earl Smith next was Ike Clanton and his attorney Ben Goodrich sat at the end.
E.J. Risley was the court reporter and an unnamed bailiff was present.

From the first day of Judge Spicer's hearing to the last the gallery was filled with Tombstone partisans. They were in two groups split along political lines, which were articulated by the Tombstone Epitaph and Tombstone Nugget newspapers. And that split has remained over the years.
As a historical researcher and writer I recognized the task of getting the truth was going to be difficult. But I felt that if I could get a true transcript of what was actually said in that courtroom the drama would be real and not manufactured.
It was plain common sense and why some of the historians and movie makers hadn't tapped this wealth of material I don't know.
I am sure of one thing though, to have living witnesses tell what they saw on that day was crucial in getting at the facts of how it all happened that afternoon.
The news story went out by telegraph and for some reason captured the imagination of the public and still does.
Western fans from all over the world still flock to Tombstone – so why not let them know the truth about what actually happened?
(To be continued)

Writers Notebook:

A.E. Hotchner wrote in his book 'Papa Hemingway' that, ' During their general conversations apparently very few subjects were off limits. Most of Papa’s personal problems were discussed; he even talked about some of his writing techniques. Papa once said I discovered in writing The Sun Also Rises that it was easier to write in first person because you could involve the reader immediately. So I took that advantage with Farewell, but later in To Have and Have Not and For Whom the Bell Tolls, I used the third person; it's harder to write in third person but the advantage is that you move around better.'

There were actually two tips in this one. I was searching around for today's tip and found it in the flap of my large Writers Notebook. It was a rewrite page of my Papa Hemingway review. I went to my reviews to copy and paste the tip from the review. Well, it wasn't there. The hard copy I held in my hand was an early draft and the only way the tip survived. The final version in my computer files didn't have that portion of the review.
So you might give it some thought. Those scraps of paper you keep could make a difference.

Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://TheHurricaneHunter.blogspot.com