A document unearthed by officials sheds some light onto what really happened during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, notably that Doc Holliday hid his gun.

Bisbee Courthouse clerks discovered a missing coroner's report from the inquest of the shootout last week while they were reorganizing documents in storage. The papers were last seen about 50 years ago, according to court officials.

The transcript, which presents the testimony of a Mrs. M. J. King, provides some interesting insight into the disposition of one of the lawmen, Doc Holliday.

"He had a gun under his coat. He had on a long coat. The way I noticed the gun was that his coat would blow open and he tried to keep it covered," she said.

"I heard (Wyatt Earp) say, 'Let them have it,' and Doc Holliday said, 'All right then,"' the report continues. Then, before King could retreat to the back of the shop she was in, shots rang out."

During a ceremony last week, Cochise County Superior Court Clerk Denise Lundin turned the document over to Secretary of State Ken Bennett to be transferred to the official State Archives. Lundin said she felt the documents should be given to the state so that they could be properly preserved and shared.

The document is now being analyzed and preserved by experts at the Polly Rosenbaum Archives and History building under the direction of Melanie Sturgeon, Arizona state archivist. The agency plans to make the entire 36-page document available to the public, although during the ceremony they only showed one page of the transcript.

The transcript is unlikely to provide any shattering evidence in the sometimes murky story of the showdown between the Earps, Doc Holliday, the Clantons and the McLaurys.

Together with other testimony from the inquest, a less-than glorious image of Doc Holliday begins to appear. King's testimony supports the idea that he entered the situation with no intention of a peaceful resolution, possibly even with his weapons concealed. Other testimony suggests that he fired at an unarmed Tom McLaury as he turned to flee, killing him.

Tombstone historian Ben Traywick spoke of the importance of the document.
"It tells the entire coroner's investigation," he said.

However, Traywick warned of reading too much into the discovery. "This is not a new document; copies have been floating around."

As to a suggestion that Holliday might have been less than a gentleman, Traywick had stern words.

"I feel sorry for anybody that ever called him a coward," he said. "Doc Holliday was a real hot-tempered southerner, he didn't back up for anybody."