Julius N. DeLaughter, Jr., is known to all as Doc. He got his name from his three Great-Uncles who were all doctors.
Stories abound about other ancestors. One reportedly was hung for stealing horses and was thought to ride with Jesse James. His Great-Uncle, also named Doc DeLaughter, was reportedly a U. S. Marshall in Fort Smith, AR in the early 1800's.
His paternal Grandfather was killed when a Model-T that he was cranking sprang forward and pinning him to a tree. And, his Uncle who was a known gambler was killed by 'the mob' in Chicago in the 1940's.
Born in 1949, Doc grew up in Texas and from an early age rode horses and worked cows on the ranch that belonged to his grandmother's family. When his family migrated back to the farm in Nevada County, Doc was in high school, and he continued to raise and sell cattle.
The youngest man ever elected Sheriff in Arkansas, Doc served 8 years beginning on January 1 1977, the day after his twenty-seventh birthday. He was re-elected three more times.
As an undercover Narcotics Investigator for the Arkansas State Police, Doc put away drug traffickers and drug users from all walks of life. Because he could see no difference between the rich crook and the poor crook, Doc pushed on even though he had been warned not to pursue his investigation of the drug activity of several wealthy, well-connected individuals.
The Road Less Traveled is the story of Doc's dilemma and his pursuit of the moral high ground.
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