The Early Years of John Henry Holliday
Doc Holliday's real name is John Henry Holliday. He was born on Augusht 14, 1851 to Henry Burroughs Holliday and Alice Jane Holliday née McKey. His family was respected and his father had served in both the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.
John's mother died of tuberculosis on September 16, 1866, when John was 15 years old. Three months later, his father remarried Rachel Martin. Shortly after the marriage, the family moved to Valdosta, Georgia, where John attended the Valdosta Institute. There he received a strong classical secondary education in rhetoric, grammar, mathematics, history and languages — principally Latin, but also France and some ancient Greek. By college he was fluent in all 3 languages.
In 1870, 19 year-old John Henry left home to begin dental school in Philadelphia. On March 1, 1872, he received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery (now the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine). Later that year, he opened a dental office with Arthur C. Ford in Atlanta.
Doc Holliday 20 years old
John was a good dentist, but shortly after starting his practice, he discovered that he had contracted tuberculosis. Although he consulted a number of doctors, the consensus of all was that he had only months to live. However, they all concurred that he might add a few months to his life if he moved to a dry climate
John's mother died of tuberculosis on September 16, 1866, when John was 15 years old. Three months later, his father remarried Rachel Martin. Shortly after the marriage, the family moved to Valdosta, Georgia, where John attended the Valdosta Institute. There he received a strong classical secondary education in rhetoric, grammar, mathematics, history and languages — principally Latin, but also France and some ancient Greek. By college he was fluent in all 3 languages.
In 1870, 19 year-old John Henry left home to begin dental school in Philadelphia. On March 1, 1872, he received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery (now the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine). Later that year, he opened a dental office with Arthur C. Ford in Atlanta.
Doc Holliday 20 years old
John was a good dentist, but shortly after starting his practice, he discovered that he had contracted tuberculosis. Although he consulted a number of doctors, the consensus of all was that he had only months to live. However, they all concurred that he might add a few months to his life if he moved to a dry climate
Heading West
Following this advice, Doc packed up and headed West. His first stop was in Dallas, Texas, the end of the railroad at the time. The date was October 1873, and Doc soon found a suitable position as an associate of Dr. John A. Seegar. He hung out his shingle and prepared for business, but his terrible illness was not through with him. Coughing spells wracked his thin frame and often occurred at the most embarrassing times, such as in the midst of filling a tooth or making an extraction. As a result, his dental business gradually declined. John soon had to find other means of earning a livelihood.
He possessed a natural ability for gambling and it quickly became his means for support. In those days a gambler in the west had to be able to protect himself so he carried a six gun and a slender long knife. He also was very gifted with his knife and six gun.
January 2, 1875, Doc and a local saloon keeper, named Austin, had a disagreement that flared into violence. Each man went for his pistol. Several shots were fired, but no one got hurt. According to the Dallas Weekly Herald, both shooters were arrested. Most of the local citizens thought such a gunfight highly amusing since none of the bullets hit the intended targets, but changed their views a few days later when Doc shot a prominent citizen twice in the head.
Doc was forced to flee to Dallas and then Jacksboro in "Jack's County," where he got a job dealing Faro. Jackson was a cattle town near an armypost.There were reports that he was involved in 3 gunfights, and in one he supposedly killed a man. Since he was in a pretty wild section of the West there was no law action taken against him.
In 1876, Doc took part in a gunfight that killed a soldier from Fort Richardson. This started an murder investigation by the Government of the US. He fled to Apache country in Colorado that was over 800 miles away. He was sited for short periods of time at Pueblo, Leadville, Georgetown and Central City, there were reports of him killing 3 more men before reaching Denver.
In Denver he went by the name Tom Mackey. He managed to stay low for sometime until he got in an argument with Bud Ryan, while dealing Faro at Babbitt's House. In this argument Doc came very close to literally cutting Ryan's head off. Ryan, who was well-known for gambling, survived the slashing, but his face and neck were horribly Mutilated. Although Ryan didn’t die Doc was forced to flee again.
He ended up drifting Wyoming, then to New Mexico, and from there to Fort Griffin, Texas. There were reports of him also in the Cheyenne country, Deadwood, site of the gold rush in the Dakota Territory in the fall of 1876.
In Fort Griffin, Texas Doc met the only woman who was ever to come into his life. She was known as "Big Nose" Kate, a frontier dance hall woman and prostitute. It was quite true that Kate's nose was prominent, but her other features were quite attractive. Doc met her while he was dealing cards in John Shanssey's saloon. It was also at Shanssey's that he met Wyatt Earp, another person who was to have a great deal of influence on his life. Earp rode in from Dodge City on the trail of Dave Rudabaugh, who was wanted for train robbery. While Doc was helping Wyatt gain the information he needed, they became fast friends. Holliday had already gained the reputation of being a cold-blooded killer.
Many believed that he liked to kill, but that was not true. He was just a hot-tempered Southerner who stood aside for no man. Bat Masterson said of him: "Doc Holliday was afraid of nothing on earth". Doc could be described as a fatalist. He knew that he was already condemned to a slow, painful death. If his death was quick and painless, who was he to object! He wished for a quick demise because of the violent life he lived."
A bully boy of Fort Griffin sat down in a poker game with Holliday. His name was Ed Bailey and he had grown accustomed to having his way with no one questioning his actions. Doc's reputation seemed to make no impression on him whatever. In an obvious attempt to irritate Doc, Bailey kept picking up the discards and looking through them. This was strictly against the rules of Western poker, and anyone who broke this rule forfeited the pot. Holliday warned Bailey twice, but the erstwhile bad man ignored his protests. The very next hand Bailey picked up the discards again. Without saying a word Doc reached out and raked in the pot without showing his hand, Bailey brought a six-shooter from under the table, while a large knife materialized in Doc's hand. Before the local bully could pull the trigger, Doc, with one slash, completely disemboweled him.
Spilling blood everywhere, Bailey sprawled across the table.As he felt that he was obviously only protecting himself and in the right, Doc stuck around town and allowed the Marshal to arrest him. That was certainly a mistake, for once he had been disarmed and locked up, Bailey's friends and the town vigilantes began a clamor for his blood. "Big Nose" Kate knew that Doc was finished unless someone did something and quick. Likely as not, the local lawmen would turn the slim gunman over to the mob. Kate went into action by setting fire to an old shed. It burned so rapidly that the flames threatened to engulf the town. Everyone went to fight the fire with the exception of three people: Kate, Doc, and the Officer who guarded him.
As soon as the lawman and his prisoner were left alone, she stepped in and confronted them. A pistol in each hand, she disarmed the startled guard, then passed a pistol to Doc and the two of them vanished into the night.All that night they hid in the brush, carefully avoiding parties of searchers."
But that seems to be an legend because there is no edivience of Kate ever doing that, nor a report of the man being killed, and Kate denied that she ever did such a thing and laughed at the idea of her holding guns up to a sheriff upon her death bed.
But there is evidence of The couple registered at Deacon Cox's Boarding House in Dodge City as Dr. and Mrs. J. H. Holliday. Doc and Kate did live in Dodge City for a while and tried to live like respectful citizens. Doc gave up all the gambling and started working as a dentist again, while Kate gave up prostitution and saloons. But this didn’t last for long because both of them became very quickly bored with respectable living and ended Splitting up. BUT DONT get your hopes up because Kate and Doc did get together many more times throughout their lives.
Doc went back to dealing Faro in the Long Branch Saloon in 1878. That fall the Wyatt Earp and Doc became official friends together for life because of some Texas Cowboys that tried to kill Wyatt in the Saloon when he came to arrest them. Supposedly, "Holliday loosed a volume of profanity and, as the self-styled bad men turned to face Doc, Wyatt rapped Morrison over the head with his long barrel Colt. Then he set about relieving the other cowboys of their guns. "
Shortly after that Doc went to Trinidad, Colorado. Shortly after he arrived a young gambler known as "Kid Colton" started a fight with Doc, it is believe that he was trying to create his reputation by killing Doc, but in the end Colton was the one killed. Doc then went to New Mexico. In 1879, Doc became a dentist for the last time in New Mexico. Yet again it failed, but only this time he bought a saloon on Center Street. There was a report 3 days later that he got in an argument with a local gunman named Mike Gordon. Mike Gordon got died by 3 bullets to the stomach. He quickly disappeared and went back to Dodge City.
Big Nose Kate
He possessed a natural ability for gambling and it quickly became his means for support. In those days a gambler in the west had to be able to protect himself so he carried a six gun and a slender long knife. He also was very gifted with his knife and six gun.
January 2, 1875, Doc and a local saloon keeper, named Austin, had a disagreement that flared into violence. Each man went for his pistol. Several shots were fired, but no one got hurt. According to the Dallas Weekly Herald, both shooters were arrested. Most of the local citizens thought such a gunfight highly amusing since none of the bullets hit the intended targets, but changed their views a few days later when Doc shot a prominent citizen twice in the head.
Doc was forced to flee to Dallas and then Jacksboro in "Jack's County," where he got a job dealing Faro. Jackson was a cattle town near an armypost.There were reports that he was involved in 3 gunfights, and in one he supposedly killed a man. Since he was in a pretty wild section of the West there was no law action taken against him.
In 1876, Doc took part in a gunfight that killed a soldier from Fort Richardson. This started an murder investigation by the Government of the US. He fled to Apache country in Colorado that was over 800 miles away. He was sited for short periods of time at Pueblo, Leadville, Georgetown and Central City, there were reports of him killing 3 more men before reaching Denver.
In Denver he went by the name Tom Mackey. He managed to stay low for sometime until he got in an argument with Bud Ryan, while dealing Faro at Babbitt's House. In this argument Doc came very close to literally cutting Ryan's head off. Ryan, who was well-known for gambling, survived the slashing, but his face and neck were horribly Mutilated. Although Ryan didn’t die Doc was forced to flee again.
He ended up drifting Wyoming, then to New Mexico, and from there to Fort Griffin, Texas. There were reports of him also in the Cheyenne country, Deadwood, site of the gold rush in the Dakota Territory in the fall of 1876.
In Fort Griffin, Texas Doc met the only woman who was ever to come into his life. She was known as "Big Nose" Kate, a frontier dance hall woman and prostitute. It was quite true that Kate's nose was prominent, but her other features were quite attractive. Doc met her while he was dealing cards in John Shanssey's saloon. It was also at Shanssey's that he met Wyatt Earp, another person who was to have a great deal of influence on his life. Earp rode in from Dodge City on the trail of Dave Rudabaugh, who was wanted for train robbery. While Doc was helping Wyatt gain the information he needed, they became fast friends. Holliday had already gained the reputation of being a cold-blooded killer.
Many believed that he liked to kill, but that was not true. He was just a hot-tempered Southerner who stood aside for no man. Bat Masterson said of him: "Doc Holliday was afraid of nothing on earth". Doc could be described as a fatalist. He knew that he was already condemned to a slow, painful death. If his death was quick and painless, who was he to object! He wished for a quick demise because of the violent life he lived."
A bully boy of Fort Griffin sat down in a poker game with Holliday. His name was Ed Bailey and he had grown accustomed to having his way with no one questioning his actions. Doc's reputation seemed to make no impression on him whatever. In an obvious attempt to irritate Doc, Bailey kept picking up the discards and looking through them. This was strictly against the rules of Western poker, and anyone who broke this rule forfeited the pot. Holliday warned Bailey twice, but the erstwhile bad man ignored his protests. The very next hand Bailey picked up the discards again. Without saying a word Doc reached out and raked in the pot without showing his hand, Bailey brought a six-shooter from under the table, while a large knife materialized in Doc's hand. Before the local bully could pull the trigger, Doc, with one slash, completely disemboweled him.
Spilling blood everywhere, Bailey sprawled across the table.As he felt that he was obviously only protecting himself and in the right, Doc stuck around town and allowed the Marshal to arrest him. That was certainly a mistake, for once he had been disarmed and locked up, Bailey's friends and the town vigilantes began a clamor for his blood. "Big Nose" Kate knew that Doc was finished unless someone did something and quick. Likely as not, the local lawmen would turn the slim gunman over to the mob. Kate went into action by setting fire to an old shed. It burned so rapidly that the flames threatened to engulf the town. Everyone went to fight the fire with the exception of three people: Kate, Doc, and the Officer who guarded him.
As soon as the lawman and his prisoner were left alone, she stepped in and confronted them. A pistol in each hand, she disarmed the startled guard, then passed a pistol to Doc and the two of them vanished into the night.All that night they hid in the brush, carefully avoiding parties of searchers."
But that seems to be an legend because there is no edivience of Kate ever doing that, nor a report of the man being killed, and Kate denied that she ever did such a thing and laughed at the idea of her holding guns up to a sheriff upon her death bed.
But there is evidence of The couple registered at Deacon Cox's Boarding House in Dodge City as Dr. and Mrs. J. H. Holliday. Doc and Kate did live in Dodge City for a while and tried to live like respectful citizens. Doc gave up all the gambling and started working as a dentist again, while Kate gave up prostitution and saloons. But this didn’t last for long because both of them became very quickly bored with respectable living and ended Splitting up. BUT DONT get your hopes up because Kate and Doc did get together many more times throughout their lives.
Doc went back to dealing Faro in the Long Branch Saloon in 1878. That fall the Wyatt Earp and Doc became official friends together for life because of some Texas Cowboys that tried to kill Wyatt in the Saloon when he came to arrest them. Supposedly, "Holliday loosed a volume of profanity and, as the self-styled bad men turned to face Doc, Wyatt rapped Morrison over the head with his long barrel Colt. Then he set about relieving the other cowboys of their guns. "
Shortly after that Doc went to Trinidad, Colorado. Shortly after he arrived a young gambler known as "Kid Colton" started a fight with Doc, it is believe that he was trying to create his reputation by killing Doc, but in the end Colton was the one killed. Doc then went to New Mexico. In 1879, Doc became a dentist for the last time in New Mexico. Yet again it failed, but only this time he bought a saloon on Center Street. There was a report 3 days later that he got in an argument with a local gunman named Mike Gordon. Mike Gordon got died by 3 bullets to the stomach. He quickly disappeared and went back to Dodge City.
Big Nose Kate
Tombstone Arizona
By 1879 Doc Holliday was a well known gunfighter, and gambler. Through his friendship with Wyatt Earp, Doc eventually made his way to Tombstone, Arizona which was known for its silver. Wyatt and his brothers, Morgan from Montana, James from Dodge City like Wyatt, and Virgil from Prescott, Warren from Parell Iowa, and Newton (I don’t know where he is from) had been in Tombstone for almost 1 year and 1/2 before Doc got there. Virgil and Morgan became law men, while Wyatt went into dealing Faro, and there is no information about what James did.
After Doc left Dodge he went straight to Prescott where he made over $40,000 dollars before heading off to Tombstone with Kate. In Tombstone, Doc and Kate went into business. Kate started up her own business, Tombstone's first "Sporting House", and Doc found himself into Politics.
In Tombstone there was an outlaw gang that basically ran the town. They where known as the "Cowboys". The more well-known Cowboys where "Old man" Clanton, his sons, Ike, Phin, and Billy, the McLaury brothers, Frank and Tom, Curly Bill Brocius, John Ringo , Johny Tyler, and Frank Stillwell. There were allotting more members to this gang.
In October 1880, Johnny Tyler and Doc had a dispute. Doc, ended up drunkenly shot Milt Joyce, the Saloon Owner through the hand, and Parker the bartender through the left foot. Doc got knocked out by Joyce with the butt of his gun. Doc was arrest for assault with a deadly weapon and found guilty. He was fined $20 for the assault and battery and $11.25 for the damages.
On March 15, 1881 four masked men attempted a hold up on a stagecoach, in the attempt they killed 2 men, the driver and the passenger. The Cowboys accused Doc Holliday for being one of the holdup men. Sheriff Behan and Deputy Stillwell found Kate on one of her drunken binges just after Doc thrown her out, got her more drunk and got her to sign an affidavit that Doc had been one of the masked highwaymen and was the one that killed the driver, Bud Philpot. After she sobered up, the Earps mange to get Doc off the hook because all the witness they gathered up that said he was in town during the time of the murder. The case was thrown out. After that Doc left Kate for good, he put her on the next stagecoach and never saw her again.
After Doc left Dodge he went straight to Prescott where he made over $40,000 dollars before heading off to Tombstone with Kate. In Tombstone, Doc and Kate went into business. Kate started up her own business, Tombstone's first "Sporting House", and Doc found himself into Politics.
In Tombstone there was an outlaw gang that basically ran the town. They where known as the "Cowboys". The more well-known Cowboys where "Old man" Clanton, his sons, Ike, Phin, and Billy, the McLaury brothers, Frank and Tom, Curly Bill Brocius, John Ringo , Johny Tyler, and Frank Stillwell. There were allotting more members to this gang.
In October 1880, Johnny Tyler and Doc had a dispute. Doc, ended up drunkenly shot Milt Joyce, the Saloon Owner through the hand, and Parker the bartender through the left foot. Doc got knocked out by Joyce with the butt of his gun. Doc was arrest for assault with a deadly weapon and found guilty. He was fined $20 for the assault and battery and $11.25 for the damages.
On March 15, 1881 four masked men attempted a hold up on a stagecoach, in the attempt they killed 2 men, the driver and the passenger. The Cowboys accused Doc Holliday for being one of the holdup men. Sheriff Behan and Deputy Stillwell found Kate on one of her drunken binges just after Doc thrown her out, got her more drunk and got her to sign an affidavit that Doc had been one of the masked highwaymen and was the one that killed the driver, Bud Philpot. After she sobered up, the Earps mange to get Doc off the hook because all the witness they gathered up that said he was in town during the time of the murder. The case was thrown out. After that Doc left Kate for good, he put her on the next stagecoach and never saw her again.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
In 1881 after the Cowboys threatened to kill Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, James and Doc if they didn’t get out of Tombstone one of the biggest events in Tombstone history happen and one of the turning points in Doc's, and all the Earps lives happen. The Gun Fight at the OK Corral! October 26, 1881, Virgil who was sheriff at the time received word that the Cowboys were gathering at the O.K. Corral, and they where armed, which was against the law. "Doc met the Earps on Fourth Street on their way to the O.K. Corral and demanded that he be allowed to join them in their little walk.
Five men, potential killers, lay in wait. When Wyatt Earp and Billy Clanton opened the battle, Doc shot Billy in the chest, then cut Tom McLaury down with a double charge of buckshot. The life was blasted from McLaury before he struck the ground. Although, Wyatt allowed Ike Clanton to run from the fight scene, Holliday was not so generous. He threw two shots at Ike as he fled, missing him narrowly. A bullet from Frank McLaury cut into Doc's pistol holster and burned a painful crease across his hip. Doc's return shot smashed into McLaury's brain. Less than thirty seconds after the opening shot, three men lay dead and three were wounded. Doc had shot each of the dead cowboys at least once. Virgil had been shot in the leg and Morgan through both shoulders. Only Wyatt Earp has survived the fight untouched.
Five men, potential killers, lay in wait. When Wyatt Earp and Billy Clanton opened the battle, Doc shot Billy in the chest, then cut Tom McLaury down with a double charge of buckshot. The life was blasted from McLaury before he struck the ground. Although, Wyatt allowed Ike Clanton to run from the fight scene, Holliday was not so generous. He threw two shots at Ike as he fled, missing him narrowly. A bullet from Frank McLaury cut into Doc's pistol holster and burned a painful crease across his hip. Doc's return shot smashed into McLaury's brain. Less than thirty seconds after the opening shot, three men lay dead and three were wounded. Doc had shot each of the dead cowboys at least once. Virgil had been shot in the leg and Morgan through both shoulders. Only Wyatt Earp has survived the fight untouched.
Earp Vendetta
After the O.K. Corral Gunfight criminal activity got worse in Tombstone. Virgil Earp got ambushed in December and became permanently injured. He was supposedly shot in the arm and lost use of it. On March 18, 1882 Morgan was assassinated by the Cowboys when playing pool in a saloon. He was shot in the back and died in the saloon. The shot came from the dark alley way. Morgan was buried in one of Doc Holliday's suits and was shipped to his parents in Colton, California for burial.After the death of Morgan, and the disability of Virgil Wyatt went crazy for justice. Earp Vendetta ride started with the lawless killing started with Frank Stillwell.
Frank Stillwell was a former deputy to Johnny Behan's, who was in Tucson to answer a stage-robbery charge, but ended up dead on the tracks in the train yard near the Earp's train. No one knows why Stillwell was there. but Wyatt Earp thought Stillwell was there to harm Virgil, and the wives that were taking Morgan to California. In biographies Wyatt admitted to shooting Stillwell with a shotgun. He shot him 2 but there were 3 bullet wounds.After the Earp families had left for California and safely, Doc, Wyatt, Warren, Sherman McMaster’s, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson "creek Johnson", Texas Jack Vermillion "Texas Jack" all rode on a vendetta that went for 3weeks to find Morgan’s killer and up to a year to elimate the Cowboys.
They where after the people who killed Morgan and that was known to be Curly Bill Brocius and 3 other men. The killing Stillwell was just the beginning of the bloody trail of vengeance. March 24, 1882 were riding near the Iron Springs when the encountered Curly Bill Brocious and eight of his men.
They killed Curly Bill and Johnny Barnes along with a few others.After 1 year the Cowboys that were killed where: "Old Man" Clanton, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Frank Stilwell, Indian Charlie, Dixie Gray, Florentino Cruz, Curly Bill, Johnny Barnes, Jim Crane, Harry Head, Bill Leonard, Joe Hill, Luther King, Charley Snow, Billy Lang, Zwing Hunt, Billy Grounds and Hank Swilling. Pete Spencer, volunteered for the penitentiary for his own safety. Doc Holliday accounted for more than his share of the Cowboys, and when he and Wyatt Earp left Tombstone for good, they rode their horses to Silver City, New Mexico, sold them, rode a stage to Deming, and boarded a train for Colorado.
After the vendetta ride, neither Doc nor the rest of the vendetta party ever went back to Arizona to live. In Doc's case, Colorado refused to extradite him (due to lack of evidence) when he was arrested for the Stilwell killing in Denver in May, 1882 (Doc spent the last two weeks of that month in jail while that issue was decided). Doc and Wyatt would meet again in June of 1882 in Gunnison, after Doc was released. There is controversy about whether or not any of the Earp vendetta posse slipped briefly back to the Tombstone area to kill Johnny Ringo on July 12-13, 1882.
Frank Stillwell was a former deputy to Johnny Behan's, who was in Tucson to answer a stage-robbery charge, but ended up dead on the tracks in the train yard near the Earp's train. No one knows why Stillwell was there. but Wyatt Earp thought Stillwell was there to harm Virgil, and the wives that were taking Morgan to California. In biographies Wyatt admitted to shooting Stillwell with a shotgun. He shot him 2 but there were 3 bullet wounds.After the Earp families had left for California and safely, Doc, Wyatt, Warren, Sherman McMaster’s, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson "creek Johnson", Texas Jack Vermillion "Texas Jack" all rode on a vendetta that went for 3weeks to find Morgan’s killer and up to a year to elimate the Cowboys.
They where after the people who killed Morgan and that was known to be Curly Bill Brocius and 3 other men. The killing Stillwell was just the beginning of the bloody trail of vengeance. March 24, 1882 were riding near the Iron Springs when the encountered Curly Bill Brocious and eight of his men.
They killed Curly Bill and Johnny Barnes along with a few others.After 1 year the Cowboys that were killed where: "Old Man" Clanton, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Frank Stilwell, Indian Charlie, Dixie Gray, Florentino Cruz, Curly Bill, Johnny Barnes, Jim Crane, Harry Head, Bill Leonard, Joe Hill, Luther King, Charley Snow, Billy Lang, Zwing Hunt, Billy Grounds and Hank Swilling. Pete Spencer, volunteered for the penitentiary for his own safety. Doc Holliday accounted for more than his share of the Cowboys, and when he and Wyatt Earp left Tombstone for good, they rode their horses to Silver City, New Mexico, sold them, rode a stage to Deming, and boarded a train for Colorado.
After the vendetta ride, neither Doc nor the rest of the vendetta party ever went back to Arizona to live. In Doc's case, Colorado refused to extradite him (due to lack of evidence) when he was arrested for the Stilwell killing in Denver in May, 1882 (Doc spent the last two weeks of that month in jail while that issue was decided). Doc and Wyatt would meet again in June of 1882 in Gunnison, after Doc was released. There is controversy about whether or not any of the Earp vendetta posse slipped briefly back to the Tombstone area to kill Johnny Ringo on July 12-13, 1882.
The End
Holliday spent the rest of his brief life in Colorado. After a stay in Leadville, Colorado, he suffered from the effects of the high altitude, and his health and evidently his gambling skills began to deteriorate badly. In August, 1884, he shot Billy Allen, a man who was threatening him with a beating in the collection of a loan to Doc of just five dollars, which Doc didn't have the money to repay. According to his own court testimony, given while pleading self-defense, Doc was then down to just 122 pounds in weight. Allen recovered from his bullet wound, which was to the arm, and the jury ultimately found Doc not guilty.
In 1887, now prematurely gray and ailing badly, Doc made his way to a hotel (the Hotel Glenwood) near the hot springs of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, hoping to take advantage of the reputed curative power of the waters. However, the sulfurous fumes from the spring may have done his lungs more harm than good, and Holliday eventually died in his hotel room, after being bedridden for two months.
In the end, it was tuberculosis that got Doc Holliday, at the age of 36. Fifteen years after the doctors gave him only months to live, he died peacefully in his hotel bed
Dying, Holliday asked for a drink of whiskey, and his reputed last words were "This is funny." Perhaps he was looking at his bootless feet. No one ever thought that he would die with his boots off, or in bed
Doc Holliday's grave is in Glenwood Springs cemetery. There is dispute about whether he is actually buried in his marked grave, or even in the cemetery itself. He died in deep winter when the ground was frozen and was buried the same day in what was probably a temporary grave. This grave may not have been in the old cemetery, which was up a difficult road on the mountain. It is thus possible his body was never later relocated, but the truth is not known, since no exhumation has been attempted. If Doc is not in Glenwood Cemetery, he may be in somebody's back yard in modern Glenwood Springs city, at a lower altitude.
In 1887, now prematurely gray and ailing badly, Doc made his way to a hotel (the Hotel Glenwood) near the hot springs of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, hoping to take advantage of the reputed curative power of the waters. However, the sulfurous fumes from the spring may have done his lungs more harm than good, and Holliday eventually died in his hotel room, after being bedridden for two months.
In the end, it was tuberculosis that got Doc Holliday, at the age of 36. Fifteen years after the doctors gave him only months to live, he died peacefully in his hotel bed
Dying, Holliday asked for a drink of whiskey, and his reputed last words were "This is funny." Perhaps he was looking at his bootless feet. No one ever thought that he would die with his boots off, or in bed
Doc Holliday's grave is in Glenwood Springs cemetery. There is dispute about whether he is actually buried in his marked grave, or even in the cemetery itself. He died in deep winter when the ground was frozen and was buried the same day in what was probably a temporary grave. This grave may not have been in the old cemetery, which was up a difficult road on the mountain. It is thus possible his body was never later relocated, but the truth is not known, since no exhumation has been attempted. If Doc is not in Glenwood Cemetery, he may be in somebody's back yard in modern Glenwood Springs city, at a lower altitude.
Interesting Facts
Doc had cleft lip and palate it was fix when he was young and he never had a speech problem.
He used alachol to control his caugh an always had a caine
Only practice denity for 5 years
"Big Nose" Kate was a far different woman than most of the people in Tombstone realized. She had been born Mary Katherine Horony, in Budapest, Hungary on November 7, 1850. During her long life she was to use many last names: Elder, Melvin, Fisher, Holliday, Cummings and Howard. She inherited some property in 1931, she wrote to the Governor of Arizona, George W.P. Hunt, requesting admission to the "Arizona Pioneers Home". Being foreign born, she was not eligible but she claimed that she had been born in Davenport, Iowa. So Hunt gave her permission for admission to the home and she stayed there until her death on November 2, 1940.
There is a movie staring Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp! It is great and is a lot like the life’s of theses men at Tombstone. They really portray the characters like they really where.
He used alachol to control his caugh an always had a caine
Only practice denity for 5 years
"Big Nose" Kate was a far different woman than most of the people in Tombstone realized. She had been born Mary Katherine Horony, in Budapest, Hungary on November 7, 1850. During her long life she was to use many last names: Elder, Melvin, Fisher, Holliday, Cummings and Howard. She inherited some property in 1931, she wrote to the Governor of Arizona, George W.P. Hunt, requesting admission to the "Arizona Pioneers Home". Being foreign born, she was not eligible but she claimed that she had been born in Davenport, Iowa. So Hunt gave her permission for admission to the home and she stayed there until her death on November 2, 1940.
There is a movie staring Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp! It is great and is a lot like the life’s of theses men at Tombstone. They really portray the characters like they really where.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
