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For other uses, see Doc Holliday (disambiguation).

John Henry "Doc" Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887) was an American dentist, gambler, and gunfighter of the American Old West frontier who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures 1851 ( MDCCCLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Year 1887 ( MDCCCLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Dentistry' is the "evaluation diagnosis prevention and/or treatment (nonsurgical surgical or related procedures of diseases disorders and/or conditions of the oral cavity Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp ( March 19, 1848 &ndash January 13, 1929) was an American farmer Teamster, sometime buffalo The Gunfight at the OK Corral was a gunfight that happened at about 3 p

Holliday's dental school graduation photo, age 20, 1872
Holliday's dental school graduation photo, age 20, 1872
Autographed photo of Holliday taken in 1879 in Prescott, Arizona
Autographed photo of Holliday taken in 1879 in Prescott, Arizona
Supposed photo of Holliday in Tombstone, AZ. 1882.
Supposed photo of Holliday in Tombstone, AZ. 1882.

Contents

Biography

Genealogy and education

"Doc" Holliday was born in Griffin, Georgia, to Henry Burroughs Holliday and Alice Jane Holliday (née McKey). Griffin is a city in Spalding County, Georgia, United States. [1] His father served in both the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South [2]

Holliday's mother died of tuberculosis on September 16, 1866, when he was 15 years old. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers Year 1866 ( MDCCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common [1] Three months later his father married Rachel Martin. Shortly after the marriage, the family moved to Valdosta, Georgia, where Holliday attended the Valdosta Institute. Valdosta is the County seat of Lowndes County Georgia, United States. There he received a strong classical secondary education in rhetoric, grammar, mathematics, history, and languages — principally Latin, but also French and some ancient Greek. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c [3]

In 1870, 19 year-old Holliday left home to begin dental school in Philadelphia. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə On March 1, 1872, he received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year The DDS degree referring to Doctor of Dental Surgery, denotes one of a few degrees that are awarded to dentists the others being Doctor of Dental Medicine ( DMD) The Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery was founded in 1856 in Philadelphia by the faculty of the short-lived Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery [1] Later that year he opened a dental office with Arthur C. Ford in Atlanta. [3]

Health

At birth he had a cleft palate and partly cleft lip. Cleft lip (cheiloschisis and cleft palate (palatoschisis which can also occur together as cleft lip and palate are variations of a type of clefting Congenital At two months of age, this defect was repaired surgically by Holliday's uncle, J. S. Holliday, M. D. , and a family cousin, the famous physician Crawford Long. Crawford Williamson Long ( November 1, 1815 &ndash June 16, 1878) was an American Physician and Pharmacist best known for The repair left no speech impediment though speech therapy was needed, which was conducted by his mother. [4] However, the repair is visible in Holliday's upper lip-line in the one authentic adult portrait-photograph which survives, taken on the occasion of his graduation from dental school. A more recent Holliday biographer, Gary L. Roberts, however, argues that it is unlikely that an infant as young as two months would have undergone cleft palate surgery in that era, as most such operations were postponed until the child was around two years old. He argues that if one had been performed on Holliday during his early infancy, it would have been recorded in local and national media and medical journals. Thus, he thinks it doubtful that Holliday had a cleft palate at all, and dismisses claims that a surgical scar is visible in the graduation photograph. This graduation portrait, taken at the age of 20, supports accounts that Holliday had ash-blond hair. In early adulthood he stood about 5 feet 10 inches (178 cm) tall and weighed about 160 pounds (70 kg). [3]

Shortly after beginning his dental practice, Holliday was diagnosed with tuberculosis (generally called "consumption" in that era). Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common It is possible Holliday contracted the disease from his mother, though no one would have thought this at the time as tuberculosis was not known to be contagious until 1882. He was given only a few months to live, but thought moving to the drier and warmer southwestern United States might reduce the deterioration of his health. The Southwestern area of the United States could be defined as the states west of the Mississippi River, with the qualification of a certain northern limit such as the 37 [1][3][5]

Early travels

In September 1873, he went to Dallas, Texas, where he opened a dental office at 56 Elm Street, about four blocks east of the site of today's Dealey Plaza. Dealey Plaza (ˈdiːli in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas ( U [6] He soon began gambling and realized this was a more profitable source of income. In Dallas, he was indicted, along with 12 others, for illegal gambling, on May 12, 1874. [6] He was arrested in Dallas in January 1875 after trading gunfire with a saloon-keeper, but no one was injured and he was found not guilty. [1] He moved his offices to Denison, Texas, and after being found guilty of, and fined for, "gaming" in Dallas, he decided to leave the state. Denison is a city in Grayson County, Texas, United States. The population was 22773 at the 2000 census but [3]

In the years that followed, Holliday had many more such disagreements, fueled by a hot temper and an attitude that death by gun or knife was better than by tuberculosis. The alcohol Holliday used to control his cough may also have contributed. Further, there was the practical matter that a professional gambler, working on his own at the edge of the law, had to be able to back up disputed points of play with at least a threat of force. Over time, Holliday continued traveling on the western mining frontier where gambling was most likely to be lucrative and legal. Holliday was in Denver, Cheyenne, and Deadwood (site of the gold rush in the Dakota Territory) in the fall of 1876. The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States Cheyenne are a Native American nation of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taa'e (more commonly A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers into the area of a dramatic discovery of commercial quantities of Gold. Dakota Territory was the name of an organized territory of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1889 It was possibly that winter, in Deadwood, that Holliday first heard of Wyatt Earp, who was there at the time. Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp ( March 19, 1848 &ndash January 13, 1929) was an American farmer Teamster, sometime buffalo

By 1877, Holliday was in Fort Griffin, Texas, where Wyatt Earp remembered first meeting him. Fort Griffin was a Cavalry Fort established in the late 1860s in the northern part of West Texas, specifically northwestern Shackelford County They were initially introduced through mutual friend John Shanssey. John Shanssey ( March 23, 1848 - 1919? was an American boxer, Gambler, saloon owner and Mayor of Yuma Arizona, most known The two began to form an unlikely friendship; Earp more even-tempered and controlled, Holliday more hot-headed and impulsive. This friendship was cemented in 1878 in Dodge City, Kansas, where both Earp and Holliday had traveled to make money gambling with the cowboys who drove cattle from Texas. For the 1939 Western movie, see Dodge City (1939 film. Dodge City is a City and County seat of Ford On the side, Holliday was still practicing dentistry from his rooms in Dodge City, as indicated in an 1878 Dodge newspaper advertisement (he promised money back for less than complete customer satisfaction), but this is the last known time he attempted practice. In an interview printed in a newspaper later in his life, he said that he only practiced dentistry "for about 5 years. "

Dedicated gambler, gunman reputation

An incident in September 1878 had Earp, at the time a deputy city marshal, surrounded by men who had "the drop" on him. Marshal (also sometimes spelled marshall in American English, but not in British English) is a word used in several official titles of various branches Holliday, who currently owned a bar in the town and was dealing faro (as he did throughout his life), left the bar coming from another angle to cover the group with a gun, either shot or threatened to shoot one of these men. Faro is a card game, a descendant of Basset. It enjoyed great popularity during the 18th century particularly in England and France, and in Earp afterward always credited Holliday with saving his life that day. Many other accounts of Holliday's involvement in gunfights, however, are sometimes exaggerated. He had several documented saloon altercations involving small shootings where he was accounted as fast as Wild Bill Hickok's gun, though he was drunk and sometimes missed entirely. James Butler Hickok ( May 27, 1837 &ndash August 2, 1876) better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a figure in the American Old

One documented instance happened when Holliday was employed during a railroad dispute. On July 19, 1879, Holliday and noted gunman John Joshua Webb were seated in a saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico when a former U.S. Army scout named Mike Gordon began yelling loudly at one of the saloon girls. Events 711 - Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by their king Roderic. Year 1879 ( MDCCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common John Joshua Webb ( February 14, 1847 - 1882 was a noted Lawman turned Gunfighter and Outlaw of the American Old West. Las Vegas is a city in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. Reconnaissance (also scouting) is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information When Gordon stormed from the saloon, Holliday followed him. Gordon produced his pistol and fired one shot, missing. Holliday immediately drew his gun and fired, killing Gordon. Holliday was placed on trial for the shooting but was acquitted, mostly based on the testimony of Webb. [7]

Tombstone, Arizona Territory

Main article: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Dodge was not a frontier town for long; by 1879 it had become too respectable for the kinds of people who had seen it through its early days. The Gunfight at the OK Corral was a gunfight that happened at about 3 p For many, it was time to move on to places not yet reached by the civilizing railroad, places money was being made. Holliday, by this time, was as well known for his gunfighter reputation as for his gambling, though the latter was his trade and the former simply a reputation. Through his friendship with Wyatt and the other Earp brothers, especially Morgan and Virgil, Holliday made his way to the silver-mining boom town of Tombstone, Arizona Territory, in September 1880. Morgan Seth Earp ( April 24, 1851 &ndash March 18, 1882) was the younger brother of Wyatt Earp, the famous gunfighter Virgil Walter Earp ( July 18, 1843 &ndash October 19, 1905) was one of the men involved in the Gunfight at the O Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then the Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona was an Organized territory of the United States that existed between 1863 and 1912 The Earps had been there since December 1879, some accounts state the Earps sent for Holliday when they realized the problems they faced in their feud with the Cowboy faction. In Tombstone, Holliday quickly became embroiled in the local politics and violence that led up to the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in October 1881. The Gunfight at the OK Corral was a gunfight that happened at about 3 p

The gunfight happened in the vacant lot and street immediately next to Fly's boarding house where Holliday had a room, the day after a late-night argument between Holliday and Ike Clanton. Joseph Isaac (Ike Clanton ( 1847 - June 1, 1887) was born in Callaway County Missouri, and grew up to be one of the pivotal players in the The Clantons and McLaurys collected in the lot before being confronted by the Earps, and Holliday likely thought they were there specifically to assassinate him.

Testimony from an eyewitness who saw the fight begin with a "nickle plated pistol" and a blast of unusual smoke suggests Holliday may have started the gunfight despite town marshal Virgil Earp's attempts to calmly disarm the cowboys. It is known Holliday carried Virgil's Coach Gun into the fight; he was given the weapon just before the fight by Earp, as Holliday was wearing a long coat which could conceal it. A coach gun is a Double-barrel shotgun, traditionally configured with 12 gauge barrels approximately 18" in length placed side by side (SxS Virgil Earp took Holliday's walking stick: by not going conspicuously armed, Virgil was seeking to avoid panic in the citizenry of Tombstone, and in the Clantons and McLaurys.

The strategy failed: while Virgil held up the cane, one witness saw a man, almost certainly Holliday, poke a Cowboy in the chest with the shotgun then step back. Shortly thereafter, Holliday used his weapon to kill Tom McLaury, the only man to sustain shotgun wounds — a fatal buckshot charge to the chest. This probably happened quite early in the fight, before Holliday fired a pistol, though scenarios in how the slight and tubercular Holliday held a pistol with one hand and a double-barreled shotgun in the other during the gunfight are speculated. Ike Clanton was never hit.

An inquest and arraignment hearing determined the gunfight was not a criminal act on the part of Holliday and the Earps. The situation in Tombstone soon grew worse when Virgil Earp was ambushed and permanently injured in December 1881, then Morgan Earp was ambushed and killed in March 1882. After Morgan's murder, the Earps, their families, and Holliday fled town. In Tucson, while Wyatt, Warren Earp, and Holliday were escorting the wounded Virgil Earp and his wife Allie to California, they prevented another ambush and this could have been the possible start of the vendetta against Morgan's killers. Tucson (ˈtuːsɒn is the seat of Pima County Arizona, United States, located 118 miles (188 km) southeast California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.

Earp Vendetta Ride

Main article: Earp Vendetta Ride

The first victim of the vendetta was Frank Stilwell, a former deputy of Johnny Behan's. The Earp Vendetta Ride was a three-week clash between personal enemies and law enforcement parties from different jurisdictions in the Arizona Territory, from March 20 Frank C Stilwell, sometimes misspelled as Stillwell (1856 -March 20th 1882 was a noted Outlaw John Harris Behan ( October 23, 1844 &ndash June 7, 1912) was for 21 months of a two-year term (February 1881 to November 1882 the Sheriff Stilwell was in Tucson to answer a stage-robbery charge but wound up dead on the tracks in the train yard near the Earps' train. What Stilwell was doing in the train yard has never been explained (he may have been waiting to pick up another man who was supposed to testify in his favor), but Wyatt Earp certainly thought Stilwell was there to do the Earps harm. In his biographies, Wyatt admitted to shooting Stilwell with a shotgun. However, Stilwell was found with two shotgun wounds and three bullet wounds. Holliday, who was with Wyatt that night said Stilwell and Ike Clanton were waiting in the train yard to assassinate Virgil Earp, is likely the second shooter. Holliday never directly acknowledged his role in Stilwell's killing or those that followed.

After the Earp families left for California and safety, Holliday, Wyatt, Wyatt's younger brother, Warren, and Wyatt's friends Sherman McMasters, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson, and Texas Jack Vermillion rode on a vendetta for three weeks, during which Curly Bill Brocius and at least two other men thought to be responsible for Morgan's death were killed. Warren Baxter Earp ( March 9, 1855 &ndash July 6, 1900) was the younger brother of Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp Sherman McMasters (1853 - 1892? was an outlaw turned lawman who would become one of the six men involved in the Earp vendetta ride. "Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson (c1852-c1887 was one of Wyatt Earp's possemen during his infamous "vendetta ride". John Wilson Vermillion (1842-1911 alias "Texas Jack" and later as "Shoot-Your-Eye-Out" Vermillion was a gunfighter of the Old West known for his participation William "Curly Bill" Brocius or Brocious (c 1845- March 24, 1882) was an American Old West Outlaw, gunman Eventually, with warrants out for six of the vendetta posse (including Holliday) in the Arizona Territory for the killing of Stilwell, the group moved to New Mexico, then Colorado, in mid-April 1882. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. Along that journey, while in New Mexico, Wyatt Earp and Holliday had a minor argument and parted ways, going separately to different parts of Colorado.

After the vendetta ride, neither Holliday nor any other member of the party ever returned to Arizona to live. In May 1882, Holliday was arrested in Denver for the Stilwell killing. Due to lack of evidence, Colorado refused to extradite him, although he spent the last two weeks of that month in jail while the issue was decided. He and Wyatt met again in June 1882 in Gunnison after he was released. The historic City of Gunnison is a Home Rule Municipality that is the County seat and the most populous city of Gunnison County, Colorado There is controversy regarding whether any of the Earp vendetta posse slipped briefly back to the Tombstone area to kill Johnny Ringo on July 13, 1882. John Peters Ringo ( May 3, 1850 – July 13, 1882) better known as Johnny Ringo, was a cowboy who became a Legend Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Year 1882 ( MDCCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Biographers of Ringo do not believe it is very likely. Several other known gunmen were also implicated in the death, to include "Buckskin" Frank Leslie, little known gunman Lou Cooley, and gambler Mike O'Rourke. "Buckskin" Frank Leslie ( March 23, 1848 ?-1930? was a western gunman, most known as the killer of Billy Claiborne, as well as Lou Cooley was a Cowboy, and alleged Gunfighter who took part in the Earp - Clanton feud in Tombstone AZ from 1880-1882 Mike O'Rourke (1862-1882 aka "Johnny O'Rourke" or "Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce" was a professional Gambler of the Old West, whose notoriety is mainly Some believe, however, that Ringo's death was in fact a suicide, as reported.

Final illness

Holliday spent the rest of his life in Colorado. After a stay in Leadville, he suffered from the effects of the high altitude; as a result of this and his increasing dependence on alcohol and laudanum, often taken by consumptives to ease their symptoms, his health, and evidently his gambling skills, began to deteriorate badly. Leadville is a Statutory City that is the County seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Laudanum (ˈlȯd-nəm or ˈlȯ-də-nəm also known as Opium Tincture or Tincture of Opium, is an Alcoholic herbal preparation

In 1887, prematurely gray and badly ailing, Holliday made his way to the Hotel Glenwood near the hot springs of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The City of Glenwood Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the County seat and the most populous city of Garfield County, Colorado He hoped to take advantage of the reputed curative power of the waters, but the sulfurous fumes from the spring may have done his lungs more harm than good. As he lay dying, Holliday allegedly asked for a drink of whiskey. Amused, he looked at his bootless feet as he died — no one ever thought that he would die in bed, with his boots off. His reputed last words were, "This is funny. The Last Words were an early punk band from Sydney, Australia. " Recent Holliday biographer Gary L. Roberts, however, considers it unlikely that Holliday, who had scarcely left his bed for two months, would have been able to speak coherently, if at all, on the day he died. Despite legend, Wyatt Earp was not present when Holliday died, and did not know of his death until months afterward. Though she later attested to attending him in his final days, it is also highly doubtful that Big Nose Kate was present at his death.

Holliday's grave stone sits in Linwood cemetery, which overlooks the city of Glenwood Springs. There is dispute about whether he is actually buried in his marked grave, or even in the cemetery itself. He died in 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.

Character

In an 1896 article, Wyatt Earp had this to say about Holliday: "Doc was a dentist whom necessity had made a gambler; a gentleman whom disease had made a frontier vagabond; a philosopher whom life had made a caustic wit; a long lean ash-blond fellow nearly dead with consumption, and at the same time the most skillful gambler and the nerviest, speediest, deadliest man with a gun that I ever knew. "[8]

In a newspaper interview, Holliday was once asked if his killings had ever gotten on his conscience. He is reported to have said "I coughed that out with my lungs, years ago. "

Big Nose Kate, his long-time companion, remembered Holliday's reaction after his role in the O. Mary Katherine Horony ( November 7 1850 – November 2 1940) better known as " Big Nose Kate " and also known by aliases K. Corral gunfight. She reported that Holliday came back to his room, sat on the bed, wept and said "that was awful — awful".

Virgil Earp, interviewed May 30, 1882, in The Arizona Daily Star (two months after Virgil had fled Tombstone after Morgan Earp's death), summed up Holliday:

"There was something very peculiar about Doc. Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Year 1882 ( MDCCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common He was gentlemanly, a good dentist, a friendly man and yet, outside of us boys, I don't think he had a friend in the Territory. Tales were told that he had murdered men in different parts of the country; that he had robbed and committed all manner of crimes, and yet, when persons were asked how they knew it, they could only admit it was hearsay, and that nothing of the kind could really be traced to Doc's account. He was a slender, sickly fellow, but whenever a stage was robbed or a row started, and help was needed, Doc was one of the first to saddle his horse and report for duty. "

"Record" of violence

Wide ranging historical accounts have usually supported the belief Holliday was extremely fast with a pistol, but his accuracy was less than perfect. In three of his four known pistol fights, he shot one opponent (Billy Allen) in the arm, one (Charles White) across the scalp, and missed one man (a saloon keeper named Charles Austin) entirely. In an early incident in Tombstone in 1880, shortly after he arrived in town, a drunken Holliday managed to shoot Oriental Saloon owner Milt Joyce in the hand, and his bartender Parker in the toe (neither was the man Holliday originally quarreled with). For this, Holliday was fined for assault and battery. With the exception of Mike Gordon in 1879, there are no contemporary newspaper or legal records to match the many unnamed men whom Holliday is credited with shooting to death in popular folklore; the same is true for the several tales of knifings credited to Holliday by early biographers. All these colorful stories may be viewed with skepticism.

Publicly, Holliday could be as fierce as was needed for a gambling man to earn respect. In Tombstone in January 1882, he told Johnny Ringo (as recorded by diarist Parsons) "All I want of you is ten paces out in the street. " He and Ringo were prevented from having the gunfight only by the Tombstone police (which did not include the Earps at the time), who arrested them both. Holliday's role in the deaths of Frank Stilwell and the other three men killed on the Earp vendetta ride remains uncertain, but he was present at the events. Holliday is probably the second shooter of Stilwell, he killed Tom McLaury, and either Holliday or Morgan Earp fired the second bullet that ended the life of Frank McLaury. Although Frank McLaury is sometimes erroneously stated to have been hit by three bullets (based on the next-day news accounts in Tombstone papers), at the coroner's inquest Frank was found to actually have been hit only in the stomach and in the neck under the ear; therefore either Holliday or Morgan missed Frank.

Biographer Karen Holliday Tanner states that of Holliday's 17 known and recorded arrests, only one (1879, Mike Gordon in New Mexico) was for murder. Actually, Tanner is incorrect, since Holliday was arrested and jailed for murder in connection with both the O. K. Corral fight, and later for the murder of Frank Stilwell. However, in neither case was Holliday successfully charged (the Spicer hearing was an indictment hearing, but it did not recommend indictment; any Stilwell indictment was quashed by Colorado's refusal to extradite). Of the other arrests, Holliday pled guilty to two gambling charges, one charge of carrying a deadly weapon in the city (in connection with the argument with Ringo), and one misdemeanor assault and battery charge (his shooting of Joyce and Parker). The others were all dismissed or returned as "not guilty. "

Whatever the facts, Doc seemed to gain a deadly reputation and was a feared man.

Mythology

Claims have been made (on very thin circumstantial evidence) that Holliday was involved in the August 1881 death of Old Man Clanton (Ike and Billy Clanton's father) and four other cowboys in a canyon 100 miles (160 km) from Tombstone, while the cowboys were driving cattle from Mexico. Newman Haynes Clanton (1816-1881 was a successful cattle rancher and the father of the four Clanton brothers of Tombstone, Arizona Territory including Billy However Clanton's death in the so-called Guadalupe Canyon Massacre could just as well have been (and is usually assumed to be) a revenge-killing by angry Mexican cattle-owners who had recently been the target of rustlers (perhaps not the same men they later killed). The Guadalupe Canyon Massacre was an incident that occurred in August 1881, in the Guadalupe Canyon area of Arizona, during which five men were killed during an Some have taken Holliday's use of a walking stick on the day of the O. K. Corral fight (which he traded Virgil for the shotgun), to be evidence that Holliday had been wounded, perhaps at the death of "Old Man" Clanton two months before. However, Holliday was known to use a walking stick as early as 1877, since in that year he was arrested for using it as a club on another gambler, in a fight. On that occasion in 1877 Holliday actually was wounded in the fight by gunfire, but there is no direct evidence that he was newly wounded in the fall of 1881. Actually the cane was typical; Holliday was physically frail through much of his adult life.

One of the better stories about Holliday might not have happened (and the tale has made it into at least one movie). According to the Stuart Lake biography of Wyatt Earp (Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal), Holliday got into a fight with another gambler (Ed Bailley) in Fort Griffin and knifed the other man to death as the man was drawing a gun on Holliday. Held by the law and targeted for lynching, Holliday was rescued from death by Big Nose Kate, who procured horses, set fire to a building as a diversion, and then drew a gun on the sheriff to allow Holliday's escape. Lynching in the United States is the practice in the 19th and 20th centuries of the humiliation and killing of people by mobs acting outside the law The problem with this story is that no record of any such killing (or Bailey, the man supposedly killed) exists in news or legal accounts of the day. Additionally, Big Nose Kate, at the end of her life in 1940 (after the Lake biography of Earp had appeared in 1931), explicitly denied that the story was true and laughed at the idea of herself holding a gun on a sheriff. (Kate's refusal to embellish or even claim a part in a good story which centers around her, makes her simultaneous report of the action at the O. K. Corral gunfight, which she did claim to see, considerably more credible).

Doc's cousin Melanie Holliday, who remained in correspondence with him after he moved west, became a nun as a young woman. In old age she was a revered figure among Georgia Catholics, and Margaret Mitchell acknowledged that she was the inspiration for the saintly wife Melanie Wilkes in Gone With the Wind. There is a legend that Melanie was in love with Doc and took her religious vows when he would not marry her, but this seems to be based on mere speculation.

Photo problems

There are many supposed photos of Holliday, most of which do not match each other. The one clearly visibile adult portrait-photo known to be authentic is the March 1872 Pennsylvania School of Dental Surgery graduation photo taken when Holliday was 20. This photo shows a light-haired man with light and slightly asymmetrical eyes. It matches well with the other known authentic photo, a poor-quality (but signed) standing photo of Holliday taken in Prescott, Arizona Territory, in 1879, the year before he went to Tombstone.

The 1879 standing photo shows Holliday had not changed a great deal in seven years, though he sports a mustache and perhaps also an imperial beard (triangular bit of hair left below the middle of the lower lip, combined with a mustache). In the authentic 1879 photo, Holliday is also wearing a tie with a diamond stickpin, which he was known to wear habitually and which was among his few possessions (minus the diamond) when he died. This stickpin is similar to the one Wyatt Earp was wearing in his own most well-known photo.

There are three photos most often printed (supposed) of Holliday, which were supposedly taken by C. S. Fly in Tombstone (but sometimes are said to be taken in Dallas). They clearly show the same man but in three different poses and slightly different dress. This man shows several differences with Holliday in the two authentic photos, and therefore may not be Holliday. The man in these three later photos has much darker hair (though this could have been dyed with hair treatments of the time, but this seems very unlikely as he was described by Wyatt Earp as having "ash-blond" hair), a square jaw, more closely set eyes, a lower hairline, and this man may have smaller ears. None of the three photos match each other exactly in certain details. For example, a cowlick and folded collar is present only in the oval inscribed photo, several different cravats are seen, and the shirt collar and vest change orientation between photos.

March 1872 age 20

Prescott, Arizona, 1879 age 27

Uncreased and lower-toned print

Creased photo of "Doc Holliday" with left side of upturned detachable shirt collar toward camera, no cowlick.

Most often reproduced "Doc Holliday" photo. Heavily retouched oval-inscribed portrait, with cowlick, folded down collar.

Photo of "Doc Holliday" with bowler (derby) hat and more open vest and coat. This is not a retouch or expanded field version of any of the photos above.

The last of the three later supposed photos of Holliday—in which the subject has a more open overcoat, a more open vest (allowing the bowtie cords to be seen), an upturned shirt collar, and is holding a bowler hat (derby hat) —exists as a print in the Cochise County Courthouse Museum in Tombstone. The bowler hat, also known as a derby (US or billycock, is a Hard Felt Hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for Edward Other sources for it are sought. It is evidently the same dark-haired man shown in the other two photos, but is yet another image (perhaps from the same photo session in which the upturned detachable shirt collar is worn, rather than the folded-down collar of the oval portrait).

Other, even more questionable photos exist as well.

Public Memorials

On March 20, 2005, the 122nd anniversary of the killing of Frank Stilwell by Wyatt Earp (most likely with Holliday as the second gunman) a life-sized statue of Holliday (on the left) and Earp (see photo:[9]) by the sculptor Dan Bates was dedicated[10] by the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum at the restored Historic Railroad Depot in Tucson, Arizona, at the approximate site of the shooting on the train platform. Tucson (ˈtuːsɒn is the seat of Pima County Arizona, United States, located 118 miles (188 km) southeast [11] For a time in the 1970s and 1980's, in his former hometown of Valdosta,Ga, there was a Roller Skating Rink known as Holliday Skate Palace, in honor of Doc Holliday.

The facial features on this statue of Holliday with Wyatt Earp are based on the set of supposed portrait photos and not on the two known authentic photos of him.

Popular culture

The very different personal characteristics of Holliday and Earp have provided contrast which has inspired historical interest. Holliday was nationally known during his life as a gunman, whereas Wyatt Earp and the gunfight at O. K. Corral became a part of folklore only following Stuart Lake's biography of Earp after Earp's death. As this fight has become one of the most famous moments in the American West, numerous Westerns have been made of it, and the Holliday character has been prominent in all of them. The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. Not all films that feature Doc Holliday, or a character based on him, are biographical in nature.

Actors who have played Holliday in name include:[12]

Songs

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Kansas Heritage genealogy
  2. ^ Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System of the National Parks Service.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Doc Holliday," The Outlaws
  4. ^ "Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait", Karen Holliday Tanner, University of Omaha Press, 1998, ISBN 0-8061-3036-9.
  5. ^ Ford County Historical Society, Dodge City, Kansas
  6. ^ a b DallasNews.com: Hidden History of Dallas
  7. ^ Legends of America - John Joshua Webb
  8. ^ Myers, John Myers. Doc Holliday. Boston: Little, Brown, 1955 (ISBN 0803257813), p. 207
  9. ^ Guenzler, Chris. Photo of "Doc" Holliday and Wyatt Earp Statue in Tucson, Arizona in "Amtraking to Tucson's Old Pueblo Trolley.". Retrieved on 2007-09-08. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz
  10. ^ Manser, Jamie. "Downtown Tucsonan: March 2005 Issue", Downtown Tucsonan, 2005-03. Retrieved on 2007-09-08. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz  
  11. ^ Downtown Tucson Partnership - Culture - History. Retrieved on 2007-09-08. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz
  12. ^ Doc Holliday characters at IMDB.com

Further reading

External links

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