Aug 3, 2019
Image: Doc Holliday - Library of Congress/Public Domain
It’s October 26, 1881, and the lawmen of Tombstone, Arizona, are walking into what will go down in history as one of the Wild West’s most notorious shootouts. Indeed, just 30 seconds later, three men will lie dead as the lawmen’s bloody feud with a band of outlaws reaches its dramatic climax. The names of various of the players in that infamous gunfight are remembered to this day. But out of all those who drew their guns at the O.K. Corral, Doc Holliday is among those who has spawned the most legends and myths.
After the American Civil War came to its end in 1865, the government of the United States began to focus on bringing its territories under control. In fact, the authorities in Washington would soon run much of the country. At this time, you see, the region west of the great Mississippi River was still comparatively wild and untamed.
So in the territories of Utah, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Dakota, Arizona, Colorado, California and New Mexico, a certain type of lawlessness still reigned. And far from the constraints of Washington, this is where the Wild West emerged. The region was therefore known for its gun battles, outlaw heroes and the general rowdy behavior of its people.
Yet the Wild West has had a huge impact on our perception of the historical United States – despite only spanning a period of around 30 years. Even today, in fact, names such as Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp are known across the world. So what was life really like on the American frontier, and how did Holliday become one of its biggest players?
John Henry Holliday was born in August 1851 and spent his childhood in Griffin – a prosperous cotton city in Georgia. He was the treasured son of Henry, a druggist, and Alice, a renowned Southern belle. His only sibling – a girl name Martha – had died the year before he was born. Over the years, then, the boy had developed a particularly close relationship with his mother.
As a child, you see, Holliday had a cleft palate and struggled with his speech. But fortunately for the young Doc, Alice was dedicated to helping her son. And thanks to corrective surgery and many hours of lessons, the boy seems to have suffered little from his condition. In fact, reports claim that Holliday was an excellent student who did well with his education.
But growing up, Holliday was never far from conflict – and his father fought in a series of battles. In fact, Henry became a major in the Civil War, although illness forced him to withdraw from the role in 1862. Yet while life on the Southern frontier was tough, Alice ensured that her son learned the etiquette and manners that would define him for the rest of his life.
In 1864 Holliday’s father grew fearful of the encroaching Union Army and moved his family to Valdosta on the border between Georgia and Florida. And there he became a prominent member of the local community. However, the family’s lives were shattered just two years later – when Alice passed away from tuberculosis.
Just 15 at the time, Holliday was understandably devastated by his mother’s death. So when Henry soon remarried a woman just eight years older than his son, the teenager apparently decided that it was time to move on. And in 1870 he traveled to Philadelphia to attend the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery.
Then two years later, Holliday graduated with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. Newly qualified, the young man subsequently relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, where he began practicing his trade. However, fate had a different hand in store for him – and soon Holliday learned that he was suffering from tuberculosis too.
According to reports, Holliday was also informed that a drier climate might benefit his condition. So he therefore made his way to Dallas in Texas – the gateway to the Wild West. And while there, he continued to practice dentistry. However, it wasn’t long before Holliday fell victim to the many temptations of the city.
Apparently, you see, Holliday discovered that he was a natural gambler. He consequently sought to create a persona that would serve him in this field. This evidently also involved practicing how to defend himself with weapons such as guns and knives. It worked too: Holliday soon earned a reputation as a tough opponent – both at the card table and in a fight.
From this point onwards, though, the facts about Holliday’s life become difficult to separate from the legends. Yet it’s believed that he met Wyatt Earp in 1877. Earp, in case you don’t already know, was the rogue lawman who became famous for his escapades in Arizona Territory. And together, the two men would make history in one of the most notorious shootouts of the Wild West.
According to legend, then, Holliday first met Earp when the latter was pursuing a train robber in Texas. And while in Fort Griffin, the lawman found himself seated with Holliday for a round of Faro, which was a popular card game at the time. Apparently, the dentist also gave Earp vital information that led to him capturing his target – and landing him a hefty reward.
Over time, of course, Holliday and Earp’s escapades have become enshrined in legend – despite a lack of historical evidence to support them. In one story in Dodge City in 1878, for example, Holliday and Earp allegedly faced up against more than 25 opponents. And the tale goes that, with Holliday’s help, Earp somehow pistol-whipped the ringleader and persuaded the others to drop their guns. From that point onwards, then, Earp is said to have credited Holliday with saving his life.
Holliday also later wound up in Tombstone, Arizona – a frontier town where Earp had been living since December 1879. The reasons why are a little obscure, though. According to some, you see, Earp had summoned his friend to Tombstone with news that the area needed a dentist. However, it seems just as likely that the lawman wanted to partner with a Faro dealer whom he could trust.
Whatever the reason for the move, though, Holliday arrived in Tombstone some time in 1880. And he then found himself in the midst of a pre-existing feud. At the time, in fact, an outlaw gang known as the Cochise County Cowboys was operating in the region – and Earp and his brothers Virgil and Morgan had been tasked with keeping the peace.
And while the Earp brothers fought to keep Tombstone and the cowboys under control, they also faced an unlikely opponent in the shape of Johnny Behan – the county sheriff. Apparently, Behan supported the outlaws and turned a blind eye to the Earps’ complaints. Behan and his cohorts were largely Confederate sympathizers, too, and viewed the lawmen as agents of an oppressive Republican regime.
Holliday then joined forces with his old friend Earp and soon found himself at odds with the local outlaws. Over the months, then, tensions between the two groups continued to escalate. And following a botched stagecoach robbery in March 1881, Behan allegedly persuaded Holliday’s drunken ex-lover to implicate him in the crime.
Yet although the accusations did not stick, the Cowboys’ vendetta against the Earps and Holliday grew. When a number of outlaws were killed in a gun battle on the Mexican border, for instance, suspicion immediately fell on the wayward lawmen. And in October 1881 the atmosphere in Tombstone had reportedly reached fever pitch.
On October 25, you see, Holliday and outlaw Ike Clanton were both drinking in the Alhambra Saloon. And after getting into a heated argument, Holliday supposedly challenged Clanton to a gunfight – only to find out that the other man was unarmed. But rather than let things go, Holliday allegedly taunted his opponent, telling him that he had recently killed his father.
While reports differ as to the events that followed next, most agree that later Holliday retired to bed – and Clanton continued drinking throughout the night. The next morning, then, Clanton supposedly collected his weapons and began wandering the streets looking for a fight with Holliday or one of the Earp brothers. The owner of the boarding house where Holliday was staying reportedly overheard Clanton’s threats and woke up their sleeping guest.
At the time, Holliday was sharing lodgings with Mary Katherine Horony – a Hungarian prostitute who had become his common-law wife. And when the couple were told of Clanton’s threats, the dentist is reported to have uttered a memorable line. He apparently said, “If God will let me live to get my clothes on, he will see me.”
Early that afternoon, though, the Earp brothers disarmed Clanton in the street and took him to the court. Yet while Clanton was incarcerated, other Cowboys began arriving in the town to support their fellow outlaw. And eventually word spread that they had gathered in a wagon lot adjacent to a local photo gallery.
Later still, five armed men were present in the wagon lot. These included the recently released Ike and his brother Billy Clanton as well as Frank and Tom McLaury – two more members of the Cowboys gang. They were also joined by Billy Claiborne, another outlaw. However, Claiborne fled before any fighting could begin.
Again, what happened next is a matter of some debate. But what we do know is that Holliday joined Earp, Virgil and Morgan to confront the five men – and soon the lot had erupted in a blaze of gunfire. Just half a minute later, though, their weapons fell silent. Yet the fighters had fired a staggering 30 bullets over the course of the short battle
Soon it also became apparent that the hail of gunfire had been short but bloody. In fact, Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers had been killed on the spot. Holliday had potentially played a big role in the shootout too – possibly even hitting each of the three dead men. And although he, Virgil and Morgan had been wounded, the lawmen emerged the clear victors in the battle.
The shootout would go down in history as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral – despite having taken place a few doors away from the livery that inspired its name. Even today, in fact, it is remembered as one of the most famous battles in the Wild West. And it has been depicted in any number of movies and television shows too.
Yet despite Holliday and the Earps’ victory in Tombstone, their conflict with the Cowboys was far from over. After all, an inevitable retaliatory attack in December 1881 left Virgil Earp crippled for life. And the following March, his brother Morgan was shot dead.
Later that same March, though, Holliday and Earp tracked down and killed Frank Stilwell – one of the men they believed responsible for Morgan’s death. And even with Stilwell gone, Earp continued to pursue a bloody vendetta against the Cowboys. But eventually, Holliday separated from his friend and moved to Glenwood Springs in Colorado.
There, Holliday hoped that the town’s famous sulfuric vapors might help his ailing health. Yet it was tuberculosis and not gunfire that would end his life. On November 8, 1888, for instance, it’s said that he awoke from a fortnight of delirium to request a glass of whiskey. And after swigging it down, he supposedly said, “This is funny.” Holliday then apparently took his last breath.
Yet after Holliday’s death, his legend only grew. His obituary in the Denver Republican read, “Few men have been better known to a certain class of sporting people, and few men of his character had more friends or stronger champions.” Wyatt Earp himself is said to have spoken admirably of his old friend too.
Although he sometimes drank three quarts of whiskey a day, he was the most skillful gambler and the nerviest, fastest, deadliest man with a six-gun I ever saw,” Earp is reported to have said. Yet although history has generally remembered Holliday as a man on the right side of the law, the truth seems a little less clear.
According to legend, you see, Holliday’s first brush with violence came back when he was a boy in Valdosta. Apparently, he and his friends asked a group of black youths to stop using their swimming hole. And when the group refused to leave, Holliday allegedly opened fire – although whether or not he killed any of them remains unknown.
Interestingly, this was just the first of many supposed incidents that would contribute to Holliday’s notorious reputation. In 1876, for example, he is said to have slit the throat of a gunman before he could fire a single shot – leaving his would-be assailant scarred for life. On another occasion, he allegedly cut a man open for breaking the rules at a Faro table.
Apparently, this last killing also landed Holliday in jail – and a lynch mob made up of the gambler’s friends then formed outside the prison. However, the story goes that his lover Kate created a distraction by setting a nearby barn alight. She then supposedly busted Holloway out, and the pair rode off into the sunset together.
Elsewhere, it’s said that Holliday shot dead an army scout for harassing a woman in his saloon. In fact, the dentist’s legendary gunfights seem to have raged across the Wild West – all the way from Wyoming to Texas. Some have even claimed that he killed as many as 16 men, though there is reportedly little historical evidence to support this.
In fact, the only death that can apparently be definitively attributed to Holliday is that of Tom McLaury – the outlaw who died at the O.K. Corral. But some historians believe that the dentist was also likely responsible for the murder of Ike Clanton’s father. Holliday is known to have wounded at least eight others too.
Of course, fact rarely gets in the way of a good story. Holliday has, after all, gone down in history as “Doc” – the “Deadly Dentist” who helped the Earp brothers uphold the law in the unruliest reaches of the Wild West. Yet it seems as if many of the legends surrounding him were cultivated during his lifetime – perhaps in an attempt to compensate for his frail physical appearance.
Today, though, Holliday is considered one of the most famous figures to have come out of the Wild West. His relationship with Wyatt Earp has served as a parable of loyalty and friendship over the years too. A statue depicting the pair stands in Tucson, Arizona, in fact, while the people of Griffin celebrate Doc Holliday Days every year.
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