Doc Holliday
Doc Holliday, born John Henry Holliday in 1851, was a dentist turned gambler and gunfighter, known for his complex life during the American Old West. Initially trained as a dental surgeon, he faced challenges due to his battle with tuberculosis, which led him to leave dentistry for gambling in various frontier towns. His quick temper and proficiency with firearms contributed to a life marked by violence, including several fatal altercations that forced him to flee from law enforcement.
Holliday became notable for his close association with lawman Wyatt Earp, particularly during the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, where he played a pivotal role. Over time, his reputation as a fearless figure in the West grew, especially in popular culture through literature, films, and television series. Despite his tumultuous life, which included multiple arrests and a struggle for survival, Holliday's legacy endures as a symbol of the tumultuous nature of frontier life and the complexities of personal relationships in that era. His story resonates with themes of friendship, loyalty, and the quest for justice in a lawless time.
Doc Holliday
- Born: August 14, 1851
- Birthplace: Griffin, Georgia
- Died: November 8, 1887
- Place of death: Glenwood Springs, Colorado
American gambler and gunfighter
Major offenses: Assault and battery, murder
Active: January 2, 1875, to August 19, 1884
Locale: North-central Texas; southwestern Colorado; southeastern Arizona
Sentence: Jailed October, 1880; March, 1881; October to November, 1881; May, 1882
Early Life
John Henry Holliday (HAHL-ih-day) was the second child of Alice Jane and Henry Burroughs Holliday. John’s father was a pharmacist who became a wealthy planter and lawyer in Georgia. John’s beloved mother died of tuberculosis on September 16, 1866.
In 1870, Holliday attended dental school in Pennsylvania and earned the degree of doctor of dental surgery in March, 1872. Later in 1872, he started a dental practice in Atlanta. After developing tuberculosis, he moved to Dallas, Texas, where he practiced dentistry for a short time prior to taking up gambling. A man with a quick temper, “Doc” became very proficient with a gun and a knife.
Criminal Career
After killing a prominent citizen in Dallas in 1875, Holliday fled to Jacksboro, Texas, and worked as a faro dealer. In the summer of 1876, Holliday killed a U.S. soldier from nearby Fort Richardson. In order to avoid the law, Holliday headed for Denver, Colorado, where he dealt faro. After a fight with a prominent gambler in Denver, Holliday eventually wound up in Fort Griffin, Texas, where he met the love of his life, Kate Elder Haroney.
While in Fort Griffin, Holliday also met U.S. Marshall Wyatt Earp, who was in Texas tracking an outlaw. After stabbing a man over a gambling dispute in Fort Griffin, Holliday was jailed. Haroney helped him escape. The two headed to Dodge City, Kansas, where Holliday dealt faro at the Long Branch Saloon. While in Dodge City, Holliday saved Earp from a band of Texas ruffians. The two became lifelong friends.
Holliday killed gunfighter “Kid” Colton in 1879 in Colorado. He drifted to Tombstone, Arizona, in 1880. Earp and his brothers had also moved there. The Earps and Holliday became fierce enemies of the lawless group of cowboys in Tombstone, which led to the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. Holliday killed two men in the battle.
Legal Action and Outcome
In October, 1880, Holliday was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon for a brawl in the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone. In 1881, he was arrested for a stagecoach robbery but later released when witnesses testified that he was elsewhere when the stage was robbed. After the gun battle at the O.K. Corral, Holliday and the Earps were arrested and tried for murder. They were later freed when it was determined that they had acted within the law.
In May, 1882, Holliday was accused of murder, arrested, and jailed in Denver for the killing of Tombstone outlaw Curly Bill Brocius. The governor of Colorado refused to honor a request for extradition from Arizona, and Holliday was set free. In August, 1884, he was acquitted of shooting charges during a gunfight in Leadville, Colorado, since he had acted in self-defense.
Impact
Known as one of the most fearless men on the Western frontier, Doc Holliday became a close personal friend of Earp and the Earp brothers. Doc and the Earps helped clean up the lawless element in Tombstone, Arizona. Doc was a primary participant in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, one of the most famous gunfights in the history of the Old West. He killed two of the three men who were slain in the battle.
Earp claimed that Doc was the fastest six-gun that he ever saw. Beginning in the 1940’s, Holliday’s fame grew as a result of numerous Western novels and magazines, television Westerns, and at least eight films. He is also featured in computer games, particularly the “Fallout” series.
Bibliography
Brooks, L. T. The Last Gamble of Doc Holliday. Raleigh, N.C.: Pentland Press, 2004. Biography that investigates the truths and myths about Holliday’s life.
Pryor, Alton. Outlaws and Gunslingers: Tales of the West’s Most Notorious Outlaws. Roseville, Calif.: Stagecoach, 2001. Explores the lives of twenty-seven of the most famous gunfighters known in the Old West, giving a detailed synopsis of the life of Holliday.
Tanner, Karen Holliday. Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. Tanner reveals many intriguing insights into the life, times, and experiences of Holliday.