John "Doc" Holliday is one of the legendary characters of the Wild West. Everyone knew his name in the middle of the nineteenth century, and only a few risked calling him to a gunfight or trying to beat him at the card table.
At thirty-six years old, Doc went down in American history as an incredibly fast marksman, skilled poker player, and real desperado, not afraid of death.
He was expected to have a brilliant career in dentistry, but health problems forced him to give up the practice and spend his life in saloons, where his companions were cards, whiskey, and revolvers.
John's bright path in life will be discussed in the article.
The Beginning
John Henry Holliday was born in Griffin, Georgia, on August 14, 1851. He was the only native child in the family. His sister had died a few months before John was born. Also, the parents raised an adopted son Francisco.
Holliday's father fought in the Civil War on the side of the South and later worked as a doctor. His mother was a housewife and thoroughly involved in her son's upbringing.
John was born with a cleft palate. In the first months of his life, he underwent surgery by John Stiles Halliday, after whom the boy was named. In childhood, he spoke poorly, and he only got rid of this shortage thanks to his mother's efforts.
The guy was raised in the tradition of wealthy South families. From a young age, he spent his free time on horseback and constantly practiced shooting different weapons.
John got along well with his mother, but when he was fifteen, she died of tuberculosis. Francisco died of the same disease.
With the world of card games, young John introduced a slave Sophie Walton, who lived and worked in their family. She taught him to play poker, Faro, and other popular games.
Study and Dentist Career
John received a good education. He wrote well, was well-read, could keep any conversation, and knew French, Latin, and Greek.
After graduating high school, he enrolled in the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery and received his doctorate. The graduate was awarded his diploma six months before his twenty-first birthday. This was the minimum age for starting a medical practice, so John had to wait until he could work in the specialty.
He then moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he opened a dental office. His private practice flourished. Wanting to treat teeth with a talented young doctor was not a rebound. That's when they called him Doc Holiday.
But within a year, John had to leave the town. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis. The disease required a warm climate, and Holiday moved to the Southwest.
Change of Life Path
At first, John continued to work as a dentist, but every day, he became less interested in a doctor's career and more fascinated by the local saloons. He became addicted to alcohol and played poker for a long time.
But tuberculosis remained the main problem for him. The coughing attacks became more prolonged and uncontrollable, so Holiday was forced to leave the dental practice.
Nothing prevented him from concentrating on his card games. Gradually, he gained fame as a skilled player.
His deteriorating health made him short-tempered and irritable. He often got into fights and threw his fists at anyone who dared to accuse him of cheating. If John ever lost, he would draw a knife or a revolver and take money from his opponents, claiming he had been cheated.
Shootout at O. K. Corral
For several years Doc roamed the West, living by playing cards. One day he met a guy named Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp, with whom the hot-tempered John suddenly got along well. They played poker together, leaving no chance to rivals. Once, an opponent pointed a gun at Wyatt. John instantly drew his revolver and shot the bold man.
On October 26, 1881, an event was later portrayed in half a dozen feature films. In the city of Tombstone, at O. K. Corral, Doc and Wyatt Earp, with two brothers, staged a shootout with cowboys who traded robbery and cattle theft.
Virgil Earp, Wyatt's brother, was a law enforcement officer who could legally apprehend criminals. They found bandits and at first, suggested they leave the city peacefully. They refused.
History is silent about who fired first, but about thirty bullets were fired for the next half a minute. Only Wyatt and Virgil sustained minor injuries at Doc's company. The losses of their opponents were much more significant: three were killed, and the rest fled.
Relatives of the victims sued Halliday and Earp. They were arrested and charged with premeditated murder. Doc faced the threat of maximum punishment. He was said to have shot an unarmed Tom Maclaury at point-blank range. However, the judge found them all innocent due to a lack of conclusive evidence.
But friends rejoiced not for long. Soon Virgil was severely beaten in front of the saloon, leaving him crippled, and later unknown persons killed his brother Morgan. It was revenge for the cowboys, who died in the shootout.
Wyatt and John could not leave the killers unpunished, so they staged a real vendetta, which contemporaries remembered as The Earp Vendetta Ride. They shot several people, including several innocent people. Police issued arrest warrants for the friends, and they fled Arizona in a hurry.
Cards and Murders
Doc and Wyatt traveled together for a while. They went to Fort Griffin, Texas, where they played poker. There, John clashed at the table with a local sharper Ed Bailey. He was openly breaking the rules and not responding to comments, but Holiday managed to beat him.
John then provoked a scandal by refusing to show the defeated opponent the cards at the end of the last hand. The man drew his revolver, but Doc was prepared for this, and with a flash of his knife, he stabbed the assailant to death.
This was the last mess Halliday and Wyatt were in. Soon they parted ways.
Doc continued to travel across the country, making a living playing poker. His name was overgrown with legends, which he fueled with large winnings and merciless punishments over opponents who dared to accuse him of cheating.
He once shot two guys in Colorado for questioning his integrity. He is also credited with the murders of Charlie white, Johnny Ringo, Mike Gordon, and many other card players.
John was incredibly quick to draw his pistols, hit the target accurately from any position, and was equally skilled with his right and left hands, which gave him an added advantage in sudden skirmishes.
The stories of John's many "exploits" were passed from mouth to mouth, with many details unrelated to actual events. Wanting to strengthen his reputation as an unsurpassed GUNFIGHTER, Doc himself willingly talked about the defeated opponents, not hesitating to lie and fantasize.
John's last known altercation occurred at the Hyman saloon in Leadville. Doc lost, pawned jewelry, and even borrowed money from the bar's owner Billy Allen, acting as a servant of the law. Halliday did not want to repay the debt, and when Allen was going to get the money by force, he shot his attacker in the arm. John was detained and tried but found not guilty, believing his version of self-defense.
Doc's Last Days
Holliday was a vain man. He was afraid that he would be immediately forgotten after his death and wanted to leave something to remember him by. When tuberculosis reached a life-threatening stage, Doc built a saloon and named it after himself.
He chose Las Vegas as the location for his bar. Nearby, a railway was being constructed. John intended to open an institution with gambling tables and numerous girls, but he did not have time to implement the project.
He decided to go to Colorado and never came back. On November 8, 1887, he died at the Glenwood Hotel. He was thirty-six years old. Feeling close to death, John tried to send a message to relatives, but he did not have time to contact them.
Wyatt Earp did not learn of his death until two months later. In an article published in 1896, Wyatt wrote about Doc:
I knew him as a loyal friend and a good companion. He was a dentist whom the circumstances had made a gambler, a gentleman whose illness had made a vagabond, and a philosopher whose life had made a sarcastic wit. He was a tall, slender, blond man, nearly killed by consumption but simultaneously the most skilled gambler and the most nervous, quick, and deadly man with a revolver I had ever met.
An obituary was published in the Denver Republican:
Few people were better known in certain circles of gamblers, and few of his characters had more friends or influential pals. He represented a category of people gradually disappearing in the new West. He had a reputation as a crook, a thug, and a generally evil man, but he was very quiet, friendly, companionable, and exceptional.
History is silent on where exactly John Halliday's grave is. His body is known to rest at the Linwood Cemetery in Glenwood Springs. Local authorities erected a monument to him there.
Doc's Only Sweetheart
Of course, John had often had fleeting liaisons with various women while traveling around the country, but only with one lady had he had a relationship that he acknowledged. We are talking about Mary Katherine Horony, nicknamed Big Nose Kate.
She was originally from Hungary but had lived in the United States. She was born into a family of doctors and received a decent education. There are photographs of Kate appearing as a statuesque woman with curly hair.
Doc met her at Fort Griffin in 1877. Whether the couple legalized the relationship is unknown, but they were close until John's death.
Curious Facts about Doc Holiday
John Halliday was not a good man but an exciting and versatile man.
Here are a few facts that allow us to understand his character better.
- In his younger years, Doc preferred the Navy 1851 Colt that his uncle had given him as a child. Later, he did not part with the Colt Thunderer of 41 caliber and the clothed model Colt Lightening of 38 caliber.
- John rarely used guns, but when necessary – as in the O. K. Corral shootout – he handled them perfectly.
- According to the nurse, Doc's last words were, "This is funny."
- When asked if his conscience bothered him, John once said, "I coughed it up with my lungs a long time ago."
More than thirty actors, including Hollywood stars, played Doc in movies. Numerous books and documentaries are dedicated to him.
Conclusion
Perhaps, if John had not been stricken by illness, he would have lived the peaceful and respectable life of a successful dentist with extensive private practice. But fate decreed otherwise. Tuberculosis robbed him of his mother and took away his beloved job. He could not cope with this, and Doc went to the winds.
He managed to become one of the most famous characters in the history of the Wild West, but he was hardly happy.