Gunslinger, gambler, and occasional dentist, Doc Holliday
died on November 8, 1887 from tuberculosis. Though he was perhaps most famous
for his participation in the shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona,
John Henry "Doc" Holliday earned his reputation well before that
famous feud. Born in Georgia, Holliday was raised in the tradition of the
southern gentleman. He earned his nickname when he graduated from the Pennsylvania
College of Dental Surgery in 1872. However, shortly after embarking on a
respectable career as a dentist in Atlanta, he developed a bad cough. Doctors
diagnosed tuberculosis and advised a move to a more arid climate, so Holliday
moved his practice to Dallas, Texas.
By all accounts, Holliday was a competent dentist with a
successful practice. Unfortunately, card playing interested him more than dentistry,
and he earned a reputation as a skilled poker and faro player. In 1875, Dallas
police arrested Holliday for participating in a shootout. Thereafter, the once
upstanding doctor began drifting between the booming Wild West towns of Denver,
Cheyenne, Deadwood, and Dodge City, making his living at gambling halls. Holliday
was a good friend of Wyatt Earp, who believed that Holliday saved his life
during a fight with cowboys. For his part, Holliday stood by him during the
1881 shootout at the O.K. Corral and the bloody feud that followed. In 1882,
Holliday fled Arizona and returned to the life of a western drifter, gambler,
and gunslinger. By 1887, his hard living had caught up to him, forcing him to
seek treatment for his tuberculosis at a sanitarium in Glenwood Springs, Colorado
where he died in his bed at the age of 36.
Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for CrimeMagazine.com and is the author of Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949. The book can be purchased from Amazon through the following link:
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