Legends of the Wild West

Doc Holliday

About doc

holliday

• Holliday was an icon of the American West

• Fellow companion to Wyatt Earp

• Western legend due to his fight at O.K. Corral

• He was a gambler and gunslinger

• Holliday was also a dentist

Early Years

• Born in 1851 in Georgia

• Holliday excelled in school as a child• He poured his energy into math and science after his mother’s death in 1866

• He moved to Philadelphia to attend a dental school where he graduated in 1872

• He moved out west because it was believed Holliday got tuberculosis, and the drier air would slow the deadly disease• Tuberculosis was also the cause of death in his mother

Life out west

• DALLAS, TEXAS• Worked in Dentistry

• Avid drinker and gambler

• Reputation for playing cards and fighting

• Murder charges led him to move to Dodge City, Kansas

• Dodge City, Kansas• Hotspot for gunfighters

• Where he met associate and friend Wyatt Earp• Believed Earp saved Holliday’s life in a

gunfight so Holliday stood loyal to Earp

• Moved with Earp to Tombstone, Arizona

Wyatt Earp

• Born in Illinois in 1848

• Saloonkeeper, gambler, lawman, gunslinger

• Arrested many times throughout his life

• Became a lawman and gambler in Dodge City where he met Holliday

• Supposedly saved Holliday’s life in a gunfight

Shootout at the O.K. Corral

• Tombstone, Arizona

• October 26, 1881

• Arguably the most legendary gunfight ever

• Clanton-McLaury Gang vs Earp Brothers and Holliday

• Earp Brothers were the Marshalls of Tombstone but they were also power hungry

• Shootout lasted only 30 seconds

Aftermath

• Wyatt Earp shot Frank McLaury in the stomach

• Billy Clanton died as a result

• McLaury brothers ended up dead

• Virgil and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday were all injured

• Billy Claiborne and Ike Clanton ran for the hills

Death

• After splitting up with Earp, Holliday moved to Glenwood Springs, Colorado

• He died of tuberculosis on November 8, 1887

• “Few men have been better known to a certain class of sporting people, and few men of character had more friends or stronger companions.” –Denver Republican

Fun facts

• Some believe Holliday moved out west because of his health,others believe it’s because he got into legal trouble

• Margaret Mitchell, the author of “Gone With the Wind” is related to Doc Holliday

• Doc Holliday shot many people through his life, his goal was to aim for their shooting arm

• The movie “Tombstone” is about the shootout at O.K. Corral• Doc Holliday did not kill Johnny Ringo as depicted in the movie

• Doc’s mistress, “Big Nose” Kate ran away with Ringo for a time

references

• www.biography.com/personality/doc-holiday

• https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/doc-holliday-dies-of-tuberculosis

• https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/shootout-at-the-ok-corral

• https://visitglenwood.com/blog/2015/11/13-little-known-doc-holliday-facts/

• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wyatt-Earp