Guest Author - Vance Rowe

John Henry “Doc” Holliday suffered from and eventually died from pulmonary tuberculosis. He discovered that he had it while in his early twenties after graduating from dental school. His mother died from the same thing when he was fifteen years old. He left his home and dental practice in Georgia for the dryer heat of the west in hopes of prolonging his life. It was here that he would eventually met Wyatt Earp and then would eventually join Wyatt in the famous gunfight at the OK Corral.

Doc Holliday’s claim to fame was not as a dentist, but that of a gambler and gunfighter. His dental practice in Texas suffered because of his illness and his gambling. Although he was a very good dentist, he was a better gambler and is where the majority of his income came from. Along with playing poker, Doc Holliday also dealt games like Spanish monte and faro. He was an honest gambler for the most part as he was a mathematical whiz and this helped him when it came to percentages and counting cards. However, as most faro dealers were at the time, Doc Holliday may have been a little less than honest when he dealt, and, owned a pair of card trimming shears.

Doc Holliday did move around a lot due to his gambling interests and was also involved in a lot of armed confrontations. His un-armed confrontations were few because although he was tall at around 5’11” but he was lanky and sickly with a persistent TB cough. So, to protect himself, Doc always carried a knife, a pistol in a shoulder holster and a pistol on his waist. He had a reputation as a gunfighter but most of his encounters were self defense. Doc Holliday was never one to go and look for trouble. Wyatt Earp even said that Doc was one of the fastest and deadliest guns alive. Although he had the reputation as a cold blooded killer, the only documented deaths by Doc Holliday were the McLaury brothers. In fact it was one of the McLaury brothers that Doc spoke he immortal words, “You’re a daisy if you do” when the brother said to Holliday, “I’ve got you now.” Val Kilmer said this in the movie Tombstone when he portrayed Doc Holliday and historians said that this statement was accurate and that Doc Holliday did in fact say this.

Doc Holliday died from TB in a hotel in Glenwood Springs, Colorado on November 8, 1887. Although it was thought that Wyatt Earp was with him when he died, Earp didn’t even know about his death until months after. Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone With the Wind”, was Doc Holliday’s cousin by marriage and it is said that the character of Ashley Wilkes is based on Holliday.