John Henry Holliday, better known as Doc Holliday, was a legendary gambler and gunfighter famous for the gunfight at OK Corral, where he fought alongside his good friend, Wyatt Earp. He was a dentist but gained the reputation of being skilled with cards and quick on the trigger.
Doc Holliday’s Date of Birth and Age
Henry and Alice Holliday welcomed John Henry Holliday into the world on August 14, 1851, in Griffin, Georgia.
Doc Holliday’s Parents
His father participated in both the American Civil War and the Mexican-American War as a “Confederate.” He was of English and Scottish ancestry. Francisco was his adoptive brother.
His mother passed away from TB in Valdosta, Georgia, two years after his family relocated there in 1864. The same sickness also claimed the life of his sibling. The next year, his father wed Rachel Martin.
Doc Holliday’s Education
At the “Valdosta Institute,” he studied Latin and French vocabulary, history, and mathematics. Later, at the age of 20, he relocated to Philadelphia and finished his “Doctor of Dental Surgery” degree at the “Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery.” Before he could practice, he had to wait until he was 21.
Doc Holliday’s Wife
Big Nose Kate, also known as Mary Katherine Horony-Cummings, was the only lady that Holliday was said to have dated. She was a dance hall performer and occasional prostitute who Holliday thought was just as smart as he was.
They were secretly married and residing in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where Holliday practiced dentistry during the day and gambled at night. They often fought, and it sometimes became physical.
They often split up yet sometimes found a solution to their problems. He got into a battle with Horony while he was still in Tombstone, and Horony was later used by his opponents to sign a document linking him to a robbery and murder.
She then said that she had been pressured into signing the contract. The judge then dismissed the case. After the event, Holliday and Horony split up, and she departed the city.
Doc Holliday Career
To work as an assistant, he relocated to St. Louis, Missouri. He soon moved to live with his uncle in Atlanta. He joined Arthur C. Ford, where he began to train and fill in when he wasn’t there.
When he was 22, he got into a fight with several black kids about who got to use a swimming spot in the Withlacoochee River, and he’s said to have fired a shotgun at them. There is no proof of the incident, with some accounts claiming that he murdered one of the black people.
He was given a TB diagnosis, which had already claimed the lives of his mother and adopted brother. He relocated to Dallas, Texas, which was outside of which was the Wild West, on the recommendation to go to a warmer area.
He joined forces with Dr. John A. Seegar in Dallas, and the two of them soon became well-known as a dental team. They received several honors, including one for the greatest set of dental equipment and artificial teeth. After their shared practice came to an end in 1874, Holliday established his own in Dallas.
Due to frequent coughing fits brought on by illness, his practice declined, and he turned to gambling as an easier means of making money. He was previously charged with unlawful gambling and imprisoned for taking part in a shootout.
He made the decision to leave Dallas in 1875 and traveled on a train to Denver, where he worked as a faro dealer under the identity “Tom Mackey.” Soon after, he got into a fight with renowned gambler Bud Ryan, wounding him severely with a knife in the process.
He traveled further west after spending a year in Denver. He obtained employment as a card dealer in a Cheyenne saloon. He traveled to Deadwood during the gold rush and then reversed his route back to Denver while playing cards.
He continued on to Kansas and then to Breckenridge, Texas, where a gunshot wound left him gravely wounded. He relocated to Fort Griffin after his recovery, where he eventually met Mary Katherine Horony.
Holliday and Horony relocated to Dodge City in 1878 and established themselves there as Dr. and Mrs. John H. Holliday. He started a dentistry business, but the majority of his time was spent gambling.
He soon freed Wyatt Earp from a difficult situation. It is said that Doc Holliday pulled his gun on one of the cowboys and ordered them to put down their weapons when Wyatt was outnumbered by them at a bar. Since then, Doc and Wyatt have become a strong friendship.
Holliday had a reputation for being a magician with both cards and a firearm. Along with Horony, he relocated to Las Vegas where he continued to gamble and work as a dentist.
He left Dodge City because of the harsh winters and the gambling restrictions, despite the fact that the area’s hot springs were said to be beneficial for TB sufferers.
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF), and Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) were fighting over a right-of-way through the Royal Gorge, the only natural path through the Rockies, and he joined a team led by deputy US marshal Bat Masterson to stop the conflict. By means of the Boston Peace Treaty, the fight was over, and Holliday went back to Las Vegas to reunite with Horony.
When the train arrived in Las Vegas, the city was running with industry. Together with his business partner John Joshua Webb, Holliday constructed a bar and launched a gambling operation.
He traveled to Prescott with the Earps in 1879. He stayed behind in Prescott with Horony while the Earps traveled on to Tombstone because he thought the location was appropriate for gambling.
He visited Tombstone a year later and became involved in the local politics and murder. Virgil Earp served as Tombstone’s police commander and deputy US marshal in October 1881.
When he was constantly approached by a bunch of cowboys who were violating the law, he sent out Holliday as a backup. Holliday was responsible for the gang leaders being killed in the following gunfire and was determined to have acted legally.
After the murder, things in Tombstone became worse. Virgil Earp suffered severe injuries in an incident in 1881. In 1882, Morgan Earp died in a deadly ambush.
As a deputy marshal, Holliday continued in helping the Earps fight the cowboys in several gunfights, including the infamous one at Iron Springs.