howeenterprise.com
Monday, August 15, 2016
Texas History Minute:
Dr. Ken Bridges The 1870s and 1880s on the western frontier were years filled with unforgettable characters who became legends. Tales of their exploits echoed across the empty plains into the American imagination. Doc Holliday became one of the most famous of these figures, and his journey into legend began in the Lone Star State. John Henry “Doc” Holliday was born in central Georgia in 1851. His father was a veteran of the Mexican War and the Civil War. He became an expert shot while a youngster. When he was a teenager, his mother and stepbrother both died from tuberculosis, a widespread and deadly lung infection that was often called the “white plague.” Holliday was an ambitious young man with a brilliant mind. He reportedly absorbed languages such as Greek, Latin, and French. In 1870, he enrolled at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, the most prestigious dental school in the country at the time, though few such schools were to be had. In just over a year, at the age of 20, he completed his doctorate. He soon established a dental practice in Georgia and was on his way to a quiet, respectable career when he also came down with tuberculosis. While the disease is easily curable today, it was a death sentence in the 1870s. The common belief at the time was that the warm, dry climates of the West could slow the deterioration of the lungs. So with little left to lose, Holliday moved to Texas. He established a successful dental practice in downtown Dallas in 1873. However, his coughing fits during examinations and news of his contagious illness frightened away many patients. As a result, the gambling he once enjoyed for recreation became an important source of income.
As Dallas leaders attempted to tame the wild frontier city, gambling became a crime. Wellknown gamblers like Holliday were targeted, and he was indicted in 1874 for illegal gambling. The situation grew even worse in 1875 when he got into a shootout with a Dallas bartender. While he was acquitted in the incident, Holliday realized his days in Dallas were numbered. That year, he left Dallas and headed north to Denison. He attempted to restart his dental career in the small community, but his increasing complications from tuberculosis made it difficult to stay in business. Within a few months, he left for Fort Griffin, northeast of modern-day Abilene. His Grayson County office was the last known time he had a regular dental practice. At Fort Griffin, Holliday began gambling full time and moving from place to place. For a time, he worked as a card dealer in Colorado. On a trip back to Fort Griffin, he met Wyatt Earp, who was then working as a Deputy U. S. Marshal in pursuit of a suspected train robber. The two became close friends and that loyalty itself became a legend. Holliday saved Earp’s life on several occasions and stood with him and his brothers at the notorious shoot-out at the O. K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, in 1881. Holliday found himself in several gunfights over the years but survived them all. He succumbed to his lingering illness at a sanitorium in Colorado in 1887. Holliday’s fame rose in the years after his death as tales of his exploits and the famed gunfight at the O. K. Corral spread and eventually found their way into the movies. While many variations on the story have appeared, from such actors as Victor Mature, Kirk Douglas, and Dennis Quaid, many depictions gained acclaim for the portrayal of the legendary figure who was as quick with a oneliner as he was with his guns. Val Kilmer’s performance as an unflappable and quick-witted Holliday in Tombstone (1993)
has by itself won a legion of fans. Arrested more than a dozen times and responsible for shooting an untold number of men, Holliday was never convicted of a crime. Each April, Denison celebrates the Doc Holliday Festival in honor of its one-time resident. Dr. Bridges is a Texas native, writer, and history professor. He can be reached at drkenbridges@gmail.com.
Page #10
