Doc Holliday, The Legendary Gunslinging Dentist
The History Collection/Alamy Stock PhotoTuberculosis led Doc Holliday to seek out a dry climate — in the Wild West.
John Henry “Doc” Holliday was born on August 14, 1851, in Griffin, Georgia. He was the son of Henry Burroughs Holliday and Alice Jane McKey (sometimes spelled McKay). Despite being born with a cleft palate, which meant he needed some assistance with his speech, he did well in school.
When he was just 15 years old, though, his mother tragically died of tuberculosis. He was naturally devastated, and his father married another woman just three months later, making matters even worse.
Even in the midst of these unfortunate circumstances, though, Doc Holliday planned to carve out a respectable path in life. He attended the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, earning his degree two years later in 1872.
Shortly after beginning his dental practice, however, Holliday was diagnosed with tuberculosis — the same disease that had killed his mother. Hoping that a more arid environment would alleviate his condition, he set out for the West and settled in Dallas, Texas. He tried to establish a new dental practice there, but his persistent coughing turned off patients.
So, he did what any man would in his situation — he turned to gambling.
Buena Vista PicturesVal Kilmer portraying Doc Holliday in the 1993 movie Tombstone.
Holliday traveled from town to town across the frontier, including places like Denver, Cheyenne, and Deadwood. He met Wyatt Earp in 1877 in Fort Griffin, Texas, and the two became quick friends. Their lifelong bond was truly confirmed, however, when Holliday saved Earp from a potential ambush in Dodge City, Kansas, when Earp was the city marshal of the town.
That friendship eventually led both men to Tombstone, and the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, where Holliday had the opportunity to administer his own brand of justice alongside the Earp brothers. Fortunately, Holliday survived it, thanks to his gunfighting ability, for which he had gained some renown. He had also been deputized before the O.K. Corral Gunfight, thanks to the Earp brothers, to ensure he’d be acting within the law.
But shortly after the Tombstone shootout, Doc Holliday’s health began to deteriorate. His tuberculosis had caught up with him.
With the end quickly approaching, Doc Holliday sought relief in the hot springs of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. However, the springs did not cure his tuberculosis, and he succumbed to the disease on Nov. 8, 1887, at age 36.
His last words, as he lay dying in bed, were: “This is funny.”
