Professional gamblers in the lawless American West were ruthless, dangerous, courageous competitors; none more so than Doc Holliday. He left his mark in nearly every infamous frontier boom town of the 1870s and '80s.
John Henry Holliday was born in Griffin, Georgia in 1851. His father was a pharmacist who later became a wealthy planter and Confederate Major during the Civil War. John's mother died of tuberculosis when he was 15.
Young John attended Valdosta Institute where he received a classical education in social graces, literature, mathematics, and the Latin, Greek, and French languages. In 1870 he began two years of dental school.
Following graduation, the young man opened a dental office in Atlanta, GA. Soon afterwards, he learned he had terminal tuberculosis. When it became publicly known, his dental practice collapsed. Because it was thought drier, warmer climates could reduce the deterioration of his health, John Holliday moved to Dallas, TX and opened a dental office. He soon discovered he could make more as a gambler than he could as a dentist with TB.
Holliday understood that in order to survive and succeed as a professional gambler he needed to acquire the knowledge and skills of the trade. He had to learn all the tricks and moves in order to recognize them or employ them when necessary. By his own account, he spent endless hours practicing shuffles, cuts and dealing cards. Hours more were devoted to drawing his pistol or knife with confident, cool speed.
Gambling games operated in the wide-open cattle towns and mining camps of the West were rarely honest. Everyone cheated; the dealer as well as the players! It was commonly accepted that the aim was to get the chips, honestly or otherwise. However, anyone accused or caught cheating had to be prepared to defend his honor to the death.
Professional gamblers went well armed. Doc was comparatively lightly fortified with a pistol on his hip, one in his coat and a large, lethal knife hidden in his vest.
Holliday drank prodigiously to obliterate the agony of his illness.
Alcohol, a quick temper, and the fearless attitude of a doomed man led him into frequent confrontations. Consequently, he was always on the move.
In Jacksboro, Texas, an altercation with a player in a poker game caused Doc to pump several bullets into his critic. Unfortunately, the dead man was a soldier from nearby Fort Richardson. To avoid being hung, Holliday headed to Colorado, stopping in Pueblo, Leadville, Central City, Black Hawk, and Denver. On three occasions, all over gambling, Doc found it necessary to put three men out of his misery.
A local bully sat down in a poker game with Doc in Ft. Griffin, TX. To irritate Doc, the bully kept looking through the discards. Doc twice told the player it was against the rules and stop doing it. When he again examined the discards in the next hand, Doc scooped up the pot. As the bully reached for his holster, Doc instantly disemboweled him.
Arrested, Doc escaped jail and headed to Dodge City where he dealt Faro in the Long Branch Saloon. On one occasion a group of cattle drovers arrived in town and decided to take over a saloon.
Marshall Wyatt Earp soon arrived and started busting heads and arresting cowboys. When one of the Texans drew his gun and pointed it at the Marshall's back, Doc Holliday, dealing at a nearby table, yelled at Wyatt and shot the would-be bushwhacker. Having saved the lawman's life, the two became close, loyal friends.
Next, Wyatt, his brothers and Doc Holliday headed for Tombstone AZ, which had become a notorious haven for outlaws and lawlessness. Vigil Earp was the new town marshal. Wyatt bought a piece of the Oriental Saloon where he and Doc worked the gambling tables dealing Faro, Poker and Keno.
Ike Clanton and his brother Billy together with the McLaury brothers, Tom and Frank, were Tombstone toughs who engaged in robbing stagecoaches, cattle rustling and killing resented the Earps and the law 'n order they represented. From the beginning there were numerous incidents between the Earps and the outlaws.
The showdown came in October 1881 at the town's stables, the O.K. Corral. Virgil deputized his brothers Wyatt and Morgan as well as Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson. With the outlaws gathered at the corral, the lawmen went to take them in. Gun fire erupted and when the smoke cleared three outlaws were dead, only Ike Clanton escaped. Wyatt was the only lawman not wounded.
The confrontation did not end there however. A month later Virgil was ambushed and disabled for life as he walked to the Oriental Saloon. A few months after that Morgan Earp was shot and killed. Wyatt blamed Clanton's Together, Wyatt and Doc hunted down and killed the men they thought responsible.
Eventually, Earp and Holliday went their separate ways. Doc continued to frequent the saloons and gambling joints throughout the West. He engaged in his last gunfight in Leadville in 1884.
He was acquitted of all charges.
Doc Holliday, legendary gambler and gunslinger, said he almost lost his life nine times; four by hanging and five times he was shot in gunfights. Instead, he died in bed of TB in 1887 at the age of 36.
