John Henry (Doc) Holliday was born in Griffin, Georgia August 14, 1851. He grew up in Valdosta with his parents Henry B. Holliday and Alice Jane McKey.
He attended and graduated from the Philadelphia Dental School in 1872. Returning home to Georgia he found that he had tuberculosis and moved to Dallas, Texas in 1873, seeking a drier and healthier climate.
Gambling and shooting soon replaced dentistry and by 1877 he was in Fort Griffin west of Fort Worth. Here he met Big Nose Kate for the fist time. Some say that he also met Wyatt Earp here. His departure was abrupt and led 400 miles north to Dodge City.
Here he associated with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson during 1878-1879. By 1879 he and Kate were in Las Vegas, New Mexico, running a saloon and trading shots with Mike Gordon and Charlie White.
Soon he had departed for Prescott, Arizona, where his travels parallel- ed Wyatt and his brothers. Doc had a good run of luck gambling so he and Kate stayed until Sept. 1880 before moving on to Tombstone.
In Tombstone Doc associated with the Earps and other gamblers, which included some of the cow-boys. He had a famous stand-off with John Ringo, the cowboy outlaw/rustler.
On Oct. 26, 1881 when Ike Clanton & his gang staked out Holliday's boarding house, they were startled to see the Earp brothers and Doc coming down Fremont St., armed to the teeth. The famous Shootout may have been started with Doc's firing Virgil's shotgun. In thirty seconds Doc Holliday and the Earps had achieved immortality. Doc lived another five years, dying in Glenwood Springs, Colorado on Nov. 8, 1887. He is buried there in Linwood Cemetery.
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