The Story Of Infamous Western Outlaw Doc Holiday Was Darker Than We Knew
The American West is famous for its notorious outlaws — you know, the guys who robbed banks, trains, and stagecoaches — as well as the bold lawmen who chased them down. But none were quite like Doc Holliday. He wasn’t as lawless as many others, but he did engage in his fair share of gunslinging, gambling, and troublemaking. His reputation endures thanks to the classic character in Tombstone, played by Val Kilmer. But in separating fact from fiction, historians found that there's a side to this legend that no movie or book has managed to capture.
Southern born and raised
With a name like 'Doc Holliday', how could he be anything other than a crooked doctor-turned-gunslinger in the wild wild West? But long before he held a stethoscope or a gun, Doc was born John Henry Holliday in Griffin, Georgia, on August 14, 1851. Life for the future gunfighter didn't have an easy beginning: he was born with a cleft palate, which required surgery and impacted his speech. His doting mother worked with him for countless hours on proper pronunciation. Eventually, Doc vanquished the impediment.
He had a surprisingly happy childhood
Aside from his speech troubles, Doc had a wonderful childhood. His father was a pharmacist and his mother was a dedicated caregiver and teacher, bestowing the importance of manners on him. He was also an excellent student, especially in math and science. The only thing more powerful than Doc's work ethic was his love for reading. Young Doc's upbringing was so normal, in fact, that no one would've looked at the studious young man and predicted he'd become one of the most fearsome lawbreakers in the West.
His first tragedy
So what first pushed John Henry towards becoming the infamous Doc Holliday? Sadly, the first tragedy in his life may have contributed to his future: his mom died in 1866 from tuberculosis. Doc threw himself into his studies to cope with his mother's death. His good grades got him into dentistry school at the University of Pennsylvania. And at barely 21 years old, Doc graduated in 1872 and began working as a dentist. He was on a path to make his mother proud, which meant finding the perfect place to open a dentistry practice.
Rowdy, lawless, and wild
When Doc was 22, he moved his practice to Dallas, Texas. At that point in time, Dallas was, like most of the South, still reeling from the disaster that was the Civil War. Rowdy, lawless, and yes, wild, Dallas was also the last stop on the railroad, making it the ideal place for young dentists in need of clientele. It was also the perfect place for Doc to take refuge, for more than one reason: he'd been involved in the shooting death of two men back in Georgia and had to flee town... and he'd also developed a painful, hacking cough, not unlike the one his mother had.
