The World of Doc Holliday: a book review for the Georgia Writers Museum

A month or so ago, I returned to my office one afternoon to find a book about Doc Holliday on my desk with a note from Chip Bell requesting I read the text and write a short review of it for the Georgia Writers Museum. I suppose I was chosen for the task because of my excessively long career as a lawman. Some believe I have been around so long that I probably knew Doc Holliday personally.

The book is a biography of sorts about the famous--or infamous--John Henry Holliday.

Most Americans know little more about the man beyond he was with Wyatt Earp at the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Az., and most who know a little Georgia history know not much more, other than he was a dentist from Griffin who somehow ended up in that famous shootout. In an unconventional fashion, the author traces Holliday’s life along the tracks of the railroads as they developed across the western expanse of our country.

As towns developed along the rail routes, Doc takes the train, going from one community to another to engage in his professions, those being dentistry, and more often, gambling.

The pages reveal a complex, educated man who suffered from what is now known as tuberculosis, accompanied by an apparent excessive consumption of alcohol throughout most of his adult life.

We also find that Doc may have not actually gone west for his health. His departure from Georgia could have been a result of fleeing from a reckless criminal act, but his exodus also could have had its origin in a tabooed romance. Regardless, Doc was well known to be an amiable gentleman, but the other side of that friendly personality was a man of solid conviction who would stand his ground without a scintilla of fear.

Those who challenged that side of Doc usually ended up on the wrong side of his sidearm, either wounded or dispatched to the beyond. I found the author did a great job collecting the provenance to ensure the accuracy of Holliday’s exploits.

This was best illustrated in the revelation that Doc wore a “Colt Lightning.” That handgun, being one of the first truly mass-produced double-action revolvers, was the state-of-the-art weapon in sidearms at that time. His choice of a shotgun as his first weapon at the O.K. Corral further reveals a professional shootist.

I have professionally worn one or more handguns every day for the last 48 years, but when I had reason to believe there was a propensity for me to be a participant in a gunfight, I was usually holding a 12-gauge shotgun in my hands before my appearance at the event.

I won’t say much more so as not to disappoint the future reader, but I will close by saying that Ms Wilcox has crafted a fine text that anyone who has an interest in American history will find most interesting, and any son or daughter of the south will enjoy immensely.

-Contributed by Sheriff Howard Sills