Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp

This week
First Witness, Spicer Hearing
Search for the real Doc Holliday
Writers Notebook

Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone
Excerpt from the Spicer Hearing
First Witness
Tuesday, November 1, 1881
Judge Spicer took the bench at nine am rapped his gavel and gestured for the prosecution to call their witness.
A young spare built man with gray eyes took the stand and in answer to the first question said, "My name is William Allen. I live in Tombstone."
The lanky district attorney said in a quiet voice, "Tell us if you know any of the men who were involved in the difficulty on the afternoon of October 26, 1881?"
"I knew all of them, at least on sight.”
District Attorney Price slowly paced in front of his witness, chewing on a yellow pencil. "When were you first made aware that any difficulty existed between any of these men?"
"Well, that morning, I heard there was some trouble between Isaac Clanton and Doc Holliday. I also heard from Henry Fry that Tom McLowry had been hit with a pistol, by Wyatt Earp."
Tom Fitch got to his feet and said, "I object, Your Honor, the witness is testifying to hearsay."
"Objection sustained." Spicer then admonished the witness, "Just tell them what you yourself saw or heard."
The lanky Price gave his witness a not to worry look before he continued. "When did you first see any of the participants on the day of the difficulty?"
"I first saw Frank McLowry, pretty near the Grand Hotel, as they were riding into town. Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton were with an old gentleman I'm not acquainted with."
"What was the time of day when you saw these men and what occurred at that time?"
"It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. Frank McLowry, Billy Clanton and the old man went inside the Grand Hotel."
“What did you do?”
"I followed them into the bar. They were about ready to have a drink, and they asked me to join them."
“Did you all take a drink?”
"No. I called Frank off to one side and asked him if he knew what was going on, that Wyatt Earp knocked Tom McLowry down with a gun, on --"
"I object to this line of hearsay and request to strike from the record," Tom Fitch said.
"Sustained. Court reporter, strike that last statement from your record," Spicer then glared at the prosecutor.
The district attorney shook off the rebuke and gently asked his witness, "Then what happened after your conversation with Frank McLowry?"
“Frank McLowry said, ‘We won’t drink.’ Those are the last words I ever heard him say. They went out the door, got on their horses and rode off. Just before that he said, ‘I will get the boy’s out-of-town.’”
Doc scribbled a note to bring up the point of Allen's recollection, two sets of Frank's last words?
"When did you next see them?" Price asked.
"I saw them from a distance, crossing Allen Street from the Dunbar stable and going toward the OK Corral, one of them was leading a horse. Ike Clanton and Tom McLowry had joined them at that time."
"After they crossed the street and passed from your sight, what did you do?"
"I walked down on Allen Street where I ran into Mr. Coleman."
“Did you say anything to Mr. Coleman?" The district attorney asked.
"Yes. I told him I did not want to see it, he said, ‘Come on lets go see it.’” The witness drew a deep breath. "Then we walked on through the OK Corral and up through the construction site, beside the Papago Cash Store."
"What did you see?"
"The Earp’s and Doc Holliday coming down the sidewalk. I fell in behind them and then I saw Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLowry and Johnny Behan, near Fly's building. I heard Behan tell the Earps not to go down to the Clanton’s.”
"What happened next?"
"When the Earp party got down to the Clantons, the Earp party said, 'You sons-a-bitches, you have been lookin' for a fight', and at that same time Virgil Earp said, 'Throw up your hands.' Tom McLowry threw his coat open and said, 'I ain't got no arms.' William Clanton said, 'I do not want to fight.' He held his hands out in front of him."
"Was Billy Clanton holding any weapons?"
"He had nothing in his hands when he held them out."
“When did the shooting begin?”
“Just as Billy Clanton said, ‘I don’t want to fight,’ and Tom McLowry threw open his coat and said, ‘I ain’t got no arms.’ the firing commenced.”
"Which of the two parties fired first?" the prosecutor prompted sharply.
“The Earp party,” Billy Allen quickly said.
“Could you determine which individual, from the Earp party fired first?”
“I think it was Doc Holliday. Their backs were to me. I was standin' behind them, but the smoke came from him.”
“What about the second shot?”
“I couldn’t tell who fired the second shot, they came in such quick succession.”
“Could you tell what kind of weapons, from their sound, were being fired?”
“I think the first was a pistol shot and the next was a double barrel shotgun, these two shots were from the Earp side before any other shots were fired.”
“Was Frank McLowry in possession of a gun?”
“He was carrying a gun. Yes I saw it.” Then Billy Allen squirmed and said, “He had a pistol on him.”
“When the firing commenced and became general, what did you see and what did you do?”
“When the first two shots were fired Thomas McLowry slapped his hands on his breast. I rushed in the other side of Fly’s building. I kept in between the buildings until the shooting was over.”
“When the shooting stopped, what did you do?”
“I went and picked Tom McLowry up and carried him in the house where he died.”
The district attorney paced and chewed on his pencil. “Did you see any of these men, Tom or Frank McLowry firing during the fight?”
“If the McLowry’s shot at all, it was after I got behind the building.”
“I have no further questions.” Price looked toward the defense table.” Cross examine?”
Judge Spicer interjected, “Hold it until after the noon break. Court’s in recess until one o’clock.”
Doc had listened through the morning session and concluded that the prosecution was laying the foundation that would eventually portray the cowboys as innocent victims.
(To be continued)

In Search of the Real Doc Holliday

Wyatt Earp said on more than one occasion that, ‘Doc Holliday was the most skillful gambler and the speediest, deadliest man with a six-gun I ever knew.’
Doc Holliday’s name is still magic among western aficionados, but even the most avid fans know little about the man. My first brush with the legend came when I worked the final episode of the PBS TV Series ‘Georgia’s Heritage.’ That Heritage segment got my attention, but through the years as I read more about Doc Holliday and looked at film I became convinced that the true legend was hidden beneath the veneer that dime store novels had drawn and Hollywood perpetuated.
My search for the real Doc Holliday started at the Los Angeles Central Library. Then I went on the road chasing leads and rumors from Tombstone to Texas, and Georgia to Philadelphia.
A historian in Doc’s hometown, Griffin, Georgia asked, 'Why would you want to write about a common gunslinger?'
I told him I thought there was more to Doc than the cardboard cutouts most of us were familiar with. And since I was in Griffin I planned to begin my research by going over old court records. I located old Court records dating back to the 1850's that provided me with information Doc’s biographers had never seen.
The County Clerks Office gave me critical information on land sales and deeds. Then it was on to newspaper archives, buildings and graveyards. The red brick office building on Solomon Street, willed to John Henry by his mother is still standing.
During my stay in Griffin I heard stories, from locals, about Doc’s romantic interest in his cousin Mattie Holliday. Mattie later became a nun and her name was changed to Sister Mary Melanie. The rumors included Mattie’s relationship with Margaret Mitchell and why the name Melanie was used as one of the central characters in Gone With the Wind.
The next stop on my research campaign was Atlanta. I spent days in the Atlanta Archives studying census and military records.
Then I drove across town to the Atlanta Historical Society, chasing a rumor that had to do with the kinship between Sister Mary Melanie and Margaret Mitchell.
I asked about Margaret Mitchell’s papers and was given a small file. One of the memos in that file was written in Margaret Mitchell’s own hand and it confirmed the rumor. Philip Fitzgerald was Mattie Holliday’s great uncle and Margaret Mitchell’s great grandfather. That made Margaret and Mattie third cousins.
The note from Margaret Mitchell made the genealogical connection to Mattie Holliday and provides ample reason for using her cousins’ name in Gone With the Wind.
Doc’s Dental College records were in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. I flew there and located the library curator, Mr. John Whittock. Once I explained what I was after, Mr. Whittock showed me all the papers they had on John Henry Holliday and graciously copied the files for me.
That short description gives you some idea, but only scratches the surface of my research into The Life and Times of John Henry Holliday. I made more trips to Tombstone and Texas and spent hours poring over ragged edged newspapers.
Now if you read some of the books listed below you’ll get an idea of what it takes to chase down a legend. And by the way, you’ll get some conflicting stories, but if you read enough you’ll be able to make up your own mind about what the facts are and what kind of character Doc Holliday really was. Then if you keep reading you'll cross paths with Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and a host of other western legends.

Writers Notebook:
Writers write best about what they know – sounds cliché, but it’s true. You might also add this bit, there’s a tinge of autobiography and a hint of bias in all of it.
Margaret Mitchell's ‘Gone With the Wind’ is an excellent example. Ms. Mitchell based her great American novels location in and around Jonesboro where her ancestors had lived, and a number of her characters were based on either relatives or people she knew.
Ernest Hemingway drew from a real life experience when he wrote ‘The Sun Also Rises.’ Donald Ogden Stewart, Oscar winning writer, and friend of Hemmingway's tells that, while in Spain together they had made it into American newspapers as, ‘bullfighting Americanos’ in Pamplona in 1924. Then when ‘The Sun Also Rises’ was published in 1926, Stewart was mystified by the praise lavished on it. It seemed to him only an accurate journalistic account of what had actually happened during their trip to Pamplona with a group of friends, including some British Royalty. (Brett Ashley in the book).

Tom's Books and Blogs
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
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