BJ’s Tombstone History Discussion Forum

….. at least until about 1882 seem more related to him trying to find poker games without being arrested, jailed or fined.

If you follow Holliday’s travels prior to Tombstone , he has a long and repeated run in with town ordinances and losers.

Poker appears to be Holiday’s reason for moving around as often as he did as opposed to him looking for a better climate, although that appears to be the case after about 1882 as his medical condition deteriorated.

Additionally , The reason Holiday originally left his home in Georgia was some type of legal charges of him shooting at some African American kids swimming in his favorite waterhole, it had nothing to do with his early stage Tuberculosis.

What did you think? — Karen M, Tue Jul 12 21:38
I watched this a while ago and the three things that come to mind right now are the fact that I love that she travels to the locations Doc did to get a better sense of his life. I recall in particular... more
- Photo — Charlie, Thu Jul 14 13:55
  I heard a podcast with Mayor Dusty Escapule and he states that photo is his relative not Doc.
- - Not the same photograph — Mike Mihaljevich, Fri Jul 15 21:55
    The John Escapule photograph famously misidentified as Doc is not the same as either of the photographs Victoria discusses in the interview.
- - Don’t tell Ms Wilcox ;) (nm) — Karen M, Thu Jul 14 22:26
- Doc Holliday’s travels… — B.J., Wed Jul 13 14:44
- - Doc in Texas — Sarah Stegall, Sat Jul 23 11:27
    I’ve read that after failing to establish his dental practice in Dallas, Doc traveled to Jacksboro, TX, to play poker and got into trouble there. My great-grandmother lived near Jacksboro (in a town called... more
  - - Doc's Dentistry — B.J., Thu Aug 11 21:32
      appears more related to gaining income for the purpose of buying into poker games. Of course, this is nothing more than an educated speculation on my part.
- - To Clarify… — Karen M, Wed Jul 13 23:51
    I was referring to when he left his dental practice in Griffin Georgia after being diagnosed. That was when he reportedly headed west, at least in part, for “drier climes” as advised by his doctor. Which... more
  - - The incident at the river — Sarah Stegall, Sat Jul 23 11:21
      If the son of a white man prominent in the community killed a black kid right after the Civil War, he wouldn’t need to flee. He could reasonably expect to be acquitted—or not even charged—since the local... more
    - - “right after the Civil War” ??? — B.J., Sun Jul 24 22:08
        Sarah, have you ever heard of ‘temporal tunnel vision’ ? What you are describing did not occur until later, at least not until after the yankee occupation of Georgia ended.
    - - I wouldn't chance it during the reconstruction era (nm) — DL Staley, Sat Jul 23 21:37
      - Re: I wouldn't chance it during the reconstruction era (nm) — B.J., Sun Jul 24 21:49
        Very accurate summary. The yankee occupation army had a very tight grip on the former confederate states. Basically it was a martial law environment with southerners being subjected to a military... more
  - - Where are you Doc? — Eddie Lanham, Sat Jul 16 4:56
      Karen, At a young age, I became interested in Doc. We were both born in Griffin, and attended the same church. The preacher at the 1st Presbyterian told me that a famous man named John Henry Doc Holliday... more
    - - Thank you Eddie — Karen M, Thu Jul 21 22:30
        Apologies, I did not see your message until just now. I will keep an eye out for it, thanks for the heads up! So do you think Val Kilmer got the accent right? Or at least a feasible representation?... more
      - Val — Eddie Lanham, Fri Jul 22 4:24
        His accent was more Charleston South Carolina. Hollywood seems to take accents to the extreme.
        
        Re: Val — B.J., Thu Aug 11 21:02
        Years ago, one historian familiar with period local accents said that an accent could vary between northern and southern Georgia. I don't remember who posted that, but it was very interesting.

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