The Mysteries of John Henry “Doc” Holliday

Posted: February 13, 2023 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Historical Inspiration, research, Western | Tags: Colorado, Doc Holliday, Glenwood Springs, history, Kaye Lynne Booth, Old West, Writing to be Read | Leave a comment

**Faro Table Display at the Doc Holliday Museum in Glenwood Springs, Colorado**

Doc Holliday – The Man

John Henry Holliday, was a man of many talents. Born and raised in Georgia, he practiced dentistry, earning him the handle of “Doc”. He contracted tuberculosis while caring for his ailing mother before her death, and eventually had to give up his practice, as no one wanted to let “a lunger” work on their mouth for fear of contracting the disease. He came west, trying to take up dentistry, but supplementing his income with gambling, often dealing cards at the local faro tables. He was a heavy smoker, and a heavy drinker, with a hot temper and considerable skill with a gun, earning him a reputation as a notorious outlaw andl killer, as well.

He left his mark in frontier towns such as Dodge, Kansas; Tombstone Arizona; and Leadville, Colorado, but he spent his final days in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Doc Holliday’s Final Days

John Henry Holliday traveled to Glenwood Springs from Leadville, where he had resided for the previous year and a half, to see if the mineral baths, which at that time were scattered up and down the canyon, could improve on his failing health, as he struggled with tuberculosis, which he’d contracted while caring for his ailing mother, who died of the same disease.

Holliday worked at one of the saloons in town as a faro dealer for a short time, probably about a month, following his arrival in Glenwood Springs, but he was soon too ill to keep the job. He did a few odd jobs to pay the rent on his room, but was eventually too sick to climb the stairs to his second story lodgings at the Hotel Glenwood, (which burnt in 1945), so thereafter was confined to bed. The photo below is believed by some to be Doc in his final days at the Hotel Glenwood. It is displayed in the Doc Holliday Museum, in the basement of Bullock’s western store, which now sits where the hotel was in 1887.

**Photo of unknown man – Doc Holliday Museum, Glenwood Springs, Colorado**

Too sick to earn a wage, Doc may have found himself on the street were it not for his friendship with Walter Deveroux, one of the town’s leading citizens, who would later build the hot springs pool. Deveroux stood by Doc in his last days, bringing nourishment when he could no longer leave his second story room, and contacted Doc’s long time companion, Kate Elder, (Mary Katherine Harony-Cummings), also known as Big Nose Kate, requesting that she come to Glenwood Springs and help to care for the ailing Doc. (The same Big Nose Kate who had traveled with Doc for several years and had saved him from a mob in Fort Griffin, Kansas, ten years earlier, in 1877).

Doc’s Final Resting Place

There is some question about Doc’s final resting place. According to signage at the beginning of the trailhead for the Linwood Cemetary, the organization of the hillside cemetery, which requires a steep walk up the trailhead to reach, was rather haphazard to begin with, and graves were placed wherever a spot could be found. Then heavy rains came along and washed the cemetery and many of the graves and caskets down the hillside, which then had to be re-interred. It is said that it was such a mess that no one could tell who was who, and so graves were mismarked and some headstones may not actually have anything lying beneath them.

Others claim that he was buried in the pauper’s cemetery which lies above the main cemetery, Potter’s Field, and still others claim his body was shipped back to Georgia, where his family buried him in an unmarked grave. Any of these stories could be true: Doc died penniless, so may have been buried in an unmarked grave in Potter’s Field; or his friends in Glenwood Springs, who assisted him during his last days could have paid for his burial; or his family could have paid to have his remains shipped back to Georgia. Vandalism may have caused these various claims to spring up as efforts in misdirection, and only those present in Glenwood Springs at the time would know which is true, and they aren’t telling.

There have been three different headstones for Doc Holiday’s grave in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The one above is supposedly the original grave marker, which had to be removed due to vandals. It can be found today on the floor of Bullock’s western store, where Doc spent his last days in one of the rooms above. Below is the headstone which is currently found in the Linwood cemetery. In the hillside cemetery the current headstone is protected from vandalism by a barred fence which look a little like a jail cell. Doc was never a friend of the law, so perhaps this is a fitting end for the notorious gambler.

Doc may have died penniless, but he was wealthy in friendships. Kate did come to care for him, gathering firewood to sell from the nearby hills, to help to pay his expenses, and caring for him when he no longer had the strength to care for himself. It’s not every man who had friends of such devotion. Kate arranged to send Doc’s dental equipment and other belongings back east to his family members, although they were pillaged before they arrived at their destination. It says a lot for Doc’s character that he had loyal friends like Kate and Deveroux.

John Henry Holliday died in Glenwood Springs on November 8, 1887 at the age of 36.

Sources Cited

Not only did the mineral baths not improve his health, they most likely exacerbated it, with the moist air surrounding the pools, and he died less than two months later, penniless. In the Doc Holliday Museum, located in the basement of Bullock’s Store, they display the picture below, surmising that it might be Doc in his final days, taken in his second story room in the Hotel Glenwood above, which was the although they do not state this as fact.

Carla Jean Whitley (3/10/2017) To Doc From Kate – But Who Was Kate? Post Independent. Retrieved from https://www.postindependent.com/news/local/to-doc-from-kate/

Maggie Van Ostrand (2017) Katie Elder a.k.a. Big Nose Kate, Her True Story. Goose Flats Graphics & Publishing. Retrieved from Southern Arizona Guide: https://southernarizonaguide.com/katie-elder-her-true-story-by-maggie-van-ostrand/

Joseph A. Williams. The Real Story of Doc Holliday and Big Nose Kate. Old West. Retrieved from https://www.oldwest.org/doc-holliday-big-nose-kate/

Big Nose Kate – Doc Holliday’s Sidekick. Legends of America. Retrieved from https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-bignosekate/

(2/28/2022). Couples with History: Glewood Springs Loves Stories. Glenwood Springs Blog. Retrieved from https://visitglenwood.com/blog/2022/02/couples-with-history-glenwood-springs-love-stories/

Doc Holliday in Glenwood Springs. Glenwood Springs blog. https://visitglenwood.com/history/doc-holliday-in-glenwood-springs/

The True Story of Katie Elder. Notes from the Frontier. Retrieved from https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/the-true-story-of-katie-elder

Doc Holliday: A High Roller Brought Low. Hotel Colorado blog. Retrieved from https://www.hotelcolorado.com/blog/doc-holliday-a-high-roller-brought-low

Death Spot of Doc Holliday. Roadside America. Retrieved from https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/35312

Patrick McGuire (1/24/2022) Where is Doc Holiday Buried? Colorado Uncovered. Retrieved from https://www.uncovercolorado.com/doc-holliday-grave-location/

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For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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A Visit to the haunted Outlaws & Lawmen Jail Museum

Posted: January 23, 2023 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Ghost Stories, Paranormal, research, Writing | Tags: Cripple Creek, Ghost Stories, Haunted Places, Kaye Lynne Booth, Outlaws & Lawmen Jail Museum, Writing to be Read | 7 Comments

Reported Hauntings

It’s been reported that both jailers and inmates roam the halls of the building that served as the Teller County Jail from 1910 to 1991, and is now The Outlaws & Lawmen Jail Museum in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Guards have been heard walking the halls and staircase of the two-story house of incarceration, folks have experienced cold spots, seen dark masses, and heard heavy breathing, and even a possible sighting of an actual apparition have been reported. Of course, I had to pay a visit to see for myself this historic haunted location.

The History

The building has an interesting history. Originally, the Teller County Jail, used to house to house those awaiting trail in the nearby courthouse, serving also as a hold-over for hardcore felons and murderers waiting to be shipped to the prison in Wyoming to serve out their time, and a stp-over for criminally insane prisoners on their way to the State Hospital in nearby Canon City. In 1991, a new jail was erected in Divide, Colorado and the building was retired, now serving as museum housing a plethora of the history of this Colorado mining town.

The Structure

The women were housed on the second floor of the brick building, with a female jailer who stayed on premises to watch over her charges, who were housed in small rooms furnished with wooden bunks. There have been claims of feeling and seeing the female jailor, Rosie’s, apparition in her room at the top of the stairs. And someone claimed that she ‘communicated’ to them that she was still watching over her charges, although I could find no account of the method of communication from beyond that was used.

The men’s cellblock was seperated from the recieving area in the front of the building by a steel cell block door, and the cellblock itself was fashioned from a ship’s interior; a two story metal framework housing 14 cells, 61/2 feet by 9 feet, 10 on the lower level and four on the upper, which each housed 4 to 6 inmates on hammocks and a single chamber pot, until such treatment of prisoners was deamed inhumane and double bunks were installed. The whole cellblock is situated in the middle of a spacious hall with large windows to allow sunlight into the gigantic steel cage which is cold and dark. Bars on the outer walls allowed observation of inmate activities, and the cell doors open into a corrider that runs through the lower block.

Dark shadowed masses have been reported near the two cells at the far end of the first floor cell block and the steel door seperating the cellblock area from the reception area has been said to fly open of its own accord. Footsteps going up the stairs and back down, as if a guard was still on duty and making his rounds have also been reported. And the apparition of a night jailer has been seen, trying to get in, although he disappeared as soon as the caaretaker opened the door.

The catwalk on the upper level of the cellblock had only a thin iron pipe for a railing, and at least one man fell, or was pushed, to his death. One might expect there to be more such occurances in a cellblock housing the wild and rowdy occupants of the mining town along side hardcore murderers and the criminally insane. It is near that spot, that cold spots and heavy breathing have been reported.

My Experience

The solitary confinement cell is located at the far end of the upper level. This was the only place where I sensed anything strange. I stepped inside the solitary cell, which is four steel walls and a small bench, with only a narrow doorway through which to enter, and unlike the regular cells with barred doors, this one is solid metal, allowing no light to penetrate into the cell when closed. In the photo below we see the light coming in from the open door from the catwalk.

Once inside, I immediately felt an oppressiveness and anxiety and became cold; a feeling that the door would swing closed and an urgent need to get out coming over me with force. Even with the door open, there was very little light in this cell, and I could only imagine how awful it would feel to be locked in utter darkness for hours or perhaps days at a time. But the feeling I had in that cell was more than just the expected claustraphobia. It was a feeling as if someone were there, standing right outside, ready to slam the solid metal door shut.

Sources Cited:

Linda Wommack (12/29/2022) Cripple Creek’s Outlaws and Lawmen Jail Museum Puts Visitors Behind Bars. HistoryNet Retrieved from https://www.historynet.com/cripple-creeks-outlaws-and-lawmen-jail-museum-puts-visitors-behind-bars/.

Amber. Outlaws and Lawmen Jail Museum. Denver Terrors. Retrieved from https://denverterrors.com/outlaws-and-lawmen-jail-museum/

Seth Boster (10/21/2019) Eight Haunted Spots in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Out There Colorado. Retrieved from https://www.outtherecolorado.com/adventures/8-haunted-spots-in-cripple-creek-colorado/article_f0819728-13f3-59b7-a5e2-6506ebaea72a.html

Cripple Creek Jail. HauntedHouses.com Retrieved from http://hauntedhouses.com/colorado/cripple-creek-jail/

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Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show and Images of the Western Frontier

Posted: September 13, 2021 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Nonfiction, research, Western | Tags: Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, Dime Novels, Kaye Lynne Booth, Wild West, Writing to be Read | Leave a comment

Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show captured the minds and imaginations of easterners and westerners alike. His show was “the most successful touring show of all times.” (Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Entertainment Holdings), rivaling P.T. Barnum’s Circus at the time (Johns). Many have said that, “Cody did not merely represent the west, but he became the west, in his own mind and in the minds of others.” (Johns) This seems to be true, as his legend lived on in early twentieth century literature. Cody’s exaggerated and theatric portrayals of scenes from the west became the west in the minds of Americans across the nation. They are the images and ideas that “shaped and reflect our history.” (Johns)

The Wild West Show alone could not account for the rapid rise of the mythological west that came to form in the minds of Americans, particularly easterners. The eastern public had “an insatiable appetite…for stories of the west” that was recognized by Cody and author Printiss Ingram who wrote a dime novel series of Buffalo Bill’s adventures in the wild west, and together, they developed a stage version of the already popular Buffalo Bill myth. When Custer was defeated at Little Big Horn, Cody ended his New York Stage performance with the declaration that he would take a scalp in Custer’s honor. Less than a month later, the rumors flew with the claim that Cody had taken the scalp of Yellow Hand to the Fifth Calvary and myth blossomed into legend. (Johns) His performances portrayed scenes of wagon trains crossing the plains, settlers defending their homesteads, buffalo hunts and Indian battles as events of everyday life in the west, creating a romantic image of adventure and excitement for the public. (Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and Exhibition) In a west that was rapidly changing, many of Cody’s promotions depicted a west that was already dead for the most part, with most Native Americans having been confined to reservations, the Alamo pushing Mexicans back, and the buffalo were all but gone. (Johns)

Presenting himself as the best representative of the Wild West, Cody’s performances emphasized the belief of the Native Americans as savages already held by many, reinforcing stereotypes of the native tribes. To his credit, Cody did promote the Native American as, “The Former Foe–Present Friend, the American” (Johns) and the Sioux warriors that were members of his cast were given status with places in “his ‘Congress of Rough Riders,’ a contingent that represented the finest horsemen in the world.” (Johns), but his portrayals of the American Indian still emphasized the stereotype of the red savage. His show presented the American Cowboy as the real article, and although Vaqueros, (Mexican cowboys after which the American version was fashioned), were a part of the show, they were portrayed more as un-American cowboy wanna-bes. The image of the independent, savvy, confident American cowboy that Cody portrayed was and still remains an American icon. Pheobe Ann Moses’ portrayal of Annie Oakley likewise created an image of the western woman that was nearly as rugged and independent as the cowboy, although they had to be “fallen women” since expectations of the times would not allow for a respectable lady to live in such a manner.

The program that Cody passed out at his show was more than a program, but a source of information, further establishing Cody’s authority on the west. “The program was also a source of information, providing facts about Indian origins of state names, the latest trends in marksmanship, and historical profiles of great Civil War scouts and frontiersmen.” (Johns) In a west that was rapidly changing, many of Cody’s promotions depicted a west that was already dead for the most part, with most Native Americans having been confined to reservations, the Alamo pushing Mexicans back, and the buffalo were all but gone.

References

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Entertainment Holdings Inc. 2004. 21 September 2009. http://www.buffalobill.com/BuffaloBill.02.html

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and Exhibition. 21 September 2009. http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/buffalobill/bbwildwestshow.html

Johns, Joshua. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. 11 November 1995. University of Virginia. 21 September 2009. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/BuffaloBill/home.html

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