John Henry Holliday, perhaps one of the most legendary gunfighters of the west, lived in reality a life built on necessity and simply followed it and made due with the blows that were dealt to him. Born August 14, 1851 to Alice and Henry Holliday, John Henry Holliday entered the world already at a disadvantage with a serious birth defect. The defect known as a cleft palate and a partially cleft lip, basically made suckling his mother's breast impossible. Dr. John S. Holliday, John's uncle and an accomplished surgeon, delivered John, cleared his air passages, and taught his mother the proper way to feed the him due to the defect. With out the aid and instructions of Dr. Holliday, John could have easily choked to death as was common with children that had this genetic defect. Ironically one of the tools to feed the young child effectively was a shot glass, which in many ways never left his side. At only eight weeks old John was under the careful care of his uncle once again. Dr John Holliday, along with family friend Dr. Crawford Long, operated on John's mouth and lip with success. This was only the beginning of a turbulent childhood that was

John "Doc" Holliday lived a life full of travel and adventure, yet plagued with the misfortune of disease. Wyatt Earp said it best when he described Doc as, "A dentist who necessity made a gambler. A gentleman who disease made a frontier vagabond. A long, lean ash-blond fellow nearly dead with consumption and, at the same time, the most skillful gambler and the nerviest, speediest, deadliest man with a six-gun I ever knew."

During this hiatus Dr. Holliday, John's uncle, stressed and emphasized the importance and the value of a formal profession and education. John's first instinct was to become a doctor, following in the footsteps of his uncle. Dr. Holliday, however, dissuaded this in view of improper licensing that had made the medical profession disreputable. He then planted the seed of possibly attending dental school in John's mind. John returned to Bemiss to discuss this prospect with his father, even though in actuality he had already made up his mind to become a dentist.

While picking up Virgil Earp in Prescott, Doc found a faro game and continued to do well in it. Thus, when the Earps headed to Tombstone, Holliday decided not to go with them, preferring instead to keep winning. Instead of going directly to Tombstone, he went back to Las Vegas to finalize some business affairs. While there, he ran into Charlie White, who he had previously had a run-in with. As soon as Charlie spotted Doc, he started shooting at him. Doc then returned fire and dropped White to the floor. Convinced he had killed White, Holliday, headed out of town. In actuality, White had only been grazed and was momentarily stunned, but after realizing what had transpired, Charlie got on a train and headed to Boston in an attempt to never cross paths with Doc again.

Threats circulated Tombstone regarding the Cowboy's revenge upon Doc and the Earps. In March of 1882, Morgan Earp was fatally shot while playing billiards. Wyatt Earp, a spectator at the billiard game, held his wounded brother and promised to get revenge. When Doc got news about Morgan's death, he went mad, kicking in doors of private homes looking for the possible killers. Wyatt blamed the entire Cowboy gang for his brother's murder and, along with Doc, became obsessed with erradicating his enemies. Wyatt, Doc, Warren Earp, Sherman McMasters, Turkey Creek Johnson, and "Texas Jack" Vermillion became a posse with the sole purpose of seeing Morgan's killer come to justice. This posse eventually led to the death of Frank Stilwell, Florentino Cruz, Curly Bill Brocius, Johnny Barned, and John Ringo. Although chased by authorities and Cowboy sympathizers, Wyatt and Doc were never actually found guilty of any of these crimes due to lack of evidence. After these events, Doc moved on to Leadville.

During those thirty seconds, the McLaurey Brothers and Billy Clanton were killed and Morgan Earp was injured. Doc Holliday, the often portrayed "ruthless killer", went back to his room and, according to Kate Elder, sat on the side of the bed and cried. Three days later, the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday were charged with the killing of the McLaurey brothers. Justice Spicer, who was in charge of the case, indicated that Virgil Earp, acting as Chief of Police, along with Doc and his brothers who were all deputized, were discharging their official duty, and therefore committed no crime. The verdict enraged Ike, Clanton, and his crew known as the Cowboys.

John was met in Dallas by his new dental partner, Dr. John Seegar. John quickly impressed Dr. Seegar and his new patients with a combination of Southern manners, good looks, and superior dental work. Initially, an influx of people into Dallas provided plenty of work. Nevertheless, a recession hit in December of 1873 and his health declined, creating a constant cough. Needless to say, this was not good for business. With his newly acquired extra time, John "Doc" Holliday took to the saloons.

Soon after, he

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