64. Rufus Choate, Assistant Surgeon, “Medical History of the Post, Fort Griffin, Texas, 1867–1881,” November 8, 1874, 23, Fort Griffin, Miscellaneous Post Records, Box 47, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Record Group 94, NARA.
65. Ty Cashion, A Texas Frontier: The Clear Fork Country and Fort Griffin, 1849– 1887 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996), 164. Also available are Charles M. Robinson, The Frontier World of Fort Griffin: The Life and Death of a Western Town (Spokane, WA: Clark, 1992), and Carl Coke Rister, Fort Griffin on the Texas Frontier (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956). Cashion offers a revisionist approach to the violence of Fort Griffin, which is presented more explicitly in his “(Gun) Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: A Revisionist Look at ‘Violent’ Fort Griffin,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 98 (July 1995): 78–94.
66. James Kimmins Greer, Bois d’Arc to Barb’d Wire: Ken Cary, Southwestern Frontier Born (Dallas, TX: Dealy and Lowe, 1936), 329, quoted in Cashion, Texas Frontier, 192.
67. Jet Kenan to Etta Soule, September 15, 1945, Etta Soule Letters, Robert E. Nail Jr. Collection, Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas, quoted in Cashion, Texas Frontier, 191.
68. Don H. Biggers, Shackelford County Sketches. Edited by Joan Farmer (Albany, NY: Clear Fork, 1974), 39.
69. Ibid., 45.
70. R. K. DeArment, “‘Hurricane Bill’ Martin: Horse Thief,” True West 38 (June 1991): 43–44; Edgar Rye, The Quirt and the Spur: Vanishing Shadows of the Texas Frontier (Austin, TX: Steck-Vaughn, 1967), 74–77.
71. Rye, Quirt and Spur, 74–76, provides the standard account, and other old-timers generally confirm it. For example, see Hervey E. Chesley, Adventuring with the Old Timers: Trails Travelled—Tales Told (Midland, TX: Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library, 1979), 93.
72. Cashion, Texas Frontier, 190–191, provides a succinct account of the mood in Shackleford County at the time and argues that as the boom continued, local businessmen would persuade “officers of the court to wink at the ‘victimless’ crimes.” The election of J. R. Fleming to the district court bench in 1876 completed the process, and thereafter, Fleming concentrated on controlling violence and “let the justices of the peace work with local people to set community standards.” Unfortunately, Doc got caught in the initial crusade. See Cases 11–16, 34, Minutes of the District Court, Shackleford County, vol. A, 6-7-75 to 3-1-84, pp. 14–16. Holliday was actually arrested twice. The records show two cases, Case 13-4, The State of Texas v. Lynch, Curly, Hurricane Bill, and Dock [sic] Holliday, June 9, 1875, and Case 34-14, The State of Texas v. Mike Lynch and Dock Holliday, June 12, 1875. Denver Republican, May 22, 1882. Ed Bartholomew always insisted that Curly Bill rode with Hurricane Bill in his Kansas horse-stealing days.
73. Jahns, Frontier World, 57. She cites a document that has since disappeared from the records of Shackleford County. See also Tanner, Family Portrait, 46, 259– 260n. San Angelo was consistently referred to as “San Angela” in the press in 1875 and 1876. A. M. Hobby wrote on July 20, 1875, “San Angela, or Concho City, is a little town across the river [from Fort Concho], built chiefly of mud-brick (Mexican adobe) baked in the sun. It presents a miserable aspect, and looks like a fitting abode for wretchedness and poverty.” It was not a place apt to hold Doc Holliday.
74. See Jahns, Frontier World, 57–89; Tanner, Family Portrait, 98–103; Ben T. Traywick, John Henry (The “Doc” Holliday Story) (Tombstone, AZ: Red Marie’s Bookstore, 1996): 47–48.
75. John Charles Thompson, quoted in John Myers Myers, Doc Holliday (Boston: Little, Brown, 1955), 62. One problem with this report is that Holliday had no reputation as a killer for the simple reason that he had killed no one.
76. Jahns, Frontier World, 71–82, and Tanner, Family Portrait, 103, place Doc in Cheyenne and Deadwood until the spring of 1877. Myers, Doc, 62–64, places Holliday in Denver in the fall and winter of 1876.
77. Typescript of Recollections of Mary Katharine Cummings as Given to Anton Mazzanovich, 5–7, private collection of Kevin J. Mulkins; Cummings to Mazzanovich, undated transcript, 9–12, Robert N. Mullin Collection, Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library and J. Evetts Haley History Center, Midland, Texas. See also Gary L. Roberts, “Bat Masterson and the Sweetwater Shootout,” Wild West (October 2000): 42–50.
78. Arthur W. Bork, Notes of Interview with Mary Katharine Cummings, Thanksgiving 1935, copy in author’s files, courtesy of Arthur W. Bork; Mrs. Ernest Beckwith to Bork, March 1, 1977, quoted in Arthur W. Bork and Glenn G. Boyer, “O.K. Corral Fight at Tombstone: A Footnote by Kate Elder,” Arizona and West 19 (Spring 1977): 68. Silas H. Melvin, twenty-two years old, U.S. Census, 1870, St. Louis, Missouri, Central Township, p. 109, M593, Reel 808, NARA; Mary V. Bust, seventeen years old, U.S. Census, 1870, St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis Township, p. 156, M593, Reel 809, NARA. Mary Bust was listed as the daughter of William and Malissa Bust. Her father was a steamboat pilot, and she was listed as “at school.” St. Louis Marriage Records, vol. 15, p. 173. Mary Bust is listed as single and living with her parents in the U.S. Census, 1880, St. Louis, Missouri, p. 10, T9-725, NARA, although there is an age discrepancy showing her as only twenty-three. The St. Louis City Directory shows Silas H. Melvin selling tobacco and cigars at 410 Locust in 1873.
79. On June 3, 1874, Samuel Martin filed charges against Sallie Erp and Betsy Erp for establishing a brothel north of Douglas Avenue near the bridge over the Arkansas River. The case of The State of Kansas v. Bessie Earp and Sallie Earp, Case No. 814, came before the district court in September 1874 and was dismissed. Case Records of the District Court, Sedgwick County, Kansas, Wichita, and Proceedings of the District Court, September 1874 Term. Kate Elder was arrested for prostitution in June 1874, and the arrest of Kate Earb was reported in August 1874. Record of the Police Judge, Miscellaneous Papers, City of Wichita. Whether Kate Earp was Kate Elder is, of course, uncertain, but judging from the record, prostitutes associated with Bessie and Sallie were at times listed as Earp, including Eva Earp and Minnie Earp, besides Kate Earp. Ed Bartholomew, Wyatt Earp: The Untold Story (Toyahvale, TX: Frontier Book, 1963), 103, goes so far as to suggest that Kate Earp and Minnie Earp were actually Kate Elder and the woman who later became Hurricane Minnie Martin, suggesting that they left Wichita and went to Fort Griffin, Texas, together. Bartholomew, p. 102, was also the first to suggest the possibility of a relationship between Wyatt Earp and Kate before she renewed her acquaintance with Doc. However, recent research suggests that Sallie Earp may have been Sarah, or Sally, Haspel, a young prostitute Wyatt had known during his time at Peoria, Illinois. See three articles by Roger Jay, “‘The Peoria Bummer’: Wyatt Earp’s Lost Year,” Wild West (August 2003): 46–52, “Another Earp Arrest?” NOLA Quarterly 28 (October–December 2004): 19–23, and “Reign of the Rough-Scuff: Law and Lucre in Wichita,” Wild West (October 2005): 22–28, 62. A review of the 1870 census for Kansas and Missouri indicates that the name “Elder” was fairly uncommon. Isaac S. Elder was marshal of Wichita in 1870. Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell, Why the West Was Wild: A Contemporary Look at Some Highly Publicized Kansas Cowtown Personalities (Topeka: Kansas State Historical Society, 1963), 645.
80. In both the San Francisco Examiner, August 2, 1896, and Stuart N. Lake, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1931), 198, 202, 223, 238, 265, Earp called her Kate Fisher. The Wichita Beacon, November 26, 1874, lists a letter for “Kate Fisher” under unclaimed mail, which would likely be after Kate left Wichita. It is plausible that someone who knew her as Kate Fisher before she assumed the name Kate Elder would have written her by that name. Kansas Census, 1875, Ford County, K-8, Kansas State Historical Society. Sherman quit Dodge before the end of 1875. He may have gone to Sweetwater, which seems likely, because he ran a saloon in Mobeetie (which replaced Sweetwater) in 1880. Bartholomew, Untold Story, 102. Kate probably accompanied Sherman, although she could have found work at either Charlie Norton’s dance hall or the saloon owned by Harry Fleming and Billy Thompson there. See articles by Roberts, “Sweetwate
r Shootout,” 45, and “Corporal Melvin A. King: The Gunfighting Soldier of the Great American Myth,” Real West (September 1987): 46.
81. Masterson, “Doc Holliday,” 5.
82. Dallas Weekly Herald, March 11, 1876; Jacob Smith, Private, Company B, Tenth Cavalry, Fort Griffin, Texas, Final Papers, AGO, RG 94, NARA. The papers say simply that he was killed by “person unknown,” following the post investigation. An alternative explanation was provided by the Jacksboro (Texas) Frontier Echo, March 10, 1876, which reported “[m]ore deviltry at Fort Griffin last Friday night [when] a couple of our Uncle Samuel’s dusky warriors got into a quarrel about a damsel of color; blows followed hot words[,] and cold led [sic] finished the fight and life of one of the combatants.” Notably, no soldier was arrested in the matter.
83. Masterson, “Doc Holliday,” 5.
84. Fuches appeared at 422 S. Fourth Street. St. Louis City Directory, through 1876.
85. Bartholomew, Untold Story, 172, says that Kate went to “that haven during winter for so many Dodge girls, St. Louis.” Bork notes, Thanksgiving 1935, provides the marriage date, although, in her effort to whitewash her story, Kate said they were married at Valdosta, Georgia.
86. Agnes Wright Spring, The Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage and Express Routes (Glendale, CA: Clark, 1949), 201–213; Tanner, Family Portrait, 262n.
87. Masterson, “Doc Holliday,” 6, was very specific about “the summer of 1876,” which is noteworthy because it was a centennial year and more likely to be remembered because of that, not to mention General George A. Custer’s fall, which captured public attention in a dramatic way. Wilcox to the author, March 21, 2001. Denver Republican, June 22, 1887; Masterson, “Doc Holliday,” 6. The Denver City Directory, 1876, lists John J. McKey living at Long John’s Saloon at 507 Blake Street, near C. W. Babb’s Variety House.
88. Regina Rapier, a great-niece of Mattie Holliday, related the story of the Pinkerton visit as passed down through the family to Victoria Wilcox, copy in author’s files.
89. Denver Republican, June 22, 1887.
90. Masterson, “Doc Holliday,” 6; Denver City Directory, 1890 (Denver, CO: Ballenger and Richards, 1890).
91. Denver Rocky Mountain News, November 28, 30, December 1, 1876. Denver police records and police court records appear to have been lost.
92. Tanner, Family Portrait, 103–104. Interestingly, Henry Burroughs Holliday would later initiate contact with his brother-in-law, Arthur W. McCoin, on behalf of black citizens who were interested in migrating to Kansas. Valdosta Daily Times, September 27, 1879; Galveston Daily News, December 28, 1876, January 3, 5, 7, 1877. Three cases appear for State of Texas v. Dr. Holliday (no cause numbers), Minutes, Fourteenth District Court, Dallas County, Texas, January 8, 1877, vol. J, 80.
93. John C. Jacobs to J. Marvin Hunter, July 17, 1928, quoted in J. Marvin Hunter, The Story of Lottie Deno: Her Life and Times (Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian College, 1959), 58.
94. Tanner, Family Portrait, 105; Galveston Daily News, February 15, 1877.
95. Fourteenth District Court, Dallas County, Texas, May 8, 1877, vol. J, 80.
96. Dallas Weekly Herald, July 7, 1877; Tanner, Family Portrait, 106, 262–263n.
97. Texas v. Henry Kahn, Keeping a Gaming Table, File No. 23, April 30, 1877, District Court, Stephens County, Texas; Texas v. H. Kahn and Geo. Clay, File No. 96, Minutes of the District Court, 6-7-75 to 3-1-84, Shackleford County, Texas, p. 90. See Dallas Weekly Herald, March 27, 1875, for reference to the firm of E. M. Kahn & Brothers Clothing in Dallas. The Kahn Brothers Department Store was on the same block as John Henry’s dental office. Henry Kahn was mentioned in the List of Fugitives from Justice for the State of Texas and a Descriptive List of Escaped Convicts (Austin, TX: State Printing Office, 1878), 167, for the forgery charge in Shakleford County. The author has used Fugitives from Justice: The Notebook of Texas Ranger Sergeant James B. Gillette (Austin, TX: State House Press, 1997), which is a reproduction of Sergeant Gillette’s personal copy of the List with his annotations and comments.
98. Tanner, Family Portrait, 106–198; Fort Worth (Texas) Democrat, July 21, 1877.
99. Texas v. McCune [and] J. Holiday [sic], Cause No. 3764, Minutes, Fourteenth District Court, Dallas County, Texas, September 14, 1877, vol. J, 466–467.
100. Beginning in January 1878, newspapers like the Dallas Weekly Herald, the Galveston Daily News, and the Austin Statesman almost daily reported violent episodes from Fort Griffin. For an especially balanced view of the deteriorating situation at Fort Griffin and the steps taken to change it, see Cashion, Texas Frontier, 188–233. Also useful is Robinson, Fort Griffin, 74–114. An essential work is Robert DeArment, Bravo of the Brazos: John Larn of Fort Griffin, Texas (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002), 65–143, who details the situation in Fort Griffin through the career of Sheriff John Larn, who was one of the organizers of the “Tin Hat” vigilance committee and ultimately its last victim. Also useful is Leon Clair Metz, John Selman: Texas Gunfighter (New York: Hastings House, 1966), 48–95.
101. Galveston Daily News, July 24, August 1, 9, 1877. Hunter, Lottie Deno, passim, contains most of the reminiscences about this legendary figure. Cynthia Ross, Lottie Deno: Gambling Queen of Hearts (Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light, 1994), passim, offers a useful but uncritical chronology. Rye, Quirt and Spur, 70, called her “a female monstrosity,” and Cashion, Texas Frontier, 198, said that the “so-called ‘lady gambler’ inspired exaggerations and even outright fabrications.” See also Robinson, Fort Griffin, 85–91.
102. W. Hubert Curry, Sun Rising on the West: The Saga of Henry Clay and Elizabeth Smith (Crosbyton, TX: Crosby County Pioneer Memorial, 1979), 133–134; 210–211.
103. Jacobs to Hunter, July 17, 1928, quoted in Hunter, Lottie Deno, 58. Alfred Henry Lewis, Wolfville Nights (New York: Grossett and Dunlap, 1902), tells a similar story about Doc in a fictional format, which is reprinted in Hunter, Lottie Deno, 49–57.
104. John Jacobs told the story in Hunter, Lottie Deno, 41.
105. Daily Galveston News, October 21, 1877. Another reason for a quieter Fort Griffin was suggested by the Austin Statesman, September 22, 1877: “They make no more to do about hanging men out at Fort Griffin that would naturally arise from the killing of so many bears. The vigilance committee pursued and hung three horse thieves to one tree three or four weeks ago, within a short distance of town, and the same committee lately started off on another lynching excursion.”.
106. Cummings, Mazzanovich typescript, 1–2. A review of Maverick County records revealed no legal troubles for Doc while in Eagle Pass. There were troubles there that fall and winter, however. See Galveston Daily News, October 21, 1877, and the Austin Statesman, December 8, 1877. Lee Hall replaced Leander H. McNelly as the captain of the Texas Rangers on that part of the border, and he made trouble for lawbreakers in Maverick County, including King Fisher. Fisher was arrested on November 19, 1877, and remained in jail until April 11, 1878, so that Doc missed the opportunity to meet him. O. C. Fisher, with J. C. Dykes, King Fisher: His Life and Times (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), 92–98.
107. Lawrence Vivian, interview with the author, August 13, 1998. Charlie and Blue Vivian went west into the Eagle Pass area with the first ranging company. Blue Vivian sold his saloon to King Fisher in 1880. Fisher was married to Lawrence Vivian’s great-great-great-aunt. The family passed down the story of Doc Holliday drinking and gambling at Old Blue’s Saloon. Vivian first told the story of his family’s connection to Doc in Eagle Pass to the author in the fall of 1997, not knowing about Kate Holliday’s account.
108. Cummings, Mazzanovich typescript, 2.
109. Ibid.
110. Chesley, Trails Travelled—Tales Told, 97–98. Baldwin’s partner was named Bob Fambro, and he reported him killed later at Shakespeare, New Mexico. The mention that Fambro and Doc were from the “same neighborhood” raises the question of whether he might have been the Robert Rambo arrested in connection with the courthouse incident in Valdosta, a
nd he was doubtlessly the Bob Fambo stabbed by Billy Carroll, a bartender, during a quarrel in Shakespeare, New Mexico, as Baldwin said. Reportedly, he recalled his buffalo hunting days as he was dying. Ed Bartholomew, Wyatt Earp: The Man and the Myth (Toyahvale, TX: Frontier Book, 1964), 79–80. Six-year-old Robert E. Fambrough, the son of the merchant William P. Fambrough, was a resident of Griffin in Spalding County in 1860. U.S. Census, 1860, p. 20, Spalding County, Georgia, NARA. He was still in Griffin in 1870 attending school, though not living with his parents. U.S. Census, 1870, p. 49, Spalding County, Georgia. By 1880, he appears to have left Georgia, for he is not found in the 1880 census.
111. San Francisco Examiner, August 2, 1896.
112. Ibid.; see also Tanner, Family Portrait, 268–269n.
113. Cummings, Mazzanovich typescript, 4–5.
114. Galveston Daily News, April 3, 1878.
115. Dodge City (Kansas) Times, May 11, 1878, reported, “Mr. Wyatt Earp, who has during the past served with credit on the police arrived in this city from Texas last Wednesday. We predict that his services as an officer will be required this Summer.” On May 14, the Dodge City Ford County Globe reported that he had been appointed assistant marshal. If Earp was correct in saying that Doc was already there when he returned, Doc must have arrived in late April or the first few days of May. He and Kate may even have accompanied the 12,000 head of cattle being driven north by Lytle, McDaniel & Company, and James Ellison and Company, which passed Fort Griffin in April. Galveston Daily News, April 19, 1878.
4. Cow Towns and Pueblos
1. Carolyn Manley to Karen Holliday Tanner, September 27, 1995. Courtesy Karen Holliday Tanner.
2. Ida Allen Rath, The Rath Trail (Wichita, KS: McCormick-Armstrong, 1961), 152–159; C. Robert Haywood, Trails South: The Wagon Road Economy in the Dodge City–Panhandle Region (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986), 128–134.
3. Gary L. Roberts, “From Tin Star to Hanging Tree: The Short Life and Violent Times of Billy Brooks,” in Prairie Scout, vol. 3, edited by Joseph W. Snell et al. (Abilene: Kansas Corral of the Westerners, 1975), 17–42, provides the most complete summary of the violent birth of Dodge City.
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