Joins Doc Holliday Big Nose Kate

big nose kate s saloon in tombstone. called grand hotel , built in 1880. ike clanton , 2 mclaury brothers stayed there night before gunfight @ o.k. corral.

in 1876, kate moved fort griffin, texas, in 1877 met doc holliday. doc said @ 1 point considered kate intellectual equal. kate introduced holliday wyatt earp. couple went earp dodge city , registered mr. , mrs. j.h. holliday @ deacon cox’s boarding house. doc opened dental practice day spent of time gambling , drinking. 2 fought regularly , violently.

according kate, couple later married in valdosta, georgia. traveled trinidad, colorado, , las vegas, new mexico, lived 2 years. holliday worked dentist day , ran saloon on center street night. kate worked @ dance hall in santa fe.

by own account, doc , kate met again wyatt earp , brothers on way arizona territory. virgil earp had been in prescott before wyatt persuaded brothers move tombstone. holliday making money @ gambling tables in prescott, while kate worked prostitute in upstairs rooms @ palace saloon; , kate parted ways when kate left globe, arizona, rejoined holliday after arrived in tombstone.

move tombstone

holliday, friend wyatt earp, looking opportunity make money , joined earps in tombstone during fall of 1880. on march 15, 1881, @ 10:00 pm, 3 cowboys attempted rob kinnear & company stagecoach carrying $26,000 in silver bullion (by inflation adjustment algorithm: $645,248 in today s dollars) near benson, arizona, during popular driver eli budd philpot , passenger peter roerig killed. cochise county cowboy bill leonard, former watchmaker new york city, 1 of 3 men implicated in robbery, , , holliday had become friends. when kate , holliday had fight, county sheriff johnny behan , milt joyce, county supervisor , owner of oriental saloon, decided exploit situation.

behan , joyce plied kate alcohol , suggested way holliday. signed affidavit implicating holliday in murders , attempted robbery. judge wells spicer issued arrest warrant holliday. earps found witnesses attest holliday s whereabouts elsewhere @ time of murders. kate said behan , joyce had influenced sign document didn t understand. cowboy plot revealed, judge spicer freed holliday. district attorney threw out charges, labeling them ridiculous . after holliday released, gave kate money , put on stage. kate returned globe time, returned tombstone in october of year.

gunfight @ o.k. corral

in 1939 letter niece lillian rafferty, kate claimed in tombstone area holliday during days before shootout. according kate, holliday in tucson when attended san augustin feast , fair in levin park during october 1881. on october 20, 1881, morgan earp rode tucson request holliday s assistance dealing cochise county cowboys had threatened kill earps. wrote holliday asked remain in tucson safety, refused, , traveled holliday , earp. kate reminisced in letter stay holliday @ c.s. fly s boarding house bordered alley gunfight @ o.k. corral took place. kate accurately described minor details of shootout.

kate wrote on day of gunfight, man entered fly s boarding house bandaged head , rifle. looking holliday, still in bed after night of gambling. kate recalled man turned away mrs. fly later identified ike clanton, whom city marshal virgil earp had pistol-whipped earlier day when found clanton carrying rifle , pistol in violation of city ordinances. clanton s head bandaged afterward.

virgil earp had disarmed him earlier day , told ike leave ike s confiscated rifle , revolver @ grand hotel, favored cowboys when in town. ike testified afterward had tried buy new revolver @ spangenberger s gun , hardware store on 4th street owner saw ike s bandaged head , refused sell him one. clanton unarmed @ time of shootout later afternoon. ike testified picked weapons william soule, jailer, couple of days later.

author glenn boyer disputes kate saw gunfight through window of boarding house. according him also, kate stated after doc holliday returned room, sat on edge of bed , wept shock of had happened during close-range gunfight. awful, kate claims said. awful. boyer s work, however, has been rejected serious scholars.