Wyatt Earp
ID #1040
Is it true that in September of 1878 in the Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City Doc Holliday saved Wyatt's life from some Texas cowboys?
Wyatt's own statements put truth to the story of Doc Holliday saving his life in Dodge City, but he makes no mention of the date, the Long Branch saloon or Texans.
Wyatt testified in November of 1881 in his statement to the court in the "O.K. Corral" hearing, "I am a friend of Doc Holliday, because when I was City Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, he came to my rescue and saved my life when I was surrounded by desperadoes."
Years later, in a San Francisco Examiner article published on August 2, 1896, Wyatt was quoted as saying about Doc, "He was long, lean, an ash-blond, and the quickest man with a six-shooter I ever knew. It wasn't long after I returned to Dodge City that his quickness saved my life. He saw a man draw on me behind my back. 'Look out, Wyatt!' he shouted, but while the words were coming out his mouth he had jerked his pistol out of his pocket and shot the other fellow before the latter could fire." It is believed the article that contained this was ghostwritten by one of the Examiner's writers. Note that the "desperadoes" had been reduced to "a man."
The 1926 Flood manuscript (the unpublished biography of Wyatt Earp by John Flood, Jr., Wyatt's personal secretary) put the count at "twenty howling madmen," Texas cowboys who had Wyatt backed up against the exterior of the Long Branch Palace. Doc Holliday was playing monte inside and stepped outside to help Wyatt save the August night. One only can wonder how Doc could have seen "a man draw on me behind my back" (Examiner) when Wyatt was "backed up against the building" (Flood).
The idea that this event occurred in September of 1878 appeared in Stuart N. Lake's 1931 embellished biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal.
Wyatt testified in November of 1881 in his statement to the court in the "O.K. Corral" hearing, "I am a friend of Doc Holliday, because when I was City Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, he came to my rescue and saved my life when I was surrounded by desperadoes."
Years later, in a San Francisco Examiner article published on August 2, 1896, Wyatt was quoted as saying about Doc, "He was long, lean, an ash-blond, and the quickest man with a six-shooter I ever knew. It wasn't long after I returned to Dodge City that his quickness saved my life. He saw a man draw on me behind my back. 'Look out, Wyatt!' he shouted, but while the words were coming out his mouth he had jerked his pistol out of his pocket and shot the other fellow before the latter could fire." It is believed the article that contained this was ghostwritten by one of the Examiner's writers. Note that the "desperadoes" had been reduced to "a man."
The 1926 Flood manuscript (the unpublished biography of Wyatt Earp by John Flood, Jr., Wyatt's personal secretary) put the count at "twenty howling madmen," Texas cowboys who had Wyatt backed up against the exterior of the Long Branch Palace. Doc Holliday was playing monte inside and stepped outside to help Wyatt save the August night. One only can wonder how Doc could have seen "a man draw on me behind my back" (Examiner) when Wyatt was "backed up against the building" (Flood).
The idea that this event occurred in September of 1878 appeared in Stuart N. Lake's 1931 embellished biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal.
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Last update: 2008-09-20 11:18
Author: WEFAQs Admin
Revision: 1.0
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