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 While
dealing cards at John Shanssey’s Saloon,
Doc
met
Mary Catherine Elder Haroney,
who went by many names but was most often known as
"Big
Nose” Kate. While the dance hall girl and prostitute was
attractive, she did have a prominent nose. Kate
was tough, stubborn, and with a temper that matched
Doc’s . She said she worked the business because she liked it, belonging to no
man, nor to any house!
Wyatt Earp, traveling from
Dodge City,
was on the trail of a train robber by the name of
Dave
Rudabaugh. After having been issued an acting commission as U.S. Deputy Marshal
to pursue the outlaw out of state, he followed
Rudabaugh's
trail for 400 miles.
Wyatt
visited the largest
saloon
in town, Shanssey’s asking about
Rudabaugh.
Owner John Shanssey said that
Rudabaugh
had been there earlier in the week, but didn’t know where he was
bound. He directed
Wyatt
to Doc
Holliday who had played cards with the
Rudabaugh.
Wyatt
was skeptical about talking to
Holliday,
as it was well known that
Doc
hated lawmen. However, when
Wyatt
found him that evening at Shanssey’s, he was surprised at
Holliday’s willingness to talk.
Doc
told
Wyatt
that he thought that
Rudabaugh
had back-trailed to
Kansas.
Wyatt
wired this information to
Bat Masterson, Sheriff in
Dodge City,
and the news was instrumental in apprehending
Rudabaugh . The unlikely pair formed a friendship in Shanssey’s that would
last for years.
 In
1877,
Doc
was dealing cards to a local bully by the name of Ed Bailey, who was
accustomed to having his own way without question. Bailey was
unimpressed with
Doc's
reputation and in an attempt to irritate him; he kept picking up the
discards and looking at them. Looking at the discards was strictly
prohibited by the rules of Western Poker, a violation that could force the
player to forfeit the pot.
Though
Holliday warned Bailey twice, the bully ignored him and picked up the
discards again. This time, Doc raked in the pot without showing his
hand, nor saying a word. Bailey immediately brought out his pistol
from under the table, but before the man could pull the trigger,
Doc's
lethal knife slashed the man across the stomach. With blood spilled
everywhere, Bailey lay sprawled across the table.
Knowing that his actions
were in self-defense,
Doc
did not run. However, he was still arrested and incarcerated in a
local hotel room, there being no jail in the town. Bully or no, a
vigilante group formed to seek revenge on
Holliday. Knowing that the mob would quickly overtake the local lawmen,
"Big Nose”
Kate devised a plan to free
Doc
from his confines. Setting a fire to an old shed, it began to burn
rapidly, threatening to engulf the entire town. As everyone else was
involved in fighting the fire, she confronted the officer guarding
Holliday
with a pistol in each hand, disarmed the guard and the two escaped.
Dodge City
Hiding out during the
night, they headed to
Dodge City
on stolen horses in the morning, registering at Deacon Cox’s Boarding
House as Dr. and Mrs. J.H.
Holliday.
Doc so
appreciated what
Kate did
for him, that he was determined to make her happy and gave up gambling,
hanging up his doctor’s shingle once again. In return,
Kate
promised to give up the life of prostitution and stop hanging about the
saloons.
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However,
Kate couldn’t stand the quiet and boredom of respectable living. She told Doc
that she was going back to the bright lights and excitement of the dance
halls and gambling dens. Consequently, the two split up, as they were
destined to do many times during the remainder of
Doc's
life.
Doc went back to gambling,
frequenting the Alhambra and dealing cards at the Long Branch
Saloon. Though Dodge
City citizens thought the friendship between
Wyatt and
Doc was
strange, Wyatt
ignored them and
Doc kept
the law while in
Dodge City.
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Front Street, 1874,
courtesy Ford County Historical Society.
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One night, while
Doc was
dealing
Faro
in the
Long Branch Saloon a number of
Texas
cowboys
arrived with a herd of cattle. After many weeks on the trail, the rowdy
cowboys
were ready to "let loose.” Leading the
cowboy
mob was a man named Ed Morrison, whom
Wyatt had
humiliated in Wichita,
Kansas, and
a man named Tobe Driskill. The
cowboys
rushed the town, galloping down Front Street with guns blazing, blowing
out shop windows. Entering the
Long
Branch Saloon, they began harassing the customers.
When
Wyatt came
through the front door, he came face to face with several awaiting gun
barrels. Stepping forward, Morrison sneered "Pray and jerk your gun! Your time has come
Earp!”
Continued Next Page
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