Doc Holliday, since the movie Tombstone, has become one of the more recognizable and, dare I say it, hipper of the old west gunfighters. Much is known about his life, and much is not known. He may have killed anywhere from one or two men, to as many as over a dozen. He was certainly quick, as well as brash, and no matter how many men he killed there always seemed to be a pattern of skirmishes wherever he was around, so imagining him to have been in more altercations, rather than fewer, is not a difficult stretch to make.
Many have said that he left Georgia because of a shooting incident, but there is no real fact to support this. Not that he didn’t do the shooting, at lest some sort of gunplay seems certain. It’s most strongly been believed, however, that he left for his health, which could also be, but again, there is no real support to the theory; in fact it’s possible that his tuberculosis wasn’t even manifesting by the time he left Georgia. So, the idea is possible that he left for other reasons. The ideas put forth are an uncomfortable love scenario, the need to work with an established dentist and develop his career, and of course the afore mentioned water hole shooting and the better environment for a soon-to-be “lunger”.
Whatever the reasons, he made his mark on the western frontier once he had settled in, and hopefully this timeline and conflict assessment will help anyone who wants to get a handy overview of the man and his activities. While I start with a more Karen-Tanner-heavy approach, slight edits will be made as I get my Gary Roberts notes worked in.
Handy With A Gun...! 