Doc Holliday

by Gary L Roberts

  District Attorney Farley explained, “Now for the Governor under such circumstances, to have gone around the Sheriff of this county and appointed some one else to have brought the Earps here, would to say the least, have been an unusual and unfounded deviation.” The supervisors also pointed out that Behan had already presented a bill for more than $2,000 against Pima County for his Cow-Boy posse’s expenses. The Star openly questioned why Behan had not requested a requisition on a Cochise County warrant, and Farley openly speculated that it was to put the costs on Pima County. Tritle agreed with the Pima County arguments.47

  Even so, the Epitaph’s charges were doubtlessly true that Tritle favored Paul over Behan, because Tritle had no confidence in Behan and may well have delayed long enough to allow the Pima County intervention. More important, Tritle was content just to see the Earps gone. Had it not been for the seemingly serendipitous arrest of Doc by Mallon, Pima County likely would not have pressed extradition. Tritle had no plans for extradition proceedings until Mallon forced the situation, and Pima County authorities moved quickly to block Behan in an after-the-fact gesture. Once set in motion, Paul and Pima County acted in good faith, but few outside Cochise County were anxious to see the return of any of the Earp party.

  Paul started for Denver without the requisition in hand but with assurances that the papers would follow by express. The Republican erroneously reported that Behan was en route to Denver, based on a statement by Mallon, who claimed to have received a telegram from Tombstone.48 He may well have received such a telegram, but if Behan did send it, he was stopped dead in his tracks by the governor.

  Tritle’s seeming to give preferential treatment of Paul over Behan set off an angry exchange between the Epitaph, on the one hand, and the Star and the Citizen, on the other, giving the Tucson papers common cause for the first time in months. The Citizen went so far as to claim that Behan had “notoriously failed” to arrest criminals in Cochise County and had allowed the escape of a half-dozen prisoners. The Epi taph retorted that Paul was known to be a friend of the Earps and had in fact conspired in their escape from Arizona. The Star, so recently in common cause with the Epitaph, reacted strongly to the implication, declaring that “[t]he impression shared by many that Sheriff Paul will not bring the Earps to Tucson but will permit them to escape in transit, the Star considers an injurious suspicion which is not justified by the high reputation of the officer.”49

  In the meantime, Sid Byers, the marshal at Gunnison, Colorado, had telegraphed Marshal David Neagle at Tombstone and Sheriff Paul at Tucson and asked if those officers wished him to arrest the Earps. The Epitaph, which believed that the Earps were under arrest in Denver, denounced Byers as “a fraud and a delusion.”50 Spangler had left the impression that the Earps were also in custody with the broad statements “Have your men in jail” and “The Earps are here.” Spangler denied having ever said that he had the Earps under arrest, and the feeling was widespread in Colorado that “the arrest of the Earp boys, the Arizona outlaws, is not desired for some reason or another. It is believed that it would not be a difficult thing to get them if they were wanted.” All of this demonstrated, as the Denver Times put it, that the “whole affair is badly mixed.”51

  Bob Paul arrived in Denver on May 19 and ratcheted up the drama at once. In company with Deputy Sheriff Barney Cutler, Paul met Mallon at the Windsor Hotel. After about fifteen minutes, the trio was joined by Bat Masterson. Reporters deduced that Mallon was concerned that he was being pushed out of the picture, which led to a discussion of Mallon’s claim that he had been trailing Doc for seven years for the murder of his partner. Masterson stood him down by stating that Doc had never been to Utah, and “Mallon finally acknowledged that he might have been mistaken.”

  Paul initially tried not to take a public stance, but the Times immediately said that he “confirms the truth of Holliday’s story.”52 The Tribune agreed. “He is reticent and does not desire to commit himself in the affair,” the paper declared, “but the simple fact as to where his sentiments and personal opinions lay cannot be concealed.”53 Paul would not be able to maintain a low profile. His career and character would be explored at length. The Republican reviewed his heroics at the attempted holdup near Drew’s Station in March 1881, without any mention that some had accused Holliday of having a part in that episode. His career with Wells, Fargo, his reputation on the Pacific Slope, and his record as sheriff of Pima County won kudos aplenty. Bat Masterson concluded, “That’s the kind of a man…who will take Holladay back and you [can] bet they will have to kill him before they kill his prisoner.”54

  On Monday, May 22, the Denver Rocky Mountain News carried an extended interview with Paul, which was yet curious in its ambiguous slant, given Paul’s known sympathies. The paper observed that Paul was “reticent” to talk about the affair, but he did comment about Doc in the following exchange:

  “Mr. Paul, have you known ‘Doc’ Holliday for a considerable length of time?”

  “Yes; I believe about three years.”

  “Was he a member of what is called the Earpp [sic] gang, which created so much excitement in Tucson by their desperate encounters with the cowboys?”

  “He was, and in fact was one of the leaders. The so-called Earpp gang, or faction if you please, was composed entirely of gamblers who preyed upon the cowboys, and at the same time in order to keep up a show of having a legitimate calling, was organized into a sort of vigilance committee, and some of them, including Holliday, had United States Marshal’s commissions.”

  “Was Holliday regarded as a desperate character?”

  “Not by any means. He was always decently peaceable, though his powers when engaged in following his ostensible calling, furthering the ends of justice, made him a terror to the criminal classes of Arizona.”

  There followed a review of the quarrels between the Earps and the Cow-Boys, somewhat garbled in that it implied that Morgan Earp had been killed and Virgil “fatally wounded” in a fight with the Cow-Boys that led to the killing of Stilwell in Tucson. The interview then continued:

  “What is the sentiment of the people of Arizona in regard to the crime and its alleged perpetrators?”

  “That, sir is a difficult thing to answer. The feeling is, however, very strong, especially among the more respectable citizens who have been terrorized for years by the cowboys and the Earpp gang and justice will no doubt be meted out to Holliday and his partners.”55

  The News’s slant created a strong impression that contrasted sharply with Paul’s view as presented in the other papers. The Tribune had reported Paul as saying that “[t]he fight was a factional and political one. The cowboys, who represented the worst element of Arizona, were Democrats to a man. Holliday and the Earps represented the Republican element of Tombstone and the best class of citizens.”56 The Daily Times went further:

  Sheriff Paul was selected instead of Sheriff Behan, of Cochise county, because of the fact that under him the prisoner was reasonably certain of being protected from the designs of the cowboys or “rustlers,” while with Sheriff Behan his life would not be worth a hawble. Sheriff Paul confirms the truth of Holladay’s story in regard to the affair. Holladay was formerly a deputy under Paul, and while acting in that capacity was engaged in the effort to suppress the depredations of the cowboys, which have made life a burden in that part of the territory. It is more than probable that Holladay will have a fair trial. Under Sheriff Paul he is likely to reach the jail in safety, and will doubtless take a change of venue from Cochise county, as in the disturbed condition of affairs there it will be almost impossible to secure a fair jury.57

  On the same day that the Paul interview was printed, the Denver Republican published the first real interview with Doc Holliday. Doc finally got to speak for himself, and it was a masterful performance. The Republican’s reporter noted that Holliday’s appearance was “as different as could be from the generally conceived idea of a killer,” and described him as follows:

  Holladay is a
slender man, not more than five feet six inches tall and would weigh perhaps 150 pounds. His face is thin and his hair sprinkled heavily with gray. His features are well formed and there is nothing remarkable in them save a well defined look of determination from his eyes, which the veriest amateur in physiognomy could hardly mistake. His hands are small and soft like a woman’s, but the work they have done is anything but womanly. The slender forefinger which has dealt the cards has dealt death to many a rustler with equal skill and quickness, and the slender wrist has proved its

  MUSCLES OF STEEL

  In many a deadly encounter, when a quick motion of a six shooter meant everything. Holladay was dressed neatly in black, with a colored linen shirt. The first thing noticeable about him in opening the conversation was his soft voice and modest manners.

  Doc was then allowed to tell his story, which was understated for the most part, but included a few misstatements that had to have been calculated:

  The men known as cowboys are not really cowboys, in the early days the real cowboys, who were wild and reckless gained a great deal of notoriety. After they passed out their places were taken by a gang of murderers, stage robbers, and thieves, who were refugees from justice from the Eastern States. The proper name for them is Rustlers. They ran the country down there and so terrorized the country that no man dared say anything against them. Trouble first arose with them by the killing of Marshal White by Curly Bill. Marshal White fell into my arms when he was shot and I arrested Curly Bill. The trouble since then is familiar to all.”

  “Do you apprehend trouble when you are taken back?” asked the visitor.

  Holladay paused for a minute and gazed earnestly out of the window of Jailor Lamberts room

  INTO THE RAIN,

  Outside and then said slowly, “If I am taken back to Arizona, that is the last of Holladay.” After a pause he explained this by saying, “We hunted the rustlers, and they all hate us. John Behan, Sheriff of Cochise County, is one of the gang, and a deadly enemy of mine, who would give any money to have me killed. It is almost certain that he instigated the assassination of Morgan Earpp [sic]. Should he get me in his power my life would not be worth much.”

  “But Sheriff Paul, of Tucson, will take you to that place will he not.”

  “Yes and there lies my only chance for safety. I would never go to Tombstone alone. I’d make an attempt to escape right outside this jail and get killed by a decent man. I would rather do that than be hung by those robbers there.”

  “Cannot Paul protect you?”

  “I AM AFRAID NOT.

  He is a good man, but I am afraid he cannot protect me. The jail is a little tumble down affair, which a few men can push over, and a few cans of oil thrown upon it would cause it to burn up in a flash, and either burn a prisoner to death or drive him out to be shot down. That will be my fate.”

  “Haven’t you friends there who would rally to your assistance?”

  “Yes, the respectable element will stand by me, but they are all intimidated and unorganized. They will never do anything until some respectable citizen is shot down, when the people will rise and clean them out, as they did at Fort Griffin, where twenty-four men were hung on one tree when I was there. The Tombstone Rustlers are part of this Fort Griffin gang.”58

  And so the interview went. When asked about the killing of Frank Stilwell for which he was charged, Doc said simply, “I know that Stillwell [sic] was a stage robber, and one of Morgan Earpp’s assassins, and that he was killed near Tucson, but I do not know that I am in any way responsible for his death.” He accused Behan of instigating Morgan’s murder because he was affiliated with the Cow-Boys and because he had quarreled with Morgan on several occasions and hated him. He recounted his personal disagreements with Behan and claimed that the proof that Behan was involved with the outlaws was that he had “five Rustlers under him as deputies,” including John Ringo (doubtless a reference to the Cow-Boy posse).

  Doc then recounted his initial meeting with Perry Mallon and described him as a “crank,” adding, “One thing which Mallon tells gives him away bad. He said in your paper that he was standing alongside Curly Bill when the latter was killed.” He then recounted “the facts”:

  We were out one day after a party of outlaws, and about 3 o’clock on a warm day after a long and dry ride from the San Pedro river, we approached a spring which was situated in a hollow. As we did so

  EIGHT RUSTLERS ROSE UP

  From behind the bank and poured from thirty-five to forty shots into us. Our escape was miraculous. The shots cut our clothes and saddles and killed one horse, but did not hit us. I think we would have been all killed if God Almighty wasn’t on our side. Wyatt Earpp turned loose with a shot-gun and killed Curley Bill. The eight men in the gang which attacked us were all outlaws, for each of whom a big reward has been offered….If Mallon was alongside of Curley Bill when he was killed, he was with one of the worst gangs of murderers and robbers in the country.

  Doc then told the interviewer that the Earps were in Gunnison and that his quarrel with Wyatt was “a little misunderstanding, but it didn’t amount to much.” When asked if the Earps would help him, he replied, “Yes, all they could; but they are wanted themselves, and of course couldn’t go back with me without putting themselves in danger, without doing me any good.” He concluded by belittling Mallon’s claim that he had killed his partner in Utah, pointing out that at the time he was supposed to have murdered the man in Utah he was in Denver “dealing for Charley Foster, in Babbitt’s house, where Ed. Chase is now located.”59

  It was a tour de force performance on the very same day that the News declared that Doc’s hope was “vanishing into thin air.”60 Holliday’s habeas corpus hearing, scheduled for that Monday, was postponed yet again, but at ten o’clock on the morning of May 23, Doc appeared in court before Judge Elliot, who examined the papers by which Doc had been held after Mallon’s dramatic arrest and announced that there was no evidence to hold him and ordered the prisoner discharged. One paper said “a faint smile crept over” Doc’s face, but Deputy Sheriff Linton stepped forward with a warrant authorizing the arrest of John Henry in the murder of Frank Stilwell. Doc was remanded to the jail to await the requisition from Arizona Territory, and Doc’s lawyers, from the firms of Decker & Yonley and Deweese & Naylor, immediately filed for another writ of habeas corpus. The hearing on that motion was scheduled for Friday, May 26, based on news that Sheriff Paul had received a telegram that the Arizona requisition had been sent and should arrive at any time.61

  These developments pushed Perry Mallon completely out of the picture, but on the day that the charges growing out of his arrest of Doc were thrown out, Mallon wrote a letter that did throw fresh light on how he had become involved in the case. He claimed that he had visited Tombstone, and while there Sheriff Behan had offered $500 to anyone who would arrest Doc. He said that he offered to do it, “whereupon he gave me undoubted authority. The County Commissioner also offered a reward of $1000, who also clothed me with proper authority.” He said that when he arrived in Denver, he told Sheriff Spangler and explained the situation, and that Spangler had given him permission to proceed. When Doc arrived in Denver, then, Mallon telegraphed Behan, who replied, “Arrest him immediately.”62

  Mallon’s “card” offered a plausible explanation for what had happened except for two things. First, if Mallon did make arrangements in Tombstone, as he claimed, why would Behan have singled out Doc rather than the Earp party in general? If Behan did do such a thing, it would appear to confirm Doc’s statement that Behan had a special grudge against him, and it would also suggest that the county commissioner in question was Milton E. Joyce, Doc’s nemesis, the only commissioner with a reason to single Doc out. Second, if the plan was concocted in Tombstone, how would Behan and Mallon have known that Doc Holliday would be in Denver, separate from the rest of the vendetta posse? A more likely scenario is that Mallon saw Doc in Pueblo and telegraphed Behan, making the arrangements by telegram. Once h
e had confirmation of the promised rewards from Cochise County, he followed Doc to Denver, contacted Sheriff Spangler as he said, telegraphed Behan again, and then made the arrest.

  The papers from Arizona did arrive on Thursday, May 25, which produced an unexpected result. The newspapers expected the habeas corpus to be decided first, but the extradition proceedings before Governor Pitkin took precedence over the habeas corpus hearing, and “[o]wing to the absence from the city of Governor Pitkin, the hearing of the case was postponed to Monday.” The Republican expected Doc to be returned and acquitted in the murder of Frank Stilwell, but it believed he would face a tougher time if sent to Cochise County for trial in the murder of Florentino Cruz. The editor wrote, “As Sheriff Paul is an open friend of the Earps, who as officers, assisted him in suppressing lawlessness, Holladay will be protected at all hazards. In Tucson he is safe, and there will be no call for him to go to Tombstone, as his lawyers can swear that his life is not safe there, and secure a trial in Pima County in the same judicial district.”63

  Curiously, the papers reported that the debate over the case had fallen largely silent. “Mallon is still in the city, but is keeping quiet, while Holliday’s friends have entirely disappeared [italics added].”64 It was also reported that Bat Masterson had left the city and that there was a rumor circulating “that he is organizing a party to guard the train upon which Holladay will be taken back.”65 This was likely true, because the Las Vegas Optic had already announced that “Bat Masterson, the new marshal of Trinidad, went south today, presumably on business connected with the arrest of his friend ‘Doc’ Holliday.”66 And precautions were warranted, because the Albuquerque Review had said that “[t]he cow-boys have all left Tombstone, and it is thought that they have gone out in order to intercept Sheriff Paul as he returns from Denver with Doc Holliday, and assassinate his prisoner. They have threatened that Holliday will never again enter Tombstone alive.”67