Old Hill Cemetery, accessible via trail , Glenwood Springs
After earning his D.D.S. from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, John Henry Holliday went into practice and promptly contracted tuberculosis. Doctors told him he would die within months, but might extend his life by heading to the drier climates out West. In 1873, he did just that, but his poor health forced him out of dentistry and into gambling, which he was quite good at. His new vocation required he hone his skill in gunfighting, which he also was quite good at. He hooked up with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson and later survived the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, gambling, drinking, and coughing his way through the Wild West for much longer than his doctors had predicted. In 1887, after narrowly escaping death by a bullet numerous times, Holliday’s frail health deteriorated further and he headed to Glenwood Springs to try a new miracle cure: sulfur vapors. They didn’t work, and “Doc” lapsed into a two-month coma before awakening, drinking a glass of whiskey, saying, “This is funny,” and dying.
Holliday was buried at an indeterminate place in the Old Hill Cemetery (or perhaps just near it), but after his legend grew, the city erected a proper memorial.
After earning his D.D.S. from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, John Henry Holliday went into practice and promptly contracted tuberculosis. Doctors told him he would die within months, but might extend his life by heading to the drier climates out West. In 1873, he did just that, but his poor health forced him out of dentistry and into gambling, which he was quite good at. His new vocation required he hone his skill in gunfighting, which he also was quite good at. He hooked up with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson and later survived the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, gambling, drinking, and coughing his way through the Wild West for much longer than his doctors had predicted. In 1887, after narrowly escaping death by a bullet numerous times, Holliday’s frail health deteriorated further and he headed to Glenwood Springs to try a new miracle cure: sulfur vapors. They didn’t work, and “Doc” lapsed into a two-month coma before awakening, drinking a glass of whiskey, saying, “This is funny,” and dying.
Holliday was buried at an indeterminate place in the Old Hill Cemetery (or perhaps just near it), but after his legend grew, the city erected a proper memorial.
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