Did Doc Holliday and the Earps Really Spend Time in Prescott?

If you've walked Whiskey Row, you've probably heard that Doc Holliday and the Earps once gambled right there, and maybe you've wondered how much of that is true. Here's the answer: a good deal of it is documented. Virgil Earp was elected a Prescott constable in 1878. Doc Holliday spent the winter of 1879 to 1880 in Prescott, came back in the spring of 1880, and appears in that year's federal census for Yavapai County as a dentist. Wyatt Earp stopped here briefly in 1879. The famous story of Doc winning $40,000 at the tables, though, is legend.

Let's walk through what the records show, using the Sharlot Hall Museum's Days Past archive, and sort the history from the tall tales.

Of all the Earps, Virgil has the deepest Prescott roots. A Days Past article by Bill Lynam says Virgil first hauled freight between southern California and Prescott as a wagon master in 1866, with Wyatt joining him as a teamster. Virgil settled in Prescott with his wife, Allie, in the late 1870s. Days Past writers give the year as 1876 in one article and 1877 in another, so we'll leave it at that.

He delivered mail, did some mining, and ran a sawmill, said but not proven to have stood where the Thumb Butte parking lot is today. The record gets firmer from there:

• September 3, 1878: appointed night watchman by the town's Common Council.
• November 8, 1878: elected Constable of the Prescott Precinct.
• November 27, 1879: the date on his commission as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, as he got ready to head for Tombstone.

According to a three-part Days Past series by Bradley G. Courtney, Doc Holliday arrived in early November 1879 from Las Vegas, New Mexico, with his companion, Kate. Wyatt Earp and his wife, Mattie, came too, staying with Virgil and Allie. Wyatt's visit was short, more of a layover on the way to Tombstone.

Doc was moving away from dentistry and toward gambling full time, and Courtney writes that Whiskey Row was then the gambling center of Arizona Territory. By late winter, the two had gone separate ways: Kate headed to Globe, and Doc went back to Las Vegas, New Mexico, for a few months.

Doc came back to Prescott as a single man, probably in May 1880. Courtney's research found that he rented a room in the boarding house of Richard Elliott, on Montezuma Street just above Gurley Street. One of his housemates was John Gosper, Secretary of Arizona Territory and acting governor.

Here's the record that settles the question. The 1880 federal census for Yavapai County lists him as "J. H. Holladay," age 28, occupation dentist. The spelling is off, but the man is the same.

Doc left for Tombstone in September 1880. Years later, after a shooting in Leadville, Colorado, an 1884 Prescott newspaper called him "formerly a well-known Prescott sporting man."

This is our favorite piece of the story. One of only two verified photographs of Doc Holliday was taken by a Prescott photographer. Courtney writes that D. F. Mitchell ran the Capital Art Gallery at 147 North Cortez Street. A full-length portrait signed "Yours truly, J. H. Holliday," sent to his Aunt Ella, carries Mitchell's Prescott name on the back. It came to light in 1973 in the book In Search of the Hollidays, by Albert Pendleton Jr. and Susan McKey Thomas.

Courtney believes Doc most likely sat for it during his 1880 stay, and that Mitchell probably had no idea who his customer was.

The $40,000 story traces back to Stuart Lake, Wyatt Earp's biographer, who said Wyatt told him about it. In a 1932 letter to the Prescott Evening Courier, a man named Anton Mazzanovich called it "apple sauce" and said the most money Doc ever had was an $8,000 inheritance, which Courtney notes came from Doc's mother. Over time, local retellings shrank the winnings to $10,000. Courtney does think Doc likely left Prescott with some winnings, but nobody knows how much.

Doc Holliday's name never appears in the local newspaper during his time in Prescott. He wasn't famous yet. The gunfight in Tombstone was still ahead of him, so to Prescott in 1880 he was one more dentist turned gambler on Whiskey Row.

That's why so much of the Prescott story comes from records rather than headlines: the census, property deeds, Virgil's election, a photographer's stamp, and that one newspaper line written four years later. It's also why legends filled in so easily. When the papers are quiet, a good story moves right into the silence.

Virgil's Prescott chapter didn't end with Tombstone. A Days Past article by Ron Williams says he returned in 1895 and did some work as a special constable. Even with the use of only one arm, he was nominated as the Republican candidate for Yavapai County sheriff, and he declined. He left the county in 1903.

Courtney writes that a historical marker now stands at the site of Richard Elliott's boarding house on Montezuma Street, just above Gurley, telling the story of Doc in Prescott. It's an easy stop on a walk downtown, along with the Palace on Whiskey Row. Here's more on what happened on Whiskey Row.

If you'd like to read the original articles, the Sharlot Hall Museum keeps the Days Past archive and a large collection on the area's history. Here's what you can see at the Sharlot Hall Museum.

Many people who end up living in the Quad Cities first fell for the area on a day like this: a walk down Montezuma Street, a stop at the museum, and a drive back home through Prescott Valley. If you're thinking about a move, we're glad to help you build a timeline for your visits, so you can see the area in more than one season without feeling rushed. Here's what to know before you relocate to Prescott.

Did Wyatt Earp live in Prescott?
Only briefly. The Sharlot Hall Museum's Days Past archive says Wyatt and his wife, Mattie, stayed with Virgil in Prescott in 1879 on the way to Tombstone. Years earlier, in 1866, he hauled freight to Prescott with Virgil.

Where did Doc Holliday live in Prescott?
In 1880 he rented a room in Richard Elliott's boarding house on Montezuma Street, just above Gurley Street. A historical marker now stands at the site.

Did Doc Holliday really win $40,000 in Prescott?
That's legend. The story came from Wyatt Earp's biographer, and a man who knew Doc called it "apple sauce" in a 1932 letter to the Prescott Evening Courier.

Was Virgil Earp a lawman in Prescott?
Yes. He was appointed night watchman in September 1878 and elected Constable of the Prescott Precinct on November 8, 1878. After returning in 1895, he worked as a special constable.

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