Doc Holliday Wasn't Afraid

But he also wasn't looking for trouble

In 1885, Former Tombstone bartender Milt Joyce had an interesting encounter with Doc Holliday on the streets of Denver.

Possible photo of Doc Holliday

The pair had never gotten along.

If you’ll recall, Doc had shot Joyce in the hand in Tomstone following an argument. They had another confrontation the following year that resulted in Holliday being arrested and fined for making “threats against life.”

Needless to say, there was little love lost between the two.

Interestingly enough, when they met in Denver, no words were spoken.

Milt would later recall seeing Doc after stepping outside a barbershop.

“He evidently had been waiting for me. As I reached the sidewalk, he came along the edge of the crowd and brushed against me.”

“Restraining my first impulse, I ignored what I thought was a challenge and kept on my way. When I got halfway to my hotel, a thought struck me that maybe he imagined I was afraid of him because I was in a strange city where he had all his friends and satellites about him. Turning on my heel, I walked back and looked for him until I found him in the saloon where he hung out. I deliberately brushed against him, the same as he had against me.”

“I looked at him and he looked at me, but neither of us spoke a word. Some old Arizona men who knew us both were in the place, but they didn’t have any remarks just then. I walked around him three times, just to give him a chance if he wanted it, and to remove any idea he might have that I wanted to run away. He didn’t look at all scared, but he wasn’t looking for any more trouble.”

Unbeknownst to either man (well, maybe Doc had an inkling), they’d both be dead in just another few years. Holliday passed in Glenwood Springs in 1887 and Joyce in California in 1889. As for Milt’s decision to follow Doc, he would later claim regret.

“I have thought of it lots of times since then, and I have thought how foolish I was to go back, but the impulse struck me to do it, and I couldn’t help it.”

If you’d like to learn more about Doc’s final days, I just released the 4th and final installment in the Holliday series. We discuss Doc’s showdown with Johnny Ringo, his participation in the Earp vendetta ride, his final gunfight in Colorado, and his untimely demise at Glenwood Springs. And yes, we also examine the theories regarding Holliday’s grave. The full episode is available now, wherever you consume audio.