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Elena Sandidge

Lost in the myths and fairy tales of the Old West & beyond.

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Category: Old West History

Death Threats in Tombstone

January 2, 2017February 6, 2021

In the aftermath of the O.K. Corral hearing, the cowboy gang were not willing to accept Judge Spicer’s verdict. The Earps were found justified in their actions during the gunfight. There would be no murder trial. After the hearing was over, several Earp associates and also Judge Spicer received letters warning them to leave town….

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Categories: Old West History

Another view of Doc Holliday

July 25, 2016February 6, 2021

I love digging for descriptions of people from Tombstone, especially Doc Holliday. Here’s a good one from a book called Leadville Sketches.

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Categories: Old West History

Is this the face of Doc Holliday?

February 16, 2016February 6, 2021

The first question that I had after watching Tombstone was “What did the real Doc Holliday look like?” At the time I was living in Scotland and the internet was not what it is now, so this question was a hard one to answer. I don’t know how many libraries I had to troll through…

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Categories: Old West History
cowboys bathing

Keeping Clean in the Dirty Old West

September 15, 2015February 6, 2021

Whenever the subject of personal hygiene on the frontier is raised, everyone rushes to discuss how stinky people were back in the ‘old days’. Granted, I’m sure there were smelly people, but I think it’s unfair to lump all people from that era in one large reeking group. There were different levels of hygiene depending on…

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Categories: Old West History

Doc Holliday and the Latin Duel

August 12, 2015June 23, 2021

One of my favorite scenes in Tombstone has to be the Latin duel. It’s that moment when Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo meet for the first time and realize that they are perfectly matched combatants. The insults fly, but in Latin not English. Ringo pulls some fast moves with his gun that are mirrored perfectly…

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Categories: Old West History

500 Must Be a Peach of a Hand – A guide to gambling in the Old West

February 21, 2015February 6, 2021

Poker is the most famous type of gambling that’s depicted in western movies. Who can forget Doc Holliday’s opening scene in Tombstone where he stabs Ed Bailey before raking in a fortune of coins and jewellery. It’s not just the movies though, Wild Bill Hickock’s unfortunate departure from the world while clutching aces and eights…

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Categories: Old West History

Assassins in Tombstone

December 28, 2014February 6, 2021

On the night of December 28, 1881 things in Tombstone were far from peaceful. It was only two months after the infamous Gunfight at the OK Corral and despite a month long coroner’s hearing at the behest of Ike Clanton, the cowboy faction of Cochise, Co. were not granted the murder trial they’d hoped for….

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Categories: Old West History

“You’re a daisy if you do!” – A Guide to Doc Holliday Slang

November 23, 2014June 23, 2021

“You’re a daisy if you do” and “You’re no daisy. No daisy at all.” are two Doc Holliday lines that people love to quote from the 1993 film, Tombstone. It’s lines like this that make Tombstone so memorable. Here’s a question for you though. Did you know that the real Doc Holliday used this phrase?

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Categories: Old West History
Doc Holliday's Death in Tombstone

The Death of Doc Holliday

November 8, 2014February 6, 2021

Dying in bed at the age of 36, Doc Holliday is said to have taken a final drink of whiskey and looked down at his feet and said “This is funny.” After fifteen years of moving from cow towns to mining towns gaining a mostly unfounded reputation as a gunfighter and desperado, Doc Holliday died….

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Categories: Old West History
Skeletal Doc for Halloween

The Ghosts of Tombstone

October 31, 2014February 6, 2021

If you’re planning to take a trip to Tombstone, AZ you should try to stay for a night. The experience of walking the empty streets late at night is not to be missed. Make sure to wear boots so that you can hear the thud of your heels on the boardwalk. Be sure to walk Allen…

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Categories: Old West History
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A Gentleman in Hell

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