Johnny Ringo’s Feud With Doc Holliday Was Much Nastier Than You Thought

On January 17th, 1882, on Allen Street in Tombstone, Johnny Ringo and Doc Holliday faced each other with their hands near their guns. A policeman grabbed Ringo from behind before anyone fired. It was the closest they ever came to fighting. The film version of their feud ends with Doc Holliday killing Johnny Ringo in a duel. That never happened. The real feud was uglier. It began with a rumour, spread by the Earps' enemies, that Doc was a stage robber and a killer. It moved through ambushes in the dark and a gunfight Ringo was not even part of. It came to a head in a street confrontation that ended with a thirty dollar fine. Then it moved into the paperwork, with re-arrests on old charges and sworn affidavits, until Ringo was deputised by the county sheriff and sent riding after Doc with a warrant. And when Ringo was found dead under the oak trees of West Turkey Creek Canyon that July, the feud simply changed shape. Doc carried suspicion of the killing for the rest of his life, Wyatt Earp at times seemed to want the credit, and writers and filmmakers have argued about it ever since. This is the story of a hatred that never got its fair fight. 📚 Resources and Further Reading Jack Burrows, "John Ringo: The Gunfighter Who Never Was" (1987) David Johnson, "John Ringo, King of the Cowboys" (2008) Gary L. Roberts, "Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend" (2006) Casey Tefertiller, "Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend" (1997) True West Magazine, "Death of a Cowboy, the Birth of a Legend" Tombstone Epitaph, July 1882 coverage of John Ringo's death Pueblo Daily Chieftain, July 1882, on Doc Holliday's whereabouts Testimony and ruling of the Spicer hearing, Tombstone, November 1881 Coroner's inquest findings on the death of John Ringo, July 1882 Encyclopedia entries on the O.K. Corral hearing and aftermath, cross-referenced against the sources above