I have seen several photos on the Internet claiming to be of Doc Holliday, however, many of the facial features don’t match up. What gives?

I have seen several photos on the Internet claiming to be of Doc Holliday, however, many of the facial features don’t match up. What gives?

Vanessa Keller
Scottsdale, Arizona

You probably have found some bogus photos! In fact, only two photos of Doc Holliday as an adult have provenance: his graduation photo from dental school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when he was 20, and the one taken of him in Prescott, Arizona, in 1879.

Old West photo expert Robert G. McCubbin confirms: “Both of these came from the family, and the originals now belong to collectors.” He adds that the only other authentic photographs of Holliday are two family photos: one showing him as a baby in his mother’s arm and another of him at about the age of one or two years old.

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Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian. His latest book is Wyatt Earp: Showdown at Tombstone.  If you have a question, write:  Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 or e-mail him at marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu