The June issue shows Doc Holliday’s tombstone in the Linwood Cemetery in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Is that his real burial spot?

The June issue shows Doc Holliday’s tombstone in the Linwood Cemetery in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Is that his real burial spot?

Harry Thomas
Indianapolis, Indiana

Nobody knows for sure. Doc Holliday biographer Dr. Gary L. Roberts says the original grave marker disappeared in the early 20th century. In 1956, city officials placed a headstone in the cemetery for the benefit of visitors. The city manager claimed he had it on good authority the marker was placed on the site where Doc was buried, but other folks disagree.

One story has Holliday’s body washing away in a flood and re-buried—location unknown. An unlikely tale has him buried in a “holding plot” at the foot of the hill because the ground at Linwood was too frozen to dig at the time of his funeral. Another fanciful tale buries Doc in an unmarked grave next to his daddy in Griffin, Georgia.

To quote my friend Doc Roberts,
“The story proves that legends rarely ‘rest in peace.’”

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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