Happy Birthday to…Two Olympians and a Gunfighter

Even though the XXXIII Olympiad recently ended, it’s not too late to honor an Olympic coach and an Olympic athlete on their birthdays. 

And even though we could celebrate Frederick William 1 of Prussia’s 311^th birthday or the Tenth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty’s 149^th birthday, let’s wish a happy birthday to a notorious American legend instead.

 

Happy 274^th Birthday to Doc Holliday

Gambler and Gunfighter

 

Born: August 14, 1851

Birthplace: Griffin, Georgia, United States

Died: November 8, 1887 (36 years old)

 

Doc Holliday gained a prime spot in the mythos of the American frontier when he joined his close friends, Wyatt Earp and his brothers, at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona on October 26, 1881. The deadly confrontation between the lawmen and the cattle rustlers is considered the most famous shootout in Wild West history.

“Conflict follows wrongdoing as surely as flies follow the herd." 

(Doc Holliday)

 

A Few Facts:

• Though we know him as “Doc,” his parents named him John Henry.
• He graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery when he was twenty years old.
• He moved out west after being diagnosed with tuberculosis.
• He died without his boots on in a Glenwood, Colorado hotel where he stayed while seeking the curative powers of nearby hot springs. 

Famous actors who’ve played Doc Holliday include Cesar Romero, Victor Mature, Kirk Douglas, Martin Landau, Stacy Keach, Willy Nelson, Val Kilmer, and both Dennis Quaid and his brother Randy.

 

“Conflict follows wrongdoing as surely as flies follow the herd.” 

 

Happy 124^th Birthday to Earl Foster Thomson

American Equestrian and Olympic Silver Medalist

 

Born: August 14, 1900

Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Died: July 5, 1971 (almost 71 years old)

Best known as Tommy, Thomson holds an illustrious Olympic record in the equestrian competition known as “eventing.” He won:

• 1932 Los Angeles ~ individual silver; team gold
• 1936 Berlin ~ individual silver; team gold
• 1948 London ~ team gold; team silver in the dressage competition (to date, the highest team medal won by the U.S. in dressage)

In 1952, Thomson served as a judge at the Games (Helsinki), and in 1960, he served as a chef d’equipe for the eventing team (Rome). 

 

The 1936 competition was especially notable because Thomson was the only American to successfully negotiate an especially difficult obstacle that included a three-foot jump into the water. Most of the competitors “found that the footing on the bottom was slippery and it was much deeper than it looked” (EFT). 

 

Only a few other riders besides Thomson successfully completed the course so suspicion was cast onto the Germans when their entire team did so. 

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” Muhammad Ali, gold-medal boxer

 

Thomson didn’t win medals only for his equestrian skill. A 1922 West Point graduate, Thomson was awarded the Silver Star in World War II while serving as chief of staff to the U.S. Army’s 10^th Mountain Division in Italy.

 

Happy 106^th Birthday to LeRoy T. Walker

Former President of the US Olympic Committee

 

Born: August 14, 1918

Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Died: April 23, 2012 (94 years old)

 

LeRoy Tashreau Walker’s grandparents were slaves, and he was the first in his family to attend college. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Benedict College (Columbia, SC), his master’s degree from Columbia University (New York, NY), and his Ph.D. in exercise physiology and biomechanics from New York University.

 

The teams that he coached at North Carolina Central University (Durham) won eleven gold medals at the Olympic Games held between 1956 and 1980. He also coached track teams from Israel, Ethiopia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Kenya.  

“My mother and [my brother] Joe told me, ‘You determine your destiny. 

Don’t let somebody else tell you what you are capable of doing.’” 

LeRoy Walker

 

Other Achievements:

• 1976 ~ First Black coach of an American Olympic team;
• 1983 ~ Named chancellor of NCCU;
• 1987 ~ Inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame;
• 1991 ~ Awarded the United States Sports Academy’s Eagle Award, the organization’s highest international honor;
• 1992 ~ First Black president of the US Olympic Committee and served two terms.

Your Turn

 

Whose birthday party do you most want to attend? You can…

 

• Play poker with Doc Holliday,
• Ride a horse with Earl “Tommy” Thomson, or
• Be mentored by LeRoy T. Walker.

 

Johnnie Alexander writes “Stories Past and Present” in multiple genres. A fan of classic movies, stacks of books, and road trips, she shares a life of quiet adventure with Rugby, her racoon-treeing papillon. Visit her at johnnie-alexander.com.

 

Quotes

 

Doc Holliday Quote

 

Muhammad Ali Quote

 

LeRoy T. Walker Quote

 

Photos ~ individual photos in public domain; images created with Canva. 

 

Doc Holliday ~ This is a copy of a photograph taken by photographer D.F. Mitchell in 1879-80.

 

Earl Foster Thomson ~ Portrait of Thomson (1900–1971) at West Point in 1922 from The Howitzer: The Yearbook of the United States Corps of Cadets, 1922, page 194. 

 

LeRoy Walker as Chancellor of North Carolina Central University, 1984.

North Carolina Central University - "The Eagle," North Carolina Central University student yearbook, 1984 (p. 9), available online.

 

Sources

 

EFT ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Foster_Thomson

LeRoy T. Walker ~ https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/walker-leroy-t-1918-2012/

Joseph Isaac Clanton, The Cowboys Outlaw Who Got Away & 5 Free Chapters

Joseph 'Ike' Isaac Clanton

 Joseph Isaac Clanton (1847-1887), most well-known simply as Ike Clanton, was a heavy drinker, possessed a quick temper and tended to talk too much. But he lives in infamy because he was an enemy of Wyatt Earp. 

This enmity was triggered in 1880 when Wyatt learned Ike and his ranch hands stole his horse. Wyatt and friend Doc Holliday rode out with legal papers from Tombstone to the Clanton Ranch in Charleston, Arizona Territory, to retrieve it. 

This so angered Ike that a lifelong war started between them.

During the confrontation, insolent eighteen-year-old Billy Clanton handed the

Billy Clanton

horse over to Wyatt with the snide remark, “You got any more horses to lose?” That didn't sit well either.

Ike Clanton was one of seven children born to Newman and Maria Clanton. His father ‘Old Man Clanton’ worked as a day laborer, gold miner, farmer, and later a cattleman in Arizona Territory. Old Man Clanton allowed a group of outlaws known as The Cowboys to base their operation on his Arizona ranch.

The animosity between Ike and Wyatt grew through several different conflicts. 

In October 1880, Wyatt Earp arrested William ‘Curly Bill’ Brocius, one of The Cowboys, for the murder of Tombstone marshal Fred White. When Brocius was found not guilty, tensions intensified.

Wyatt Earp

Wyatt believed The Cowboys were involved in a bungled stagecoach robbery in March 1881. Two men on the stage were killed. Ike Clanton blamed Doc Holliday instead.

In July 1881, Curly Bill Brocius and gunfighter Johnny Ringo headed for New Mexico to kill two brothers, William and Isaac Haslett. A few weeks earlier Cowboy members Bill Leonard and Harry Head died during an attempted robbery at the Haslett brothers’ general store.

Later that month, Curly Bill led an ambush against a Mexican trail herd at San Luis Pass. They killed six vaqueros and tortured eight.*

William 'Curly Bill' Brocius

When Old Man Clanton died in the Guadalupe Canyon Massacre of August 1881, Curly Bill took over The Cowboys. 

Some have portrayed the town of Tombstone as living in fear of The Cowboys. This was not the case. With the exception of Ike Clanton, who was widely disliked, most of The Cowboys were seen as harmless or merely a nuisance.
All of that changed with the gunfight at the OK Corral on Lot #22, Block 17. 

On a cold day, Wednesday afternoon, October 26th, 1881, 3:00 p.m., in Tombstone on a lot eighteen feet wide, over thirty shots were fired. In thirty seconds. Three Clantons were killed. 

Unarmed Ike Clanton ran away without firing a shot. 

The Earps and Doc Holliday hated him the most, but they didn’t shoot him. After all, he had no weapon. That’s the way things were done in the Old West. The Code. 

Ike Clanton's run-ins with the law were not over. Charged with cattle rustling,

Ike Clanton

Ike and his brother Fin were cornered by detective Jonas V. Brighton on June 1, 1887, in Springerville, Arizona. Fin Clanton surrendered. Ike resisted and was shot dead.

*My husband Stephen once hiked into the canyon where the Mexican smugglers were ambushed. Don’t think of these smugglers as evil, violent men. They were usually merchants who wanted to bypass the often corrupt officials at custom houses on both sides of the border.

Stephen mentioned this ambush, a part of the backstory of the OK Corral gunfight, in cowboy poetry he wrote entitled, “Ridin’ The Divide.” You can find it here: http://www.blybooks.com/2015/11/ridin-the-divide-cowboy-poetry/

~~~~~~~~

Janet Chester Bly

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Janet Chester Bly has written and co-written 32 books with her late husband, Christy Award winning western author Stephen Bly. She and her three sons completed Stephen’s last historical novel for him, Book 7 of the Stuart Brannon Series: Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot. Can a committee write historical fiction? The Bly family had a four month deadline to find out. Read about the story of the writing process here: http://www.blybooks.com/category/finishing-dads-novel/. Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot, a Selah Award Finalist, is set near Portland, Oregon in 1905.

Wind in the Wires, Book 1, Trails of Reba Cahill, is her first solo adult novel. It’s

Wind in the Wires
Trails of Reba Cahill Series

a 1991 western mystery. It’s a road adventure with a touch of romance. It’s Cowgirl Lit. Janet is working on Book 2 now with a scheduled Spring 2016 release.

More info about the Blys here: http://www.BlyBooks.com  

Free! 5 Chapters of Wind in the Wires to receive right now when you sign up for Bly Books Almost Monthly News here: https://blybooks.leadpages.net/5-chapters-witw-optin/