April 8, 2024 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, she is remembered in history as Doc Holliday’s on-and-off girlfriend-turned wife. But Big Nose Kate was much more than that. Here's the History Guy with the story.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is our American Stories, and our next story comes
to us from a man who's simply known as the
History Guy. His videos are watched by hundreds of thousands
of people of all ages over on YouTube. The History
Guy has also heard here in our American Stories. Mary
Katherine Horny, also known as Big Nose Kate, was more
(00:31):
than just a beautiful woman who was associated with one
of the most dangerous men in the wild West. He
was more than just Doc Holliday's on and off girlfriend
turned wife. Here's the History Guy with the story a
Big Nose Kate.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Virgil Morgan and Wyatt Arp and Doc Holliday walked into
history on October twenty sixth, eighteen eighty one, when they
exchanged gunfire with a group of outlaws in the town
of Tombstone in the Arizona Territory. What happened there is
fairly well known, but much less well known was the
story of the woman who briefly accompanied Doc Holiday at
his time there in Tombstone, and who may have saved
(01:08):
his life earlier in his career. Without her, wied erp
and Doc Holiday may not have walked side by side
into the most famous gunfight in the history of the
wild West. Mary Catherine Horny, better known as Big Nose Kate,
was another larger than life, colorful character of the wild West,
and hers as a story that deserves to be remembered.
(01:30):
Some historians say Kate was born in Hungry Slovakia in
November eighteen forty nine. Others claimed the year was eighteen fifty,
whatever the truth, Kate's parents died when she was a
teenager at fourteen or fifteen, and left her and her
siblings without parents in Iowa. Unhappy with her situation, she
ran away from the foster home that took her in
and stowed away on a riverboat that was traveling down
the Mississippi. In later memoirs, Keith claims that she was
(01:52):
discovered by the riverboat captain on this trip was taken
under his wing. She began to use his last name
Kate Fisher, and enrolled in a school at a convent
in Saint Louis. She claims that in Saint Louis she
married a man named Silas Melvin and had a child
with him, but both he and the child died of
an illness, But again the historical record is unable to
(02:13):
prove that claim, but it also appears to be in
Saint Louis, where she first began working as a prostitute.
It was there some historians claim that Kate first met
a man named John Henry Holiday, who go on to
fame in the West with the Moniker doc Holiday. Holiday
had recently graduated from a dental school in Pennsylvania, who
could not yet get a license to practice because he
(02:34):
was too young, not yet twenty one years of age.
Holiday was in Saint Louis because a friend, a Jimison
Fuchs Junior, offered Holiday a job in his practice in
the interim. Fuchs's office was only a few blocks away
from where Kate was plying her trade. Holiday, with his
Georgia drawl and legendary manners, was probably quite memorable to
Kate among the other men she entertained. He returned to
(02:55):
Georgia in eighteen seventy two to open his own dental practice,
leaving her behind plying her trade. After this, historians believe
Kate was working as a prostitute in Dodge City, Kansas.
We know Kate changed locations because there is documentation showing
she was fined in Dodge City for being a sporting woman,
which was what officials called prostitution. At the time, she
(03:16):
was working at a brothel owned by Nelly Erp, the
wife of James Irp, who was one of the lesser
known Irp brothers. Throughout her busy life, Kate was known
by many nicknames because of her marriages and reputation of
moving from place to place. In addition to Big Nose,
she was also known as Katie Elder, Missus, John h
Doc Holliday, Nosey Kate, Kate Cummings, and Kate Melvin. The
(03:38):
nickname Big Nose Kate was actually used by White Rp.
In an article he wrote for a San Francisco newspaper
in eighteen ninety six. Erp wrote that this wasn't a
comment on her actual nose, but referred to her strong,
bold character. He said she had a legendary temper and
valued her freedom over most anything else. Despite numerous film
depictions to the contrary, Kate wasn't particularly far on de verb,
(04:00):
and the feeling was reciprocated. She was not a blushing
violet and never apologetic for her profession or her hard
drinking ways. The men around Kate may not have appreciated
the way she didn't ask for permission to live the
way she wanted to. They may also have been intimidated
by her intelligence, which Holiday was known to have said
was equal to his own. In the eighteen seventies, Kate
(04:20):
was living with J. S. Elder, a saloon keeper in Wichita,
who gave her the surname made famous in the nineteen
sixty five Western film The Sons of Katie Elder starring
John Wayne and Dean Martin. She was arrested for prostitution
in June of that year, and that brush with the
law may have encouraged her to move somewhere more friendly
to her profession. Kate went upspring from Dodge City to
Great Band, and her protector J. S. Elder went elsewhere. Unfortunately,
(04:45):
trouble found her again in Great Pen, and Kate was
fined ten dollars for assault and battery. She found another
man to protect her, a saloon owner, gambler and gunslinger
named Tom Sherman, a man with a fearsome reputation, Sherman
wasn't someone to mess around with. Under one story, after
shooting a man in a gunfight, Sherman said to the
people watching, I'd better shoot him again, hadn't I Boys
(05:06):
and he did, walking up to Point Blake Range to
do so. Kate and Sherman wandered the west, going from
count to town seeking opportunities for both prostitute and gambler.
She was working in Fort Griffith, Texas, when Doc Holliday
blew into her life again. In the time since she
had known him in Saint Louis, Holiday had been shot
in the leg and now walked with a limp. He
(05:28):
had also picked up what people at the time called
lung disease or consumption. Doctors today call it tuberculosis. It
would eventually kill him, but in the meantime Holiday went west,
seeking the drier climates that were believed to help those
with his condition. Along the way, he was developing his
own reputation for violence and no patients for those he
felt were short changing him. In addition to reuniting with Kate,
(05:49):
it was at Fort Griffin that Holiday met White. Herb
then Adept A U. S. Marshall, was on the trail
of the notorious outlaw Dirty Dave Rudaba. Holiday had played
cards with Rudabau and described to him as an ignorant scoundrel.
It is entirely possible that Wyatt and Doc Holiday were
introduced by Kate, who was probably already familiar with RP,
having worked at James Irp's saloon earlier in her career. Later,
(06:12):
Irp told a story about what happened in Fort Griffin.
According to Irp, Holiday was playing cards with a notorious
gambler named Ed Bailey when things went awry. Bailey, apparently
not trusting Holiday to play fairly, was looking through the
discard pile after every hand that was blatantly against the
rules of the card game. Holiday asked Bailey to stop,
and when he didn't, Holiday raked in the paw, apparently
(06:33):
intending to leave. Bailey drew his gun to make Holiday
put the money back, but Holiday gutted Bailey with a knife,
killing him. The townspeople nabbed Holiday and threw him in jail.
Rumbling about ropes and murder. Kate jumped a Holiday's rescue
by setting a huge fire to attract the town's attention,
and then shot up at the jail, toting a gun
in both hands, demanding Holiday's release. However, the jail big happened,
(06:55):
Kate and Holiday fled town and were at Dodge City, Kansas.
Shortly thereafter, She claims that they married some time before
arriving in Dodge City, and they registered at the hotel
there under the name doctor and Missus Holiday. Now together,
Holiday continued to work as both a dentist and a gambler,
while Kate continued to practice the world's oldest profession. They
(07:16):
continued on Western after Holiday was accused of bergilizing a
store in Dodge City. His cough was becoming worse. They
weren't tied down to anyone place for very long. Holiday
established a saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico Territory, but
the town was already garnering a reputation for violence, so
he sold up and the couple moved on. When the
RBS encouraged Holiday to move to Tombstone, a rustic silver
(07:37):
mining camp in Arizona Territory, Kate lived elsewhere for a time,
but joined him before the big shootout for which he
is most well remembered. By some account, she may have
witnessed the shootout. Their relationship throughout their time together was tempestuous.
Once after a serious argument, Holiday's enemies took advantage of
their estrangement and talked Kate into filing a fall's claim
with authorities that Holiday had helped to rob the Benson stagecoach.
(08:00):
She had been very drunk at the time that she
made the statement, but it was a very serious accusation.
Two men had been killed in the hold up. The
Earth stepped in and provided witnesses, proving Kate's statement false,
but the damage to Kate in Holiday's relationship seemed permanent.
They were never as close after that time. Things deteriorated
further after Tom Marshall Virgil Earth arresticate for disorderly conduct,
(08:22):
and she left town furious. Holiday died in Colorado in
eighteen eighty seven. Kate married again in eighteen ninety to
George Cummings, a miner and, according to Kate, abusive alcoholic.
They moved to Bisbee, Arizona. Kate opened a bakery that failed.
She divorced Cummings and moved in with Jack Howard, another miner.
This final relationship seemed to be a good fit, as
(08:42):
Kate put down roots and stayed with Howard for thirty years.
Howard left her the home they lived in after his
death in nineteen thirty. She remained feisty and outspoken to
the Ant died of heart disease. In November of nineteen forty.
She's buried at the cemetery at the Airs on a
Pioneer's Home in Prescott, Arizona. While she was after the
Years on a Pioneer's Home, several authors came to her
(09:02):
offering to write her story. At first she was angry
because they didn't offer her money, and then she was
angry because the story never seemed to get written. But
those conversations did tell us something about her relationship with
Doc Holliday. She said, of him, I loved Doc thot
the world of him, and he was always kind to
me until he got mixed up with those herbs. One
wonders what nickname Big Nose Kate used when she was
(09:25):
referring to Wyatt Earp. She said of her life once
part as funny, part as sad, such as life anyway
you take it, very reminiscent of a quote about life
that Doc Holliday give when he said there is no
normal life, there is only life, and that famous couple
represented life in the wild West.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
And great job on that is always by Greg Hengler.
And again go to YouTube and type in the History
Guy and you'll see all of his work. The story
of Big Nose Kate here on our American story.
This is our American Stories, and our next story comes
to us from a man who's simply known as the
History Guy. His videos are watched by hundreds of thousands
of people of all ages over on YouTube. The History
Guy has also heard here in our American Stories. Mary
Katherine Horny, also known as Big Nose Kate, was more
(00:31):
than just a beautiful woman who was associated with one
of the most dangerous men in the wild West. He
was more than just Doc Holliday's on and off girlfriend
turned wife. Here's the History Guy with the story a
Big Nose Kate.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Virgil Morgan and Wyatt Arp and Doc Holliday walked into
history on October twenty sixth, eighteen eighty one, when they
exchanged gunfire with a group of outlaws in the town
of Tombstone in the Arizona Territory. What happened there is
fairly well known, but much less well known was the
story of the woman who briefly accompanied Doc Holiday at
his time there in Tombstone, and who may have saved
(01:08):
his life earlier in his career. Without her, wied erp
and Doc Holiday may not have walked side by side
into the most famous gunfight in the history of the
wild West. Mary Catherine Horny, better known as Big Nose Kate,
was another larger than life, colorful character of the wild West,
and hers as a story that deserves to be remembered.
(01:30):
Some historians say Kate was born in Hungry Slovakia in
November eighteen forty nine. Others claimed the year was eighteen fifty,
whatever the truth, Kate's parents died when she was a
teenager at fourteen or fifteen, and left her and her
siblings without parents in Iowa. Unhappy with her situation, she
ran away from the foster home that took her in
and stowed away on a riverboat that was traveling down
the Mississippi. In later memoirs, Keith claims that she was
(01:52):
discovered by the riverboat captain on this trip was taken
under his wing. She began to use his last name
Kate Fisher, and enrolled in a school at a convent
in Saint Louis. She claims that in Saint Louis she
married a man named Silas Melvin and had a child
with him, but both he and the child died of
an illness, But again the historical record is unable to
(02:13):
prove that claim, but it also appears to be in
Saint Louis, where she first began working as a prostitute.
It was there some historians claim that Kate first met
a man named John Henry Holiday, who go on to
fame in the West with the Moniker doc Holiday. Holiday
had recently graduated from a dental school in Pennsylvania, who
could not yet get a license to practice because he
(02:34):
was too young, not yet twenty one years of age.
Holiday was in Saint Louis because a friend, a Jimison
Fuchs Junior, offered Holiday a job in his practice in
the interim. Fuchs's office was only a few blocks away
from where Kate was plying her trade. Holiday, with his
Georgia drawl and legendary manners, was probably quite memorable to
Kate among the other men she entertained. He returned to
(02:55):
Georgia in eighteen seventy two to open his own dental practice,
leaving her behind plying her trade. After this, historians believe
Kate was working as a prostitute in Dodge City, Kansas.
We know Kate changed locations because there is documentation showing
she was fined in Dodge City for being a sporting woman,
which was what officials called prostitution. At the time, she
(03:16):
was working at a brothel owned by Nelly Erp, the
wife of James Irp, who was one of the lesser
known Irp brothers. Throughout her busy life, Kate was known
by many nicknames because of her marriages and reputation of
moving from place to place. In addition to Big Nose,
she was also known as Katie Elder, Missus, John h
Doc Holliday, Nosey Kate, Kate Cummings, and Kate Melvin. The
(03:38):
nickname Big Nose Kate was actually used by White Rp.
In an article he wrote for a San Francisco newspaper
in eighteen ninety six. Erp wrote that this wasn't a
comment on her actual nose, but referred to her strong,
bold character. He said she had a legendary temper and
valued her freedom over most anything else. Despite numerous film
depictions to the contrary, Kate wasn't particularly far on de verb,
(04:00):
and the feeling was reciprocated. She was not a blushing
violet and never apologetic for her profession or her hard
drinking ways. The men around Kate may not have appreciated
the way she didn't ask for permission to live the
way she wanted to. They may also have been intimidated
by her intelligence, which Holiday was known to have said
was equal to his own. In the eighteen seventies, Kate
(04:20):
was living with J. S. Elder, a saloon keeper in Wichita,
who gave her the surname made famous in the nineteen
sixty five Western film The Sons of Katie Elder starring
John Wayne and Dean Martin. She was arrested for prostitution
in June of that year, and that brush with the
law may have encouraged her to move somewhere more friendly
to her profession. Kate went upspring from Dodge City to
Great Band, and her protector J. S. Elder went elsewhere. Unfortunately,
(04:45):
trouble found her again in Great Pen, and Kate was
fined ten dollars for assault and battery. She found another
man to protect her, a saloon owner, gambler and gunslinger
named Tom Sherman, a man with a fearsome reputation, Sherman
wasn't someone to mess around with. Under one story, after
shooting a man in a gunfight, Sherman said to the
people watching, I'd better shoot him again, hadn't I Boys
(05:06):
and he did, walking up to Point Blake Range to
do so. Kate and Sherman wandered the west, going from
count to town seeking opportunities for both prostitute and gambler.
She was working in Fort Griffith, Texas, when Doc Holliday
blew into her life again. In the time since she
had known him in Saint Louis, Holiday had been shot
in the leg and now walked with a limp. He
(05:28):
had also picked up what people at the time called
lung disease or consumption. Doctors today call it tuberculosis. It
would eventually kill him, but in the meantime Holiday went west,
seeking the drier climates that were believed to help those
with his condition. Along the way, he was developing his
own reputation for violence and no patients for those he
felt were short changing him. In addition to reuniting with Kate,
(05:49):
it was at Fort Griffin that Holiday met White. Herb
then Adept A U. S. Marshall, was on the trail
of the notorious outlaw Dirty Dave Rudaba. Holiday had played
cards with Rudabau and described to him as an ignorant scoundrel.
It is entirely possible that Wyatt and Doc Holiday were
introduced by Kate, who was probably already familiar with RP,
having worked at James Irp's saloon earlier in her career. Later,
(06:12):
Irp told a story about what happened in Fort Griffin.
According to Irp, Holiday was playing cards with a notorious
gambler named Ed Bailey when things went awry. Bailey, apparently
not trusting Holiday to play fairly, was looking through the
discard pile after every hand that was blatantly against the
rules of the card game. Holiday asked Bailey to stop,
and when he didn't, Holiday raked in the paw, apparently
(06:33):
intending to leave. Bailey drew his gun to make Holiday
put the money back, but Holiday gutted Bailey with a knife,
killing him. The townspeople nabbed Holiday and threw him in jail.
Rumbling about ropes and murder. Kate jumped a Holiday's rescue
by setting a huge fire to attract the town's attention,
and then shot up at the jail, toting a gun
in both hands, demanding Holiday's release. However, the jail big happened,
(06:55):
Kate and Holiday fled town and were at Dodge City, Kansas.
Shortly thereafter, She claims that they married some time before
arriving in Dodge City, and they registered at the hotel
there under the name doctor and Missus Holiday. Now together,
Holiday continued to work as both a dentist and a gambler,
while Kate continued to practice the world's oldest profession. They
(07:16):
continued on Western after Holiday was accused of bergilizing a
store in Dodge City. His cough was becoming worse. They
weren't tied down to anyone place for very long. Holiday
established a saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico Territory, but
the town was already garnering a reputation for violence, so
he sold up and the couple moved on. When the
RBS encouraged Holiday to move to Tombstone, a rustic silver
(07:37):
mining camp in Arizona Territory, Kate lived elsewhere for a time,
but joined him before the big shootout for which he
is most well remembered. By some account, she may have
witnessed the shootout. Their relationship throughout their time together was tempestuous.
Once after a serious argument, Holiday's enemies took advantage of
their estrangement and talked Kate into filing a fall's claim
with authorities that Holiday had helped to rob the Benson stagecoach.
(08:00):
She had been very drunk at the time that she
made the statement, but it was a very serious accusation.
Two men had been killed in the hold up. The
Earth stepped in and provided witnesses, proving Kate's statement false,
but the damage to Kate in Holiday's relationship seemed permanent.
They were never as close after that time. Things deteriorated
further after Tom Marshall Virgil Earth arresticate for disorderly conduct,
(08:22):
and she left town furious. Holiday died in Colorado in
eighteen eighty seven. Kate married again in eighteen ninety to
George Cummings, a miner and, according to Kate, abusive alcoholic.
They moved to Bisbee, Arizona. Kate opened a bakery that failed.
She divorced Cummings and moved in with Jack Howard, another miner.
This final relationship seemed to be a good fit, as
(08:42):
Kate put down roots and stayed with Howard for thirty years.
Howard left her the home they lived in after his
death in nineteen thirty. She remained feisty and outspoken to
the Ant died of heart disease. In November of nineteen forty.
She's buried at the cemetery at the Airs on a
Pioneer's Home in Prescott, Arizona. While she was after the
Years on a Pioneer's Home, several authors came to her
(09:02):
offering to write her story. At first she was angry
because they didn't offer her money, and then she was
angry because the story never seemed to get written. But
those conversations did tell us something about her relationship with
Doc Holliday. She said, of him, I loved Doc thot
the world of him, and he was always kind to
me until he got mixed up with those herbs. One
wonders what nickname Big Nose Kate used when she was
(09:25):
referring to Wyatt Earp. She said of her life once
part as funny, part as sad, such as life anyway
you take it, very reminiscent of a quote about life
that Doc Holliday give when he said there is no
normal life, there is only life, and that famous couple
represented life in the wild West.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
And great job on that is always by Greg Hengler.
And again go to YouTube and type in the History
Guy and you'll see all of his work. The story
of Big Nose Kate here on our American story.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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