Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DOC HOLLIDAY'S LAST LABORED BREATH
It's appropriate that the hike to the purple headstone at Linwood Cemetery might leave you breathless: the life of
the legendary man underfoot was shaped by labored breathing. Seeking relief for tuberculosis (then known as
consumption) Doc Holliday moved west from his native Georgia. He set up a dental practice in Texas, but the
wheezing scared away patients, turning Holliday to gambling. While gambling in the saloons of the West, Holli-
day met Wyatt Earp, with whom he participated in the most famous shoot-out of Western lore at the OK Corral.
Biographers paint Holliday as a hot-tempered vagabond with a rapacious, caustic wit evident even in his last
moments. Lying infirm in a hotel on the site of the current Hotel Colorado he gazed bemusedly at his bare feet
and said, 'Well I'll be damned. This is funny.' No legendary gunfighter expects to die with his boots off. Holli-
day's exact place of burial is unknown; the records were lost when the cemetery was moved from an earlier loca-
tion down the hill.
Sights
Glenwood Caverns
Adventure Park
( 970-945-4228;
http://glenwoodcaverns.com
; 51000 Two Rivers Plaza Rd; amusement park adult/child $48/43,
tram & cave tour adult/child $25/20; 9am-9pm with seasonal variations; )
This family oriented destin-
ation lumps together several attractions at once: the
Fairy Caves
(once billed as the eighth
wonder of the world), a full-on amusement park, and a tram ride 1300ft up to the top of
Iron Mountain
. The regular cave tour is probably the main attraction here: this is the largest
cave in Colorado open to the public.
The Wild Tour ($60) of the caves is a heart-racing experience for would-be spelunkers,
allowing guests to crawl through narrow passages, but our favorite ride is the canyon
swing, which sends folks squealing 1300ft in the air above the Colorado River at 50mph.
There are also several roller coasters, a zip line and Wild West laser tag.
AMUSEMENT PARK, CAVE
CEMETERY
Linwood Cemetery
(Pioneer Cemetery; cnr 12th St & Bennett Ave)
Established in 1886, this is where John Henry 'Doc'
Holliday was allegedly laid to rest in November 1887 (debate about this persists, since
some scholars claim the ground would have been frozen). Harvey 'Kid Curry' Logan, a
member of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's gang, is also here. It's a half-mile hike
uphill from 12th and Bennett.
Every year in October there's a guided cemetery
ghost walk
, which can be arranged
through the Frontier Historical Museum.
