Anna Finch and the Hired Gun (36 page)
Read Anna Finch and the Hired Gun Online
Authors: Kathleen Y'Barbo
A special report by Winston Mitchell,
columnist and close friend of Anna Finch Sanders
May 5, 1886—This reporter takes great joy in announcing that the lovely Anna Finch Sanders, formerly of this city, has provided her husband, the noted rancher, investor, and Pinkerton agent, J. E. Sanders, with his first child, a daughter called Mae. Her arrival into the world, occurring as it did on the auspicious May Day after which it is supposed that she was named, caused family and friends some level of concern as the darling bundle was not said to be due for at least another month. I have it on the authority of the happy and doting grandparents that both mother and daughter are doing exceedingly well.
Though this reporter has not yet had the privilege of paying a visit to the Sanders family, those who have indicate little Mae is a lovely child with her mother’s eyes and her father’s even temper. Or perhaps ’tis the other way around. Likely she will be tall like her father rather than possess the petite and feminine stature of her mother, given that mention has been made of the strapping heft and size of the dark-haired newborn.
Did I say that? Perish the thought!
A journalist’s facts are the mainstay of any article. Consider the following:
• John Henry “Doc” Holliday graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1872. He opened a dental practice in Dallas shortly thereafter. He later took up the practice of dentistry in Tombstone, Arizona, though in both cases ill health caused him to give it up.
• The legendary gunfight at the OK Corral was over in just under thirty seconds, and more than thirty shots were fired.
• The last known meeting of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday took place at the Windsor Hotel on May 1, 1885 (other sources claim 1886) and was documented by Earp’s wife, who was also in attendance at this historic meeting.
• Wyatt Earp lived well into the twentieth century, moving to California, where he befriended many in the movie business. Two cowboy stars of the time, William S. Hart and Tom Mix, were pallbearers at his 1929 funeral.
• The Pinkerton Detective Agency’s logo was a large eye, and their motto was “We never sleep.” Alan Pinkerton earned fame as the man who foiled an early assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln.
• The first book in Beadle & Adams’ Beadle’s Dime Novel series,
Maleaska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter
by Ann S. Stephens, dated June 9, 1860, is widely considered to be the first dime novel.
•
The
Denver Times
was an actual newspaper published from 1872 through 1926. Winston Mitchell, however, is completely fictional and never wrote a column for the paper.
• Nineteenth-century journalist Nelly Bly, born Elizabeth Cochran but who wrote under a pseudonym taken from a Stephen Foster song, blazed for female reporters a trail that included a stint in an insane asylum playing the part of an actual inmate. She had only one year of formal education, and that was at home under her father’s tutelage.
I’ve been a fan of all things western for as long as I can recall. However, my fascination with John Henry “Doc” Holliday began in 2007 when longtime friend and fellow WaterBrook author Tracey Bateman convinced me to slip away from the International Christian Retail Show and visit the Margaret Mitchell House Museum.
There I first heard the details of the story behind
Gone With the Wind
. The tale of Ashley and Melanie becomes more poignant in light of the real-life family members Mitchell used as models. According to docents at the museum, Ashley Wilkes was inspired by Doc Holliday, Mitchell’s cousin by marriage, while Melanie was based on Margaret’s third cousin (and Doc’s first cousin) Mattie “Sister Melanie” Holliday.
Because the church refused marriage to first cousins, Doc and Mattie’s love was denied them. Doc went west, some say as much to heal his heart as to heal lungs scarred by tuberculosis, known as consumption. Word reached Doc that Mattie had joined a convent. Throughout his life, Doc wrote letters to Mattie. Upon her death, those letters were burned, so no record of what Doc and Mattie shared remains.
It is in this void of information that I set Anna’s story. While I made every attempt to check details against the known history of the outlaw dentist, there are also gaps in time where Doc is unaccounted for. In addition, there are instances where only a second (or possibly third) man could have committed the crimes for which Doc Holliday was accused.
Like Anna Finch, I hope you find Doc Holliday unforgettable.
Research is the backbone of any historical novel, and in my search to make Anna’s story as authentic as possible, I found several exceptional sources. While I relied on multiple books on the topic,
Doc Holliday, The Life and Legend
(John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-470-12822-0) by Gary L. Roberts gave me incredible insight into the person and history of the Georgia dentist. I urge any reader who wishes to know more about the real Doc to pick up this wonderful resource.
In addition, microfiche and online editions of newspapers such as the
Rocky Mountain News
, the
New York Times
, and other historical newspapers, provided excellent first hand information on the time, location, and subject matter of this book.
In some cases liberties were taken with details such as train schedules and weather. Wherever possible, however, I have endeavored to give the reader an enjoyable story set against a background based in fact. Any mistakes made in the telling of this tale are mine alone.
I would like to acknowledge Jessica Barnes for bringing out the story that wanted to be told and Amy Partain for asking the tough questions and catching my mistakes during the copy editing stage.
Many thanks to Wendy Lawton of Books & Such Literary Agency, friend, cheerleader and agent extraordinaire, for her wisdom and encouragement during the course of completing this novel.
Finally, my deepest gratitude goes out to the dear friends who were an integral part of praying this book into existence. You are my village!
