After falsely implicating Doc Holliday in the Benson stagecoach robbery in 1881, Big Nose Kate Elder and Doc separated for good. She later claimed she was with Doc when he died in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, but there is scant evidence that her story is true.

Nevertheless, some of the strongest circumstantial evidence of her being present at Doc’s death was that he was probably destitute at the time, and some credible stories have her supporting him during his final 57 days he spent there. It is very hard to pin the facts down, because at times Kate was known to stretch the truth, and sometime...