Is He Your Huckleberry?
Johnny Ringo outlaw of the Old West
In the 1993 movie Tombstone, Doc Holliday really gets into it with an outlaw named Johnny Ringo. Who was Ringo and did Doc Holliday kill him like they showed in the movie?
One of the famous lines “I’m your huckleberry” is delivered two points by Doc Holliday speaking to Johnny Ringo. The first time was when Ringo confronts Wyatt Earp in the street. Holliday gets involved, getting up out of his barber chair and uttered the fabled line “I’m your huckleberry.” Holliday brings it full circle saying it again before shooting Ringo dead.
Much of what we "know" about the outlaw Johnny Ringo consists of factual inaccuracies, hearsay, or deliberate exaggerations by authors to market their books, articles and movies. Who was he? And what’s a “huckleberry”?
The Beginning of a Tumultuous Life
John Peters Ringo was born on May 3, 1850, in Greens Fork, Indiana. His family moved often during his early years. At the age of 14, while the family was emigrating from Missouri to California, his father tragically died from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot in Wyoming. Despite this, the family pressed on to San Jose, California, where Ringo spent his remaining childhood years. It's uncertain how this trauma may have shaped his life.
Ringo moved to Mason County, Texas, in the 1870s where he participated in several conflicts between factions of ranchers and rustlers as a vigilante. During this period, he was arrested and charged with murder but either escaped or was acquitted (the official court records are missing). While he had limited education, it is said he enjoyed quoting Shakespeare. While Shakespeare wasn’t spoken in the film, Latin was as Ringo and Holliday exchange words.
The first murder attributed to Ringo was that of James Cheyney during the Mason County War in Texas. Cheyney left his house to wash his face in a basin on his porch when Ringo and another man gunned him down.
In another instance of gun violence, while drunk at a saloon in Safford, Arizona, Ringo struck up a conversation with a man named Louis Hancock. Ringo offered to buy him a drink of whiskey. When the man refused, stating that he preferred beer, Ringo got angry, pulled his revolver and shot the man without warning. Hancock survived.
What is a Huckleberry?
In the late 1800s, “I’m your huckleberry” was a common saying. It essentially means “I’m the one you want,” or “I’m the man for the job,” which is what Doc wants to convey to Johnny when he tells him the line twice in the movie. He was up to the task of dueling with Johnny.
Val Kilmer named his memoir "I'm Your Huckleberry" after his iconic line in the film Tombstone.
Shootout at O.K. Corral
On October 26, 1881, cowboys Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, Billy Claiborne, Tom McLaury, and Billy Clanton faced off with lawmen Virgil Earp, Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, and Doc Holliday on Fremont Street, roughly six blocks away from the O.K. Corral. Wyatt and Doc were responsible for the deaths of Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton.
Even though Ringo was not present when this gunfight took place, it would have bothered him greatly, because the men murdered were all close friends and business associates.
Earp Vendetta Ride
The Earp Vendetta Ride was a deadly search by a federal posse led by Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp (who was U.S. Marshal) for the outlaws or "Cowboys" responsible for the premeditated ambushes of Wyatt’s brothers following the iconic gunfight.
On about 11:30 pm on December 28, 1881, three men ambushed Virgil Earp. Injuries from the attack crippled Virgil’s left arm for life. In March 1882, Morgan Earp was shot and killed by unknown men. Some have speculated that Ringo had been involved. However, the contemporary records did not implicate him in Morgan Earp’s death.
Johnny Ringo was considered part of the group responsible for the violence.
On January 17, 1882, Ringo and Doc Holliday traded threats and seemed headed for a gunfight. Both men were arrested by Tombstone's chief of police, James Flynn, and hauled before a judge for carrying weapons in town. Both were fined.
Ringo’s Death Remains a Mystery
On July 14, 1882, a teamster driving through Turkey Creek Canyon, came across the body of a dead man sitting up against a tree. A bullet wound pierced the man’s temple and a revolver with one bullet missing was found dangling from his hand. The man’s boots were missing. The deceased was identified as Johnny Ringo.
It was reported by residents of Tombstone that Ringo was drinking heavily in the days after the town’s fourth of July celebrations. He left town two days later, taking several bottles of liquor along for the ride. Deputy Billy Breakenridge saw him two days later in the South Pass of the Dragoon Mountains. He later wrote that "Ringo was very drunk, reeling in the saddle." He encouraged Ringo to follow him back to the Goodrich Ranch, but "he was drunk and stubborn and went on his way. I think this was the last time he was seen alive." At about 3pm on July 13, ranch hands at a nearby ranch heard a shot. Several days later, Ringo’s horse was found with one of his boots still hanging from the saddle.
Was it Murder or Suicide?
During his time in Tombstone, he developed rivalries with lawmen and gunfighters Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. In several interviews later in his life, Earp seems to take credit for Ringo’s death. However, according to other sources, Earp had already left Arizona and was in Colorado at the time of the shooting. It has also been alleged that Holliday killed him, which was portrayed in the movie Tombstone. Doc Holliday was in court in Pueblo, Colorado on July 11, putting him definitively out of range to commit the murder. The majority of the evidence, however, seems to support the original conclusion that Ringo died by suicide.
How to Visit
Johnny was buried where his dead body was found. Today, the grave is located on private land off Highway 181 twenty miles south of Chiricahua National Monument in southeastern Arizona. The landowners, however, have built a small turnout next to the road and allow the public to visit the grave. A chain-link fence from the road to the gravesite protects the surrounding land. A sign posted on the fence requests that visitors only come between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., that they stay on the trail going to and from the grave site, and that visitors keep their visit brief and not picnic on their property.
You can’t walk down to the water or outside the fenced area. But you can still visit the site through the gate. The actual tree that Ringo was found sitting up against lived until 2010.
Next Time
We’ll head north of Ringo’s grave and visit Chiricahua National Monument. People think that this wonderland of rocks may become the next U.S. national park. This year marks its centennial as part of the National Park Service.
"I was just kidding". "I wasnt" "I'll put you out of your misery." "Poor man, he was just too high strung". Some of many memorable lines from my all-time favorite western. Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday steals the show. "That's just my kind of game."
Good story