Who Was Big Nose Kate?

Contrary to the book and movie representations, Doc Holliday's woman, Big Nose Kate was not a frontier drunken floozy. She was the daughter of Hungarian aristocrats who came to America first when her father was physician to Emperor Maximilian during his ill-fated attempt to rule Mexico with French backing. The family fled to Rock Island, IL, where Kate was orphaned along with her brothers and sisters. No one even knew Kate's real name until author, Boyer, found and became a friend of her brother Alexander's family who were still living as old folks with a lot of fascinating memories. All reported in this book, and much more.