From Disgrace to Doctor

George Goodfellow was kicked out of one career before becoming an international success in another.

- MARK BOARDMAN

Of all the characters who graced the streets of Tombstone, Dr. George Goodfellow may have been the best and brightest. He was an expert on gunshot wounds, and on bulletproof fabrics. The doctor performed the first appendectomy in Arizona. He was considered very knowledgeable on rattlesnake and Gila monster bites (and the venom therein). Goodfellow studied and recorded the effects of earthquakes. And there are more than a few other credits on his vitae. 

But all this came after failure by his own hands.

Goodfellow was accepted as a plebe at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in June 1872. He quickly won the title of school boxing champion-but he used his fighting abilities to ill effect.