Judge Holden
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Judge Holden is purportedly an historically accurate person, a killer who partnered with John Joel Glanton as a professional scalphunter in the mid 1800's. [1] (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Scalpin/heads.html)
To date, the only source for Holden's existence is Samuel Chamberlin's My Confession, an autobiographical account which has been criticized as unreliable.
Chamberlin described Holden as well-spoken, intelligent and physically, quite large. He also described Holden as perhaps the most ruthless of the roving band of killers led by Glanton.
A fictionalized Holden is a central figure in Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian. One study of the novel reports that Holden is "unscrupulous, violent, and more than a little spooky." [2] (http://www.baas.ac.uk/resources/usstudiesonline/article.asp?issue=3&id=10) Some have argue that McCarthy's Holden is--or at least embodies the traits of--a gnostic archon.