The Town Too Tough to Die

One of our favorite places to take visitors is Tombstone, "The Town Too Tough to Die."  Now when most people think of Tombstone, they think of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Doc Holliday, and Wyatt Earp.   Its history is full of western legend and lore.  But Tombstone is more than just the town where a marshal, a former dentist, and some cowboys settled their differences with 30 rounds of lead.  The town is a major part of American history--a living snapshot of a time when the west was yet untamed.

Tombstone sprang to life after a prospector named Ed Schieffelin discovered silver in the area.  Schieffelin was part of a scouting group tasked with hunting down renegade Chiricahua Apaches.  The scouting group was stationed at what was then called Camp Huachuca and today known as Fort Huachuca, still an active base.  The Apaches weren't too happy to have white man invade and claim their land, so naturally there was trouble between the tribe and settlers.  This trouble, by the way, dated back to the 1700's when conflicts flared between the Apaches and Spanish explorers who began building forts and missions in southwestern Arizona (see my posts dated 10/28/12, 9/26/12 and 8/15/12).

Anyway, despite the dangers, Ed Schieffelin liked to venture away from camp on his days off to do a little prospecting.  His buddies back at camp kept telling him that all he was going to find was his tombstone.  Well, they were right.  In fact, Ed did find his Tombstone in the form of a mining claim given that name and later, the town spawned by his discovery.  Founded in 1889 in an area known as Goose Flats, Tombstone quickly grew to an aspiring city of close to 20,000.  The town sported over a hundred saloons, dozens of gambling joints, a red-light district, an opera and theatre hall built by Ed Schieffelin's brother Al, schools, churches, and even a swimming pool! 

Silver continued a boon to the area economy until the early 1900's when the extending mine shafts hit the water table.  Efforts to pump out the mines proved cost-prohibitive and finally, the flooded mines closed down.  As the mines died out, people began leaving town.  Tombstone would likely have become a ghost town except that it was the Cochise County seat until 1929 when voters moved the county offices to Bisbee.  Today, Tombstone sees a year-round population of about 1,500.  The town citizens have preserved many historic buildings, including Schieffelin Hall (the oldest standing adobe structure in the southwestern United States).   A visit to Tombstone provides an opportunity to tour the courthouse and gallows (now an excellent museum run by the town under an agreement with the State of Arizona), the Bird Cage Theater (called the wickedest, wildest nightspot of its day by the New York Times back in 1882), and the Good Enough Mine (which lies under the town).  And, of course, there's the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Tombstone is a fascinating step back into the Old West.  While it can be a bit touristy, if you look past the souvenir shops and hawkers, a visit to this town offers a fun, interesting distraction from 21st Century realities.