Monday, March 3, 2014

Day 33–Tombstone, Arizona

 

Today was our visit to Tombstone. The city of Tombstone was founded by Ed Schieffelin in 1877. He was on a scouting mission against the Chiricahua Apaches and staying at a place called Camp Huachuca. While there he would leave his camp looking for rocks in the wilderness despite his fellow soldiers warning him not to. The soldiers warned him that he would not find rocks in the desert but may find his own tombstone. He didn’t find his tombstone but he did find silver. Taking the advice of his fellow soldiers his very first mine was named Tombstone.

Shortly after word got out about the silver find homesteaders, cowboys, speculators, prospectors, lawyers, business people and gunmen  came flocking to the area.  In 1879 the town was named Tombstone due to the first claim of silver mining by Ed.

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Two major fires , one in 1881 and another the following year destroyed more then 60 buildings. Both times the town rebuilt and earned the name of the town that wouldn’t  die.

 

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Ron took some black and white pictures by mistake, but  I thought they were cool.

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There were two theaters built in Tombstone. The town had a few theaters, with the most prominent of those theaters being the Bird Cage Theateras well as Schieffelin Hall. The Bird Cage Theatre was more than just a theater and was a gambling hall, saloon as well as a brothel.  Any woman with self-respect wouldn’t step foot inside the Bird Cage Theatre.

“The New York Times said that this theater was the wickedest and wildest night spot between the Barbary Coast and Basin Street, which isn’t far from the truth since 140 alleged bullet holes can still be seen in the ceiling and the walls. So, where did the name come from? Reportedly, the Bird Café featured compartments, similar to that of a cage, that hung from the ceiling. “Ladies of the evening” kept their customer entertained in these suspended cages. Legend says that this was the muse for a song, “She’s only a bird in a gilded cage,” one of the most popular songs in the early 1900s.” (Tombstone Travel Guide)

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We took a self guided tour of Bird Cage Theater. We were told that the building and all of its contents (except the mannequins) are all original.  Including the curtains seen hanging in the  bird cages.

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Downstairs we saw where the gambling and brothel activity took place.

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Some of the signs on the walls were interesting to read. This one is hard to read in the picture but it  states that all shady “Ladies” of Tombstone are not allowed to walk on the sunny side of the street. They have to walk on the shady side of the street. If they are caught walking on the sunny side of the street they will be arrested and thrown in jail indefinitely. The sign is original to the time.

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They called the rooms where the prostitutes entertained the men, cribs.

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It was quite an interesting self-guided tour. We spent a lot of time reading the info posted on the walls and the many pictures original to the era.

Next we went to see a reenactment of the fight at the OK Corral. It was fun to watch and to this day there is controversy regarding if the Earp brothers were the good guys or the bad guys. It’s 50/50 regarding if they were the law or the criminals.

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“The Gunfight at the OK Corral is the most famous Tombstone event, although it happened in a Fremont Street vacant lot and not the corral. The event took place in October of 1881 when the Cowboys had a bit of a run-in with a few Earps – Morgan, Virgil and Wyatt. Not even 30 seconds and about 30 gun shots later, Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton were dead. For many, it is believed that it this sole event that has kept the city of Tombstone alive.”  (Tombstone Travel Guide)

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After the gunfight we  went to the Tombstone Historama a 26 minute multimedia presentation of Tombstone’s colorful past, from the first Apache Indian inhabitants to modern times. It had a blend of  motion pictures, historic photos and laser controlled animated figures moving on a revolving stage making the presentation very interesting.

Then it was off to  “Boot Hill Graveyard”

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This is the sign on the entrance door:

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Boot Hill Graveyard is also a huge part of Tombstone. Founded in 1879, Boothill Graveyard was used until the new cemetery – New Tombstone City Cemetery – opened in 1884. After the new cemetery opened and began being used, Boothill Graveyard was called “The Old Cemetery.” The newer cemetery is still being used today. Stories say that Boothill received its name from the fact that the individuals there had died unexpectedly or violently and were buried boots intact. However, Boothill was in fact named after the pioneer cemetery in Dodge City hopefully helping tourism in the late 1920s. Many individuals from Tombstone are in this cemetery, including victims from a shootout that took place in 1881 between the Cowboys and Earps on Fremont Street. For years, though, the cemetery was neglected. It was taken over by the desert and gravestones were removed by vandals. Some began to clean up The Old Cemetery in the 1920s and doing research so that the grave markers could be properly replaced.” ( Tombstone Travel Guide)

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our time in Tombstone. Back at the CG we began planning the next leg of our journey to Tucson.

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