Tombstone, Arizona… Today's Old Wild West
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Tombstone, Arizona is the epitome of the Old Wild West. Just the town’s name conjures up visions of gunfights over mining claims, rustlers, thieves, lawlessness and of course, the Earps and Doc Holiday versus the Clanton gang at the OK Coral. We’d never visited the town and since we were in the neighborhood, we figured it was high time to check it out.
Stagecoaches share the road with cars and tourist trolleys in Tombstone, AZ.
Founded by prospector, Ed Schieffelin in 1877, this historic little town in what was then Arizona Territory now boasts a population of ~1,380, a huge decline from its heyday of 14,000 folks in the mid-1880s when silver mining was king. Hollywood bolstered the town’s bad ass reputation with its 1957 release of Gunfight at the OK Coral. The dynamic duo, Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, really showed them Clantons a thing or two. This notorious gunfight is probably still the biggest attraction for tourists and in fact, the town’s primary source of revenue is tourism.
According to Wikipedia, ‘The town was established on a mesa above the Goodenough Mine. Within two years of its founding, although far distant from any other metropolitan area, Tombstone had a bowling alley, four churches, an ice house, a school, two banks, three newspapers, and an ice cream parlor, alongside 110 saloons, 14 gambling halls, and numerous dance halls and brothels.’ Pretty impressive for a little mining town in the middle of nowhere.
The town was not overly crowded. Not good for tourism, but great for us.
Typically, this is the beginning of high season for the town, but tourism is hurting in these times of the coronavirus. Many of the old buildings have been preserved or restored and now house all manner of western-themed gift shops, bars/restaurants and quasi-museums. Stagecoaches share the road with trolley tours vying for tourist bucks. It was a toss-up as to whether costumed townsfolk outnumbered the visitors or not. And not to burst anyone’s bubble or dampen the nostalgia, but the gunfight at the OK Corral actually took place in an empty lot on Fremont Street and lasted about 30 seconds.
We thought we’d witness one of the many well-advertised gunfights, but that required purchasing a ticket and heading inside a crowded bar or restaurant. There might not have been many visitors in Tombstone, but they all seemed to congregate at the gunfights. The magic dollar number for any venue or attraction seemed to cost $10+. Want to watch a gunfight? $10/pp. Want to visit the actual sight of the OK Corral showdown? $10/pp. Visit a museum? $10/pp. Want a town tour on the trolley or the stagecoach? $10 or more. We realize this is how the town generates income and don’t fault them for it, but it’s just not our thing.
We meandered the dusty, dry streets avoiding unmasked clusters of folks who ignored mask requirements, ducked into a few empty shops to buy a couple of postcards and settled on a shared take-out sandwich when no outside venues were available for lunch.
Not sure I want Wyatt Earp telling my fortune. I prefer Zoltar!
The Old Tombstone western town was a small separate area off the main street that had a bar and a closed restaurant. There was room for one in this pine casket, but after trying it on, I felt all boxed in!
The highlight of the day for us was a visit to Boot Hill, the famous graveyard, about ½ mile outside town. Founded in 1878, Boot Hill’s notorious 250 permanent residents were primarily outlaws and folks of ill repute. Why Boot Hill? The name refers to the fact that many were buried with their boots on. The entrance fee for the cemetery was only $3/pp and that included a descriptive brochure… a bargain.
It’s a dusty, cactus-dotted lot with well-worn paths attesting to the number of visitors that ramble past these grave markers. Murder, erroneous hanging, lynching by mobs and gunfights constituted the demise of most of Boot Hill’s long-dead residents.
There were very few deaths from natural causes in Tombstone, as you’ll see when you check these photos out. As always, you can click on the thumbnails to enlarge them.
We walked back to town to reclaim our rental car, satisfied that we’d visited Tombstone and looking forward to a long walk somewhere down the road… away from unmasked people and commercialism. We’re really getting to be old farts, aren’t we? Next time we head along scenic AZ-83, the Patagonia-Sonoita Scenic Road, for a walk in Patagonia and then on to Nogales on the US/Mexican border for a look at ‘The Wall’.