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| Tombstone, Arizona. Wow! Of all the Old West towns, few
have captured the imagination of the world like Tombstone. The gunfight
at the OK Corral is one of the most filmed scenes in Hollywood westerns.
What is less well known is that Tombstone reached it's peak and then faded
within the short span of eight years. The name Tombstone can be attributed
to Ed Schieffelin who prospected in the nearby hills in 1877. His
friends warned him that the only thing he would find would be his tombstone.
He found silver, and prosperity. In 1881 the population was 10,000
and the famous Earp and Clanton feud ended at the OK Corral. By 1886,
the mines flooded and after taking more than $37,000,000 worth of silver
out of the hills, Tombstone began to fade.
The Tombstone Courthouse was built in 1882 at a cost of $50,000. The county seat was moved to Bisbee in 1929 and the courthouse was mostly vacant until 1959 when the Tombstone Restoration Commission renovated it and turned it into a historical museum. Some of the document on display include a license to operate a brothel and an invitation to a hanging. |
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Built in 1979, the Crystal Palace was the social center of Tombstone. It has been restored inside and out to appear as it did originally. |
| The Rose Tree Museum houses the world's largest rose tree. The
rose bush was planted in 1885 by Mrs. Henry Gee, a friend of the homes
owner, Mrs. Ameilia Adamson. When the young Scottish bride, Mrs.
Gee came to Tombstone, her family sent her a box of shrubs from Scotland.
Several rooted shoots of the Lady Banksia Rose were in the box. It's
grown to over 8,000 square feet and is supported by a pipe trellis.
Every April, it develops millions of white blossoms.
A lot of the historic buildings in Tombstone have been converted to museums and charge a small fee for entry. One of the exceptions is Big Nose Kate's Saloon. I found a cheery piano player at the entrance and a beautifully restored saloon within. Everything is authentic and if you're patient, you just might catch a glimpse of the ghost that wanders the saloon. There are gunfights, stage rides and lots of characters right out of the old west wandering the streets. Boot Hill Cemetery is the last resting place of many notorious gunslingers. Well, at least the slower ones including the losers of the gunfight at the OK Corral. |
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Bisbee, the present county seat was founded in 1880 and named after Judge DeWitt Bisbee, a financial backer of the Copper Queen Mine. Nearly three million ounces of gold and more than eight billion pounds of copper have been mined here. The town is still very much like it was over 100 years ago. |
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Near Tucson is the Saguaro National Park West and the Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum. I spent quite a bit of time at the Desert Museum. This is one of the most unique zoo settings in the United States. More than 300 different kinds of living animals and 1300 kinds of plants are on display in their natural settings. |
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Southern Arizona has five seasons. One of those is the summer monsoon season and that's what I experienced today. How do I describe the weather. If you tried to duplicate it, you would start with a sauna. Add a heavy waterproof suit. Direct an air vent at yourself with 110 degree air blowing at 75 miles per hour and you might get close. The low temperature at night is still over 90 degrees. |
