Tombstone

“The Town to Tough to Die”

In 1877 Ed Schieffelin set up a survey camp in the area of future Tombstone. He was looking for valuable ore samples. Along with possibly having valuable rocks, the area also had Indians who had recently just murdered three superintendents from the near U. S. Army headquarters. When Ed’s friends heard what he was up to, they told him, "The only rock you will find out there will be your own tombstone" and "Better take your coffin with you; you will find your tombstone there, and nothing else."

When he finally found some ore, he found a lot of it. The vein of silver ore he found estimated to be about fifty feet long and twelve inches wide. This was near the San Pedro River Valley, on a plateau known as Goose Flats. On September 21, 1877, Schieffelin filed a land claim and named his stake Tombstone.

Once people had heard of Schieffelin’s discovery, a great deal of them left their homes to partake in the wealth. With all of the new residents, a town started establishing. Lots were sold on Allen Street for $5.00 each. The town soon had some 40 cabins and about 100 residents. By the fall of 1879 a few thousand people were in camp, hovering among the richest silver strike in the Arizona Territory.

Cowboys in those days were not the cowboys we often picture today. Cowboys back then were “a loosely organized band of friends and acquaintances who teamed up for various crimes and came to each other's aid [when necessary]”. The San Francisco Examiner wrote in an editorial, "Cowboys [are] the most reckless class of outlaws in that wild country...infinitely worse than the ordinary robber." The town of Tombstone had diversity, such as European miners and Chinese Laundromats, but the majority of the town was filled with Cowboys.

As the fastest growing town in southwest American, the silver industry and the possibility of wealth invited many professionals and traders who brought their families along with them.

If you’ve watched the movie Tombstone you know about the Earps and Doc Holliday. If you haven’t seen it, that’s okay. The famous Gun Fight at the O.K. Coral took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, during which the lawmen (Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp) along with Doc Holliday killed Cowboys Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and Billy Clanton. Many of the facts surrounding the gun fight are uncertain, including the reason for it in the first place.

The town goes on today as a tourist attraction. While there you can see “Cowboys” talking, smoking, and walking up and down the street, along with a reenactment of the famous O.K. Coral Gun Fight every hour.

-Devin