Tombstone, Arizona

November 18, 2010

We visited Tombstone, AZ in the southeast of Arizona just north of the Mexican border. Tombstone reinvented itself as a true Old West town with wood board walks and false front stores lining 4 blocks of what you would think an old Western town looked like. No cars were allowed on the street, just stagecoaches and people. At least 20 local men were walking the streets with six guns strapped on and all of the employees (at least 100) were dressed in Western era attire.

Tombstone originated in the mid 1800's as a boom mining town (over 100 miles of silver mines honeycomb underneath the town - where 10's of millions in silver ore was mined - at 1880 prices). The town in it's heyday 1880's to 1900 had a population of around 15,000 (6,000 registered male voters 21 years or older in 1880).

Upon arrival, we visited "OK Corral" and saw a real live gunfight (probably the most famous in the West) between the 3 Earp brothers and Doc Holliday versus the Clantons and McLaury's. The show was around 30 minutes with the story leading up to the fight. Then, we rode a stagecoach and fired real Colt .45 six shooters at targets.

 We are currently in Bisbee, AZ and will tour a silver mine in the morning!