Cowboys, Infamy &The Gunfight At the OK Corral – Tombstone, AZ
Three Men Hurled Into Eternity in the Duration of a Moment”
Tombstone Epitaph Oct 27th, 1881
Such were the words that headed the local newspaper in Tombstone, AZ the day after one of the most famous gunfights in wild west history. It happened at 3PM at the OK Corral between outlaw brothers Tom & Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton, and the Earp brothers (Virgil, Morgan & Wyatt), aided by Doc Holliday and resulted in 3 deaths (the Earps & Doc walked away). But the story was not always so well known. In fact the town of Tombstone was mostly known for its silver and as one of the last wide-open wild western frontiers. Established in 1879 as a mining town it prospered and grew from a mere 100 people to ~17,000 by the mid 1880’s. It became your typical rabble trouble wild west town with over 110 saloons and 14 gambling halls at its peak dotted by brothels, miners and no-good cowboys.
But the gunfight at the OK Corral is what we remember it for, at least those of us who ever saw the movie. That fight, as dramatic as it was, remained mostly local news until 1931 when Stuart Lake published the rather fictional biography “Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal“. Then retelling of retelling propelled the story and the names involved to infamy.
You all know I love these old frontier towns, even the ones that are clearly just tourist attractions. Tombstone is all about the 1880’s and the history of the personalities that lived in that era. The downtown area has retained all its period character and hosts tons of old-style museums, cowboys in western outfits and wild west sights. Oh yeah, my kinda place!
We headed down there yesterday afternoon with buddies Jil&Tom to take in the atmosphere and witness the re-enactment of the fight. We took in lunch at the Crystal Palace Saloon (so-so food, but nice atmosphere) strolled over to the Bird Cage Theatre (known as “the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast” and containing one of the only remaining authentic bars & interiors in town…plus over 120 original bullet holes!) and bought the $10 tickets for the gunfight show at 2PM (the show was somewhat drawn-out, but entertaining). At this point we’d already managed to laze away several hours just milling around town so we didn’t make the visit to the Tombstone Epitaph (the oldest continuously published newspaper in AZ!) or the Silver Mine tour, both of which I’ve heard are worth the effort. And that’s just a small selection of all there is to see and do here.
But what is really the most fun is just walking around, talking to some of the “local characters” and enjoying the atmosphere. We met 3 Canadians travelling cross-country with their horses (one of their goals was to ride through Tombstone), heard about the “dames” of the night (girls cost $25 in those days, the equivalent of ~$1000 today!) and chatted with Wyatt Earp (well, his modern-day version anyway).
Yeah it’s a total tourist trap, but it’s totally worth it. A step back in time and a truly entertaining day!
It’s been 10 years since we’ve been to Tombstone, but it made a great impression on us. Yeah, we did all the tourist things, and one of them was having dinner in one of the diners. A wedding party came in, bride, groom, and all the attendants. I guess it was their idea of a reception because they enjoyed and partook in the karaoke as well as the spirits. In a short while they were somewhat inebriated, which in itself was quite entertaining to us. But the Pièce de résistance was when the groom made a pass at the maid of honor and was caught redhanded by the bride….we thought there’d be another gunfight at the O.K. corral!
What a fun story! I guess Tombstone still does something to people 🙂 Once the wild west, always the wild west.
Nina
We did the same thing a couple years ago and like ya’ll we enjoyed it. We took the trolly tour there and learned all kinds of stuff and we went to Boot Hill which was interesting.We enjoyed the whole area. We drove to Bisbee and did the trolly tour but were not that impressed.
Yeah we didn’t make Boot Hill either. I had no idea there was so much to do in Tombstone!
Nina
This was not on our list for this year but sounds like it would be interesting to do.
It’s a fun, fun visit.
Nina
It sure does look different now without the snow. We were there only for a couple of hours and spent most of it inside the Courthouse museum. And we had fun just walking around and mostly imagined the movie Wyatt Earp played out in front of us.
It sure was nice to be there on a warm day. I still can’t believe how much snow you got when you were here!
Nina
Great pictures!! The skies look so blue. The color rendition on your camera is really awesome. So, thanks to great posts like this, I had to learn how to make a google map of my own, and am linking contact points back to the original post I saw them in. I know I will never remember all the great places I’m reading about. Seemed like a step up from a bucket list anyway. Thanks for sharing and inspiring me to learn yet another good thing this week!!! LOL.
Thanks! And I’m glad I could give ya some ideas for mapping. I think it’s really fun to map all your travels. After 3 years I still go back and re-read old posts just to see (and remember) what we did.
Nina
I am new to blogs – what is mapping? Or what is URL to example of mapping. I assume this is something to add to my wordpress.
No, it’s not something specific to WordPress. It’s using Google Maps as a means to track your travels and share them with others. The discussion came from a blog post I did on our 2013 travels here:
2013 Travel Map Up and Running
There’s info on how to set-up your own map in that post. Enjoy!
Nina
You must go further south to Bisbee! The copper mine, Copper Queen Hotel and the REAL Saloon!
Yup, that’s our next stop…going there on Mon.
Nina
Sounds like Williamsburg of the west. Tourist trap or “authentic recreation”.? Guess you can call it what you will. It sure looks like fun!
Yup…authentic recreation is a good word for it! All good fun!
Nina
I am with 336muffin. We enjoyed Bisbee so much more than Tombstone. It is a true western town. The building are wonderful and the people so friendly.
We are SO looking forward to Bisbee. In fact we plan on spending 4 nights in the downtown RV park just so we can really take in the town.
Nina
Four days might be long. But if you are planning to do some hiking it will be great.
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We like to take our time. One day sightseeing, one day hanging out…so I think we’ll stretch the time to cover 🙂 And we’ll probably plan some hiking too.
Nina
Yes, Tombstone is a tourist trap, but we love it too! At least we love it enuf that we spent a couple of days there just recently. Ate at Big Nose Kate’s, toured the Birdcage, but skipped the gunfight. Gotta go back and walk through Boot Hill one of these days. Yes, Bisbee is great too.
Always reason to go back and do more! I’m impressed by how much there is to see and do around here in Benson.
Nina
Looks like you had a full day in Tombstone. We just pulled in to Kartchner Caverns SP and are doing the tour tomorrow. Sounds like the weather might be changing a bit so perhaps it is good we will be inside. We are here for 4 nights then moving to the Wilcox area. Would love to see the two of you before you head out. 🙂
Oh yeah, let’s definitely get together. You guys are just around the corner! I’ll call ya.
Nina
Look forward to it.
Hi Nina!
My name is shawna and I have been following your travels for the last couple of months and wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your experiences and insight! My husband, myself and my papa are planning to start full trimming come this September! I have just started a blog http://www.goinroadtrippin.wordpress.com it’s not up yet, but hope you will check it out when it does. Would be great to meet you guys someday along our travels.
Take care and thanks again! Shawna
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Oh excellent! Congrats on the new blog and hope we meet down the road!
Nina
Twenty-five dollars?!?
Yup, can you believe it? I guess those were the prices of a booming mining town. Big Nose Kate was one of the best-known prostitutes in Tombstone and ran her own brothel…she must have been a wealthy woman.
Nina
Loved the idea of this so much, I added it to our “Future Adventures” as a reminder to check it out when we’re in the area. Thanks for sharing! http://thedigitalhippies.com/travel/the-gunfight-at-the-ok-corral-tombstone-az/
Oh, I also used your image, but gave full credit, I hope that’s ok. WordPress cropped off your watermark, so I was sure to include a link to this post.
Cheers for letting me know and glad you liked it as a future travel spot.
Nina