Backstory: The town of Tombstone

 

The setting is the Year of 1899

 

In the summer of 1877 prospector Ed Schieffelin was working the hills east of the San Pedro River in the southeast portion of the Arizona Territory, when he came across a vein of very rich silver ore in a high plateau called Goose Flats. When Schieffelin filed his mining claim he named it "The Tombstone", after a warning given to him by his brother, "If you go back there, that place will be your "Tombstone".

 

The town of Tombstone was founded in 1879, taking its name from the mining claim, and soon became a boomtown. Fueled by mineral wealth, Tombstone was a city of 1,000 by the beginning of 1881, and within another year Tombstone had become the seat of a new county (Cochise County) with a population between 5,000 and 15,000.

 

Tombstone's Mines

Rich gold and silver discoveries drew eastern investors to this area. By 1880, copper was king, with mines operating at Ray, Clifton-Morenci, Jerome, Globe-Miami, Ajo, and Bisbee. Copper companies such as Phelps Dodge and the Arizona Copper Company built short-line railroads for the Mines.

 

Tombstone, like many mining camps in the Southwest, had a large Chinese population. They brought with them  Chinese food, several laundries, ready-made household, labor, and drugs.  Around 1870, hundreds of Chinese were employed in the construction of the Southern Pacific railroad through Arizona.

 

Tombstone had been lobbying for a rail line since March 1880, when the Southern Pacific Railroad constructed its transcontinental route through Benson, only 25 miles to the north. The need for a railroad to encourage commerce by providing a reliable form of transportation for goods and passengers was seen as being of paramount importance. It was also needed to move ore from the silver mines around town to the mills along the San Pedro River.

 

Tombstone on the Move

Stagecoaches and other horse drawn conveyances continued to be relied upon by the town for Tombstones' transportation needs. In 1882, when the New Mexico & Arizona Railroad was built between Benson and Nogales, the 88-mile line passed through Fairbank, located only nine miles from Tombstone (It wasn’t until July 1902 Tombstone got a railroad).

 

The increasingly sophisticated Tombstone was relatively isolated, deep in a Federal territory that was largely unpopulated desert and wilderness. Tombstone and its surrounding countryside also became known as one of the deadliest regions in the West.

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When the railroad construction was completed, all the Chinese laborers were let go immediately. The competition of less intensive jobs filled by the whites resulted in the Chinese exclusion Act of 1882. Born survivors, the Chinese managed to settle in nearby towns, finding work in the mines or being redeployed into the service industry.

 

Tombstone's Characters

Doctors had many obstacles to overcome.  Many pioneered studies and procedures that changed the practice of medicine throughout the country. They had a tough job in a tough town, but they performed it mostly without complaint and for sometimes very little reward beyond job satisfaction.

 

The average wage for a miner was $10 a week. If a miner could prospect he could increase that amount. A school teacher and a Priest couldn‘t make much more than that.

 

The US Cavalry housed in Fort Huachuca was nearby and often brought not only the men on leave to our town for some livelihood and refreshment but also brought many a family to live in our town.

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Fort Huachuca was built in 1870 in the Huachuca Mountains and designated a Fort in 1882.  The headquarters for the Geronimo Campaign and main supply route always vigilant in resolving border troubles, renegade Apache, Mexican bandits, and Outlaws uprising.

 

Because their profession brought them into contact (literally) with many men, Soiled Doves were able to provide crucial testimony to frontier law enforcers. The courtroom statements of these women frequently helped convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent.  Thus it is unsurprising that prostitutes still work in legal brothels.

 

Many residents had continued to stay on here. Homes were still occupied and residents still met at the town hall for the political banter. Flour and coffee as well as other dry goods would have been purchased from the local market perhaps located on Allen Street. The Ladies Auxiliaries would have met and box lunch socials would have been prepared and anticipated.

 

This was no ghost town. In fact, it was home to many, many families who were living in "The Town Too Tough To Die".

 

Tombstone's Legends

The roughly 30-second gunfight that ensued at about 3:00 P.M., October 26, 1881 came to be known as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral — arguably the most famous gunfight in history. (The Cowboys, Frank McLaury, Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury, Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne; Opposite them were Morgan Earp, Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp and Virgil Earp).

 

No witnesses confuted Wyatt's testimony that Ike Clanton had run up to him and protested that he was unarmed. To this protest Wyatt had responded, "Go to fighting or get away!"  Thus, the unarmed Ike Clanton escaped the shooting unwounded, as did the allegedly unarmed Billy Claiborne. Wyatt Earp was not hit in the fight, while Doc Holliday, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp were hit. Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury, and Frank McLaury were killed.

 

Big Nose Kate aka Mary Katherine Horony saved John Henry "Doc" Holliday's life by setting fire to a stable to distract his would-be lynchers. Holliday went on to become a hero of the famous gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.

 

One famous doctor was George Goodfellow. He doctored up many of the characters of Tombstone, Arizona. Goodfellow frequently attended hangings as coroner, to be on hand to pronounce the victim dead. When an earthquake hit nearby Sonora, Mexico, he rode there and treated hundreds of injuries. He wrote many articles for scientific journals about his experiences.

 

Perhaps the most famous Chinese person in Tombstone was China Mary (nee Sing, aka Ah Chum), a plump woman from Zhongshan county.  She was influential among Whites and people of other nationalities, and her word was as good as that of a judge or banker.  She managed a well-stocked general store where she dealt in both American and Chinese goods. Interestingly, she seems to have been an astute investor; she was involved in a number of businesses, including several hand laundries and a restaurant, was also a money lender, and she used her own judgment to determine borrower's credibility.  No sick, injured, or hungry person was ever turned away from her door.

 

The Bird Cage Theatre operated continuously – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – for the next 8 years. It gained a reputation as one of the wildest places in the country, prompting The New York Times to report in 1882 that 'The Bird Cage Theatre' is the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast". More than 120 bullet holes are evident throughout the building.

Aside from Lillian Russell, many other famous entertainers of the day were alleged to have performed there over the years, including Eddie Foy, Sr., Lotta Crabtree and Lillie Langtry. In 1882, Fatima allegedly performed her belly-dancing routine at the Bird

Cage Theatre.

 

The basement poker room is said to be the site of the longest-running poker game in history. Some of the participants were Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Diamond Jim Brady, and George Hearst.  Played continuously 24 hours a day for eight years, five months, and three days, legend has it that as much as 10 million dollars changed hands during the marathon game, with the house retaining 10 percent.

 

Dutch Annie of Tombstone, Arizona, "Queen of the Red Light District", was renowned for her kindnesses, including giving poor miners their "grubstakes"--capital to get started. Over 1,000 mourning townsfolk followed her funeral procession to Boot Hill in 1883.