| Perhaps
the most famous town in the Wild West, TOMBSTONE lies 22 miles
south of I-10 on US-80, 67 miles southeast of Tucson. More than a century
has passed since its mining days came to an end, but “The Town Too Tough
to Die” clings to an afterlife as a tourist theme park. With its dusty
streets, wooden sidewalks and swinging saloon doors, it’s surprisingly
unchanged. Most adults, however, have seen too many inauthentic replicas
and movie re-creations for the real thing to retain much appeal, and so
Tombstone is reduced to trying to divert kids with tacky dioramas and
daily shoot-outs. The best time to visit is during Helldorado Days
in late October, when the air is cooler and the sun less harsh, but the
streets are full of gun-toting strangers acting out gun battles and
stagecoach robberies. |
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| Tombstone
only began life as a silver-boomtown in 1877, and by the end of the 1880s
it was all but deserted again. However, on the day that gave it the
notoriety that’s kept it alive, its population stood at more than ten
thousand. It was 2pm on October 26, 1881, when Doc Holliday, along
with Wyatt Earp and his brothers Virgil and Morgan (who all served
as local sheriffs), confronted a band of suspected cattle rustlers, the
Clantons, in the legendary Gunfight at the OK Corral. Within a few
minutes, three of the suspects were dead. The Earps were accused of
murder, but charges were eventually dropped.
Although the gunfight in fact took place on
Fremont Street, the OK Corral itself remains the major attraction
for visitors (daily 8.30am–5pm; $2.50), despite the fact that it holds
little more than crude dummies that show the supposed locations of the
Earps and the Clantons, in complete contradiction to contemporary reports
of the fight.
A couple of blocks along Allen Street, the Bird
Cage Theater (daily 8am–6pm; $4) was Tombstone’s leading venue for
entertainment of all kinds. Seven “bird cages,” much like theater
boxes but curtained off and said to have been used by prostitutes, hang
from either side of the main hall. The theater now holds a motley
collection of curiosities, including a revolting foot-long “merman”
from China, while downstairs you can see the old gaming tables and
bordello rooms.
Central motels include the Adobe Lodge,
505 Fremont St (tel 520/457-2241 or 1-888/457-2241; $45–60), while the
classier mountain-view Best Western Lookout Lodge is a mile north
on US-80 W (tel 520/457-2223 or 1-800/652-6772; $45–60). Among old-style
saloons serving steaks and beer in as raucous an atmosphere as they
can are the Crystal Palace at Fifth and Allen, and Big Nose
Kate’s at 417 E Allen St, where you can still join an ongoing card
game. |
