Tombstone

History Schieffelin, who worked as an Army scout and used what became Fort Huachuca as his base, filed his first claim in 1877. More strikes followed, among them the Lucky Cuss, the Tough Nut, the Contention and the Goodenough, and in March 1879 the tent camp moved to the mesa above the Goodenough Mine. Cochise County was split from Pima County on February 1, 1881, with Tombstone as its seat, and the city incorporated three weeks later. The district produced about 32 million troy ounces of silver, more than any other in Arizona. The census was less dramatic than the legends: 973 residents in 1880 and 1,875 in 1890.

Fire destroyed large parts of the business district twice, on June 22, 1881 and May 25, 1882. By then the mines had struck water, and when the Grand Central hoist and pumping plant burned on May 26, 1886, the deep workings were effectively lost while the price of silver fell. Being the county seat kept the town going until the offices moved to Bisbee; the courthouse served the county until 1931.

The Gunfight The fight left Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton dead and Virgil and Morgan Earp wounded. It did not happen inside the corral but in a lot on Fremont Street, next to C. S. Fly's boarding house and photography studio, a few doors from the corral's rear entrance. The feud continued: Virgil Earp was ambushed and badly wounded on December 28, 1881, and Morgan Earp was shot dead while playing billiards on Allen Street on March 18, 1882, which set off Wyatt Earp's vendetta ride. The 1957 film Gunfight at the O.K. Corral fixed the name in the public mind.

What to See Allen Street is closed to motor traffic between 3rd Street, where the O.K. Corral stands, and 6th Street, where the Bird Cage Theatre is, and its boardwalks are lined with gift shops and saloons. The O.K. Corral complex, the Bird Cage Theatre and the Rose Tree Museum, built around a Lady Banksia rose planted in 1885, are private businesses that charge admission. Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, in the 1882 red-brick courthouse on Toughnut Street, is the public museum, and it also looks after Schieffelin's grave monument about two miles northwest of town. Boothill Graveyard, on Highway 80, holds the three men killed in the gunfight, though some of its markers were invented for tourists.

The Tombstone Historic District has been a National Historic Landmark since 1961. In 2004 the National Park Service warned that new buildings with "historic" dates, invented features such as hitching rails and tile porches, and illuminated signs were putting that status at risk, so not every old-looking front is old.

Getting There Tombstone is on State Route 80, about 66 miles by road from Tucson International Airport by way of Interstate 10 and Benson. Bisbee is about 23 miles to the southeast and Sierra Vista about 19 miles to the west.

When to Go Winter here, from October to March, brings mild days and chilly nights, with frost on about 28 nights a year. The monsoon, from July to September, brings more than half of the year's rain. Check the City of Tombstone's events calendar before you go: the city lists markets and other events, and Helldorado Days, the town's oldest festival, celebrates its 1880s past.