The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
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| Tombstone, Arizona |
If you are cruising Interstate 10 in Arizona just east of
Tucson there is a great little scenic detour that you can take when you get to
Benson.
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| Tombstone founder Ed Schiefflin |
Go south on Route 80 for about 20 miles (31 kilometers) and
you will come to historic Tombstone, famous for its Boot Hill cemetery and the
1881 Gunfight at the O. K. Corral.
Tombstone was founded in 1879 by mining prospector Ed
Schieffelin. He was warned that if he ventured into areas occupied
by Apache Indians the only stone he would get would be a tombstone. So he
called the place Tombstone.
Schiefflin found
silver, a town sprung up and by 1881 there was a population of 14,000.
Tombstone had two banks, three newspapers, 110 saloons, 14 gambling halls and
an array of shops and theaters.
But there was
conflict in the town and county. The town and the county each had its own
cowboy enforcers with the Earp brothers (five of them) on one side and the
McLaurys and some ring-ins on the other side.
The conflict
quickly escalated into open warfare with a climax that became famous as The
Gunfight at the OK Corral. Within 30 seconds Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy
Clanton were dead. Surviving the shoot-out were the Earp brothers; Virgil,
Wyatt and Morgan. Morgan was later killed and Wyatt was injured in reprisal
raids.
After the Earps
left Arizona Territory the next year the county sheriff hired 15 year-old
gunslinger Burt Alford to bring order to the town, which he did for three years
until overtaken by drink.
The main industry in Tombstone now is tourism.
Boot Hill
cemetery got its name from the fact many of its now quiet residents were tough
guys who died with their boots on.
A famous epitaph
stands over the remains of Les (Lester) Moore and reads:
HERE LIES LES MOORE,
FOUR SLUGS FROM A FORTY-FOUR,
NO LES NO MORE
Photos courtesy of TombstoneWeb.com: http://www.tombstoneweb.com/
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