Back in the 1880s, strangers wandering into the bustling mining town of Tombstone, in the Arizona Territory, risked death if they offended the wrong townsman. Some have ended up dead over petty disagreements and buried in Boothill Graveyard before any of the locals even learned their names. The Apaches, justifiably enraged that they were being pushed out of their territory, also added to the threat of violence settlers feared. With the promise of good mining jobs, people flocked to the ever-enlarging mining camp before there were any means of housing them. In 2003, Tombstone residents prefer to take strangers' tourist dollars before their lives.

Despite the many mining towns that constantly cropped up throughout the Western United States during the late 19th century, Tombstone stands out above all the others because of one notorious incident that would outshine any other in Old West folklore: the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The Earps and Doc Holiday fought the McLaurys and Clantons in a power struggle that lasted less than one minute. When Tombstone's mining industry failed, the town eventually built another in tourism. There was obviously strong public intrigue in the gunfight, as it did inspire several movies and television shows.

As a history buff and big fan of ghost folklore, my interest in visiting "the town too tough to die" was piqued after seeing the Tombstone episode of The History Channel's Haunted History series. When I committed myself to a trip to Arizona, I decided to add a day to explore some old mining towns. As my companion, Russell, and I drove up Highway 80 (aka Fremont Street through this small town), following the traffic signs to Tombstone's notorious Allen Street, we parked in the dirt lot across the street from the Bird Cage Theatre. My search for ghostlore started as soon as we stepped out of our rented Suzuki.

At first sight, I was rather relieved that we had decided to stay in Bisbee instead. Although there are several things worth seeing in Tombstone, many of the buildings have been altered in some way for various reasons and make poor scenery. Some of the reviews I ran across had recommended allowing a whole day to enjoy the sights, but those who come from major metropolitan areas need to keep in mind Tombstone is a small town. The days of 24-hour saloons, gambling houses, and brothels have long since departed. Nowadays there are few of its businesses that operate outside the hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and visitors need to plan their days accordingly. Since I had a commitment at 5 p.m., I was rather disappointed my time for lingering was limited. Be that as it may, these were the sites and activities we chose to see and do:

· historic stage coach tour
· Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park
· Big Nose Kate's Saloon
· O.K. Corral and Historama's gunfight reenactment
· Bird Cage Theatre
· Boothill Graveyard


Old Tombstone Historic Tours; P.O. Box 545; Tombstone, AZ 85638; Telephone: 520-457-3018.

Not sure of what to see first, Russell and I decided to take one of Old Tombstone's Historic Tours for an overview of the whole town. The owner of the company claims to be a fourth-generation resident of Tombstone, so it seemed liked a good deal. We bought tickets, $5 each, for the stage coach tour from an unmarked booth on Allen Street, which could be found on either side, between 4th and 5th.

Although it was a Thursday morning during the school year, several other adult tourists were roaming the town and we chatted with the driver for a few minutes before the ride started as he waited for more punters. I embarrassed myself momentarily by describing an incident I watched in the movie Tombstone, which was thoroughly hyped throughout town. The driver corrected my perceptions by explaining that Wyatt Earp was present when his brother Morgan was shot, an attempt to remove the bullet was made on the billiard table, but he actually died elsewhere an hour later. That billiard table can now be found in the Bird Cage Theatre. The driver claimed he never saw any of the ghosts, but known haunted places in the area included the Bird Cage Theatre, Big Nose Kate's Saloon, and various bed & breakfasts along Fremont and Safford streets.

The tour itself turned into a rather frustrating experience. The chat beforehand was pleasant, but the sound system on the coach during this 15-minute tour was horrible. The driver's voice came out garbled and I quickly lost track trying to understand what he was saying. I picked up a few nuggets of info, but paid closer attention to the sites he had pointed out. Considering how much emphasis this town puts on its history, the same info could probably be picked up elsewhere throughout the course of the day.


Big Nose Kate's Saloon; 417 East Allen Street; Tombstone, AZ 85638; Telephone: 520-457-3107. http://www.bignosekate.com

Big Nose Kate was the nickname for Mary Katherine Harony, aka Kate Bloodier, Schmidt, or Elder and Mary K. Cummings. She was Doc Holiday's great love. We ate in the saloon named for her, which had been the two-story Grand Hotel in her day. The Grand had been the home of the literate Tombstone Club, a posh society that had received around 70 periodicals for its members perusal. I had learned that people still see old-fashioned cowboys wandering around inside and hear their party noises.

During our visit, Big Nose Kate's had live entertainment in the form of a single woman country singer and guitarist (whose name I didn't catch). Unfortunately, the attention she received was minimal since most of the punters were primarily interested in their refreshments. The servers were dressed in pantaloons and corsets. A narrow, spiral staircase going downstairs led to a leather garment shop and an exhibit of how miners defended their claims. A hallway to the back of the building led to more shops.

The menu offered mainly sandwiches, pizzas, and miscellaneous lunch items at reasonable prices. It also had a few Old West treats such as sarsaparilla. After placing our order, someone lit up a cigarette at the table next to ours. Many of us Californians have a hard time dealing with such lack of courtesy. Seating was open, so we made trouble for the servers when we changed tables. (Although I kept thinking, if we had been there during the town's heyday, we would have been greeted by a big cloud of smoke just by opening the door.) At that point, Russell and I must have been so distracted by the nuisance smoke and our appetite that I completely forgot to ask the staff about their ghosts. However, as someone mildly sensitive to their presence, I felt nothing.


Historama's Gunfight at the O.K. Corral; Allen Street, between Third and Fourth; P.O. Box 367; Tombstone, AZ 85638; Telephone: 520-457-3456. http://www.ok-corral.com

After that, we made a mad dash to see Historama's reenactment of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The true gunfight was actually located in the alley behind the corral. The entry charge was $7.50, which included the privilege to wander around the Historama museum. When I purchased our tickets, I was waited on by none other than Loretta D. Clay, manager of the O.K. Corral, who had been interviewed in the aforementioned Haunted History episode. When I brought it up, she shook her head and said, "And they still couldn't get it right."

Haunted History had reported that most people believe the apparition Clay had seen walking across the corral was that of Billy Clanton, which is false. Billy, despite some film depictions, was actually a big, intimidating figure, which Clay's ghostly visitor wasn't. Her hunch was that John Montgomery, original owner of the O.K. Corral, is the true identity of the shade who still keeps an eye on his former place of business.

The reenactment, as it turned out, was rather amateurish and boring. It opened up with a bit on children and gun safety, which has some value, but the rest was inane material. When it started to reenact the gunfight, the accuracy was dubious. Unfortunately, a horse or two had been caught in the middle of the true shootout (this was a corral, after all), but they had managed to escape unscathed. With five gunfight reenactments going on throughout the town that day, perhaps we chose the wrong one. Frankly, if this is what a tourist wants to see, he's better off watching the movie Tombstone. From what I learned of how it happened that day, at least that scene in the movie was fairly accurate and the actors were pros.

On the other hand, Historama did have other things worth seeing. They had some relics from the 19th century and exhibits on Kate Harony, who had witnessed the whole fight from the boarding house next door; C.S. Fly, the photographer who operated said boarding house; and an replicate of a prostitute's crib. Vincent Price also narrated a half-hour documentary on Tombstone's history, which we forsook in favor seeing the Bird Cage Theatre.

Clay and a co-worker also reported other phenomena occurring around the corral's office area, such as problems opening and shutting the door, unaccounted-for footsteps, and lights being found on in the morning after they had been left off when they closed up shop.


The Bird Cage Theatre; 535 East Allen Street; P.O. Box 248; Tombstone, AZ 85638; Telephone 520-457-3423.

Among some of the more illustrious performers of the 1880s to entertain at the Bird Cage Theatre were Eddie Foy and Lotta Crabtree. Respectable women avoided this reputed "den of sin," but it was nonetheless considered an important stop for any prominent entertainer making a circuit of the western states.

This building featured quite prominently in the Haunted History episode and some of the stories I had run across on the web indicated it was loaded with feisty spirits. As curious as I was, I was also slightly worried about the vibes I'd pick up. (I've always been sensitive to strong emotions, and after a trip to the Winchester Mystery House, I had learned that this trait wasn't restricted to the living.) I had run across stories of people feeling an unearthly push going down the stairs and having anxiety attacks, making them exit the building more quickly than they would have normally. This had been the site of no less than 16 gunfights during its nine short years of business. Around 140 bullet holes still scar the building.

The admission fee was $5 for adults. Like so many other historical legendary sites I had visited in the past, this one was smaller than I would have guessed. Unlike the many others, little effort was made to restore it to its original grandeur for visitors. It had been boarded and locked up for nearly 50 years before it became a national landmark. When it was unsealed again, the new owners had found that all of its original 1880s fixtures and furnishings were still intact. One the facts the promotional literature misses is that the conditions these fixtures and furnishings are rather decrepit. This may be a treasure trove for a historian of antiquities, many of who hate it when the original varnish on old furniture is redone (thus losing them the opportunity to study our forebears' materials and methods), but the auditorium is kept dark and looks very dusty. Its original wallpaper is peeling from the walls, water-stained, and moldy. Relics unrelated to theatre are also on display there, such as the Black Moriah, Boothill's original horse-drawn hearse.

Going up the stairs to the stage, the musty scent of the auditorium had turned into a sweet one that reminded me of the finger paste I had used while in grade school. This area had more light, giving a better opportunity to see the items on display there. The stairs to the balcony seats were also there, and very narrow. Because of the fragility of the remains of the balcony, however, visitors are not allowed access to either of them.

More exhibits can be found downstairs, directly below the stage. This was where the wine cellar, dressing rooms, and poker room were located. It is said that Josephine Marcus, who would later become Wyatt Earp's third wife, entertained him in her dressing room here. It is also said the longest poker game in western history occurred at the table here, lasting eight years, five months and 3 days. Through this room, visitors enter the gift shop.

Trying to envision what the atmosphere of those busy nine years, the only thing I felt was a bit of depression over its loss of opulence. I later kicked myself for not asking about Morgan Earp's billiard table of death. We saw nothing that looked like it nor labeled as such. We wanted to see Boothill Graveyard before we had to return to Bisbee, so I missed asking about the Bird Cage's ghosts as well.


Boothill Graveyard; Highway 80; P.O. Box 731; Tombstone, AZ 85638; Telephone: 520-457-3300. http://www.clantongang.com/oldwest/boothill.html

Boothill Graveyard was the one attraction that was not in comfortable walking distance from the downtown area. It has free admission, but, like all of the other sites we saw that day, it asks for donations to help with its maintenance. Guests enter through the gift shop, which sells guides to the graveyard plots for $2. (It also has an excellent selection of homemade fudge. Russell, being diabetic, loved that there were four different flavors for the sucrose-challenged, but was a little disappointed the orange creamsicle, available in the full strength version, wasn't one of them.)

This graveyard was only used for about the first six years of the town's settlement, before Tombstone reallocated another chunk of land on Allen Street for this purpose. Only a few other burials have taken place at Boothill since Emmet Nunnelly, a Tombstone resident who saw the graveyard's historical significance, took the initiative to restore and maintain the small cemetery, which had deteriorated after decades of neglect.

Tombstone claims that none of the people lain to rest in Boothill Graveyard died a natural death. Researchers believe its first interment was that of little Eva Waters, who died of scarlet fever at the age of three months. Its first known death by violence was that of Martin A. Sweeney, murdered in a drunken quarrel on June 28, 1878. After the shootout at the O.K. Corral, the McLaury Brothers and Billy Clanton were buried there as well. One of its most recent burials is that of Nunnelly, although it has been closed to new occupants since it has been declared a national monument.

In California, it is rare to run across a tombstone that has much more than dates or family names on it. At Boothill Graveyard, you practically get their full stories, especially if you obtain a guide. Take for instance, John Heath's, who was the mastermind of the Bisbee Massacre, headstone reads, "John Heath taken from County Jail & LYNCHED by Bisbee Mob in Tombstone Feb 22 1884." Once the men had their loot after robbing a general store in Bisbee, they left town randomly firing guns in all directions to discourage people from following them. In the process, they killed 10 innocent people, including a pregnant woman. Although Heath formed the plan, he never partook in its actual execution, so he was given a life sentence when the other men had to hang. The Bisbee mob, inflamed, barged into the jail and hanged him themselves.

Good walking shoes are needed to look walk around the cemetery, as all of the plots are topped by large rocks and in between is a crunchy gravel of smaller rocks. The visitor has no need to worry about dust. The original wooden headstones have been replaced with metal pipes, shaped as crosses. Down the hill a bit, is a Jewish Memorial.

Being a graveyard it is almost expected to have its ghosts. One of the stories I had heard on Allen Street was of a tourist who had her picture taken next to a tombstone. When it was developed, there several figures, who were invisible at the time the photo was shot, standing behind her in the background.


The bottom line

Although we had our own personal time constraint while visiting Tombstone, the town's general opening hours can limit how much a tourist can see there. It has several small museums that all claim they have the best, most authentic displays. In truth, they each usually have one super duper item or are in a structure of particular interest that are worth seeing. Anyone who wants to adequately see everything will probably want to allow a couple of days to do so. Some of the other attractions we missed were:

· The Crystal Palace
· Schieffelin Hall
· Tombstone Epitaph Museum (the newspaper office)
· Gabe's Doll Shop and Museum
· Pioneer Home Museum
· Rose Tree Museum and Books (home of the world's largest rose tree)
· Six Gun City Wild West Show
· Tin Cup Mining
· Tombstone Cowboys

How much anyone enjoys a trip to Tombstone depends on how deeply he is interested in the history. The best time of year to visit Arizona and avoid its scorching heat is between November and April, although I found it reasonable in May. I was quite pleased at how willing everyone was to talk about its ghostlore, and am rather annoyed I forgot to ask at some places. I'd be willing to go back to catch up on the things I missed, but I have to admit the emphasis on tourism can be downer. Arizona has plenty of other former mining towns, such as Bisbee or Jerome, with plenty of interesting stories to tell, if the visitor wants to avoid the tourist exploitation.

Recommended: Yes

Best Time to Travel Here: Dec - Feb