We're Off To Tombstone Today
We're off to Tombstone today, the town too tough to die. It's only about an hour and a half trip from where I live, so it's a must-see for first-time visitors to southeast Arizona.
I first went to Tombstone on vacation at least 10 years ago. I wanted to get a flavor for what an Old West town in the 1880s would look like. Of course, at that time they allowed cars to park on the main street, which kind of detracted from that Old West feel... Now, however, they don't allow vehicles on the main street, although the main street is paved. But the sidewalks are mostly "board walks" as in the olden days, and there's usually a horse or two hitched to a post along the way, so it's pretty neat.
But, honestly, after you've been in five or six shops, they all start to look the same. One trip was enough for me. But Tombstone is definitely a place you take visitors to, because everyone should see it at least once. The last time I went was September of last year, and that was the first time we paid admission to go back into Boot Hill (the cemetary) and the Bird Cage Theater (the saloon, where cowboys, drifters and gamblers could wet their whistle and have their whistle wetted, if you know what I mean). We didn't pay admission to go by the OK Corral where the legendary gunfight took place.
Tombstone was a very rough town, with shootings (and deaths) occuring all the time. The founder, Ed Schieffelin, was a prospector who, when he talked about going out into the surrounding hills to look for silver, was told by soldiers, "The only thing you're gonna find out there is your tombstone." By the 1880s, Tombstone was the largest town between Texas and San Fransisco, CA, and was actually larger than San Fransisco at one point.
Today, with it's population of roughly 1,500, it's totally dependent upon tourism. And I'm going to do my part--again--to support it. :)
"See" y'all when I get back.
7 comments:
Whistle me up a memory
Whistle me back where I want to be
Whistle a tune that will carry me
To Tombstone Territory.
If your past has run afoul of the law
It's a handy place to be
But your future's just as good as your draw
In Tombstone Territory
Maya! That's a great poem. And absolutely true--"your future's just as good as your draw". Lots and lots of people shot and stabbed, especially in 1882, it seems.
I love that town, and it also made a very good movie. Hope you had fun! :)
Sherrill: One of my oddball talents--extremely useful in games of Trivial Pursuit and at drunken parties--is an exhaustive knowledge of old television theme songs. Especially westerns (with my father and three brothers, our house was male-dominated).
That was the theme song of a television show called Tombstone Territory, which ran during approximately the same years as Maverick did.
Kate, you're probably right. LOL
Bridget, I told my sister the next time we go, we need to take the stage coach ride through town and hear what the guide says about the history and buildings. :)
Maya, I don't remember that show, although we watched Maverick all the time.
I've done the whole tour, but it's been a few years. Well worth it. :)
Bridget, that's good to know. Thanks. :)
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