This day would be dedicated to learning about Tombstone in Tombstone. We both agreed we wanted to start with the O.K. Corral. Claude drove us to a parking lot on Fremont Street where we would stay parked all day. It is the O.k. Corral parking lot directly across from the O.K. Corral. Fremont Street, Allen Street and Toughnut Street all run parallel to each other. Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Street are perpendicular to other three street. Allen Street is blocked off between these numbered streets. The O.K. Corral complex is between Fremont Street and Allen Street with Third Street forming the end of the block on which they are located.
This is the Fremont Street side of the O.K. Corral. Fly's Photography was actually on one side of the O.K. Corral. The next picture is the Allen Street side of the O.K. Corral. It is where you go to get your tickets.
Claude and I purchased tickets for the O.K. Corral Museum and Reenactment as well as the Historama. The Historama would be seen first but before it would begin we had time to visit the gift shop and the museum items there as well as walk the end of Allen Street.
No pictures were allowed in the Historama. It is a great place for anyone to start a visit to Tombstone. It is a small theater setting. Behind the curtain is a circular diorama that rotates. There are four sides that each depict a part of Tombstones history. They show a side of the diorama and Vincent Price narrates the story for that section. Then the curtain closes while the diorama turns to the next side and the screen comes down and you watch a video that explains in further detail and carries you forward to the next bit of history. The screen raises, the curtain opens, and you see the next side of the diorama with more narration about the history of Tombstone. Very cool. Very copyrighted. You can't even find it on YouTube. Reminded me of the Cyclorama in Gettysburg. We always felt that was the best place to begin your visit there so you had an overview and mental image of where the battle took place and what happened.
From the Historama we went through the gift shop and out into the outdoor museum of the O.K. Corral until time for the gunfight reenactment. These pictures are all of the outdoor museum.
The Sheriff's Office and things in it in the next pictures.
There was a line of corral stalls along the one wall. This skeleton was in a cowboy bathtub. They had him rigged so he was scrubbing his back.
This is one of the saddest parts of frontier life to me. The prostitutes were called Soiled Doves and the little buildings they built for them to live and work out of were called Cribs. This is a replica of a crib with some photographs on the wall of significance. The first photo is of Urilla Sutherland, Wyatt Earp's first wife. She died while carrying their first child. The second is Mattie, Wyatt Earp's second wife. She was a Soiled Dove. The third is who some claim to be Josephine. Others say this is not her. She would become Wyatt's final wife and they would live happily ever after. The last photo is Big Nose Kate, Doc Holliday's lady friend. She was called Big Nose because she was very nosey, not because of a huge probiscus!
In another building these items were found.
Outside was a lasso to practice your skills. Claude gave it a try for me. I think the second picture is one of my favorites from the trip. After lassoing the tree, he tried to lasso me while I was videoing him. Silly Big Guy!
They have stadium seating across from a pretend street in Tombstone where they reenact a brief history that led up to the shoot out in the O.K. Corral and then the shoot out. They encouraged us to yell out yeas and boos as the respective actors. The reacted if we didn't yell out quite enough. One of my favorite moments was when one of the Clanton brothers knocked on a door to get an Earp outside. He knocked on the door and said, "Room Service!" We really all enjoyed that. I took video. Claude captured these pictures.
Now I want to share the best part of the O.K. Corral experience for me. The portion of this O.K. Corral complex that was actually scene of the gunfight has been fenced off with mannequins in place where each of the characters from the gunfight were standing at the time of the gunfight. This is based on a drawing done by Wyatt Earp of the incident. The Earps (men dressed in black) came down Fremont Street and turned into the opening of the O.K. Corral. The Clantons and Laurys were in the corral with two horses. Not sure who shot first but in the end three men died and others were wounded. Please note the close quarters in the corral area. Someone was bound to get killed in that close of a gun fight. There is lots more room at the reenactment we just watched. This scene is narrated and the mannequins move their hands so you know which person the mannequin represents. It is the best portrayal of where they stood and what happened.
Okay, one of the things we felt we really needed to see in Tombstone was finished and it was a resounding success. Next we wanted to be sure we visited the Courthouse Museum. This requires an admission fee and then you are free to roam through both floors at your leisure.
The first room we visited was the Cochise County Sheriff's office. I really liked the wooden file cabinet back in the corner.
In the hallway I was immersed in looking at a painting and reading the back story to it when Claude caught up to me. He looked at it and said, "That is the picture your mother made for me!" And it was. This is why I was so interested in understanding the story behind the painting. My mother decoupaged a picture on a piece of wood for Claude for Christmas one year. It was a picture of this painting. A man was out and attacked by a bear but managed to save his life. My mother like it for Claude because it reminded her of her son-in-law. Through the years that picture my mother decoupaged got darker and darker so that you couldn't tell what the painting was. When we retired and moved, I threw it out. Then I learned it was the one thing Jake, our son, wanted. Ugh!!
As we went down the hall, I looked to my right and saw steps leading down to a door. The was a sign that said 'Gallows' and pointed to the door. I called Claude and we went out to find the courtyard where the gallows for hanging people would have been. The original gallows would have been just like these. These are a remake of them. Yes, the steps up the side of the gallows was locked. But we could stand under them and see where the floor would have opened to let the body fall down. I turned around to find my dear Hubby self-incarcerated himself in the cell! He was clever enough to take a picture of the gallows from inside the cell. That would be an awful view. We were told they actually built bleachers and sold tickets for hangings sometimes. Puts shows like Survivor to shame!
Some other miscellaneous items I found interesting were items belonging to Ed Schieffelin. He was the founder of Tombstone. When he told someone he was going to the place in the west to find silver and start a mine, he was told, "You will only find rock to make your tombstone." When he started the Good Enough Mine and a town, he named it Tombstone!
I did not know that bicycles were a part of the west. It is always enlightening after all the things we have visited over the years to find something I never knew.
Look at all the little compartments inside this safe. Somehow I thought the inside would be one big empty box. Much more well ordered with little cubicles for storing things.
I have a soft spot in my heart for pianos. This beauty is the first piano to make its way to Tombstone. I was purchased in Boston, put on a ship that went around the 'horn' to San Francisco. Then it was loaded on a wagon and trekked to Tombstone. That is a lot of effort that shows you how important music is!
On the second floor they have kept the courtroom in tact. They run two different videos there throughout the day. We watched one about a trial (not the O.K. Corral gunfight one) that took place here. Outside the courtroom was the clerk's desk.
As we finished our self-guided tour, I went back to the windows on the second floor and took some pictures from that height. This was one of my favorites.
Time for lunch. What to do? Where to go? We only wanted a little to eat as we planned on a big dinner. We really wanted something to drink. You see, the high desert is a very dry place. Being from Kentucky we are not used to dry places. So we strolled around to find something light to eat. We watched the stagecoach tour go down Allen Street. We strolled the boardwalk. We opted not to eat at Big Nose Kate's. We did go in the Crystal Palace Saloon (associated with the Earp boys). There were a lot of people and we opted not to wait that long. But it was fun watching the actors from the O.K. Corral playing pool like the Earp boys would have done.
Then we found the place that would get our lunch dollars...Doc Holliday's Saloon. They had chicken tenders and fried cheese sticks. We ordered one of each and shared them with a cool thirst quencher called iced water! Do we know how to do a bar or what?? Claude even found a nice place to take a power nap!!
Now to do something fun. We decided to tour the Good Enough Silver Mine. While walking there we found the Fire Station. It was organized September 1, 1880.
We again bought a combination ticket...the Good Enough Silver Mine Tour and the Trolley Tour. This turned out to be fortuitous. After we got into the silver mine, another employee came running in very breathless. Turns out all the power was out in all of Tombstone. He wanted to get to us before we were down in the mine and the lights went out. What to do? What to do? Claude, me and one other lady opted to leave and come back for the next tour. Everyone else opted to use the two flashlights and their cellphone flashlights and go ahead with the tour. We hurried to the Trolley stop and took that tour. By the time it was finished we had power in the mine again. A father and his son were the only other people on this last tour of the day. We had Forrest all to ourselves as a guide. It was a great tour. For the sake of continuity, I will post all the Good Enough Silver Mine Tour pictures, then all the Trolley Tour pictures.
The Good Enough Silver Mine was found and owned by Edward Schieffelin, the found of Tombstone.
Forrest would explain the miners work process. They were each issued a hammer and spike. They would place the spike in the cave wall, strike it with the hammer, turn the spike a quarter turn and strike it again with the hammer. They would continue to do this until the hole was deep enough to place a stick of dynamite in it. Then they would move the spike a small distance and repeat the process until they had made a series of holes in a circle. They would do this for 10 hours each day with a 15 minute break for lunch. For this they were paid $4 per day.
This is an ore cart positioned by a lift. The lift would have lifted the ore cart to the surface.
The tripod covers one of the air holes into the Good Enough Mine.
This is the original opening to the mine.
And this is the opening made for us to enter the mine.
Along the wall of the of the entry was another type of ore car.
The hole with the light coming in at the back of this picture is the original entry to the mine. That mine car is another very special mine car. It is called a 'honey pot' and was actually the bathroom for the miners down in the mine. The person who operated the 'honey pot' was paid $5 a day.
These are the steps into the mine. As we descended them I felt a bit like I was in the staircase at Megiddo in Israel. Not quite as long though.
Forrest told us this rock formation was called miner's popcorn.
As a way of supporting the roof and making the removal of excess rock easier, the excess rock was staked between the support beams. Clever, very clever. These are the original support posts. In this dry environment these posts are not deteriorating.
This is an actual silver vein in the mine.
These wooden posts are placed in cracks in the wall and ceiling. When the tour guide comes down into the mine and looks at these boards, if they have moved at all, he will have us leave very quickly. As our guide said, "Run Forrest. Run!"
I was taking a picture of the support beam in the shaft above us. When I looked at the picture on my laptop, I realized my shadow was in the picture. This is sort of cool.
Forrest explained the candles to us. Each miner was issued a couple of candles for their shift. They came in a holder that could be stuck into the wall of the mine. However, the candles would not last for their 10 hours shift. So, the miners would put the candle holder in the wall and light a candle. Then they would position their spike and work with the hammer. Once they had their rhythm they would snuff out the candle and work in the dark!! That has injury
Forrest also showed us that sometimes the miners would work in pairs. They would use a really long spike. One would hold the spike and the other would stand behind him and work with the mallet on the other end of the spike. Remember the candle. They would figure out their working pattern and then snuff out the candle and do all that hammering in the dark!! I can't even imagine.
This was another way they shored up the walls of the mine.
If you look at the end of this shaft, there is an opening. That opening actually takes you into the Toughnut Mine. The mines sometimes connected like this. The openings served the purpose of allowing the air in the mine to move through the shafts. The was a good thing for those who worked underground all day long.
Our view as we exited the Good Enough Mine.
Now for the Trolley Tour... This helped us see some things not in Old Town Tombstone that we might have missed otherwise. Good tour and we saw some things we would go back to see later.
This is a Catholic Church.
This is a Soiled Dove Crib that was attached to the back of another church with a sidewalk.
This home was bought by the Buford family. It is haunted. Everyone agrees with this. The trolley driver told us that there is a philosophy out there that, because of all the metal in the hills and mountains in this area, it causes a lot of the paranormal activity.
This was our first view of the Edward Schieffelin Monument. We would go find this later in the evening.
When Boothill Cemetery filled up, this was the new cemetery the city created.
And this is China Mary's home. The area is called Hop Town and is where the Chinese people lived in the old days. China Mary was the leader of all these people. Today her home is a mini-museum full of oddities from around the world. We would go back to her home later.
The gray spot is when a mine shaft was filled in with left over rock from when the mine was excavated. This is done to keep people and animals from falling in. If you look, you see lots of these over the land.
This triangular structure also covers a mine shaft and prevents animals and people from entering.
A view of the Courthouse Museum on Toughnut Street
An older man owns the strip of ground across from his home. He has made it into what he calls the Linear Garden. It is very colorful and he is always adding to it. Very fun place to see.
The Epitaph is the longest continuously running newspaper. They still print papers today. Fun name for the newspaper of the town named Tombstone!
Time to find our car. However, we had been encouraged to stop in at a home that contained the World's Largest Rose Tree. The home is also a museum with the furnishings from the original owners. We stopped in there before it closed as it was on the way to our car. We walked through the home, which is now a museum, first. Actually saw some things I have never seen before. A very old sewing machine, an iron mask to be locked on a woman's face who was gossiping (this was very disturbing to me) and a picture of a woman with her child hanging from a clothe around her head (this just gave me a headache!).
We then strolled outside to the patio area where the rose tree is located. This thing is huge. I took a picture of me standing by the trunk with the trunk reflected in the window of the home. If you look close, you can see me and judge how large the trunk of this tree was. If you go outside of the bracing to hold up the branches, they have build a set of steps that you can walk up on to see the top of the tree. I just stood there and tried to imagine that tree all green with leaves and filled with thousands and thousands of roses. It must be amazing. It was amazing to look at without the leaves and flowers. Happy we popped in to see this amazing rose tree.
We determined we wanted to drive out and see the Edward Schieffelin Monument. We saw it in the distance on our Trolley Tour. We took these photos as we drove there. Flys Photography Gallery is right beside the O.K. Corral. The brick building is the original City Hall. There are two pictures of Wyatt Earp and his home. They are on Fremont Street.
After driving down a long dirt road we made it to the Edward Schieffelin. The sign on the gate said it closed at 6pm. We were a few minutes past 6pm. However, there is no lock and the gate is one of those ways a barbed wire fence is made so that cattle cannot go through but people can walk through. So...we went in. Forrest, our guide at the Good Enough Mine Tour, told us he liked to go out there and just sit as it was peaceful and very, very quiet. We found this to be true. The sun was getting ready to set and we had a lovely visit. As we left, some teenagers from town were coming out for an evening visit.
Now it was time for dinner. We passed The Depot on our Trolley Tour. We went back into Tombstone and found that restaurant and had a very nice dinner. The sign by the door indicated an a city ordinance with a hefty fine for spitting!! After dinner it was time for a good nights rest. We had filled this day quite nicely and felt good about all our choices of things to see and visit.
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