ARIZONA
CITIES
Tombstone City Guide Located
in
Cochise
County,
Tombstone
is
probably
the
most
famous
and
most
glamorized
mining
town
in
America.
According
to
legend,
prospectors
Ed
Schieffelin
and
his
brother
Al
were
warned
not
to
venture
into
the
Apache-inhabited
Mule
Mountains
because
they
would
only
find
their
tombstones.
Thus
they
named
their
first
silver
strike
claim
Tombstone,
and
it
became
the
name
of
the
town.
The
town
is
situated
on
a
mesa
between
the
Dragoon
and
Huachuca
Mountains
in
southern
Arizona
at
an
elevation
of
4,540
feet.
While the area later
become
notorious
for
saloons,
gambling
houses
and
the
Earp-Clanton
shoot-out
at
the
OK
Corral,
Tombstone
was
actually
larger
than
Tucson
in
the
1880s
and
had
become
the
most
cultivated
city
in
the
Old
West.
Massive
underground
water
in
the
mines
and
falling
silver
prices
ended
the
boom
in
1904.
Having
survived
the
Great
Depression,
Tombstone
in
the
1930s
became
known
as
the
"Town
Too
Tough
To
Die."
Tombstone's pride in its Old West heritage is shown by its numerous original historic buildings. The Tombstone Courthouse, built in 1882, is now a state park. Other attractions include the Rose Tree Inn (with the world's largest rose tree), Boot Hill Graveyards, the Bird Cage Theater, the Crystal Palace Saloon and the OK Corral. The town's early lusty days are re-enacted annually for three days in October during the Helldorado Celebration. Each month, a major event takes place which depicts the western heritage from Wyatt Earp to Vigilante Days. Every day, shoot-outs are staged in the OK Corral or on Allen Street.
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