Well this time we found the true gem of Tombstone, the Tombstone Courthouse. It’s not like it’s a new attraction, it’s been there since 1882. We don’t know how we missed seeing it before. Actually it was the first Arizona State Park.
At this point in time it has been turned into a great museum that retells the stories of Tombstone’s origin and colorful, Wild West characters.
Tombstone’s hey day began in 1881 when silver was discovered and the town quickly grew to a population of 10,000. Then the mines begin to flood at the 600 foot level and could not be worked. The boom was over in 1886 but not before $37,000,000 worth of silver had been taken out of the mines.
When the courthouse was built in 1882, it cost nearly $50,000. It was a stylish building in addition to being a comfortable symbol of law and stability in these turbulent times. It housed the offices of the sheriff, recorder of deeds, treasurer and the board of supervisors. The Jail was in the rear under the courtroom.
Lynching was a common occurrence in Tombstone, legal and otherwise.
John Heith was the leader of a gang of five outlaws and he planned a hold up at a store in Bisbee that resulted in the killing of four Bisbee residents. Five of the outlaws were sentenced to die on the gallows, however, since Heith was not actually involved in the robbery, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
A group of angry citizens from Bisbee and Tombstone, not satisfied with the verdict, gathered outside the courthouse on February 22, 1884 and forced the jailer to release Heith into their custody. He was promptly hung from a nearby telegraph pole.
The corner’s report on Heith’s death was very interesting. I strongly suspect he was also in fear of the same group responsible for the lynching.
Besides the bad guys, there were pictures of the good guys, the sheriffs of Tombstone…
…including the famous Wyatt Earp.
The restored court room now looks like it did back in the 1880’s.
In the back corner were a couple panels from the original square jail cells that had held prisoners under the court room.
Outside the back door was the exercise yard and the gallows, set up to hang two at a time. How much fun would exercising have been looking at that every day?
Downtown, horse-drawn stage coaches offered tourist rides around town.
Old West storefronts lined the boardwalk on the main street. At one time there were 150 bars and houses of ill repute here. Now they are mostly just tourist traps and the bars all serve food.
We stopped for a coke at Big Nose Kate’s. There actually was an old historic bar in addition to the restaurant.
Behind the salt and mustard were pictures of Big Nose Kate (she was Wyatt Earp’s girlfriend), Doc Holliday and some other local colorful characters.
Cowboys, in full Western garb, hung out on the street between the Wild West shows they were a part of. One told me he was “from L.A.” A true California cow poke, no doubt.
A coffin leaned up against the door of the OK Corral with a sign saying this guy had been killed at the OK Corral.
Then suddenly just before noon, these four guys walked down the middle of the street…
…where they stood looking ominous until the church bells rang at high noon. Then they all walked into the OK Corral where they reenacted the infamous shootout.
We were about to leave the downtown area when I saw this guy riding down the sidewalk on a motorized wheelchair, Tombstone Style, of course. Just couldn’t resist taking his picture.
No trip to Tombstone is complete without a visit to Boot Hill Graveyard.
This is the original Boot Hill. It was restored from early burial records in the late 1920’s.
Yes, it was full. This piece of desert and rocks was not someplace you would want to be buried or to bury anyone else. I can’t imagine digging a grave in the hard dry ground.
Clanton and the McLaury brothers were killed at the OK Corral shoot-out.
Many died in 1881, we are not sure why. Many were described on the head markers as “Shot,” “Murdered” or simply, “Killed.” It was a rough time in Tombstone. There were a lot that simply said, “Unknown.”
This was John Heith who was hanged on the telegraph pole by the mob from Bisbee.
Boot Hill was a bit depressing, knowing that these were real people, many who met with violence. The good thing about Boot Hill was that the gift shop sold really good fudge.
Our next excursion is on a much more cheerful note. We heard there was a Donkey Rescue near Benson that would give tours. We have never been to or heard of a Donkey Rescue so we were up for it.
We were met by Trish and “Daisy.” Trish and her husband take in donkeys that are abused and neglected in any of a variety of ways. They care for them for the rest of their lives, which can be for 35-40 years as they usually live a long time.
There are currently 20 donkeys and two mules residing here. Although they all had pens, they spend a lot of time just roaming around the property. When we showed up we were in for a surprise as they came up to us all wanting to be petted…and petted…and petted some more.
Trish says a donkey’s personality is more like a dog’s than a horse’s. They are very people oriented, gentle and love the petting. That we found out! We were constantly petting one or another of them. They have mostly regular sized donkeys and two miniature donkeys.
There are also a variety of colors. This dark one is one of the mini’s.
The entire time we were there, we were surrounded by the donkeys. They seemed to enjoy our visit as much as we did.
Many of the donkeys are being actively medicated for various diseases or injuries. This one is recovering from a bed sore and Trish said she has found duct tape a wonderful way to keep bandages on. It did make him look like he’d been put together by a committee.
But not all of the residents here make it. There was a small graveyard with rock markers and names on them of the individual donkeys laid there.
From here we go to Texas to visit our friends, Bill and Teri Smith. They live in Boerne (pronounced “Burney”) near San Antonio. It’s a three day trip to get there and we will stay for about six days before starting our trip back home.
Apologies to the folks in New Mexico and West Texas for my lack of posting on those three days, but…there is nothing there to see!
I’m not sure how many postings I will write while in Texas. As usual, it will depend on our adventures, and we always have adventures with Bill and Teri.
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