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TOMBSTONE |
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Perhaps the most famous town in the Wild West, TOMBSTONE lies 22
miles south of I-10 on US-80, 67 miles southeast of Tucson. More than a
century has passed since its mining days came to an end, but "The Town
Too Tough to Die" clings to an afterlife as a tourist theme park. With
its dusty streets, wooden sidewalks and swinging saloon doors, it's
surprisingly unchanged. Most adults, however, have seen too many
inauthentic replicas and movie re-creations for the real thing to retain
much appeal, and so Tombstone is reduced to trying to divert kids with
tacky dioramas and daily shoot-outs. The best time to visit is during
Helldorado Days in late October, when the air is cooler and the sun less
harsh, but the streets are full of gun-toting strangers acting out gun
battles and stagecoach robberies.
Tombstone only began life as a silver-boomtown in 1877, and by the end
of the 1880s it was all but deserted again. However, on the day that
gave it the notoriety that's kept it alive, its population stood at more
than ten thousand. It was 2pm on October 26, 1881, when Doc Holliday ,
along with Wyatt Earp and his brothers Virgil and Morgan (who all served
as local sheriffs), confronted a band of suspected cattle rustlers, the
Clantons, in the legendary Gunfight at the OK Corral . Within a few
minutes, three of the suspects were dead. The Earps were accused of
murder, but charges were eventually dropped.
Although the gunfight in fact took place on Fremont Street, the OK
Corral itself remains the major attraction for visitors (daily
8.30am-5pm; $2.50), despite the fact that it holds little more than
crude dummies that show the supposed locations of the Earps and the
Clantons, in complete contradiction to contemporary reports of the
fight. A couple of blocks along Allen Street, the Bird Cage Theater
(daily 8am-6pm; $5) was Tombstone's leading venue for entertainment of
all kinds. Seven "bird cages," much like theater boxes but curtained off
and said to have been used by prostitutes, hang from either side of the
main hall. The dusty, cluttered theater now holds a motley collection of
curiosities, including a revolting foot-long "merman" from China, while
downstairs you can see the old gaming tables and bordello rooms. The
exhibits are real enough, but there's little historical accuracy to many
of the makeshift signs. You might want to skip it entirely in favor of
Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park on Toughnut and Third streets,
just off the main drag (daily 8am-5pm; $2.50). This one-time seat of
Cochise County features the little-changed courtroom where several
well-known trials took place. Excellent exhibits include two detailed
alternative versions of what might have actually happened at the OK
Corral.
Central motels include the Adobe Lodge , 505 Fremont St (tel
520/457-2241 or 1-888/457-2241; $50-75), while the classier
mountain-view Best Western Lookout Lodge is a mile north on US-80 W (tel
520/457-2223 or 1-800/652-6772; $50-75/$75-100), just across from the
Boot Hill Graveyard. Among old-style saloons serving burgers and beer in
as raucous an atmosphere as they can are the Crystal Palace at Fifth and
Allen, and Big Nose Kate's at 417 E Allen St, where you can still join
an ongoing card game.
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