Tombstone, Arizona,
Meanest Town In The Old West.
 Do you ever wish you lived in the days of gun fights, horse and buggies, stagecoaches, and cattle drives? If you want to relive the days of the Old West, take a trip to Tombstone, Arizona. Take a stroll through the streets after dark and imagine the sounds of the local saloons, the horses, and the coyotes in the distance. Hear the gunfire and the wheels of the buck boards clippety-clopping on the dirt streets of Tombstone. If you close your eyes, you can almost picture the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral. Look to the same skies that Geronimo turned to when Arizona was the land of the Apache.
Tombstone, Arizona is located in the southern part of Arizona about 68 miles from Tucson. Founded in 1879, for a time Tombstone was the county seat of Cochise County. Early on, Tombstone became a mining town after veins of silver ore were found and this contributed to it becoming a boom town rising from a small population to 5,000 to 15,000 by some estimates.
With many original historical buildings from the 1880's still standing today, Tombstone has a bit of a reputation for being haunted. One such story is about Marshal Fred White, who was accidentally shot dead while breaking up a shooting match. It is said in the early morning hours Marshal White can be seen roaming meaningless in front of the site of the shooting match. On occasion many people have reported seeing a woman in a long white dress wandering the streets. Rumor has it that she was the madam of a house of ill repute who was hanged and that she constantly wanders the streets searching for the hangman.
Full of legend and lore Tombstone is home to the famous newspaper of the Old West, The Epitaph, founded in 1880. Read actual accounts of the Gunfight at OK Corral in 1881. See how they printed newspapers during the 1880's. The original printing press that was used for printing newspaper during the days of the gunfights is available for viewing. The Epitaph is in business today, most likely making it the oldest newspaper still operating.
The Bird Cage Theater is worth a stop on your trip to Arizona. It was a gaming place/entertainment spot for the gunfighters, miners, and cowboys of the day. Full of bullet holes that speak of the thrill and danger of living in the wild west, the Bird Cage Theater is not a glitzy, clean replication but a true life experience of what the people who lived during this era saw on a day to day basis. The original piano is there just as if someone had stepped away for a moment. The entertainment rooms with licenses of the prostitutes who did business there attached to the doors is another statement of the lives of the people who did the best they could do to survive in this western town.
Life was rough during the wild west days, when you were not sure if you would live a day or a week. To get even a glimpse of the lives of some of the most famous people and the not so famous people who made Tombstone home, you should visit this town of the old west. You will find that walking in the steps of such men as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clanton gang will be an experience you will not soon forget. Seeing the places these pioneers of the west called home and lived their lives with danger and the threat of death daily will give you an appreciation of how brave and unbending these people were.
Directions To Tombstone.
From Tucson. Take I-10 East for about 45 miles to Exit 303 at Benson. Take State Route 80 East towards Douglas for about 23 miles to arrive in Tombstone Az. See Map to Tombstone Arizona.
Convenient Hotel, Motels & Lodging.
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