Boothill at Tombstone

Tombstone’s City Cemetery (later renamed Boothill) was created in 1878 with 300 plots available. That should do for decades, right? In just six years, or roughly one death per week, all plots were filled. There was only one known gunfight, the Shootout at O.K. Corral, which happened on Fremont Street in front of the boarding house where Doc Holiday stayed. All the rest of the deaths were illness or single one-on-one gun fights. Until “the law” came to town, disagreements were settled by who could draw their pistol and fire first. It was the Wild West. 

It was also a hub of wealth with a mine rich in silver. The train brought goods and entertainment from New York and San Francisco, allowing the wives of the mine executives to have the finest things of life.  Plus the nationally-renown opera house provided top entertainment in contrast to the Bird Cage Theater with it’s “shady ladies” who kept the miners entertained. 

The first “lady” of Arizona was Big Nose Kate. She was also the girlfriend of Doc Holiday. Doc Holiday was one talented gun fighter. He became friends with the new Marshall Wyatt Earp and Wyatt’s family. They were the “law” side of the O.K. Corral story. 

Even today, the town is filled with a few local cowboys who aren’t thrilled with “those dang outsiders sticking their noses in our business.” We were “greeted” by one colorful cowboy during our evening tour. In a gruff tone, he asked us where we were from, stating that HE had a right to be in the town cause he had lived there over 25 years. Hard to know if it was part of the show or a real modern-day cowboy. Either way we left Tombstone grateful to be living 100+ years later.  

There are two movies I want to see now:

“Tombstone” and “3:11 to Yuma.”  Movies mean more to me after visiting where they were filmed. 

Remember that “300 dead in six years” statistic for tomorrow’s post. 

History of Boothill: https://tombstonechamber.com/BootHillGraveyard/history-of-boothill-graveyard/. Click on the menu button and get the history of Tombstone and more.