Tombstone . . . again - 9/8 to 9/15/2012

Yes, we went to Tombstone again.  Why you ask?  Because it's there?  But, a lot of things are "there" and we haven't gone "there" . . . yet.  Give us time and we might make it to wherever you think "there" should be :-)  Whenever I tell people that we are headed to Arizona, I always get suggestions of the things that we MUST SEE while in that great state.  I'm sure their suggestions would be wonderful, but we really have not exhausted all of the wonderful things to see in and around Tombstone.  For instance, on this trip we didn't find time to hike into Contention City, although we drove within about 4 miles of this historic town site.  Remember the movie 3:10 to Yuma?  Contention is the town where Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) was initially captured.  Contention was a small town that sprung up in order to support the mining industry in Tombstone. Located about 15 miles from the mines, the town sat along the San Pedro river, using it's flowing water as the means of powering stamp mills that reduced the silver ore from the mines into powder for further processing (with cyanide and mercury of all things).  We also ran out of time to visit the world's largest rose bush.  We've seen it before, but it was quite a while back.  Maybe next trip, huh?

Although we didn't have time to do everything we wanted, here are some of the exciting things that we DID do!  First off, we arrived on Saturday evening about 5:00.  Just in time to set up camp, take a walk around town and fix a tasty dinner.  On this trip we chose to stay at the Wells Fargo RV park, which is located between Fremont street and historic Allen Street, right across 3rd street from the OK Corral.  If you're not familiar with the local history, the OK Corral is the site of the famous shoot out between Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp and the "Cowboys", a lawless faction that lived in the area surrounding Tombstone.  The shootout actually took place in a vacant lot behind the OK Corral (which was located on Allen street), with the Earp group standing in the middle of Fremont street while the Cowboys stood in the lot.  How much more history would buffs like us need in order to want to spend entire vacations here exploring?  More on all of that later.  Here's our cozy little nest away from home:

 You can see from the ground around the trailer that it had been raining a bit.  We caught the tail end of the monsoon season in southern Arizona.  We got a nice mix of beautiful thunder storms, spattering rain and torrential downpours.  NICE!  Everything was very green as a result of the monsoon.  Since we usually visit Tombstone in June (our anniversary month), this was a nice change for us.  Next year we may make the October festivities that commemorate the OK Corral shoot out.  Here's the OK Corral over my right shoulder:

We were able to get a few new activities in on this trip.  Of course, we took our obligatory trip to Bisbee and ate at "our" restaurant - Santiago's.  We shared a plate of green corn tamales with lots of chips and hot sauce.  Then we wandered over the the cemetery.  Yes, we visit cemeteries.  Why?  Uh . . . because it's also "there"?  Actually, if you want to get a feel for the history of a town, go to the cemetery.  It will show you the names and dates of real people who lived there, sometimes revealing information such as what their occupation was, whether they were well off, poor or somewhere in between.  While there, Sandy spotted what she assumed was an eagle that was part of someone's headstone.  Although we were not quick enough to get a picture, the "eagle" turn out to be a hawk - and yes, it was very real.  There were actually two of them.  HUGE, wonderful looking birds.

We also took a trip out to see the grave of Johnny Ringo.  History buffs will remember that Ringo was a part of the "Cowboy" faction.  An outlaw and gunman, Ringo lost his own life to a bullet on July 13, 1882 at the young age of 32.  Contrary to the depiction in the movie "Tombstone", Ringo was NOT killed by Doc Holliday.  Holliday was in Colorado at the time of Ringo's death.  A couple of theories exist concerning the death of Ringo, but the one that I personally subscribe to is that Ringo was dry gulched by some of his "friends".  I suspect that they were put up to it by someone who hired them to kill Ringo.  You can find a number of theories if you search around.  One thing is for sure in my opinion - Ringo did NOT commit suicide.  None of the forensic evidence supports this theory.  We'll never know what happened for sure, but what we do know is A) - Ringo is dead.  B) - He died of a gunshot wound to the head.  C) - A shot was heard by someone who lived in the area on July 13 and Ringo's body was found a couple of days later and D) - Ringo is buried on the spot where he died.  Here's shot of his grave:

Here's a shot of his headstone, such as it is:

Here's a gratuitous shot of Sandy next to said headstone:

Ringo's body was found propped up in the crotch of an oak tree.  His gun was hanging from the finger of one of his dead hands.  The story is that his gun had one empty chamber, but the coroner's jury that assembled on the spot failed to record whether the chamber was completely empty or if it contained an empty cartridge.  This is important because the jury concluded that this was a suicide.  Ringo was shot in the temple with the bullet exiting the back of his head.  Without being too descriptive, how could he have held his gun at that angle, if indeed he shot himself?  I don't buy it.  What I do buy however, is that this is the actual oak tree where Ringo's body was found, propped in the crotch shown:

Here's my wonderful companion with the same pose:

There is a memorial with a plaque on the site:

And Sandy with the same memorial - notice the oak tree in the background:

The drive from Tombstone to Ringo's grave is about 55 or 60 miles.  It is through a beautiful area, the road taking us past the historic town of Gleeson and down into Turkey Creek Canyon.  We found the coordinates for Ringo's grave on a couple of websites and punched the numbers into our GPS.  An old timer named Bruce (who worked at the museum in Tombstone) told us that Ringo's grave was on private property and that we needed to ask permission to visit.  Although the GPS coordinates took us to the grave site, we didn't know for sure who's property it sat on.  So as a helpful hint to any who read this blog and may take the trip, look for this guy's house along Turkey Creek Canyon road:

Just hallew the house and the old guy will come out.  He'll know what you want before you even ask and will be kind enough to grant access and show you where to go.  Just up the road (the one in the background on the above photo - the one with our trusty Dodge) is a chain link gate:

Through the gate and past the brush you will come across a sign:

The sign implies that visitors are welcome and that they are.  It is still a neighborly thing to do to talk to the land owner and get his blessing.  One thing about out back Arizonans - they are very neighborly.  On the trail to the grave, watch out for rattlesnakes.  Although we have yet to run across one while walking, we did see one that had been run over by a car on the way up to this location.  It pays to be vigilant of the dangers in this area.  Just ask Ringo  "Poor soul . . . he was just too high strung".  "You're no daisy at all!"  

I forgot to mention this . . . while driving up Turkey Creek canyon, we saw a large critter running alongside the road.  At first, I thought it was a black calf.  Then I thought it appeared to be a large, furry dog.  It turned out to be a bear and he or she was on a mission to get away from us AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!  We were able to watch it run up into a rock outcropping and disappear.

Speaking of critters, the locusts were THICK on this trip.  According to the locals, they come about about this time of year like clockwork and then disappear just as suddenly.  We were lucky enough to have invaded Tombstone at the same time that it was invaded by the locusts.  They didn't bother me much, but Sandy was definitely a bit freaked out by them.  In the mornings when we would take our walk/jog, she would stay in the middle of the road so that any murderous, blood thirsty, zombie locust with a lust for human blood would get me first.  As a result, she very nearly stepped on this little guy:

For the uninitiated, this is a tarantula.  In this part of the world, these boogers are a bit smaller than some species, however they are still menacing looking.  So anyway, after Sandy got done screaming and jumping around (I'm kidding - sort of), I stomped my foot a couple of times in order to get him to sit still long enough for a photo and then we left him to go on his merry way.  After all, somebody has to clean up all of those blood thirsty locusts. :-)

There's a new restaurant in town that we highly recommend.  It's on 10th street on the corner of Allen.  The name is The Depot and they have a pretty good steak, probably the best there is in town.  Honestly, saying that it is the best in town isn't saying all that much, but it was pretty good and well worth the price in our not-so-humble opinions.  It doesn't compare to a steak sizzled up by yours truly on our own grill, but few steaks do.  Hey!  I'm not boasting . . . it's just the way it is.

While I'm on the subject of food, I will say that we ate at the Longhorn for a lunch meal.  So-so food as always, but it's in the heart of the historic district.  We keep going back there, probably hoping that it will get better.  The same could be said for the OK Cafe.  It's a quaint little spot and it looks like it should be really good.  But alas . . . it's simply not to be, no matter how much we wish it.

We also took a trip to Benson, which is at the intersection of Interstate 10 and state highway 80.  Benson is also an historic town, although it's history is buried in modernism (unlike Tombstone).  There's not a lot to see, but there is a Walmart (where we spent a night while on the road to San Antonio a couple of years ago) and a HUGE True Value hardware store where we bought an Ocotillo to plant at home.  What really made it worth the trip though was a conversation that I had with a docent at the visitor center.  He was a wealth of information about the town, but his best tip was a website:  http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/  Seriously, check it out.

A few years ago, a fellow came to Tombstone seeking his fortune.  He purchased the old Helldorado town set and started doing gunfights.  He also started a trolley tour service.  Although both of these are very much tourist trap things to do, we were kind of sucked in by this guy's personality.  He turned out to be a big Hollywood stuntman named Lee McKechnie.  Besides putting on a good gunfight show, he is also a very funny fellow.  I highly recommend his trolley tour as well as his show.

Also starting a few years ago, another fellow, a miner, came to Tombstone seeking a fortune of another kind.  In this case, he felt that if he could open up one of the old mines, he could possibly make his fortune by taking tourist down into the mine.  So with that thought in mind, he went to work clearing out the old Good Enough mine.  The entire town of Tombstone is built on the top of mines that were dug in the 1880's.  Miles upon miles of tunnels were blasted and dug from the limestone under the town and the surrounding hills.  Silver was the main product of these mines and they continued to operate until the veins led to elevations that were well below the water table.  Note that the water table is about 500' below the surface here and with the aid of pumps, mining continued down to the 700' level.  At some point, the giant pumps that kept the mines from flooding caught fire and were destroyed.  The pumps were never replaced (because of cost I suppose) and the mines flooded back up to the 500' level.  There is untold billions of dollars worth of silver down there, but it is inaccessible because of the water.  Our tour guide was a crusty old miner who was very informative.  Here's our guide:

These photos are quite blurry and a bit dark.  The lighting in the mine is poor and all that I was able to get were some cell phone photos.  Sorry 'bout that.  Here's a few shots inside the mine:

The last picture is a shot of a silver dollar that was minted from silver taken from the Tombstone mines back in the late 1800's.  Oh, and the ugly rocks that the dollar is sitting on?  Silver ore.  It doesn't look like much does it?  If I were a miner, I'd be looking for pretty rocks, not this ugly stuff!  This tour convinced me that a guy wandering around out in the desert with a donkey, a shovel and a pickax would really need to know what he was looking for.  Otherwise, he might come home with nothing but pretty rocks.

No trip to Tombstone is complete without a trip to the Bird Cage Theater.  The Birdcage was opened in 1881 and operated until 1889.  During these just-less-than eight years, there were 26 murders.  Town Marshall Fred White was murdered just outside of where it's historic doors would soon stand.  His successor?  Virgil Earp. A number of "painted ladies" plied their trade within these adobe walls, including Josephine Sarah Marcus, AKA Josie Earp, Wyatt's third and final wife.  If you ever visit Tombstone, it is well worth your time and money to tour this historic landmark.  However, beware.  The holes in the ceiling are NOT bullet holes, regardless of what the barker out front may tell you.  They are actually bolt holes from a trapeze that was erected for one of the last shows that took place here.  There are some bullet holes here and there though, so if you lust for historic bullet holes, you'll find them here.  By the way, they encourage you to take photos while you are there.  Take as many as you'd like.  Just don't show them to anyone.

 I suppose that I could probably get in trouble for publishing a photo of a sign INSIDE the Birdcage telling me not to publish photos taken inside the Birdcage.  Oh well . . . sue me, huh?  But in the spirit of cooperation, I will not publish any other photos.  Email me if you'd like to see them :-)

There are a number of historic items inside the Birdcage, displayed museum style.  One of the prized items is a Faro table where Doc Holliday plied his gambling trade.  The actual table and chair are still in place in roughly the same location where Doc 'worked'.  Don't be fooled by all of the items though.  I don't know how many museums we've been in that claimed to have Bat Masterson's personal cane/walking stick.  Humph.

Wyatt Earp came to town and bought into the gambling concession at a place named the Oriental Saloon.  The place now operates as a clothing and jewelry store, a tourist type of place.  This is Sandy's favorite shopping place.  Their clothing is nice (she looks SO CUTE in a couple of her selections) and the prices are reasonable, unlike most of the stores.  There is much history in and around the building, but I'll let you discover that on your own.  Across 5th street is the Crystal Palace, another famous saloon and gambling den from days of yore.  It was in the street between these two establishments where Virgil Earp was shotgunned, losing the use of one of his arms.  The shot was fired from the balcony of a building across the street where the Longhorn Restaurant is now located.  Although the original building burned down many years ago, a like building was built around 1950.  At night, you can stand on the corner and imagine Virgil walking across the dimly lit intersection, a shotgun blast ringing out, the impact, people running - either away from the danger, or towards the commotion, trying to find out what happened.  Anyhow, the Crystal Palace is now a restaurant, serving up a decent meal for an outrageous price.  However, the pool table (coin operated) is only 50 cents.

Lastly, I will mention that we visited Kartchner's Cavern just to the north of Sierra Vista, about a 25 mile drive from Tombstone.  For anyone who has toured a cavern before, this one is fairly small scale. Still, it is an amazing thing to see and comes highly recommended by us, your humble recommenders :-)

I suppose I could continue to regale the reader with tales of our adventures in southern Arizona, but this entry is getting pretty long and for that reason, you have arrived at these last few lines having merely skimmed  through the last half anyway.  But one last story, okay?  The weekend before leaving on the trip, our grand baby, Dani who is 9 years old, came and spent the weekend with us.  While there, I donned a cowboy hat and proceeded to tell her that I couldn't wait to go to Arizona so that I could wear my cowboy hat.  I told her that it is illegal to wear a cowboy hat in California.  Of course, she believed me and I had to reverse course and tell her the truth.  On the other hand, if it ain't illegal in California, it sure seems like it.

So long till next time!!