232 Tombstone

Sunday 22nd September 2013
Miles Today 222  Total 22,226

We set off South at the usual time in the direction of Tombstone in light rain showers. It was a lot cooler today and never got above 30C (86F). 
Tombstone is a big part of American western history and features as the center point of many Western films. The most famous of those being "Gunfight at the OK Corral" and "Tombstone".

Below is a very brief history gleaned from Wikipedia, the original is Here

A scout named Ed Schieffelin who was employed by the US Army was searching the wilderness for ore samples when he came upon a Silver seam.  Many men had been killed in the vicinity and a fellow scout told Schieffelin that "The only rock you will find out there will be your own Tombstone". After the claim was laid the settlement that grew was subsequently called Tombstone.

The claim bought in many prospectors and at the same time smuggling from the Mexican border 30 miles to the south attracted a lawless element that were given the name 'Cow-Boys'. Hence the birth of the name which at the time was a derogatory term with real cowboys being called ranchers or cattle herders.

In March 1881 3 cowboys tried to rob a stagecoach containing silver bullion. The driver and his security were killed. US marshal Virgil Earp and his deputised brothers set off after the robbers and this culminated in the 'Gunfight at the OK Corral' where the robbers were killed and buried together at Boot Hill cemetery

Boot Hill got its name from the fact that most people buried there 'died with their boots on'.

We visited Boot Hill first and here are some of the photos of it. Most of the name plates have been replaced as they were of perishable wood but the locations were researched and verified by a historian born at the time of the OK corral shootings. He is also buried there despite the cemetary being closed as a mark of respect for his efforts. Warning: there is a lot of piccys....

Read the inscriptions, we picked the best ones.

The robbers shot by the Erp's at the OK corral.

The Hall's have a lot to answer for (it is our surname !)

Does my head look big in this?

From there we drove into Tombstone and once parked up saw that the main street was blocked off to allow  the worst actors in the world to act out a swindle scenario reminiscent of the 1880s.

The Courthouse

Allen English, the drunken judges house

Karen where she belongs

After a bite to eat at the Crystal Palace Saloon we wandered around and then set off a bit late to seek out somewhere to sleep. Tombstone was too expensive and we really needed to put some miles under our wheels.

We pulled into a town called Wilcox where the satnav had told us there were motels.

We decided they were too shabby even for us.

And even the used car lot was more used than normal.

This town was dying on its feet. It was as near to a modern ghost town as we have seen.

We were heading East towards New Mexico, away from the sun, as you can tell.

Look Mum, no hands

But this was behind us, beautiful as ever.

We were struggling to find a motel but eventually found one at a town called Lordsburg where we found a Mexican restaurant for a beer and a snack before retiring to post this huge picture album.