Tombstone

[Lawtonka]

Tombstone, Arizona (September 1997) The building with the bell tower is the original court house. It is now a museum. The county seat later moved when the mines flooded and the town

Boot Hill Cemetery is located just behind and to the left of the building in the lower portion of this photo. Many famous and unfamous residents of the boomtown are buried here. Including Billy Clanton, Frank and Tom McLowry who were killed at the famousgunfight.

The Funeral of the McLowry brothers and Clanton was numerically one of the largest ever witnessed in Tombstone. It took place at 3:30 from the undertaking rooms of Messrs. Ritter and Eyan. The procession headed by the Tombstone brass band, moved down Allen Street and thence to the cemetery. The sidewalks were densly packed for three or four blocks. The body of Clanton was in the first hearse and those of the two McLowry borthers in the second, side by side, and were interred in the same grave. It was a most impressive and saddening sight and such a one as it is to be hoped may never occur agina in this community. The Epitaph - Oct. 28, 1881

[Diane Merkel]

Thanks for the views of Tombstone. We were in Tucson about eight years ago and planned to visit Tombstone, but it poured the entire three days we were there. We heard that Tombstone was a big mud puddle, so we didn't go. Everyone kept saying, "It never rains in Tucson." Yeah, right.

[bubbabod]

Great views of Tombstone, Lawtonka!

[AZ Ranger]

They did ask me to check my guns but it is worth it just to have a few drinks in the old saloons.

[Diane Merkel]

I finally made it there last summer and enjoyed it immensely. Yes, it's hokey, but fun nevertheless. I took a wagon tour, saw the World's Largest Rosebush, went shopping, lunched at the OK Cafe, everything. Great fun! If you have car problems, the man at the gas station when you first enter town is the nicest on the planet.

Now I wish I had also gone to that nearby town -- can't remember the name -- that was the center of "soiled dove" activity back in the Wild West days.

Diane

P.S. I should have mentioned that it would be a good idea to watch the movie "Tombstone" shortly before going to the town. Our guide on the wagon tour kept pointing out places where various scenes from the movie were filmed, but I couldn't remember the movie well enough to make sense of what he was saying.