Tombstone, AZ

Gun Fight at O.K. Corral - You almost feel compelled to start any story about this area with the line, "Once Upon a Time in the Old West." Between the rock formations, vast open spaces, and movie sets, it is easy to see why John Ford filmed many of his westerns in Arizona. According to some of the locals there never was a gunfight at O.K. Corral. The Earps, and Doc Holiday, met six fellows who called themselves "Cowboys" in an alley near the corral. Apparently, the cowboys had pistols, and several of the Earp group had "greeners", or as they were called in my part of the country, "double barrel shotguns". In law enforcement circles we also called them alley cleaners, which is most likely what happened to the cowboys on October 26, 1881.

Tombstone came into being via mining. In fact, silver and gold accounted for nearly all the towns in the "old west". Present day Tombstone is totally devoted to tourist. The locals have paved most of the streets, but kept the main tourist street dirt. Many of the locals wear era clothing and take part in many of the staged gun fights. I was lucky and spoke with a few before the town opened at 9 AM. They all spoke at length about their efforts in replicating the original incidents. The only problem I detected was their source was books, and articles they assumed were correct. Sounded a lot like today's evening news to me so I did not place a lot of faith in the accuracy of the skits, which did not keep me from enjoying them.