Tombstone, AZ (2021)
Tombstone, AZ is definitely extremely touristy, yet perfect for a one-day visit. Afterall that is the home of the shootout at The OK Coral in 1881 where the three Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday took down Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers.
Although Sheriff John Behan of Cochise County, who witnessed the shootout, charged the Earps and Holliday with murder, a Tombstone judge found the men not guilty, ruling that they were “fully justified in committing these homicides.”
Wyatt Earp was way more controversial than I realized. It seems that he was always on the side of law and order as long as it lined his pockets.
Mary Katherine Horony Cummings, popularly known as Big Nose Kate, was a Hungarian-born American prostitute and longtime companion and common-law wife of Old West gunfighter Doc Holliday. Although attractive, she did have a prominent nose.
The courtroom was arranged quite similar as ho how they are arranged today.
The gallows is authentic.
The Faro layout is original.
They have lots of fun and cute posters posted around town.
We visited Boothill Graveyard. This cemetery was for outlaws mainly. Boothill became a generic name for similar cemeteries around the West in the 1800s but this one is the real deal with a place in the National Register of Historic Places.
Allyn’s day was made when we learned that back in the day, there was a Jewish Cemetery here next door. Now there is a Memorial.
Jewish Stones
Note the stones. It is customary when visiting a Jewish grave to honor the deceased by putting a stone (that does not die as opposed to flowers) on the grave with the left hand.
Leave it to you to find the memorial. I was in Tombstone many years ago and missed that. Awesome.
Wonderfully captured! Safe travels!