Tombstone

Big Ed Schielfelin. the prospectorwho discovered rich silver depositsin Arizona and who is given creditfor founding the to~ of Tombstone.

November 14, 1937

-"The Town Too Tough to Die"

(N. H. Rose photo.)

Nellie Cashman. boarding housekeeper and ••cam p angel" of

••hell roarin'" Tombstone.

Where Gunmen Played aGame with Death

Sixty years ago men, carryinglittle more than unvarnishedcourage and well oiled guns,were beating their way throughthe western bad lands towa,.rdaclump of desolate hills in south·eastern Arizona, just a shakenorth of the Mexican border.The lure was silver.

By FRANK CIPRIANITombstone, Ariz.

BACKin 1877 big Ed Schief·felin never dreamed off 0 u n din g "The Town

That's Too Tough to Die." Hewas too busy prospecting forrich ores, and' dodging the badmen and worse Indians who in-fested the southwest. This wasindeed risky business, and morethan once he was warned that heprobably would find his tomb-stone-meaning he'd be killed-instead of finding gold or silyer.But Schieffelin stubbornly

went ahead. He found silver.And he founded Tombstone.A mining camp town mush-

roomed over night on his silverdiscovery, and to him came thehonor of selecting the town'sname. He chose Tombstone, thismacabre name having lingeredin his mind from frequent warn-ings. Tombstone the town be-came, and Tombstone's the townthat boasts today that it's tootough to die.You'll find it in southeastern

Arizona, in a lazy setting of pur-ple hills, cactus, and mesquite,quite as drab as its surround-ings. Just 60 years old, it is notold as conventional towns go,but very old, almost patriarchal,as mining camps go.Much of the original 'I'omb-

stone still stands, but the dashis gone. Ramshackle woodenbuildings that once dazzledwhite under the desert sun nowreflect dully the gray of age, andmany of them, like tottering oldmen, lean gratefully for supportagainst sturdier neighbors. TheTombstone that once had an en-ergetic population of nearly15,000, against Tucson's 7,000and Phoenix's 1,800, now mus-tel'S fewer than 1,000, whileTucson brags of 33,000 and Phoe-nix of 50,000.

• • •Tombstone has experienced its

seven ages of man. By all therules of rise and decline of otherwestern mining communities, itshould now be buried in its ownBoothill graveyard. But Tomb-stone carries on.It was made by the fortune

seekers and adventurers whorushed to the hills of Schieffelin,men who toted guns and knewhow to use them-the Earps, theClan tons, the McLow~rys, andthe types of Doc Holliday, Gen·tleman John Ringo, Curly' Bill,and Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce-The prospectors piled in from

everywhere, some simple, someshrewd, all bold, but not all bad,and in their dusty wake followedthe bartender, card sharp, andmadame and girls of the bagnio.Surveyors hastily laid outstreets, and on them contractorsspeedily built rows of plain, lowroofed frame structures fromwhich protruded wooden awn-ings to shade the sidewalks.Allen street became the mainthoroughfare, with rivals inTough Nut and Fremont streets.Money came easily; it wentmore easily. A quarter was thesmallest coin used. Liquor cost$1 to $5 a drink. Men lost $100to $1,000 a sitting at the gam-bling tables.

Where men live dangerouslyfor high stakes, as they did inTombstone, courage and the gunfrequently rule. Men held lifecheaply and sometimes killed onslight provocation.Dick Lloyd, a cowboy on a

drunken spree, yelling "Whoo-pee," rode his horse into O'Neil'ssaloon near town, right into themidst of a hot poker game. Theplayers, annoyed over the Inter-ruption, shot him off his horse,sent for the coroner, and reosumed their poker game.

• • •Stuttering Jerry Barton, a go-

rflla-strong saloonkeeper andconstable of nearby Charleston,killed men with his fists andsometimes used the gun, but henever "c-e-o-countedM·M-M·Mex-icans " in the notches on his gun-handle. William (Kid) Clay-.bourn, a tough cowboy, killedcasually here and there, but fellunder the gun of the quickershooting Buckskin Frank Leslie,a good rider, a good shooter, agood scout, and a good bar-ten del'. Johnny- Behind· the-Deuce, so named because he al-ways played the deuce on thefaro layout, shot and killedHenry Schneider, a mining en-gineer, because Schneider wouldnot say hello to him.Tolerant of private shooting

scrapes and even feuds, Tomb-stone's citizens whitened withfury at burglary, street andstage coach robberies, and mur-del' for profit. Punishment was

(N. H. Rose photo.)

John Holliday. a dentist who gaveup the business of filling teeth withgold for that of fillingmen with lead.

Graves in Boothill cemetery oi thefive first men to be hcrnged legallyin the town of Tomb.tone. That wasS3years ago. a. the marker reveal •.

(N. H. Rose photo.)

Wyatt Earp, once Tombston.'s No.1 manipulator of the hand gun, a.he appeared eleven year. ago.

Modem Tombstone. the" town that's too tough to die," Today it has fewer than 1,000inhabitants: once i(hadn.arly IS.DDD. (AsllOc:iated Preas photo.)

law and order man. Behind himnot long afterward came hisbrothers, Virgil, Morgan, James,and Warren Earp, and also oneJohn Holliday. Holliday was adentist who had given up thebusiness of filling teeth withgold for that of filling men withlead. No deadlier shot, no moremerciless killer ever stompedthe plains and mesas of the westthan this slender, blond, andgray eyed fighting man fromGeorgia. H 0 II ida y becameWyatt Earp's right hand gun-man..Wyatt Earp came to Tomb-stone at a time when outlawswere robbing the stages on theBenson and Bisbee roads. Hepromptly offered his services asa messenger to the Wells-Fargoexpress. For seven months herode the Tombstone-Bensonstages, a loaded shotgun on his

After their fight with the Earps. Left to right. in their caskets. Tom andFrank McLowery and Billy Clanton. (N. H. Rose photo.)

swift, the justice of vigilancecommittees.There was the time a gang of

men robbed a company store inBisbee and killed J. C. Tap-pinier, the assayer. Posses fromTombstone and Bisbee speedilyrounded up the gang, FrankHeath, Dan Dowd, C. W. (Red)Sample, Tex Howard, Bill DeLaney, and York (Dan) Kelly.A Tombstone jury tried Heathfirst and found him guilty ofsecond degree murder. A mobpromptly seized Heath, hangedhim to a pole, and announcedthey'd do the same to the nextjury that returned such a vel"diet. One can guess the verdictof the subsequent jury that triedDowd, Sample, Howard, DeLaney, and Kelly. The five werehanged-the first men to behanged legally in Tombstone.Tombstone soon developed

into a hell roaring town, andin this hell roaring town inthe win tel' of 1879 arrivedWyatt Earp, native of Mon-mouth, Ill., a fast thinking andfaster shooting frontiersman.Earp wore the badge of a dep-

uty United States marshal-a

knees. For seven months therewere no stage coach holdups.Earp won quick recognition as

a handy man to have around incase of disturbance, and bust-nesses requiring protection bidfor his special talents. He ac-cepted the offer of a partnershipin the Oriental saloon (stillstanding), which at the momentwas being threatened with vio-lence by a gang of gunmen. Ashis first act in the partnershipEarp nonchalantly sent word tothe gunmen that" if you're look-ing for trouble come on over. Iaim to please." They nevercame.Earp probably never demon.

strated more majestic nervethan the time that Johnny.Behind·the-Deuce wantonly rnur-dered Engineer Schneider. John.ny's real name was O'Rourke.He was a wizened runt, bigeared and big nosed. A lynchingparty started out to makeamends, and Constable GeorgeMcKelvey, who had arrestedO'Rourke, spirited him on a fasthorse into Tombstone just aheadof the mob. Earp, as a law of.ficer, was called upon to protect

him. Earp shoved O'Rourke intothe bowling alley in Allen street,stationed Doc Holliday and Vir-gil Earp, who was town mar-shal, on guard, and then waited. in the street for the mob.

All Wyatt Earp had was adouble barreled shotgun in thecrotch of his arm.The mob-nearly 500 fanatical

men-rushed up; Earp stoppedthem with a sharp gesture. "Wewant Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce,"they snarled. "You can't havehim; he's my prisoner," thun-dered Earp. The lynching lead-ers threatened Earp. Then someone shouted, "Go ahead, he'sonly bluffing." At this Earpraised his shotgun and swept thefront ranks. "Come on, then,"he challenged grimly. " Let's seeyou get him. You can kill me,all right, but I'll blow the belliesout of you in front, and take afew of you to hell with me."This was no bluff. The mob

broke. The life of Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce was saved.

• • •Earp cherished great hopes of

being sherif of the newly cre-ated Cochise county, a job, withvarious legal emoluments, worth$40,000 a year, but the plumwent to John H. Behan, a manwho did not lack courage, butwho knew the political ratherthan the gunshooting end of thebusiness. One of his notableacts was his appointment asdeputy of William M. (Billy)Breakenridge, a fearless law en-forcer. Behan's appointment an-gered Earp. The two became bit-tel' rivals as servants of law andorder-one the sherif, the otherdeputy marshal.This was at a time when the

Clan tons-Old Man Clanton andhis sons, Finn, Ike, and Billy-and Frank and Tom McLowerywere in the full flush of out-lawry. The Clantons operated aranch on the San Pedro river, afew miles above Charleston, andthe McLowerys ran another inSUlphur Spring valley, 25 milessoutheast.Cattle thieves ran wild those

days, and one group made regu-lar forays into nearby Mexico.This group acknowledged alle-giance to John Ringo, a gam-bler, a knight errant to women,and to William Brocius, betterknown as Curly Bill, who ratedtops in cattle rustling. This wasthe outfit that Walter NobleBurns in his "Tombstone" de-scribes as one of the moststrongly entrenched outlawkingdoms in the west. The Clan-tons and McLowerys in particu-lar protected the Ringo-CurlyBill rustling interests, and theygave refuge to sundry f\lgitivedesperadoes.There could be no bond be-

tween the Earps, who ostensiblywere law and order men; Wyatt,deputy marshal; Virgil, town

marshal, and Morgan, town po-liceman, and the Clantons andMcLowerys, who were not.Wyatt regarded Ike Clanton asa " sort of chief among the out-laws" and all the Clantons andMcLowerys as cattle thieves.It was natural that bad blood

should develop between suchcontrasting men, but the definiteorigins were plural rather thansingular. Among them the factthat Billy Clanton stole WyattEarp's favorite horse; the fact.that the Clantons and Mel.ow-erys supported Johnny Behaninstead of Wyatt Earp for sherif.Two events of similar design

hastened a showdown. In March,1881, between Tombstone andBenson, three road agents heldup the Benson stage and killedBud Philpot, the driver, andPeter Roerig, a passenger. TheEarps and Doc Holliday pursuedthe gunmen, who escaped, onlyto die of bullets later anyway.The trio were Jim Crane, BillLeonard, and Harry Head. Herewas the feudal poison in thiscase. The Earps insinuated themurderers were Clanton men,and the Clantons retaliated byopenly charging that Doc Holh-day, Wyatt Earp's right hand,participated in the holdup, andwas the man who actually killedPhilpot.As if this were not enough to

intensify the feud, another stagewas held up in September, 1881,this one near Bisbee. Again theEarps and Holliday joined thepursuit, and helped to arrest thetwo alleged highwaymen, FrankStilwell and Pete Spence. Andhere was this added poison. Stil-well and Spence were Clanton-McLowery men.

•• •The arrest infuriated the Clan-

tons and McLowerys, whowarned Morgan Earp, "YouEarps and Doc Holliday are notas big as you think you are-we'll get you yet!" Breaken-ridge recalls in his memoirs that"Virgil Earp told me that theMcLowerys threatened to killevery one who had a hand in ar-resting Stilwell and Spence."

(N. H. Rose photo.)

William M. (Billy) Breakenridge.a fearless law and order man who

became deputy sherif.

(N. H. Rose photo.)

Jolut H. Behan. who got the lob of.hem of Cochi.e county. a $4D.DDD.a-year plum that Wyatt Earp want.d.

Story of the Earps andTheir Enemies

All Tombstone knew that ashowdown was due.On the night of Oct. 25, 1881,

Ike Clanton and Tom McLowerydrove into Tombstone in a lightwagon. Doc Holliday, enragedover the outlaws' insinuationsthat he knew something aboutthe Benson stage murders, cqr-nered Clanton, daring him tofight. "You've been threateningto kill me," he shouted. "We'reman to man now-get out yourgun and fight."It happened that Clanton car-

ried no arms at the moment.The Earp boys appeared at thisjuncture, quieted Holliday, andsent Clanton away. But laterClanton warned Wyatt Earpthat" no man can abuse me likeDoc Holliday did and get awaywith it. I'll kill him, and I'llsettle with all you fellows to-morrow."Wyatt Earp considered Ike

Clanton's explosive 0 r a tor ymerely drunken chatter, butchanged his mind the next daywhen friends sent him fearfulwarnings that "Ike Clanton'son the warpath." The same newswas carried to Wyatt's brothers,Virgil and Morgan, and to DocHolliday. Of ominous importalso was the information that reoenforcements in the persons ofBilly Clanton and Frank Me-Lowery had come into town. Allwere armed, Wyatt was told,and all were raging to settle thelong standing feud.Sherif Behan heard the rum-

blings. He rushed over to theClantons and McLowerys to dis-arm them. He found them nearthe O. K. corral in Fremontstreet, near Fourth. "Boys, Iwill have to disarm you to pre-serve the peace," Behan said.Ike Clanton showed that he hadno guns, and Tom McLoweryturned out to be as defenseless.The only ones carrying guns

were Billy Clanton and FrankMcLowery. They had four. Theyrefused to disarm.Sherif Behan was still plead-

ing with them to surrender theirarms when he saw four menturn the corner at Fourth street.They were Wyatt, Virgil andMorgan Earp and Doc Holliday.He ran out to head them off."Go no further, men," he said

to them stridently. "I want notrouble."The three Earps and Holliday

brushed past him. A hush cameover the street as these fourmen advanced. Storekeepersbacked deep behind their coun-tel's. Death was in the air.The Clan tons and McLowerys

stood their ground. Now 100feet separated them, now 50,now 25, now 10--Out came the Earp and Holll-

day guns. "You've been lookingfor a fight and now you can

have it," cried Wyatt. "Throwup your hands! " ordered Virgil."Don't shoot, I don't want tofight," pleaded Billy Clanton.Firing began at once. Ike

Clanton and Tom McLowerybellowed they had no guns-acondition their foemen did notknow. The Earps and Doc Hol-liday coolly and murderouslykept on dealing hot lead. IkeClanton fled. Tom McLoweryretreated. Billy Clanton, only aboy, but a brave one, and FrankMcLowery would not yield.

• • •:Silly fired at Wyatt as Wyatt

shot Frank McLowery and Mol"gan Earp blazed away at Billy.Doc Holliday, in a split secondsurvey of the action, lifted TomMcLowery, unarmed off theground with a' double blast fromhis shotgun as McLoweryreached for one of Frank Mc.Lowery's extra guns. Billy Clan-ton, on the ground from Mol"gan Earp's bullets, continuedthe uneven battle. He drilledVirgil Earp through the leg andMorgan Earp through the shoul-del' just as Virgil finished himwith a shot in the breast. DocHolliday and Morgan Earpturned their guns on Frank Me-Lowery a split second after Me-Lowery creased Holliday's thigh.It was all over in 30 seconds.

The casualties: Billy Clantonand Tom and Frank McLowerydead; Virgil and Morgan Earpand Doc Holliday wounded.The Earps won the battle, but

at the price of their exile. Theywere acquitted at a preliminaryhearing, but could not avoid thestigma that four of them, heav-ily armed, had attacked fourothers, only two of whom werearmed. Public sentiment reocoiled against them. They werenot, helped by open charges incourt-only by Ike Clanton's,it's true-that they had ar-ranged or actively aided in sev-eral bold stage robberies whileposing as law and order men.The Earps read the signs.

They saw thelr reign of powerending. They prepared to de-part, but for once challengedthe fates too often. Assassinswounded Virgil and murderedMorgan. Wyatt Earp and Holli-day tarried long enough to set-tIe Morgan's score by slayinghis killer, Frank Stilwell, thestage robber whom they had ar-rested some months before.In the spring of 1882 Wyatt

Earp and Doc Holliday and ahandful of followers rode slowlyout of Tombstone, watched byhundreds of unfriendly eyes. Inthe crowd that saw them offstood Sherif Behan. In his handhe held two warants chargingEarp and Holliday with the Stil-well murder. But he neverserved them.

Tombstone a. it appeared in 1880.the year after Wyatt Earp arrived in town. (N. H. Rose pboto.)