History of Tombstone, Arizona
The Townsite of Tombstone (a name invented by Edward Schieffelin - see story below) was laid out on March 5, 1879. At that time Tombstone had 40 cabins and 100 people. Allen Streets lots sold for $5. By June 20, 1880 there were 3,000 people in the town and by late 1881 there was over 7,000 people in town and more gambling houses, saloons, and a larger "boothill" and "red light" district than any town in the southwest. Population increased rapidly from that time, and in the 1890's it had reached a maximum of 15,000. Let's get back to how it all started.......
The Story of Edward Schieffelin
Tombstone erupted into a boom town when Arizona was Apache Land. Geronimo, Victorio, and Nachez led their fierce warriors in raids the length and width of Southern Arizona. Few white men penetrated this barren, merciless land and returned to tell of it.
In 1877, a prospector by the name of Lewis wandered into the dry washes, coming down out of the Tombstone Hills into San Pedro Valley. He discovered several pieces of horn silver and followed them to an outcropping of high grade silver ore. On the strength of the specimens that he had brought out with him, A.M. Franklin and Marcus Katz of Tucson agreed to grubstake him for a share of his claim.
Lewis returned to the dry washes of the San Pedro confident that he could go straight to the ledge of silver. However, apparently he had not pinpointed the location very well as he was not able to find it again. For long, weary weeks Lewis, combed dry wash after dry wash, but he found no trace of silver.
Meanwhile, another determined prospector arrived. The newcomer had trailed into the country with a company of Hualapai scouts late in the summer of 1877 and had then used Brunckow's cabin as his base of operations. The prospector was Edward Lawrence Schieffelin, and he materialized from the desert a tall and wild figure. Although he appeared fifty years old, he had not reached thirty years yet. Ed was of a large and powerful build, a type of the physically perfect man, his bronzed face and flowing brown hair and beard, and his clear blue eyes told of his free and open life of the plains and the mountains. He stood five feet eleven and one-half inches tall and weighed about one hundred ninety pounds. Ed had been born in Tioga County, Pennsylvania in October of 1847.
For over ten years he had been seeking a rich ore deposit, but success had always eluded him. He had begun his search in the Coeur d' Alenes of Idaho, then across Nevada into Death Valley and into Colorado and New Mexico. Finally, his search had led him to into the San Pedro Valley of Arizona.
Founding
Ed Schieffelin was briefly a scout for the U. S. Army headquartered at Camp Huachuca. Ed frequently searched the wilderness looking for valuable ore samples. Soldiers from the camp told him the only stone he would find was his tombstone. The year prior Schieffelin and his party had been attacked by Apaches and one of his men, named Lenox, was killed. When Schieffelin's claim, which was at Lenox's grave site, was filed, he filed it as the Tombstone claim. In the summer of 1877 Ed was working the hills east of the San Pedro River when he found a vein of silver ore in a high plateau called Goose Flats.
When the first claims were filed, the initial settlement of tents and cabins was located at Watervale near the Lucky Cuss mine. Former Territorial Governor Anson P.K. Safford offered financial backing for a cut of the mining claim, and Ed Schieffelin, his brother Al, and their partner Richard Gird formed the Tombstone Mining and Milling Company and built a stamping mill. When the mill was being built, U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor Solon M. Allis finished surveying the new town's site, which was revealed on March 5, 1879 to an eager public. The tents and shacks near the Lucky Cuss were moved to new town site on Goose Flats, a mesa above the Toughnut 4,539 feet (1,383 m) above sea level and large enough to hold a growing town. Lots were immediately sold on Allen Street for $5.00 each. Tombstone soon had some 40 cabins and about 100 residents. By the fall of 1879 a few thousand hardy souls were in a canvas and matchstick camp, perched among the richest silver strike in the Arizona Territory.
At the town's founding in March 1879, it took its name from the original mining claim. Consisting mostly of wooden shacks and tents, it had a population of 100.[6] When Cochise County was formed from the eastern portion of Pima County on February 1, 1881, Tombstone became the new county seat. Telegraph service to the town was established that same month. In early March, 1880, the Schieffelin's Tombstone Mining and Milling Company which owned the Tough Nut mine, among others, was sold to investors from Philadelphia. Two months later it was reported that the Tough Nut mine was working a vein of silver ore 90 feet (27 m) across that assayed at $170 per ton, with some ore assaying at $22,000 a ton.
On September 9, 1880, the richly appointed Grand Hotel was opened, adorned with fine oil paintings, thick Brussels carpets, toilet stands, elegant chandeliers, silk-covered furniture, walnut furniture, a kitchen with hot and cold running water.
Early Conflicts
Under the surface were other tensions aggravating the simmering distrust. Most of the Cowboys were Confederate sympathizers and Democrats from Southern states, especially Texas. The mine and business owners, miners, townspeople and city lawmen including the Earps were largely Republicans from the Northern states. There was also the fundamental conflict over resources and land, of traditional, Southern-style, “small government” agrarianism of the rural Cowboys contrasted to Northern-style industrial capitalism.
In the early 1880s, smuggling and theft of cattle, alcohol, and tobacco across the U.S./Mexico border about 30 miles (48 km) from Tombstone were common. The Mexican government taxed these items heavily and smugglers earned a handsome profit by sneaking these products across the border. The illegal cross-border smuggling contributed to the lawlessness of the region. Many of these crimes were carried out by outlaw elements labeled "Cow-boys", a loosely organized band of friends and acquaintances who teamed up for various crimes and came to each others aid. The San Francisco Examiner wrote in an editorial, "Cowboys [are] the most reckless class of outlaws in that wild country...infinitely worse than the ordinary robber." At that time during the 1880s in Cochise County it was an insult to call a legitimate cattleman a "Cowboy." Legitimate cowmen were referred to as cattle herders or ranchers. The Cowboys were nonetheless welcome in town because of their free-spending habits but shootings were common.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
On the evening of March 15, 1881, three Cowboys attempted to rob a Kinnear & Company stagecoach carrying US$26,000 in silver bullion (about $626,152 in today's dollars) enroute from Tombstone to Benson, Arizona, the nearest railroad freight terminal. Near Drew's Station, just outside of Contention City, the popular and well-known driver Eli 'Budd' Philpot and a passenger named Peter Roerig riding in the rear dickey seat were both shot and killed. Deputy U.S. Marshal Sheriff Virgil Earp and his temporary deputies and brothers Wyatt Earp and Morgan Earp pursued the Cowboys suspected of the murders. This set off a chain of events that culminated in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which the lawmen killed Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and Billy Clanton.
The gunfight was the result of a personal, family, and political feud. Three months later on the evening of December 28, 1881 Virgil Earp was ambushed and seriously wounded on the streets of Tombstone by hidden assailants shooting from the second story of an unfinished building. Although identified, the suspects were not prosecuted. On March 18, 1882, Morgan Earp was killed by a shot that struck his spine while playing billiards at 10:00 p.m. Once again, the assailants were named but escaped arrest. Wyatt Earp, concluding that legal justice was out of reach, led a posse that pursued and killed four of the men they held responsible on what became known as the Earp Vendetta Ride.
After the Earp family left Arizona, it was left to future Sheriffs to finish the job of clearing the county of outlaws. John Slaughter was elected Cochise County Sheriff in 1886 and served two terms. He hired Burt Alford, who as a 15-year-old boy had witnessed the shootout between the Earps and Cowboys. Alford served very effectively for three years until he began to drink heavily and began to associate with outlaws.
Boot Hill Cemetery
Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and Billy Clanton, killed in the O.K. Corral shootout, are buried in the town's Boot Hill cemetery (this is the "Old City Cemetery," used after 1883 only to bury outlaws and a few others). "Boot Hill" refers to the number of men who died with their boots on. Among a number of pioneer Boot Hill cemeteries in the Old West, Boot Hill in Tombstone is among the most well-known.[15] Marshal Fred White, killed by Curly Bill Brocius, is also among the approximately 300 people buried there. It had a separate Jewish cemetery, which is nearby. With a new city cemetery built elsewhere, the old cemetery stopped accepting new burials in about 1883 (save for very few exceptions) and fell into disrepair until the 1940s, when the city began to restore and preserve the graveyard.
One of the most well known markers belongs to Lester Moore. He was a Wells, Fargo & Co. station agent in the Mexican border town of Naco, Arizona Territory. One afternoon Hank Dunstan appeared to claim a package due him. When he got it, he found it thoroughly mangled. The two men argued, and then both Moore and Dunstan drew their weapons. Dunstan got off four shots, hitting Moore in the chest with his .44 caliber revolver. Dunstan was mortally wounded with a hole through his ribs by the single shot Moore had squeezed off. Les Moore was buried in Boot Hill, and his famous tombstone epitaph remains an attraction in the cemetery:
HERE LIES LESTER MOORE, FOUR SLUGS FROM A 44, NO LES NO MORE
The cemetery is one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.
Silver Mining
Tombstone boomed, but founder Ed Schieffelin was more interested in prospecting than owning a mine. Ed was one-third partners with his brother Al Schieffelin and Richard Gird. He left Tombstone to find more ore and when he returned four months later, Gird had lined up buyers for their interest in the Contention claim, which they sold for $10,000. It would later yield millions in silver. They sold a half-interest in the Lucky Cuss, and the other half turned into a steady stream of money. Al and Ed Schieffelin later sold their two-thirds interest in the Tough Nut for US$1 million, and sometime later Gird sold his one-third interest for the same amount.
There are widely varying estimates of the value of gold and silver mined during the course of Tombstone's history. The Tombstone mines produced 32 million troy ounces (1,000 metric tons) of silver, more than any other mining district in Arizona. In 1883, writer Patrick Hamilton estimated that during the first four years of activity the mines produced about USD $25,000,000 (approximately $624 million today). Other estimates include USD $40 to USD $85 million[20] (about $1.03 billion to $2.2 billion today). Renewed mining is planned for the area.
One of the byproducts of the vast riches being produced, lawsuits became very prevalent. Between 1880 and 1885 the courts were clogged with a large number of cases, many of them about land claims and properties. As a result, lawyers began to settle in Tombstone and became even wealthier than the miners and those who financed the mining.[citation needed] In addition, because many of the lawsuits required expert analysis of the underground, many geologists and engineers found employment in Tombstone and settled there. In the end, a thorough mapping of the area was completed by experts which resulted in maps documenting Tombstone's mining claims better than any other mining district of the West.
Mining was an easy task at Tombstone in the early days, ore being rich and close to the surface. One man could pull out ore equal to what three men produced elsewhere. Some residents of Tombstone became quite wealthy and spent considerable money during its boom years. Tombstone's first newspaper, the Nugget, was established in the fall of 1879. The Tombstone Epitaph was founded on May 1, 1880. As the fastest growing boomtown in the American southwest, the silver industry and attendant wealth attracted many professionals and merchants who brought their wives and families. With them came churches and ministers. They brought a Victorian sensibility and became the town's elite. Many citizens of Tombstone dressed well and up-to-date fashion could be seen in this growing mining town. Visitors expressed their amazement at the quality and diversity of products that were readily available in the area. The men who worked the mines were largely European immigrants. The Chinese did the town's laundry and provided other services. The Cowboys ran the countryside and stole cattle from haciendas across the international border in Sonora, Mexico.
When the railroad was not built into Tombstone as had been planned, the increasingly sophisticated city of Tombstone remained relatively isolated, deep in a Federal territory that was largely an unpopulated desert and wilderness. Tombstone and its surrounding countryside also became known as one of the deadliest regions in the West. Water was hauled in until the Huachuca Water Company built a 23 miles (37 km)-long pipeline from the Huachuca Mountains in 1881. No sooner was a pipeline completed than Tombstone's silver mines struck water.
City Growth and Decline
Due to poor building practices and poor fire protection common to boomtown construction, Tombstone was hit by two major fires. On June 22, 1881, the first fire destroyed 66 businesses making up the eastern half of the business district. The fire began when a lit cigar ignited a barrel of whiskey in the Arcade Saloon.
By mid-1881 there were fancy restaurants, Vogan's Bowling Alley, four churches—Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Methodist—an ice house, a school, the Schieffelin Hall opera house, two banks, three newspapers, and an ice cream parlor, alongside 110 saloons, 14 gambling halls, and numerous brothels all situated among and on top of a number of dirty, hardscrabble mines. The Arizona Telephone Company began installing poles and lines for city's first telephone service on March 15, 1881.
Capitalists from the north-eastern United States bought many of the leading mining operations. The mining itself was carried out by immigrants from Europe, chiefly Cornwall, Ireland and Germany. Chinese and Mexican labor provided services including laundry, construction, restaurants, hotels, and more.
The mines and stamping mills ran three shifts. Miners were paid union wages of USD$4.00 per day working six, 10-hour shifts per week. The approximately 6,000 men working in Tombstone generated more than $168,000 a week (approximately $4,190,400 today) in income. The mostly young, single, male population spent their hard-earned cash on Allen Street, the major commercial center, open 24 hours a day.
The respectable folks saw traveling theater shows at Schieffelin Hall, opened on June 8, 1881. On December 25, 1881 the Bird Cage Theatre opened on Allen Street, offering the miners and Cowboys their kind of bawdy entertainment. In 1882 the New York Times reported that "the Bird Cage Theatre is the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast." The Bird Cage remained open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year until it closed its doors in 1889. Respectable women stayed on the north side of Allen Street. The whores worked the saloons on the south side and in the southeast quarter of the town, as far as possible from the proper residential section north of Fremont Street.
By late 1881 Tombstone had more than 7,000 citizens, excluding all Chinese, Mexicans, women and children residents. At the height of the town's boom, the official population reached about 10,000, with several thousand more uncounted. In 1882 the Cochise County Courthouse was built at a cost of around $45,000.
On May 25, 1882, another, more destructive fire started in a Chinese laundry on Fifth Street between Toughnut and Allen streets. It destroyed the Grand Hotel and the Tivoli Saloon before it jumped Fremont Street, destroying more than 100 businesses and most of the business district. Lacking enough water to put out the flames, buildings in the fire's path were dynamited to deny the fire fuel. Total damages were estimated to be USD $700,000, far more than the estimated $250,000 insurance coverage. But rebuilding started right away nonetheless.
In March 1883 along one short stretch of Allen Street, there were drinking establishments in two principal hotels, the Eagle Brewery, Cancan Chop-House, French Rotisserie, Alhambra, Maison Dore, City of Paris, Brown's Saloon, Fashion Saloon, Miners' Home, Kelly's Wine-House, the Grotto, the Tivoli, and two more unnamed saloons.[37] The respectable ladies stuck to the north side of Allen Street while the whores held forth on the south side.
Mines Strike Water
The Tough Nut Mine first experienced seepage in 1880. In March 1881, the Sulphuret Mine struck water at 520 feet (160 m). A year later, in March 1882, miners in a new shaft of the Grand Central Mine hit water at 620 feet (190 m). The flow wasn’t at first large enough to stop work, but experienced miners thought the water flow would increase, and it did. Soon constant pumping with a 4 inches (100 mm) pump was insufficient. The silver ore deposits they sought were soon underwater.
Several mine managers traveled to San Francisco and met with the principal owners of the Contention Mine. They talked about options for draining the mines, and found the only system available for pumping water out of mines below 400 feet (120 m) was the Cornish engine which had been used at the Comstock Lode in the 1870s. They bought and installed the huge Cornish engines in the Contention and Grand Central mines. By mid-February, 1884 the engines were removing 576,000 US gallons (2,180,000 l; 480,000 imp gal) of water every twenty-four hours. The city merchants celebrated the continued success of mining and the transfer of funds to their businesses.[36] The Contention and the Grand Central found that their pumps were draining the mining district, benefiting other mines as well, but the other companies refused to pay a proportion of the expense.
On May 26, 1886, the Grand Central hoist and pumping plant burned. The fire was so intense that the metal components of the Cornish engine melted and warped. The headworks of the main mine shaft were also destroyed. Shortly afterward, the price of silver slid to 90 cents an ounce. The mines that remained operational laid off workers. Individuals who had thought about leaving Tombstone when the mine flooding started now took action. The price of silver briefly recovered for a while and a few mines began producing again, but never at the level reached in the early 1880s.
Tourism
The U.S. census recorded fewer than 1900 residents in 1890 and fewer than 700 residents in 1900. Tombstone was saved from becoming a ghost town partly because it remained the Cochise County seat until 1929, when county residents voted to move county offices to nearby Bisbee. The classic Cochise County Courthouse and adjacent gallows yard in Tombstone are preserved as a museum.
The open lot or alleyway where the historic Gunfight at the O.K. Corral started has been preserved, but has been surrounded by a wall. Mannequins are used to depict the location of the participants as recorded by Wyatt Earp. Visitors may pay to see a reenactment of the gunfight at 2:00 p.m. each day. Fremont Street (modern Arizona Highway 80), where portions of the gunfight took place, is open to the public.
According to Guinness, the world's largest rosebush was planted in Tombstone in 1885 and still flourishes today in the city's sunny climate. This Lady Banksia rose now covers 8,000 sq ft (740 m2) of the roof on an inn, and has a 12 ft (3.7 m) circumference trunk. The rose bush is also walled off, and admission is charged.
Currently, tourism and western memorabilia are the main commercial enterprises; a July 2005 CNN article notes that Tombstone receives approximately 450,000 tourist visitors each year. This is about 300 tourists/year for each permanent resident. In contrast to its heyday, when it featured saloons open 24 hours and numerous houses of prostitution, Tombstone is now a staid community with few businesses open late.
Performance events help preserve the town's wild-west image and expose it to new visitors. Helldorado Days is Tombstone's oldest festival,[citation needed] and celebrates the community's wild days of the 1880s. Started in 1929 (coincidentally the year Wyatt Earp died), the festival is held on the third weekend of every October, near the anniversary date of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and consists of gunfight reenactment shows, street entertainment, fashion shows and a family-oriented carnival. Tombstone's Main Event: A Tragedy At The OK Corral, a stage play by Stephen Keith, is presented inside the O.K. Corral. It depicts the Cowboys' version of events in which the Earps shot the Cowboys as they attempted to surrender.
Historic District
Allen Street
The Tombstone Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District. The town's focus on tourism has threatened the town's designation as a National Historic Landmark District, a designation it earned in 1961 as "one of the best preserved specimens of the rugged frontier town of the 1870s and '80s." In 2004, the National Park Service declared that the Tomb's historic designation was threatened, and asked the community to develop an appropriate stewardship program.
Cochise County Courthouse in Tombstone, Arizona, before it was restored. It remained vacant from 1931 through 1955, when it was redeveloped as a museum.
The National Park Service noted inappropriate alterations to the district included:
* Placing "historic" dates on new buildings
* Failing to distinguish new construction from historic structures
* Covering authentic historic elevations with inappropriate materials
* Replacing historic features instead of repairing them
* Replacing missing historic features with conjectural and unsubstantiated materials
* Building incompatible additions to existing historic structures and new incompatible buildings within the historic district
* Using illuminated signage, including blinking lights surrounding historic signs
* Installing hitching rails and Spanish tile-covered store porches when such architectural features never existed within Tombstone
Historical buildings include Schieffelin Hall, the opera house built by Al Schieffelin in 1881, and the Cochise County Courthouse. The courthouse was largely unused and then vacant after the county seat was moved to Bisbee. An attempt was made to turn it into hotel in the 1940s, and when that failed it stood empty until 1955. The Tombstone Restoration Commission acquired the courthouse and developed it as a histiorical museum that opened in 1959. It features exhibits and thousands of artifacts documenting Tombstone's past.
Tombstone was founded in 1877 by a prospector named Ed Schieffelin. Ed was staying at what was then called Camp Huachuca (wa-chu-ka) as part of a scouting expedition against the Chiricahua (chir-i-cow-uh) Apaches. During his time there he would venture out into the wilderness "looking for rocks", all the while ignoring the warnings he received from the soldiers at the camp. They would tell him, "Ed, the only stone you will find out there will be your tombstone". Well, Ed did find his stone. And it was Silver. So, remembering the words of warning from the soldiers, he named his first mine The Tombstone.
Tombstone in 1881It wasn't long before word spread about Ed's silver strike. Soon prospectors, cowboys, homesteaders, lawyers, speculators, gunmen and business people flocked to the area in droves. In 1879 a town site was laid out on the nearest level spot to the mines, known at that time as Goose Flats, and was appropriately named "Tombstone" after Ed Schieffelin's first mining claim.
Parade down Allen Street in the late 1800'sBy the mid 1880's Tombstone's population had increased to around 7,500. This figure counted only the white male registered voters that were over 21 years of age. If you take into account the women, children, Chinese, Mexicans and the many "ladies of the evening" the estimates are that the population was between 15,000 and 20,000 people. At its peak, it is said to have been the fastest growing city between St. Louis and San Francisco. There were over one hundred saloons, numerous restaurants, a large red-light district, an even larger Chinese population, schools, churches, newspapers, and one of the first public swimming pools in Arizona (which is still used today).
Historic Schieffelin HallThere were a few theaters in town, the most famous of them being Schieffelin Hall and the Bird Cage Theatre. Schieffelin Hall was where the "respectable" people in town went for entertainment. It opened in June of 1881 and was built for the people of Tombstone by Ed Schieffelin's Brother Al. It is the largest standing adobe structure in the southwest United States and was built to be used as a theater, recital hall and a meeting place for Tombstone Citizens. Wyatt and Morgan Earp attended a performance there the evening that Morgan was killed by an assassin's bullet. It is still in use today by city government and civic groups.
Birdcage TheatreThe Bird Cage Theatre is another story. It was a saloon, theater, gambling hall and brothel. Legend has it that no self-respecting woman in town would even walk on the same side of the street as the Bird Cage Theatre. It opened its doors on Christmas Day 1881 and ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year until closing its doors in 1889. In 1882, The New York Times reported, "the Bird Cage Theatre is the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast." Evidence of this can still be seen in the 140 supposed bullet holes that have been found in the walls and ceiling. The Bird Cage was named for the cage style crib compartments suspended from the ceiling. It was in these "Bird Cages" that the "ladies of the evening" entertained their customers. The story goes that they were the inspiration for the song, "She's only a bird in a gilded cage", which was quite popular during the early 1900's.
After the fire of 1882Two major fires swept through Tombstone during the 1880's. Legend has it that in June of 1881 a cigar ignited a barrel of whiskey at the Arcade Saloon. The subsequent fire destroyed over 60 businesses in the downtown area. But the town rebuilt itself and kept on growing. In May of 1882 another fire ripped through downtown Tombstone destroying a large portion of the business district. Again, the town rebuilt.
Welcome to Boothill GraveyardTombstone is also the home of Boothill Graveyard. Boothill began in 1879 and was used until 1884 when the New Tombstone City Cemetery was opened on west Allen Street. After the opening of the new cemetery, Boothill became known as "The Old Cemetery". The City cemetery is still in use today. Legend has it that Boothill was named for the fact that many residents there died violent or unexpected deaths and were buried with their boots on. However, it was actually named Boothill after Dodge City's pioneer cemetery in the hopes of attracting tourists in the late 1920's. Many famous Tombstone folks lie there including the victims of the 1881 Shootout on Fremont Street between the Earps and the Cowboys. For many years, it was neglected. The desert overtook parts of it and vandals removed grave markers. Then, in the 1920's concerned citizens began the process of cleaning up the Old Cemetery and researching the placement of the graves to preserve it for future generations (and to make a little money on tourism).
Restored OK Corral SiteThe most famous event in Tombstone's history was the famed Gunfight at the OK Corral, which didn't actually happen at the corral, but in a vacant lot on Fremont Street. On October 26, 1881, members of the "Cowboys" had a run-in with Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp with help from Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. 24 seconds and 30 shots later, Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury were mortally wounded. In many peoples opinion, it was this one event that has kept Tombstone alive for all these years.
The 1882 Cochise County CourthouseIn 1882 the Cochise County Courthouse was built at a cost of around $45,000. It provided offices for the county sheriff, recorder, treasurer, board of supervisors, and included a well-built jail. The courthouse was a comfortable symbol of law and stability in these turbulent times. The county seat remained in Tombstone until voters in 1929 chose to move it to Bisbee, a bustling copper mining town 29 miles away. The last county office left the courthouse in 1931. Budget cuts in 2010 by Gov. Jan Brewer almost forced the Museums closure. Luckily the Tombstone Chamber of Commerce stepped in and met the demands from the state to take over operation of the museum.
Abandoned buildings on Allen Street in the 1940'sAs the silver mining continued the mineshafts were dug deeper and deeper to get the precious ore. Once they hit the 520 foot level, the water table was reached which flooded the mines. Attempts to pump out the water marginally worked for a few years but soon became too costly to continue. As the mining slowed down, the people of Tombstone started leaving, but not before $37,000,000 worth of ore had been taken from the many mines in the area. It is estimated that by the early 1930's Tombstone's population dwindled to around 150 people.
Tombstone is home to around 1500 year round residents who enjoy the wonderful climate that Cochise County's high desert has to offer and believe in preserving the history and heritage of the Wildest Town in the West!
The Life of Ed Schieffelin
Ed Schieffelin began his quest for the riches soon to be found in the San Pedro Valley. Ed found places no white man had seen or even prospected before. He was venturing into an area known as Apache territory. Why just a dozen or so miles from his scouting locations was the Cochise Stronghold long known as the hideout for the band of Chiricahua Apache Indians lead by not only it's leader Cochise, but also Geronimo and Victorio.
The year was 1877 and Ed had been employed by the U.S. government as an Indian scout after leaving the Grand Canyon area and having found no riches there. He was headquartered at the nearby Camp Huachuca and often found himself not only performing his scouting duties but always on the lookout for his "big strike". It was common for Ed to wander off on his own in this dangerous territory and he would have had to proceed with care because the Indians were continuously active. There was little shelter from the elements much less places to hide, as the area was treeless. This required that Ed not stay in one place for more than one night. Consequently this made his search a slow progress and tedious work.
Fort Huachuca in the 1880'sHe searched the gullies and washes always looking for the proof of his hunch. His hunch that this area would be filled with the riches of silver for him to locate. He had not found any impressive looking ore, but he wouldn't let go. He couldn't let go. He kept on, working into more dangerous areas as he drew nearer to the Dragoon Mountains, hideout of the Apaches, and finally found some float ore, which looked good. Had this float or chunks of ore come from a deposit that had perhaps been washed away from the mother load miles away? Ed painstakingly traced this float to the ledge from which it came. He found the source. The source being a vein of silver. Riches, yes that is what Ed had found...riches of silver stone. Ed recalled what the soldiers at the camp had said when he was questioned about the "stones" he sought in the hills. Their reply to him was, "The only stone you will find out there is your tombstone". Ed Schieffelin had found his "Tombstone".
After many years of searching Ed was now just 29 years old and flat broke. How would he manage to not only stake his claim, but also venture into Tucson to have it assayed? He shared his vision with a man named William Griffith who promised to pay for the recording of anything Ed found in return for a claim of his own. Griffith was the man who actually recorded the Tombstone claim on September 3, 1877. However, Tucson did not have an assay office and the men to whom Griffith and Ed showed their ore to were of the belief that the sample was worthless. It was at this time that Griffith severed his connection with this venture going into ranching hoping for a better investment for his money. Ed now had to venture on without a backer. No matter what anyone else would have to say on this matter, Ed knew that silver was out there. He had a hunch.
Ed Schieffelin has been described by James McClintock, an early historian, as "...about the queerest specimen of humanity ever seen in Tucson. His clothing was worn and covered with patches of deerskins, corduroy and flannel, and his old slouch hat too, was so pieced with rabbit skin that very little of the original felt remained. Although only 29 years of age he looked at least forty. His black hair hung down below his shoulders, and his full beard, a tangle of knots, was almost as long and he appeared to be a fur-bearing animal."
Dick Gird, Al Schieffelin and Ed Schieffelin in 1878 So this man of little wealth and being described as above made preparation to find help with his stake...but where? Well with only 30 cents in his pocket he decided to head to north to Globe Arizona to seek out his brother Al. However, Al was no longer at the Silver King Mine in Globe but had ventured on to the McCracken Mine in Signal City. Ed was flat broke at this time as he had spent his thirty cents on tobacco and found it necessary to work in a mine himself before he would be able to travel west to Signal City and meet up with his brother Al. He worked as a night operator of the hoist at a silver mine and hauled up a dozen tons of ore every night by cranking a hand windlass. This was back breaking work, but necessary to fund his search for his brother and perhaps his hunch.
Having earned enough money he left for Signal City and finally found his brother. This is where Ed met up with Richard Gird. Gird was the assayer at the McCracken Mine and assayed the ore at $2,000 a ton!!! Was the hunch paying off? A partnership was slated and hands shook by the three and off to the hills of the Tombstone mine they went with Gird supplying a mule, a wagon, his assay equipment, his experience and connections to what would become known as the richest mining camp in the country.
Mines sprung up along this area known as Goose Flats. Mines such as the "Lucky Cuss", "Tough Nut", and the "Contention" were soon to be assayed at around $15,000 to the ton. Ed Schieffelin had found the "mother lode" and Gird's investigations showed that the ore veins ran deep. Soon the area would be thronged with prospectors all wanting their share of the riches as word of the bonanza spread. There was now a need for a town. The town at Goose Flats, a mesa overlooking the Tough Nut claim was a superb location. A town site company was formed and in March of 1879 Solon M. Allis laid out the town. The town known today as Tombstone.
Ed Schieffelin was now a millionaire and wanted to set out and see the world. His journeys took him north not dressed as he was when he found his Tombstone, but in the finest of the day. He married Mary Brown whom he had met in San Francisco and settled in Los Angeles where they lived with his brother Al. Al died in 1885 of consumption. But later, longing for the solitude of the wilderness Ed left the riches and finery and headed for a cabin in Oregon to prospect again. A hunch perhaps. It was here in May of 1897 that Ed was found alone; his body slumped ever so peacefully across a worktable where samples of the gold ore were being worked. Ore that was eventually tested at more than $2,000 to the ton. But Ed Schieffelin did not leave behind a map or directions to his discovery. That would be up to others to locate. The last entry in his journal simply read, "Struck it rich again, by God."
Ed had requested in his will that his burial site be where he found his Tombstone and that he be buried in prospector's clothing with his pick and canteen in the coffin with him. And so it is today that you will find the monument to our founder, Ed Schieffelin located near where he did prove his hunch true. A monument having been erected in his honor stating simply:
Ed Schieffelin
Died May 12, 1897
Aged 49 years 8 months
A dutiful son
A faithful husband
A kind brother
A true friend
Yes a hunch and a mere 30 cents was what Tombstone's founder Ed Schieffelin started out with. A hunch that ended up bringing the richest silver strike in the nation to this area and making him a wealthy man. Ed Schieffelin did find his "Tombstone" in the Apache Indian Territory of the Dragoon Mountains and as per his last request is still here and in our hearts.
History of Tombstone Cemeteries
It was not long after that first strike of silver near the ridge known as Goose Flats that men by the dozens found their way here in search of their new beginnings and yet often times finding their endings. This became in the true sense of the word a "boomtown" and the population grew tremendously in a very short time. Life could be good for a few here and death would be certain for a lot more. In the 1800's it was not uncommon to bury the dead in a shallow grave some place close to the trail traversed leaving only a marker of wood or a pile of stone as these pioneers moved on. For those with permanent residences on ranches and farms it was traditional to bury their loved ones close by in a family burial ground, but here in this new city it became necessary to designate a plot of ground as the cemetery where those who died in Tombstone would have their final resting place. A walk northwest just barely out of the town limits would bring one to a rocky knoll where the views of the sculpted Dragoon Mountains to one side and the shadow of Comstock Hill on the other would surround these dearly departed souls. This was the City Cemetery for Tombstone Arizona Territory, 1879.
Respect was shown for the dead depending upon the status one held while alive. A drifter caught between a bullet and a hard place would have been buried without notice, only the undertaker aware of his passing. While a young woman buried along with her stillborn child would have the finest in funeral services as the townsfolk would all be there in their mourning outfits.
Marking these 3 X 6 plots of ground would most often be two pieces of wood affixed together in the shape of a cross. Words either chiseled in or painted on would mention a name, if known, and a date. Sometimes there was a mention of the cause of death. Hanged. Drowned. Shot. Suicide. Murdered. These and other words would have been their epitaph. Wild flowers would have been gathered and brought to these gravesites and tears would have dropped from swollen eyes to the fresh dug earth now mounded around the tombstone of this loved one's final resting place.
For more than four years this was the place where the famous and the notorious were buried. Where the epitaphs such as "Murdered in the streets of Tombstone", "Hanged by Mistake", and "Shot by Ormsby" are the last and final words attributed to the person now residing at the Tombstone Cemetery. The wild side of Tombstone took many lives and just as fast as one would die in this raucous town a new man or a new family would be arriving with wagons piled high, ready to be unloaded in their new home here in Tombstone. Tombstone was growing fast and as the town grew the cemetery began to get a bit over crowded. Simply put, there was going to be a need for a new cemetery if this town continued to grow as it was. The need was answered, the land generously donated and the deal sealed with a handshake. The land where the Jennie Belle, Little Tom, and the New Year's Gift mining claims sat was gifted to the city for the New Tombstone Cemetery at the west end of Allen Street.
By 1884 the town of Tombstone was beginning to take on the established standards that all fine cities maintained and having a "new" city cemetery where "proper" residents of town could be buried would have been met with a feeling of status. The simple wooden crosses with painted or etched epitaphs were soon over-shadowed by the large granite carved headstones. Etched for eternity would be words that described these individuals. And standing tall above the ground these ornately carved stones would tell of the life once lived in words and symbols.
As the years went by the "old" city cemetery fell upon neglect. It began to be reclaimed by the desert. It was no longer used for services and the friends and loved ones of those buried within this perimeter, for the most part, no longer lived in Tombstone. The call to move on would have taken them to the next boomtown and with their departure a void would have been placed over the final resting spot of the loved one they had to leave behind. No longer would there be tears shed on the soil here. No longer would there have been flowers placed beside a wooden cross. And no longer would there be footsteps to follow that once led the way to little Eva's small mound. The "old" city cemetery had become forgotten and no longer revered as the sacred and hallowed grounds for those who died in Tombstone's infancy.
The wooden crosses marking the unnamed man known only as "Killed by Apaches" and the double mound of dirt where the Brady brothers were buried soon fell victim to the scrub brush and the cacti that over took the old cemetery. Oh, Mother Nature did a good job on this once sacred plot of ground while reclaiming the land and almost completely erasing all traces of this final resting place. But Mother Nature did what she does naturally.
Not all the wooden crosses and other markers were taken over by the growing desert life and ravages of time and rot. Grave robbers stole many and those not stolen were broken and destroyed. This abandoned cemetery soon became the final resting place for someone's worn out icebox and every other form of garbage one could imagine. The "old" Tombstone City Cemetery where the famous and the notorious were buried along with the brothers, mothers, fathers, sisters, daughters, and sons of Tombstone's first pioneers was now the city dump.
Years passed and the garbage continued to accumulate and while this was taking place so was the resurgence in excitement about the old Wild West. People wanted to find Tombstone and find where these heroes and their nemesis's walked and where those that were violently killed had been buried. It was unfortunate for those that did find their way to Tombstone in the 1920's. Visitors wanting to find the grave of Billy Clanton or the brothers McLaury had to pick through the growing piles of discarded rubbish, broken glass and thorny cactus. What was the city to do?
Times were hard in this decade and the future did not look bright. Word was traveling that the old west town of Dodge City Kansas was starting to capitalize on its history for the tourist dollars. The bodies buried in the original pioneer cemetery there had many years before been removed and the grounds built over with a school house but people still wanted to know where these heroes and villains had been buried once. Seeing the vision of tourists flocking to this historic place, the powers to be at the time decided to capitalize on the cemetery's notoriety and create a tourist destination where dollars would be spent. The place was made to look like a haphazard graveyard and cleverly worded epitaphs would be inscribed in fake headstones placed over an empty and void graveyard. Other methods were incorporated to entertain those who wanted to visit this famous "Boothill" and soon the blend of hucksterism and feigned authenticity was seen by the town council as a way to make money. The Old West was a commodity that required only a pretext of authenticity to be marketable and if Dodge City could do it then why not Tombstone?
Yes, Tombstone's cemetery (soon to officially borrow the title "Boothill" and incorporate that name in the effort to draw tourists) was so desecrated that even the town's first mayor and founder of the Tombstone Epitaph Newspaper, John Clum, was unable to locate the site where his late wife was buried while visiting during the 1920's. Words written about the condition of this cemetery refer to it as a disgrace and humiliation to the town of such legendary history.
If the town was going to follow suit with Dodge City it best clean up this cemetery for its commercial potential. There appeared to be a lack of pride in Tombstone's past pioneers except for the patriotic and loyal Boy Scouts of Tombstone whose mission it was to clean up this graveyard/dump. A call to action was announced and yet no one really cared to pitch in and clean it up. Funds were requested and denied. John Clum even offered to match any funds acquired for the clean up of this "most pathetic dump" and no one stepped up. And so for the second time it was the town's Boy Scout troop that stepped forward and started the action to clean up the old city cemetery that had, by this time, been given the official name change to "Boothill".
There was money to be had here. The commercial profits that could be made at "Boothill" were going to help pull this town out of the slump after the mines had closed down. Tourism was going to be the big thing and an "authentic" Boothill would be this place's claim to fame. Soon the old timers of town were helping out with finding the names and gravesites of long forgotten family members. Others remembered what certain epitaphs said filling in some blank spots. And specific yet uncertain mounds were formed where once only wild desert plants proliferated among the heaps of piled rubbish.
In 1932 the "Broadway of America" (highway 80) was being constructed through this area and the town council knew that this "Boothill" would be a great tourist stop along the way. In 1933 the highway department granted permission to the town to construct a by-way to the site marked with a six-by-twelve foot black and white sign that could be easily seen and photographed by passing tourists. "Welcome to Tombstone and Boothill Graveyard. Buried here are the remains of..." Yes the names and epitaphs of those buried here would call those to stop and perhaps spend some money, take a photograph and tell everyone they knew to come see this famous graveyard. What a find this long forgotten and almost obliterated graveyard was to the economy of this quiet community.
The name of Wyatt Earp drew many people to this part of Arizona, all wanting to see the graves of the three men killed in the gunfight where he and his brothers and a man named Doc Holliday "triumphed over the evils of the cowboy faction". The violence of Tombstone's past was to be the focus here at "Boothill". While in that same graveyard were the forgotten final resting places of over 250 lost souls ... people who would not or could not be associated with violence. Perhaps their value or disvalue to this town would never be known, as they had no association with the famous Earp/Clanton feud or the wild cowboy vendettas. Time saw to it that a few were located and reclaimed, to the best of their memories, thanks to loved ones who helped with the renovation process. Many buried here were true Tombstone pioneers and yet many of them forgotten, their markers removed never to be reclaimed, their story never to be told.
The popularity of this "outlaw graveyard" soon haunted the grounds. Souvenir hunters sneakily carried headstones and funeral markers away and the cemetery was in need of a caretaker and some kind of fencing. The fencing was taken care of with the sharp branches of the ocotillo plant. And the position of caretaker was awarded in exchange for the concession income to be made from those that visited this tourist draw. And soon it was not uncommon to see the "donation" box in place where funds could be gained for the "upkeep of Tombstone's "Boothill Graveyard"".
Yes, now the "old" city cemetery was taken care of. The dirt where once only the wild growing desert plants and carelessly discarded garbage claimed home now had well formed mounds and exceptionally manicured landscape with not a weed to be found in it. This was to honor these Tombstone pioneers. Actually no, this was to capitalize on the violence of Tombstone's past. This was to bring in money to the Tombstone coffers.
And now the "new" cemetery remains, for the most part, devoid of any city attention. Almost a dichotomy of sorts. This cemetery once meant "status" to many folks in town. Enough so that the "old" cemetery was allowed to fall to ruin and disrepair with never a thought given to clean it up until the vision to reclaim it brought dollar signs to the eyes of early city fathers. For many years and even up to today a collection box has been placed at the "old" cemetery. I wonder what other cemeteries, historic or not, ask for donations to view the burial grounds of their pioneers. The City of Tombstone today claims that the donations for the month of April were slightly over $23,000 with over 48,000 visitors walking through the doors that lead to "Boothill". And at this moment bids are being accepted for a new tile floor in the gift shop as well as for the addition of a patio at this tourist destination.
Here the rocks have been carefully mounded and delicately placed so that no foot should trip over the replica headstones or metal rod crosses that mark even the "unknown's" of Tombstone's pioneers. All cleverly re-created to bring tourists to this destination. Special attention is given to the grounds that never a weed can grow from as this well-visited and often photographed graveyard has constant attention while the "new" city cemetery has been allowed to become over grown with the same weeds, cacti and other wild desert plants. These sometimes devouring up the unreadable epitaph ... covering the tombstone for this forgotten pioneer.
Here at the "new" city cemetery headstones are crumbling and the ground is too. The wild critters of the desert have delightfully found their homes under many of the concrete slabs, unmarked mounds, and granite tombstones. Their burrows have tended to weaken the grounds that support the slabs and markers. Each step must be taken carefully here so as not to lose your footing with the crumbling grounds. Our pioneers, the ones who kept this town alive so that there is now and will forever be a "Boothill" to visit have now become the forgotten ones. The doctors, lawyers, marshals, councilmen, mothers, fathers, and children of this great town now have their last and final resting place becoming a common dumpsite as well. Garbage sometimes seems to just grow out there along with the heavy century plants whose roots have grown deep under the faded headstones, their epitaphs unreadable. Will it take a century for this plant to bloom before there is shown a semblance of care about the upkeep of this place?
The donations collected at the tourist destination, "Boothill" do not go towards helping shore up these falling and sinking graves nor does it help replace weathered, broken or lost tombstones like had been done where there is a donation box. "Boothill" has a paid groundskeeper and yet the "new" city cemetery none. There are only the ones who come through once in a while, pull a weed, place a flower and shed a tear leaving a small section lovingly attended to.
Time too has taken its toll on the Tombstone Cemetery. The desert winds take with them the names chiseled in granite nearly erasing all memory of who lies beneath this tombstone once cried upon. Metal funeral markers denote where a family once placed flowers on the mound leaving their teardrops to melt into the freshly dug earth. Permanent headstones, whether elaborately ornate or simply worded with name and date are void here. Were there no funds to purchase this final possession for their loved ones or have they been carried away by souvenir hunters who just want a piece of Tombstone's tombstones, we may never know. But how wonderful would it be if we could know that those who made Tombstone truly the town to tough to die are remembered beyond a thirty seconds of their lives?
A dear couple in Tombstone has given an incredible amount of their time and energy filling in the mystery of these lost epitaphs and markers in Tombstone's Other Cemetery. Years of research has gone into their labor of love that now tells a story of sorts in names and dates of those whose lives were lost and eulogized here at the end of Allen Street. A gift to be sure to the town's history as told from the epitaphs.
And now a new call to action is being heralded for these pioneers' history to be told. This important historic landmark, the "new" Tombstone Cemetery, has fallen into a state of disrepair. The town no longer has the Boy Scouts to follow the footsteps of those who once took care of their loved one's grave by cleaning up and pulling the overgrown weeds. Perhaps once a year near Memorial Day there can be found a few family members or other volunteers who wander through and pick up the empty beer bottles and other pieces of garbage now claiming home here near their family's site. Weeds are pulled and fresh flowers are exchanged for those that were left from last year's Memorial Day sprucing up. This done in memory of the loved ones resting here, gone days or decades matter not, for they are remembered and loved.
Lovingly nearly every day in the very early morning hours you can find someone very special at the Tombstone Cemetery. Someone who is not motivated by dollars or even a scouting badge. She has no loved one buried here and knows none of them resting here from life... only their epitaphs. She is someone who dearly and truly just wants the "real" cemetery in historic Tombstone to have the polish it deserves. She rakes and pulls up weeds. She tugs the long dead century plants whose growth has now toppled over the tombstone. She scoots along and removes the dead desert grasses growing tall against the headstones. She cleans up the old and weathered articles that have blown throughout these chain link fenced in walls. And she leaves each one she tends to with a new and bright bunch of cheerful yellow daisies or sunflowers. Where there is mention of military service she leaves the red, white and blue flowers. The careful attention she devotes to each burial location will hopefully one day keep this "new" cemetery from being neglected and forgotten in favor of the tourist attraction, "Boothill".
Her efforts are not supported by the funds gained from the donation box at "Boothill". She is not paid to do this; it comes from her heart and her desire to see that all those buried at Tombstone's City Cemetery are remembered with respect for the life they lived in the town at the bottom of the hill. As she says, "They all have a story and I want to know them all." Who out there would be willing to share the stories of Tombstone's true pioneers with this "angel" in Tombstone? Who wants to make sure that Tombstone can be remembered for its hearty citizens who kept this town on the map and not just the notorious citizens whose only claim to fame was ending up at the wrong end of a bullet? Please hear this call to action and if you know the stories of those you visit in the Tombstone Cemetery share them. Go out there in the morning and spend some time with her and let her know you care about the stories as well. If you no longer live in this town or prefer to speak with us, then write or call this paper and tell us how to contact you for these stories. Tombstone's pioneers deserve a proper burial ground and she devotes her mornings seeing to it that the overgrowth of weeds and rubbish does not deter from that respect. She asks no money for her efforts. She does not have a donation box at her side. All she truly wants is to know the stories of these pioneers she has become so close to. Close enough to spruce up their final resting place up. And close enough to place the "wild flowers" and shed a tear upon the tombstones of those that are gone but not forgotten in Tombstone's history. Death was certain for our pioneers of the past but let's not let their stories die too. And let it never be said that the Tombstone Cemetery was a disgrace or humiliation to the town of such legendary history.
History of the Old Courthouse
Tombstone's Old Cochise County Courthouse has seen its share of excitement riding the roller coaster of history and economy since 1882.
Tombstone's Courthouse is now a fascinating museum with exhibits interpreting frontier life and government in Tombstone's boom times. Various aspects of Cochise County history are on display including mining, ranching, transportation and government in Tombstone in the 1880's, and much more.
Exhibits include mining artifacts, mineral specimens and a fully-stocked assay office. There are re-creations of offices that existed in the Courthouse in the 1880's. In the Treasurer's Office, business licenses for 32 Tombstone brothels are on display, and we learn that over forty percent of taxes collected in Cochise County in the 1880's were from saloons and gambling concessions.
The Sheriff's Office is furnished with books, guns and furniture of the 1880's. Exhibits document true tales of Tombstone's lawmen, who sometimes operated on both sides of the law. One pair of lawmen-turned-outlaws, Burt Alvord and Billy Stiles, were the only criminals to escape from the Courthouse's jail. They escaped twice, once in 1900 and again in 1903.
Law and order were sometimes a matter of opinion as detailed in the exhibit on the Shootout at the OK Corral. Conflicts existed between Deputy US Marshall Wyatt Earp and County Sheriff John Behan. In an 1881 letter, the Governor of Arizona Territory suggested replacing all Tombstone's lawmen, for "winking at crime" for personal gain in Tombstone's "general reckless spirit of accumulation of money and property." The US Marshall wrote back and denied any conflict between the lawmen, praised his deputies as the best and bravest in the west, and asked for a special appropriation to cover a raise in pay.
There is an invitation from the County Sheriff to a hanging, one of only two hangings from the gallows erected in the jail yard behind the Courthouse.
Upstairs is the restored wood-paneled Courtroom where many of Cochise County's most sensational trials were held. An iron spiral staircase at the southeast corner of the courtroom allowed the judge to slip out of the building without going through crowds of spectators that often packed the courtroom.
There are collections of photographs, personal possessions and amusing anecdotes of Tombstone's colorful pioneers. Nellie Cashman was Tombstone's "Angel of the Mining Camps", a humanitarian and later an accomplished sled dog musher in the Yukon Territory. Allen English was a successful local attorney whose courtroom antics improved as the day progressed and his tongue became "well oiled" with liquor.
A COUNTY IS BORN
Founded in 1879, Tombstone was located in the southeast corner of Pima County, one of four original Arizona counties. By the early 1880's Tombstone was one of the wildest, wealthiest and most populous cities in Arizona Territory. Money flowed freely, and Allen Street was soon lined with fine hotels and restaurants, retail stores, saloons and gambling establishments.
Tombstone was the center of mining, ranching and finance for the entire region. With only about 30 miles to an escape across the Mexican border, Tombstone was also a haven for cattle thieves, stage robbers and other outlaws.
Before 1881, Tombstone's citizens had a long, dangerous two day ride of 75 miles each way to the Pima County Seat in Tucson to record a mining claim, deed or legal document. When the citizen returned from the arduous trip, claim jumpers were likely to have occupied the property, resulting in serious legal questions about property ownership in Tombstone.
As the population of Tombstone grew to rival the size of Tucson and Prescott, Arizona's Territorial capital, so did Tombstone's political influence. To help protect southeast Arizona's citizens and mineral wealth, in 1881 the Territorial legislature voted to create Cochise County. They carved Cochise County out of the eastern 6,256 square miles of Pima County and designated Tombstone, the largest city in Southeast Arizona, as County Seat.
BUILDING THE COURTHOUSE
When Cochise County was established in 1881, one of the Board of Supervisors' early tasks was to contract for the construction of a Courthouse to provide offices for the County Treasurer, Recorder, and Sheriff, courtrooms and a secure County jail.
Of several designs submitted, the Supervisors selected the tall, elegant red brick Courthouse designed by Frank Walker, superintendent of Tombstone's Sycamore Springs Water Company.
Walker was a multi-talented builder and architect. Prior to arriving in Tombstone in 1880, he had worked in the lumber industry in Eureka, CA, and later built and operated mills for gold and silver mines in Idaho, Nevada, and old Mexico. In the 1870's he was a building designer and contractor in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and in Santa Barbara California, where he built that city's first street railway. Walker also designed Tombstone's City Hall and several commercial buildings before returning to California in 1885.
DESIGN
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, the Tombstone Courthouse is one of the oldest courthouses still standing in Arizona. At over 10,000 square feet it was one of the largest buildings in all of Arizona Territory at the time of construction.
Built in the shape of a Roman cross, the tall red brick building's style has been described as "Territorial Victorian" with Italian Villa and Classical Revival influences, and a touch of Queen Anne Victorian style in the fanciful iron-railed "widows walk" atop a square, mansard-roofed cupola. The cupola's windows open and still provide natural ventilation to cool the Courthouse on warm summer days.
A symbol of stability in turbulent times, the Courthouse features a classical triangular-shaped pediment atop each wall, highlighted by a wide white fascia under deep roof eaves supported by large square dentils (tooth-like brackets). This theme repeated in miniature on the cupola.
The Courthouse windows are tall and symmetrically arranged, with heavy redwood frames topped by decorative window hoods. Prominent white "quoins", plaster details simulating cornerstones, highlight the exterior angle of each wall. A white plaster belt- course visually separates the upper and lower halves of the tall brick building.
The construction year "1882" is displayed prominently on the central roof pediment over the front entrance portico. Entering the Courthouse through twelve foot tall, heavy wooden double doors, citizens must have felt the power and authority of the newly established County government.
Inside the Courthouse, the ceilings are 16 feet high. Wide wooden trim, originally hand painted to simulate a walnut wood grain, gives the rooms a solid, comfortable feel.
The courthouse was built on the Vizina Mining Claim at the corner of Third and Toughnut Streets. The site near the two square block Chinatown, but not the land itself, was donated and the County avoided the inflated cost of buying real estate on booming Allen and Fremont Streets.
The cornerstone for the Courthouse was laid on August 10, 1882 in a grand ceremony. A time capsule was placed under the cornerstone containing items of interest including coins, rich silver ore specimens, poems, the post office regulations, and an essay by County Supervisor M. A. Joyce, entitled "How We Boss the County." The town band played and important officials made speeches until an afternoon thunderstorm broke up the festivities.
The construction of the Courthouse was supervised by A.J. Ritter, local undertaker and cabinet maker, in conjunction with the architect, Frank Walker.
Much of the wood framing for the interior of the building was built of lumber from Cochise County's Huachuca and Chiricahua mountain ranges.
To make the bricks for the 12 to 15 inch thick exterior walls, a quarry and kilns were established in Walnut Gulch, just outside of town. Clay was dug from borrow pits by Chinese laborers, then shaped and fired into finished bricks that were delivered to the masons at the Courthouse construction site. The native clay produced a light brown colored brick, and the finished walls were painted red to meet the architect's specifications.
The Courthouse was built quickly and efficiently, with the first floor being occupied in December 1882, before the building was completely finished. On March 3, 1883, the County accepted the completed Courthouse.
The Board of Supervisors' usually brief minutes publicly thank A. J. Ritter for "the care, economy and industry exercised by him in the erection of a building, which…meets our entire approval and challenges criticism." The total cost of construction was under $50,000. Ritter was later elected Cochise County Treasurer, and served from 1885 to 1888.
Offices on the first floor of the Courthouse included the Cochise County Recorder, Treasurer, Sheriff, Jailor and the jail cells. The second floor housed the County Attorney's office, Judge's quarters, Jury Room, Grand Jury Room (also used by the Board of Supervisors) and the wood-paneled Courtroom where many of Tombstone's notorious trials were held.
TOMBSTONE LOSES THE COUNTY SEAT
Between 1879 and 1883 more than $3 million of silver was mined in Tombstone, but like many Western mining boomtowns, Tombstone's heyday was short lived.
By 1890 Tombstone was in decline. The mines hit groundwater at the 600 foot level. Pumps were installed, but the pump house burned and the mines flooded. The pumps were rebuilt, but Tombstone's mines were plagued by calamities, fires and more bad luck.
Thousands of residents left Tombstone, some selling their worldly possessions for the price of a stagecoach ticket. Others loaded up their small homes on horse-drawn wagons, and moved on to the next mining boomtown such as Pearce, Courtland, Gleason or Bisbee.
Tombstone held its breath, hoping for a revival of mining and prosperity. By 1900 Tombstone's population was 700, less than ten percent of Cochise County's nearly 10,000 residents.
The Tombstone Consolidated Mining Company was organized in 1900 to extract the tons of silver remaining in the flooded mines. Huge pumps were installed, pumping over 2 million gallons of water per day from the mines. The price of silver dropped to 50 cents per ounce, and silver mining in Tombstone became economically infeasible.
Meanwhile, the city of Bisbee, built by corporate copper mining interests and located 26 miles south of Tombstone, was booming. Demand for copper soared to supply the world with copper wiring needed for electricity and telephones. By the date of Arizona Statehood on February 14, 1912, Bisbee was the biggest, liveliest city between St. Louis and San Francisco.
In 1929 an election was held, and Cochise County residents voted to move the County Seat to Bisbee. Tombstone fought hard politically and through the State Supreme Court to challenge the vote, and lost. By 1931, the last of the County offices had moved to the new Art Deco style courthouse in Bisbee.
Losing the County Seat meant that Tombstone was no longer the financial and political hub of Cochise County. Restaurants and hotels in Tombstone, where out of town citizens had once stayed while conducting business at the Courthouse, were deserted.
The Great Depression of the 1930's hit Tombstone hard. Businesses closed and owners of many historic buildings removed their roofs to avoid paying taxes on the empty structures. The population of Tombstone dwindled to about 150 hardy souls.
TOMBSTONE DISCOVERS ITS FUTURE - BASED ON THE GLORIOUS PAST
During the late 1930's, to help stimulate rural economies and promote Americans' pride in their unique heritage, the Federal government encouraged tourism and historic preservation nationwide, and sent photographers from the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) to document Tombstone's historic buildings and streetscapes.
America's nostalgic love affair with the Old West had begun, encouraged by Hollywood's western movies. The first westerns were made in the early 1900's, and the first feature-length western movie, titled "Arizona," was released in 1913. The 1930's was the beginning of Hollywood's most prolific period for western films.
Tombstone's Allen Street became a part of a new cross-country tourist route, US Highway 80, extending from Savannah, Georgia to San Diego, California. Known as "the shortest, straightest, and only year-round ocean-to-ocean highway in the US", the partially paved Borderland Tourist Route was popular with adventurous tourists and health seekers attracted by Arizona's mild, dry climate.
Tombstone was beginning to see the economic value of its historic legacy. A 1933 Tombstone Epitaph newspaper article identified the old Courthouse as a potential location for a City museum to pay tribute to Tombstone's heyday, but nothing much came of the idea at the time.
In 1942 Cochise County sold the Courthouse building to the City of Tombstone for $1. The old building was used primarily for storage, and also as a "haunted house" for thrill-seeking youngsters.
In 1946 a scheme to convert the Courthouse into a 60 room luxury hotel was proposed by a group of Douglas, Arizona investors, and the City of Tombstone leased the building to the investment group.
After removing interior walls to install an elevator, building a shed-like "penthouse" on the roof, and making structural changes to divide the second story's 16 foot tall space into two separate floors of guest rooms, the hotel plan proved infeasible. The developers abandoned the old Courthouse to the elements. The windows were broken, and birds, bats and vermin moved in.
THE COURTHOUSE IS RESTORED
In August, 1955, the City leased the Courthouse to the Tombstone Restoration Commission (TRC), a nonprofit organization, to restore the building to its former glory. TRC's dynamic president, Edna Landin, led a fund raising campaign that brought national attention and small donations from all over the world.
For each donation of $5 or more, a brass plate was engraved with the donor's name, which can be seen in the Courthouse entry hall today. Companies donated money and building materials, and TRC members invested countless hours of labor to restore the Courthouse.
In 1956 TRC moved their museum to the restored first floor of the old Courthouse. There TRC maintained an office and bookstore, and accommodated space for the Chamber of Commerce, and the City Library.
THE COURTHOUSE BECOMES A STATE PARK
In 1958 the Arizona State Parks system was established. TRC wanted the Courthouse to become a State Park. They felt that while Commissions may come and go, the State would always be there to properly restore and maintain the Courthouse. Members of the TRC made presentations to the State Parks Board. They were successful, and Tombstone Courthouse was adopted as a State Historic Monument.
The City deeded the Courthouse and museum exhibits to the State Parks Board, with a provision that if the State failed to maintain the building or to keep the Courthouse Museum open, the building and its contents would revert back to the City of Tombstone.
Due to the restoration work of the TRC, Tombstone Courthouse was ready to open as Arizona's first operational State Park, on August 1, 1959. In its first year as a State Park, TRC continued to operate the Courthouse museum because the State hadn't budgeted for staff. TRC also completed the restoration of the second story windows.
On July 1, 1960, the State took over full operation. Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park was popular from the beginning, with an average of 2,000 visitors per month. In the 1960's two television series, "Tombstone Territory" and "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" increased worldwide awareness of Tombstone. The Courthouse museum was known, then as now, as the place to go to discover the facts behind the legends.
IS THE COURTHOUSE CLOSING?
In most years, Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park has made a profit for the State, except in the hardest of economic times. However, on January 15, 2010 Arizona State Parks Board voted to close Tombstone Courthouse, along with twelve other parks, due to State budget shortfalls. The State "swept" money from the State Parks operating budget to cover general government expenses, with only the nine most economically profitable Arizona State Parks remaining open.
Art Austin, Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park Manager, said that if the Courthouse does close, the artifacts will be removed, and the building boarded up and made "weather-tight, vermin and hopefully people-proof". The cost of closing, securing, monitoring and later re-opening the building would be substantial.
As Vic Robeson, current president of the Tombstone Restoration Commission said, "Nobody wants to visit Tombstone and find the historic Tombstone Courthouse boarded up and surrounded by a chain link fence, possibly with razor wire on top."
History of Cochise County
Cochise County was created on February 1, 1881, out of the eastern portion of Pima County. It took its name from the legendary Chiricahua Apache war chief Cochise.[3] The county seat was Tombstone until 1929 when it moved to Bisbee. Notable men who once held the position of County Sheriff were Johnny Behan, who served as the first sheriff of the new county, and who was one of the main characters during the events leading to and following the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Later, in 1886, Texas John Slaughter became sheriff. Lawman Jeff Milton and lawman/outlaw Burt Alvord both served as deputies under Slaughter.
A syndicated television series which aired from 1956 to 1958, Sheriff of Cochise starring John Bromfield, was filmed in Bisbee. The Jimmy Stewart movie Broken Arrow and subsequent television show of the same name starring John Lupton, which also aired from 1956 to 1958, took place (but was not filmed) in Cochise County.
J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady mystery series takes place in Cochise County, with Brady being the sheriff.
Colorful Characters
Transcribed by Wilola Follett
A A Allen
The following is a story beautifully written by Lanelle Butler Galindo (lanelle.galindo@hotmail.com)
I pull up the website from time to time and it is wonderful to see the familiar names from a time long gone. I have a friend that moved to Sierra Vista and she went to Miracle Valley out of curiosity. She called it "Hippie Hollow" and said there was nothing special to see... except Allen's tomb... and the big Church dome. She said she didn't know if that was special or not. I laughed, because I am sure there is nothing special to see anymore (there never was a whole lot.) You would have to have experienced it to appreciate what it was like. I just liked the people I grew up with. Sometimes it seemed like being "different" was the norm. The little town in Alaska on the old series "Northern Exposure" used to remind me a little of Miracle Valley (minus the moose and the snow.) The peculiarly eclectic group of people that lived there were the reason my brother moved back and those same people stood with us and cried when he died. Now most of them are in the cemetery too or have scattered to the four corners of the earth.
There have always been a lot of misconceptions regarding Miracle Valley, but I have nothing but the fondest childhood memories of it. People have thought it was some sort of commune and AA Allen was a religious nut/cult leader. It was really just a sleepy little town with people from all walks of life. The majority of the population consisted of average, hard working, ultra conservatives. Most were employed by AA Allen Revivals, but there were also a number of military families and a substantial amount of the elderly retired. We had our share of hippies and flower children; we had one official town drunk and two atheists. The community was racially diverse, as well. In the heat of the civil rights movement of the 60's, the children of Miracle Valley grew up completely integrated and unaware of the racial conflict that was swirling all around the rest of the country. (The claim of racial persecution by the religious sect that caused so much conflict in Miracle Valley in the early 80's was even more bizarre, given the community's history.)
That atmosphere of acceptance however, attracted the "strange," as well. Some of the most eccentric people, to ever walk the planet, resided in Miracle Valley. Like any Rock Star, AA Allen had his own little band of misfit "groupies" and the Miracle Valley Cemetery houses many an interesting character. In spite of obvious mental issues, (in some cases,) no one was treated differently. I did not realize what an anomaly our little community was until I was grown.
When AA Allen passed away, the proclamation that he died an alcoholic brought everything to a close and for the most part, everyone that was part of his ministry distanced themselves and went their separate ways. People were shocked and disappointed and struggled to overcome the stigma. The actual cause of death was listed as heart failure and acute cirrhosis of the liver. The stories of an alcohol strewn hotel room were greatly exaggerated and factually untrue. At autopsy there was only a negligible trace of alcohol in his bloodstream, but none whatsoever in his stomach. The explanation of course, is that cirrhosis of the liver does not always equal alcoholism.
Before his death, AA Allen had begun to complain that he felt run down. (He thought he had a touch of anemia.) Because he was a "faith healer," going to a doctor was not something he was prone to do (although he did on occasion, specifically for the arthritis in his knees.) He implemented some changes in his diet (specifically adding a little extra red meat and spinach, amongst other things) and started taking B vitamins and iron supplements, to build up his "constitution." The worse he felt, the more he did. Unfortunately, the iron intake did the opposite. Instead of feeling better, his fatigue intensified, along with loss of appetite, weight loss, and headaches. He never related his symptoms to his vitamin supplements, nor did anyone else. It is still not widely known that men should never take iron. Iron intoxication causes heart disease, acute liver failure and death. Sadly, the fact that he died of cirrhosis due to iron poisoning is not the story that has prevailed.
I brought this up because I looked up "interesting characters" in Cochise and Hereford County and there is no mention of Allen. He was undoubtedly a controversial figure, but my memories of him are of a very genuine, kind man, with a great sense of humor. He was upbeat, approachable and pleasant to be around. He always had a joke or a kind word and everyone loved him, (even our resident atheists were fond of him as a person.) However else he was judged, to me he was quite simply, a very nice man. Definitely an interesting character.
Many, many evangelists (both famous and infamous) came through Miracle Valley to preach during Camp Meetings. Jimmy Swaggert, Oral Roberts, Ronald Coyne, Robert Shambauch, Rev Osteen (Joel Osteen's father,) just to name a few. The most decidedly infamous Jim Jones was also in some of those meetings...and that tent! I still cannot go to a circus without the smell of the canvas and sawdust giving me déjà vu...Then there were the Indians. They were almost the best thing of all. Every year, thousands gathered for Camp Meeting. Miracle Valley was completely overrun with Indians from every tribe imaginable. They were awesome. I have always been glad I was there.
So...
Thank you so much for maintaining the Miracle Valley cemetery website. Your efforts have allowed me to visit often, even though I am far away. I appreciate you correcting the entry for my brother Larry, more than I can say. And thank you for letting me share a memory of a unique place and time.
Henry Clay Hooker
One of the first ranchers to recognize the market opportunity in Arizona was Henry Clay Hooker, a Yankee down-on-his-luck in California. He was a man with considerable enterprise. He bought 500 turkeys at $1.50 a bird, and with the help of several dogs and a hired man set out over the Sierras for the Nevada mining camps. Not far from his goal he came to a steep precipice and the birds stampeded, not down the cliff but into the air. Hooker was sure he had lost his fortune, but in the valley below, his flock was waiting. He drove the birds to Carson City, Nevada, and there got $5.00 each for them. This was the capital with and which he founded his Arizona fortune in cattle. Hooker saw an opportunity in supplying beef to the army posts and Indian agencies in Arizona. From 1867 to 1870 he had beef contracts with Uncle Sam in eastern Arizona.
In 1872 Hooker set up a homestead in Sulphur Spring Valley in southeastern Arizona, and he built his Sierra Bonita Ranch there. He was in a region of government land and eventually controlled a range of over 800 square miles, the largest ranch in Arizona. It was well watered and at an altitude of 4,000 feet. Besides the owner's home there were a half-dozen outlying ranches, each with buildings and corral.
One day, near the Cochise Stronghold, many Indians closed in on the cattleman's buckboard and he decided to head into Cochise's camp in order to show he felt no alarm. There he was given hospitality, and Cochise assured him that his Chiricahuas had many chances to kill Hooker but had left him unharmed because he brought cattle into the country. Naturally, Cochise did not want to have this operation cease. Later on, as a token of friendship, Cochise gave Hooker a red blanket that the ranchman cherished all his life.
When Hooker first started, he had to sell any kind of stock he could get, but he decided to work for an improved animal, and settled upon Herefords as a breed. He bought expensive bulls and blooded cows. Soon his ranges were roamed by herds 90 per cent white-faced. Hooker saw the value in improving the quality and reducing the size of his herds. At the Sierra Bonita, nothing was left to chance. There was even a dairy herd to supply the ranch with butter and milk. A garden produced all kinds of vegetables. Poultry houses were installed. With 500 brood mares and six purebred stallions, the Sierra Bonita produced magnificent horses, famous for speed, beauty and temperament.
In the 1880's H. C. Hooker's huge ranch in the Sulphur Spring Valley was raising prize horses and cattle.
Ref: Arizona Pageant - A Short History of the 48th State, by Madeline Ferrin Pare with the Collaboration of Bert M. Fireman. Arizona Historical Foundation Tempe, 1875, pages 184-185.
Zwing Hunt - Cochise County Outlaw, with a New Mexico connection
L. B. Johnson - President of the United States
On November 14, 1817 Lucy Webb Barnett married Jesse Johnson in Greene County, Georgia. This union started the events that would see an outlaw die in Cochise County, Arizona, and the death of John F. Kennedy promote another into the presidency of The United States.
Jesse and Lucy lived in Georgia for about thirty years. During that time Jesse served as sheriff of Henry County in 1824 and again in 1828. He also engaged in farming in Oglethhorpe, Henry and Greene Counties. A brief stay in Alabama, during 1838, saw the birth of Sam Early Johnson, one of ten children born to Jesse and Lucy. Sam Early's sister' Mary Ann Elizabeth (Betty) was seven years older than her brother, and was born in Henry County Georgia in 1831.
These two children of Jesse and Lucy Webb Barnett Johnson are the principals in the story about to unfold. The information is largely based on personal correspondence with Sally Davis, a descendant of Johnson/Hunt families of Georgia and Texas.
Jesse Johnson moved his family and eight slaves to Lockhart, Caldwell County, Texas. It was in Texas that Mary Ann Elizabeth, born June 29, 1831 in Henry County, Georgia, became the wife of Texas hero, widower Thomas W. Hunt. Thomas W. had three children by a previous marriage and after the death of his first wife, Jemima Jane Ponton, married Mary Ann Elizabeth on June 10, 1857. They resided probably in Burnett County, Texas, where Zwing, their first child was born. The date March 29, 1858. Five other children and siblings of Zwing were born over the years.
Sam Early Johnson, the brother of Mary Ann Elizabeth, was married December 12, 1867 in Lockhart, Caldwel1 County, Texas to Eliza Bunton . Their son, Sam Early Jr., was born on October 11, 1877 in Buda, Hayes County, Texas, and married Rebekah Baines of McKinney, Texas, on August 20, 1907. These are the parents of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Senior United States Senator from Stonewall, Texas, vice president under John F. Kennedy, becoming the 36th President of the United States after the tragic death of President Kennedy.
The second part of the story involves Zwing Hunt. This part of the story involves intrigue, treasure, gunfights and the fantasy that grows out of our western heritage.
Sometime after 1874, Joel Ponton Hunt, Zwing’s half-brother, with financing from the family, went into the freight hauling business between Tombstone, Arizona, and Hillsboro, New Mexico. He was supposedly killed by Indians in Hillsboro May 29, 1880. When the family heard of Joel’s death, Zwing petitioned the family to allow him to go there and bring back the freighting equipment. After arriving in Hillsboro, Zwing decided to take over the business and stayed in the area. Perhaps this is where Zwing met up with Billy Grounds, a turning influence in the life of Zwing Hunt.
There are many stories concerning Zwing Hunt and the events that followed his short life in New Mexico and Arizona. Association with the Clantons and Earps of Tombstone, the supposed rumors of treasure and the so-called participation of an uncle who peddled maps of the Skeleton Canyon affair and treasure has no substantiation within the family records, letters, etc.
In March of 1882 The Tombstone Mining Company office at Charleston, Cochise County, Arizona was robbed and an employee of the office was killed. The safe and money was left intact and the perpetrators fled the premises. The next day, at a ranch near Lewis Springs, two cowboys came out of the hills and requested something to eat. It was determined the next day the two cowboys were Zwing Hunt and Billy Grounds. Both Zwing and Billy became suspects in the Charleston affair but it was never determined they actually held up the mining company office.
A few days later, Zwing and Billy arrived at the Chandler Milk Ranch east of Tombstone, claiming the owner owed them money. The man in charge went to Tombstone to request the money but instead the sheriff was notified and Deputy Sheriff Breakenridge, E. H. Allen, Allen (Jack) Young, and John A. Gillespie started for the ranch to arrest Zwing and Billy on a grand larceny warrant for cattle stealing the previous fall.
There are several accounts about what happened. Basically there was a gun battle in which several died and several were injured. Supposedly Zwing shot through the open door, killing Gillespie and forcing Breakenridge, Allen and Young to take cover. Zwing shot at Allen, hitting him in the neck, with Allen returning the fire and hitting Zwing in the chest. Billy Grounds carne out of the house and was wounded by buckshot from the gun of Breakenridge. The gun battle ended and Police Chief Dave Nagle of Tombstone, Dr. George E. Goodfellow and the coroner came to the ranch. After giving medical attention to the wounded, the dead and wounded were taken back to Tombstone where Billy Grounds died from his wounds. Zwing was placed in the hospital and due to the severity of his wound was left unguarded.
Concern over Zwing and his activities prompted the family to send brother Hugh to bring him home. Apparently this decision was too late as the shoot out had happened before Hugh got to Tombstone where he found Billy in the hospital. Three weeks later, on April 28, Hugh helped Zwing to escape and they made their way to the Dragoon Mountains where Zwing was allowed to rest. The following day they headed to the Chiricahua Mountains close to the present town of Douglas, Arizona. Through the month of May, Zwing and Hugh wandered the mountain canyons and on May 30 finally came to Russels Canyon (Rustlers Canyon) and spent the night in what became known as "Outlaw Cave”.
The next morning during the preparation of breakfast, a party of Apache Indians surprised the brothers with gunfire. Zwing supposedly returned the fire but was struck several times. Hugh had emptied his gun and seeing his brother dead managed to escape. Hugh reported the attack at Camp Price, a small unit located at the southern end of the Chiricahua. A lieutenant and ten mounted soldiers accompanied Hugh to the scene of the fight. They found Zwing with four bullet wounds — one in the hip, another in the abdomen and two in the head. The Indians had also cut off the middle finger of the right hand. Zwing was buried near three large juniper trees where he was killed. Z. Hunt, May 31, 1882 was carved in one of the trees.
Zwing Hunt and Lyndon Baines Johnson share common grandparents, Jesse and Lucy Webb Barnett Johnson. One, dead at 24 with the historical record of an outlaw. The other, died a historical figure as the 36th president of The United States.
Early Trails in the County
Trails of Early Spanish Explorers/Missionaries
Transcribed by Wilola Follett
Probably Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his companion, Esteban, crossed through the furthest southeast corner of Cochise County in about 1528. Esteban returned with Fry Marcos de Niza traveling along the western boundary of Cochise county in 1539. The most famous explorer was Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, following fairly close to what is now Highway 191 (old Highway 666). It is also referred to the Coronado Trail. Father Eusebio Francisco Kino left a fairly accurate record of his travels. He traveled extensively in a triangle bounded by the San Pedro River, the Gila River and the US/ Mexico border.
Apache Pass
In the early 1700’s Apache Pass was known to the Spaniards and was called "Puerto de Dado — the definition of that phrase is wildly debated. A veiwer wrote in with one definition and I cheked 4 sourses and got 6 different responses. The general consensus is that you were gambling your life to pass through there, so "The Gate of the Die" (singular for dice) seems to work. Others argue that puerto means port, not gate and that dado means "given". Ask your Spanish speaking friend for your version.
The pass is a deep gorge about four miles long. It was a favorite spot for the Apaches to waylay emigrants, military, and miners. It was said that the four miles through the pass and the road beyond at either end held the bones of horses, mules, and oxen and the wreckage of the wagons so thick that travelers were never out of sight of them or of the graves along the trail.
Cooke’s Route — 1846-1847
Although there were many paths/trails through Cochise County, there is no precise record of anglo wagon travel in Arizona until the Mexican War . Kearney dashed through on his way to California, but the Mormon Battalion, under the cammand of Colonel Phillips St. George Cooke, did establish a full-fledged wagon road. After the war this road was used extensively by settlers, the military, Indians, and men hauling a variety of commercial goods. The traffic greatly increased with the discovery of gold in California. This route was in Mexico until 1854 when the United States bought the Gadsden Purchase (land south of the Gila River to present day US/Mexico International Boundry.)
Jackass Mail - 1856-1858
Official name, San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line. The ride ran through Apache Pass, was very uncomfortable and slow. Most of the stations were just camping places. Although the line didn’t last long it did leave a route for the Butterfield Overland Mail to use and improve upon.
Leache’s Wagon Road — 1858
Jesse B. Leach, a civilian who had a contract with the Department of Interior, built a wagon road across southern Arizona (northern part of Cochise County). Leache’s road followed Parke’s railroad survey route north of the San Pedro Valley following the river, turning westward along the Gila River to Yuma. Eventually the road was used by the stage lines.
Butterfield Overland Mail — 1858-1861
The Butterfield stage route ran from St. Louis dropping down through Texas, New Mexico and for a short ways through Cochise County with the final stop at San Francisco. The mail route entered Arizona from New Mexico taking a course through the heart of the Chiricahua Apache’s homeland. Stations were built about 20 miles apart and were stocked with fresh mules or horses, extra coaches, grain and food for the passengers. Stations in Cochise County were built of adobe and surrounded by a wall for protection. The Butterfield Overland Mail was very well organized and the first dependable transcontinental stage line. The wagon road was fairly short lived as the southern states seceded from the union — Civil War. Cochise County was in Confederate territory.
Other Stage Lines
There were a few other stage lines crossing Cochise County — Tucson and Tombstone Stage Line - 1879; Tombstone and Patagonia Express - 1880; Norton and Stewart - 1881;
Today a major interstate highway crosses the desert in Cochise County, I-10. It runs through Benson, Willcox (north of Apache Pass) on to Lordsburg, NM.
References used:
1. Arizona Historic Land, by Bert M. Fireman, 1982
2. "The Overland Mail", Arizona Highway’s Magazine, by B. Ira Judd, Oct 1958
3. "The Old Trails West", by Ralph Moody, 1963
4. The Arizona Story, compiled and edited from newspapers by Joseph Miller, 1952
5. Historical Atlas of Arizona, by Henry P. Walker and Don Bufkin, 1978
Historical Events in Cochise County
Transcribed by Wilola Follett
The Bisbee Massacre
On a winter night late in 1883 five men rode into Bisbee and robbed the Goldwater and Castaneda store, the largest in town, to which the payroll for the Copper Queen Mine invariably was consigned. After Joseph Goldwater handed over the little money in the drawer and opened the safe, the robbers forced his partner, Jose Maria Castaneda, from a sickbed and found a sack of money and a watch under his pillow. As two robbers left the store, their three companions outside indiscriminately and excitedly began firing at everybody on the street. Three men and a woman were wantonly killed. The robbers rode into the night. Posses were organized to hunt them down. In the process a local saloonkeeper, John Heath, was revealed as an accomplice as he tried to lead the posse on a false trail. He had helped the killer plan the holdup. The five men were rounded up: two in Mexico, one in a Deming, New Mexico, barber shop, and two more at Clifton, where one had given the watch taken in the holdup to a lady-friend. Brought to trial, the five who actively participated in the crime were sentenced to death. Their associate, who had cowered behind the bar in his own saloon during the shooting, was given a long prison term. The county seat and jail were at Tombstone, across the mountains from Bisbee. The following morning a crowd converged at the jail, took Heath from his jailers and hanged him to a telephone pole. Dr. George E. Goodfellow gave as his legal medical opinion that Heath had died of emphysema of the lungs (lack of oxygen) "self induced or otherwise."
The pattern of lynch law was more or less constant in Arizona. Citizens rebelled against the slowness of the law, so took it into their own hands. Lynching was a measure employed only in the case of brutal crimes. Even after statehood, some lynchings occurred.
Ref: Arizona Pageant - A Short History of the 48th State, by Madeline Ferrin Pare with the Collaboration of Bert M. Fireman. Arizona Historical Foundation Tempe, 1875, pages 231-231
Cochise County Place Names
Transcribed by Wilola Follett
Cochise County was formed out of Pima County in February 1881. It is located in the Southeast comer of Arizona, bordering New Mexico on the east and Mexico on the south. Named for the famous Chiricahua Apache Indian Chief, "Cochise”. The original county seat was located in Tombstone. In 1931 the county seat was relocated to Bisbee, the current county seat. The population was 114,925 as of 1998 and included a labor force of 39,262. The county covers a land area of 6,215 square miles with major industries of farming, ranching, tourism and military. The mining and smelting of copper ore was a dominate factor in the county but by 1988 this industry had become part of Cochise County history.
The land area is mostly desert grasses, mesquite and oak trees in the elevation between 4000-6000 feet. The remaining area is mountainous and covered with forest reaching elevations of almost 10,000 feet.
Cochise (co-cheze) is derived from "cheis", an Apache word meaning wood. On the l881 Territorial Map of Arizona, the county was identified as "Cachise.. The Mexican pronunciation was “kawcheze-say" (at least to my understanding). The county had its share of bad hombres, slick operators, con men, Indian attacks (the surrender of Geronimo) and the (Fimbres ranch raid of the early 1930's). Some might say, “Things never change".
US Highway 80 was the major road artery into Cochise County from the east, through the cities of Douglas, Bisbee, Tombstone and Benson. With the opening of lnterstate 10, Highway 80 ceased to be a main thoroughfare and became Arizona State Highway 80.
The history of this county is one of the most interesting in the state, inasmuch as it was not only the scene of Indian disorders, but also because of its remoteness from law and order, which made it a haven for outlaws. In addition, Tombstone from 1879 and for the next several years was the mining mecca as well as the most cultivated and cultured city in the entire west or southwest.
Cities and Townsites of Cochise County, Arizona
The following towns, town sites, stations and stops were once important to people and are identified from maps which range from 1881 to 1996. As with many maps, locations are sometimes carried over and are no longer identifiable by landmarks, physical characteristics, road signs, houses or stores. Some are true ghosts and others may be making a comeback with modern settlers being attracted to the area. These locations will be presented m alphabetical order, from the earliest map to the latest. The important thing is, each location was a site that attracted people— perhaps one of yours.
1881 Map of Arizona Territory
Benson; Bowie; Cachise Spring, Camp Huachuca; Camp Rucker, Charleston, Croton Spring; Dos Cabezas; Dragoon Spring; Dragoon Summit; Ft. Bowie; Longs; McDowell; Middlecrossing, Ochoaville; Old Camp Wallen; Old Indian (?); Ojos Gallenas; Pt. of Mountain; Railroad Pass, Ranch [next to Benson]; Reilly R. [assume ranch]; San Simon Station; Sand Spring [vicinity of Douglas and Pirtleville]; Sulphur Spring; Tombstone; Tres Alamos; Upper Crossing; and Willcox.
1920 Hammond Modern Atlas of The World
Banning; Benson; Bernardino; Bisbee; Black Diamond; Bowie; Caliente; Calumet; Canestea Station, Cochise; College Peak, Courtland; Corta, Don Luis; Dos Cabezas [Mascot Station]; Douglas; Dragoon; Fairbank; Forrest; Garces; Gleeson; Huachuca; Johnson; Kelton; Lewis Springs; Lowell; McNeal; Mescal; Middlemarch, Naco Junction; Osborne[may be E.0sborne]; Packard; Paradise; Pearce; Pool; Rucker; St. David; San Simon; Small, Tombstone; Tufa; Willcox.
1926 Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas
This map only lists towns connected by roadways suitable for automobiles. Due to the fact that most roads were no more than dirt trails, we might want to question that fact. Benson; Bisbee; Cochise; Dragoon; Douglas, Fairbank, Gleeson; Lowell; Paradise, St. David, San Simon; Servoss, Wilcox.
1947 New International Atlas of The World
Alrich; Apache; Arismo, Bawtry; Benson; Bernardino; Bisbee, Bowie; Brookline, Calumet; Canestea; Cascabel; Charleston, Chiricahua; Cochise; Contention; Courtland; Crook; Don Luis, Dos Cabezas; Douglas; Dragoon; Drury; Elfrida; Fairbank; Ft. Hauchuca; Fry [now Sierra Vista]; Gleeson; Hado; Herford; Hilltop; Johnson; Kelton; Lancha; Lewis Springs, Lowell; Luzena; Manzoro; McNeal; Mescal; Middlemarch; Naco; Ochoa; Olga; Palmerlee [renamed Garces, 1911]; Paradise; Paul Spur; Pearce; Pirtleville; Pomerene; Portal; Rosemont; Rucker; St. David; San Pedro; San Simon; Sibyl; Stark; Tombstone; Tufa; Vanar; Warren, Webb; Willcox.
1972 Texaco Travel Atlas
Apache, Bawtry; Benson; Bernardino; Bisbee; Bisbee Junction; Bowie; Cazador, Charleston; Chiricahua; Cochise; Courtland; Dos Cabezas; Douglas; Dragoon; Elfrida; Ft. Huachuca; Fairbank; Gleeson; Hauchuca City; Hereford; Hilltop; McNeal; Mescal; Naco; Paradise; Paul Spur; Pearce; Portal; San Simon; Sierra Vista; St. David; Sunglow; Sunnyside; Tombstone; Warren; Webb; Willcox.
1996 Gousha Road Atlas
Apache; Benson; Bisbee, Bisbee Junction; Bowie; Boquillas; Cascabel; Charleston [ghost]; Don Luis; Dos Cabezas; Douglas; Dragoon; Elfrida; Fairbank[ghost]; Gleeson; Hauchuca City; Hereford; Hooker's Hot Springs; Johnson [ghost], Kansas Settlement, Lewis Springs; McNeal, Naco; Palomino; Paradise; Paul Spur, Pearce; Pirtleville; Pomerene; Portal; St. David; San Simon; Sierra Vista; Tombstone; Warren [incorporated in the town of Bisbee]; Willcox.
Not Listed on the Maps
The following sites are not mentioned on any of the previous maps. However, There were people associated with these locations and these sites may answer one of those nagging questions like, "where was Pick-em-up".
For location refer to: “Arizona Place Names", University of Arizona Press.
Aztec: Post Office as Aztec, July 21, 1887; name changed to Wilgus, February 21, 1888; discontinued January 31, 1911.
Arizmo: Post Office, September 19, 1903; discontinued August 17, 1906.
Apache Pass: Post Office as Apache Pass, December 11, 1866; changed to Fort Bowie, June 11, 1908.
Bisbee is a town made up of many areas. Some of their names are Bakerville, Cochise, Don Luis, Jiggerville, Johnson's Addn, Lowell, South Bisbee, Upper Lowell, Warren, and Winwood Addn. Brannock: Post Office, August 16, 1887; discontinued April 1, 1891.
Brophy Well: Post Office established as Descanso, May 23, 1892; discontinued May 2, 1894.
Buena: Post Office, October 26, 1910; discontinued October 31 1919.
Camp Wallen: Originally known as New Post and changed to Fort Wallen May 9, 1886; abandoned October 31, 1869.
Copper Center: Post Office, October 14, 1901; discontinued ????
Dabl: Post Office, September 9, 1905; discontinued ???
Descanso: Post Office for Brophy Well, May 23, 1892; discontinued May 2, 1894.
Double Adobe: Settled area, west of Arizona 191 [Old Highway 666, Coronado Trail], about 10 miles north of Douglas.
Ewell's Spring: This was an early name for Dos Cabezas. The Dos Cabezas Post Office was established January 1, 1949.
Ewell's Station: This was a relay route between Apache Pass and Dragoon Springs. Probably the location of Ewell's Spring and Dos Cabezas.
Fort Wallen: May 9, 1886; was originally New Post. Abandoned October 31, 1869.
Forrest: Siding at what was later to be called Paul Spur. The Forrest Ranch was there and the Forrest School. Post Office, May 8, 1914; discontinued November 15, 1917.
Galeyville: Post Office, January 6, 1881; discontinued May 31, 1882.
Garden Canyon: Post Office, March 4, 1919; changed to Fry, April 1, 1937; incorporated into the Town of Sierra Vista, August 9, 1955.
Gatewood: Post Office, June 7, 1890; discontinued February 5, 1894.
Goodwin Canyon: Post Office, March 5, 1875; discontinued October 18, 1880.
Hamburg: Mining camp, Post Office, October 5, 1906; discontinued ????
Land: Post Office, November 15, 1900, discontinued November 20, 1913.
Laub: Post Office, November l5,1900; discontinued February l6,1901.
Lewiston: Post Office, July 25, 1881; discontinued November 11, 1881.
Light: Post Office, March 22, 1910; discontinued September 30, 1927.
Manzora: Shipping point for the Golden Rule Mine. Post Office, December 23, 1916; discontinued March30, 1918.
Mascot: Copper Company: Post Office, December 11,1916.
McAllister: Post Office, March 3, 1911; discontinued November 30, 1920.
Miramonte: Settled by people from St. David. Post Office, May 14, 1918, discontinued July 31, 1919.
Moore's Spur: Railroad siding. Post Office, October 25, 1913; discontinued February 28, 1914.
Overton: Post Office, November 26, 1917; discontinued May 31, 1918.
Pick-em-up: Settlement between Charleston and Tombstone.
Pirtle: Post Office, February 5, 1908; changed to Pirtleville, March 30, 1910.
Pittsburg: Post Office, June 18, 1906; discontinued October 9, 1906.
Pool: Post Office, February 12, 1902; discontinued July 15, 1913.
Powers: Post Office, December 1, 1887; changed to Rucker, June 20, l891; discontinued September 28, 1906; re-established as Rucker Canyon, October 15, 1918; discontinued August 15, 1929.
Reef: Post office for Garces; name changed to Parmalee, December 7, 1904; Renamed as Garces, April 12, 1911, discontinued May 24, 1926.
Russell: Or Russellville, was replaced by the town of Johnson.
Sample: Post Office, July 26, 1886; discontinued October 31, 1887.
Sawmill: Lumber camp with Post Office established in 1952.
Sembrich: Post Office, December 30, 1911; discontinued April 15, 1920.
Tintown: In 1904, residents erected houses of flattened tin in the Bisbee area.
Tufa: Post Office, January 29, 1903; rescinded August 1, 1903.
Tulleyville: Post Office was known as Tulley, established June 21, 1880; discontinued December 31, 1919.
Turquoise: Post Office, October 22, 1890; discontinued September l7, 1894; re-established as Gleeson, October 15, 1900; discontinued March 31, 1939.
Turner: Post Office, March 30, 1898; discontinued December 31, 1919.
Vota: Post Office, April 21, 1881; discontinued February 26, 1883.
Whitewater: Whitewater Ranch. Post Office April 2, 1907; discontinued August 16, 1918.
Wilgus: Was originally Aztec; changed to Wilgus February 21, 1888; discontinued January 31, 1911.
[Some information also taken from Arizona’s Names - X Marks the Place, Historical Names of Places in Arizona, by Byrd Howell Granger. The Falconer Publishing Company, 1983. wf.)
Railroad Place Names
Taken from an old map showing the paths of railroads
Transcribed by Pat Bennett.
Agua Prieta Dragoon Manzoro
Alrich Drury Naco
Benson Escala Ochoa
Bernadino Fairbank Olga
Bisbee Fenner Pearce
Bisbee Jct Forrest Perilla
Boquillas Ft Huachuca Raso
Bowie Hado San Juan
Buena Hereford San Pedro
Cazador Holt Servoss
Chamiso Huachuca Sibyl
Charleston Karro Silver Creek Sta
Cholla Lanch???? St David
Cochise Land Stark
Curvo Lee Tombstone
Dos Cabezas Lewis Springs Tully
Douglas Luzena Willcox
San Simon Cattle and Canal Company
the brand was the 7H. Referred to as the H's.
Transcribed by Wilola Follett
Men known to have worked for the San Simon Cattle and Canal Co. at the turn of the 20th century.
7H Wagon Bosses or Managers
Blevins, Timothy - 1903 - 1908
Cochran, Oscar - 1898, 1902
Duncan, John - 1891. Letter from J. W. Walker to Chas. Chenowth in 1944 states that when he arrived "John Duncan was running the San Simon". Scott White may have been wagon boss part of year. Reminiscence of Ailman states so.
Duncan, J. W.- 1889. His name at top of list, and was foreman in 1891, though Jess Henley also on payroll in 1889
Henley, Jess - 1887. Though he drew only $30 like the others, was the only hand to work all year. He may have been earlier too.
Henley, Jess - 1890, 1900, 1901, 1903 - through the summer.
Lucy, B. C. - 1897. Paid $40 'til Dec. when went back to $30 and Cochran took over.
Stratton, G. W. - 1888, "Dec. 17th '87 --- took charge of ranch".
Lucy, B. C. - 1897. Paid $40 'til Dec. when went back to $30 and Cochran took over.
Wheeler, Joseph J. - 1909 or 1920. 1918 entry says he earned "12 mos. @ $100".
When Parramore pulled out of Arizona because of the onrush of homesteaders, Joe Wheeler bought the brand and the remnant herd and moved them to his place on the Natural Tank near the mouth of Skeleton Canyon.
7H Cowboys
Allen, J. T. -1889
Anderson, John - 1898
Anderson, Tom - 1895 an alias of Bob Christian, Blackjack's bro. anon. - "2 Mexicans, fence crew" -1898
Bassett, Jack - 1888
Baxter, T. E. - 1889
Bell, Young - 1900 -1902
Bennett, Jim - 1898
Bex, Henry - 1920
Bickford, M. - 1897, blacksmithing in 1898
Birchfield, Walter ‚ 1887
Blevins, Joseph -1910 [kin to Tim?]
Blevins, Timothy P.-wagon boss ca. 1903 -1908
Bolin, Frank - 1919
Boschke, Guy - 1897
Boyd, Ephraham - 1900
Bradford, Bill - 1919 [hay crew]
Britton, Ferd -1896, 1902
Bruin, J. W. - 1889
Bull, Dexter -1918 [relationship to John?] cousin
Bullard, William "Bill" - 1900
Burns, G. W.- 1889
Burns, James 1887
Burgan, H. H. - 1888
Caldwell, Joe - 1888
Calionette, Dan - 1920
Capehart, Tom - 1894 or 1895 [possibly an alias for Harvey Logan]
Case, Sam - 1902
Cator, Eugene - 1889
Chancellor, James - 1900
Chenowth, Charles - 1897-8
Chenowth, Howard - 1897
Chenowth, John Augustus "Gus" -1887 [hired w/team for plowing]
Chesser, Walter - 1898
Clark, Ben -1889
Clark, G. L. -1887
Click, Betram H. "Bert" -1918-1920
Click, Charley -1919 [hay crew, Bert's uncle]
Cochran, Bob -1887
Cochran, Oscar W. , wagon boss -1898 -1902 [maybe thru 1909]
Collins, John -1897
Corbin, Philip - 1898
Cornforth, Harold -1919 [hay crew]
Cox, Alonzo - 1898
Cox, Thomas M.- 1910
Craig, Jim - 1898
Crockett, Wilce "Davey" - 1896 -1900
Cullin [or Cullen], Ed -1897, cook [killed at Steins holdup]
Cunningham, Ben - 1889
Danley, John L. - 1919
Daugherty, Louis - 1889
Davis, Gould - 1889, 1910
Davis, Joe - 1898
Davis, R. T. - 1897
Decataur, Eugene - 1898
DeLong, William "Bill" - 1887, 1889
Dennis, Joe "Sandy"-1898
Dewey, Charles - 1902
Dickson, John William "Billy", or "Shorty" - after 1918
Dillard, Thomas - 1889
Dobson, E. C. -1919 -1920
Duncan, Bob - 1897
Duncan, John W. - 1886, wagon boss 1891, at Horse Camp 1894
Driskel, Lee -1888
Eaton, Frank - 1920. killed by lightening
Edwards, Edgar - 1920
Edwards, F. E. - 1897
Elliott, John W.- 1900
English, Herb - 1897
Epley, John - 1898
Evans, George W. - 1888 -1889
Flores, Clabe W. - 1889
Franklin, George - 1910
Franklin, Sci [Si?] - 1888
Franks, ? -
Freeman, D. - 1889 [special contract, range detective?]
Gardner, Tom -1889, windmiller
Gee, Fletch B. - 1898
Gibson, Jim - 1897
Gooch, Charley - 1920
Good, Charles - 1897
Graves, R. P. - 1897
Haas, John - 1898
Harris, John A - 1889
Hazelwood, G. W. - 1889
Hennessey, Wiliam L. "Billy" - 1896 -1808, 1902
Henley, Jesse, N. - 1886 -1902, & before? Foreman most of that time.
Hill, Henry - 1900, windmiller
Hillers, O. H. - 1919
Hodge, Bob - 1902
Hoch, Albert - 1997-98, 1900 -1902, windmiller
Hoffman, Walter 1897, alias Hovey, or Fatty Ryan
Holland, Ed - 1888-89, shown as "Howell" in 1888
Hutchins, Bee - 1902
James, Ray - 1919, hay crew
James, William "Bill" - 1919
Jones, J. N. - 1889, contract well-digger, fencer
Jones, Ed - 1898
Jordan, J. D. - 1902, also sp. "Jerdon", pronounced that way
Keith, Jim - 1902
Ketcham, Marton - 1897
Kimmich, Ed - 1889
King, W. A. - 1889
Lacy, Frank - early 'teens
Lambert, Jim - 1920
Lassiter, Jack -
Lawhon, Joel H.- horsebreaker, ca.1900
Lawrence, William -1889
Lemmons, Ed - 1910
Lemmons, John A. - 1910, Ed's bro.
Lewis, Joe S. "Coots" -nephew of Parramore
Lieseman, George -1897
Leith, W. T. - 1919
Logan, Bob - 1889
Lucy, B. C, - 1897-98
Lundgren, Rag - 1887, 1897-98, also sp. "Lumgren", "Londgreen"
McCabe, Jim - 1889
McCarty, Edward W. "Will" - 1902
McCauley, John - 1900 ,
McGinty, Robert
McKenzie, Dan - 1889
McNarie, [for McNary?] - 1889
Maddox, Holmes - 1896 -1901, had worked for JHP in Texas
Maloney, Sam F. "Jack" - 1902 -1907, cook some of that time. Jack Maloney was Sam'sbrother
Martyr, J. Robert "Bob" - ca. 1909
Mauser, Lawrence - 1910
Mentins, Neal - 1897-98
Merchant, Lige - 1890's, son of Clabe
Merchant, Will - 1890's, son of Clabe
Miller, Gail - 1910
Miller, Sam - 1920, bro-in-law to Joe Wheeler
Mitchell, Rudolph W. - 1897-98
Montgomery, George - 1897
Morris, William - 1888
Munchus, J. W. - 1888
Munnie, Tom - 1897
Negiller[?], John - 1889, "sent out by Merchant"
Noland, Albert F. - after 1909
Noland, Martin "Bear" - after 1909
Oglesby, William -1887
Overton, George - 1898,
Owens, Tom 1889
Page, Robert - 1902, misspelling of "Pague?"
Parks, Charley - 1897
Parramore, Dock Dilworth - from ca. 1900 intermittently to 1920
Parramore, W. W. - 1919
Patterson, A. F. - 1920
Peary, Ben - 1898
Pearse, [Pierce or Pearce?], Frank - 1897
Perkins, John - 1897-98, paid extra for "brakin horses"
Phillips, George - 1898
Poteet, Francis - 1910. died from flu 1918, buried on my ranch (fin)
Pruitee, Joseph D. "Dad"- 1889
Quarells, Louis - 1888
Quinn, W. W. - 1888-89, 1897
Ray, Frank - 1897
Read, Theodore - 1919
Reed, Henry - 1898, fence crew
Reed, Walter -1905, 1906 or 1907
Robertson, A. H. - 1920
Roberson, Dickie - 1920
Rose, Denies [Dennis?] - 1897
Sanders, Jeff - 1888
Sanders, P. W. "Pug" - ca. 1910
Sanford, Frank- ca.1902
Scarborough, Ed - 1897
Scarborough, George - 1897
Schran, Walter - 1902
Shahan, 0scar - 1920
Shepherd, Harry A. - 1888-89, 1897
Shugart, Walter "Bill" - 1898, 1900, 1902, ca.1910
Smith, J. C. - 1889
Spartin, Bob - 1897
Speed, Fred - 1898
Steel, John - 1897-1898
Steen, J. H. - 1919
Stickles, Will - 1902
Stone, J. P. - 1920
Stratton, G. W. - "Dec. 17th, 1887 took charge of the ranch" [?]
Stratton, Tom - 1888
Suggs, W. M. - 1888-89, shot returning from raid on Morman Colonias
Surrell [for Sorrell?], Frank - 1919, hay crew
Swinderman, John - 1897
Taylor, Hugh - 1887-89
Taylor, Joe - 1897
Taylor, Steve - 1902
Thomas, A. M. - 1919 [hay hand]
Thomson, Lee - 1920
Upsher [Upshaw?], Ed - 1902
Upsher, George - 1902
Vinredge, John - 1898, fence crew, also known as Vinadge, or Cush
Walker, George W. - 1887, 1896, 1910
Walker, Joe - 1887 [bro. of GWW]
Walker, J. W. "Hugh" - 1891, 1897-98
Walker, Tump - 1902 [may be any of the other Walkers]
Walker, Solon - 1889
Wallace, James A.- 1900
Wallus [for Wallace?], Tex - 1920, hay hand
Washburn, R. S. - 1918, blacksmithing
Welch, Wiley - 1902
Wells, Ed -1889
Wheeler, Joseph J. "Joe" or "Jodie" - 1909-1920, wagon boss
Wheeler, W. G. "Gus" - 1919 -1920, Joe's bro.
White, Judson "Comanche" - 1888-89
White, Scott - in the 1890s
Williams, Ed - ca. 1897, alias of "Blackjack" Christian
Willow, Joe - early 'teens
Wilson, Jesse -1920
Winn, Sam - 1898
Wisnon, Gus - 1902
Woulf, Bill - 1897
Wright, John - 1897