Tombstone The Town To Tough To Die

[AzRednek]

 

Tombstone Arizona, what a joke!! I have relatives visiting from back east wanting to see Az, so we jumped in my girlfriend’s SUV and hit the road. We drove down to Tombstone and I couldn’t believe what has happened to what used to be a real ghost town. It is nothing but a tourist trap now, the building restorations look like 1st class horse shoot and the residents are a bunch of greedy wanabe hippies.

 

Guess I’m showing my age. I remember visiting Tombstone in 50's and 60's as a kid, when it still was a real ghostown. The very few residents were all hard core cowboys. No, not a lot of real cow poking cowboys but mostly retired or disabled miners and prospectors. They still rode horses and mules, wore guns and wound up living in Tombstone because property even by 1950-60's standards was dirt cheap. Back then there were a few trinket shops, the Tombstone Epitaph would print up custom headline on it’s original 1880's press, an old fashion photo studio and a couple of antique shops. One old crippled up prospector I remember had a mule trained to do some tricks and he had a basket out looking for donations.

 

Today many of the average shop owners are an aged, liberal 1960's hippie. What irritated me more than anything were the numerous shops with “no firearms” signs, one in particular “PEACE no guns, absolutely no exceptions”. The shop in typical 1960's hippie style smelled of incense and from a distance looked like they might have had some bongs on display. Not much more than one gift shop after another and the Birdcage Theater wanted to charge a $6.00 admission fee. I didn’t bother to stop at the OK Corral, nothing but a gift shop. Boot Hill also has to be entered through another gift shop so I didn’t even bother to stop. I remember they used to ask for donations, can’t say for certain but my guess is they likely charge admission. Found it hard to believe there was a gun shop there but it took me about 60 seconds to realize the prices were beyond ridicules, aimed at wealthy tourists.

 

Sorry for the rant, while I’m sitting at my keyboard waiting for my sleeping pill to work I’m fuming forking mad at what has happened to a place in history. I’ll never forget the first time I saw Tombstone when I was about 10 or 11 years old and just being thrilled, seeing real cowboys, abandoned buildings and the remnants of a once thriving western town. Today I put Tombstone in the same class as a pet rock, totally forking useless.

[karlunity]

AH's did the same to 42 Street in NYC.

 

Time Square and 42 were wild and wooly back in the 70's NOT the place to bring the wife and kids but alive.

 

Now it looks like a cross between a theme park and a billboard

Karl

[swamprat]

Been to Dodge City lately? What a bunch of bull excretement! The nearest these folks have been to a steer was the porterhouse they had at a 5 star eatery (providing they even eat meat). But between them and 100 years of movies this is what folks believe as true. Forget the real west, this is what sells. When in truth the real west was a dailey grind for survival with nobody expecting a handout from the government to succeed. Movie history paints the west as a area of cheap land. However when wages for a professional were $0.50 a day, land at $0.50 a acre was not cheap. Most of the folks who settled this land were mortaged up their butts just to get here. It took years of hard work and a big amount of luck to just break even. But the movies and modern day versions make it look like a damn cake walk. And before you all get in a up roar! Yes there was the Cherokee Land Rush! But look at the number of folks who tried and lost out. They had all they owned tied up in this and lost out. Can you all spell SHARECROPPER!

 

Swamprat

[karlunity]

The Bible said you were going to have to work your tail off.

Eve ....she should have followed orders and Adam was PWed.

 

Eve, "Eat the nice apple" Adam.."yes dear!!"

See where being PC gets ya.

 

Karl

[Jimro]

Most folks don't know but the biggest cattle drives in the US were from Eastern Washington east to the railheads in Montana.

 

My great Grandfather actually worked as a cowboy for two years before getting on with the Forest Service. He didn't think it was such romantic work. Of course the West was pretty tame by then.

 

Jimro

[Horsefly]

Cripple Creek Colorado in 1962 was a ghost town that looked like everyone just loaded up and left one day.1970 there were a few weird looking folks we found out later called hippies living in some of the abandoned cabins.1985 some people had turned some of the nicer cabins into vacation homes,fixed up real good.Now Cripple Creek is gambling casino town,with all the old buildings turned into casinos.At least I have memories of what it use to be,and besides,it's probably closer to being the town it was in the 1800's than the 1960's when I first saw it.Jerry

[Horsefly]

My Great Grandfathers oldest brother made 3 trail drives from Below Victoria Texas on the coast to Kansas City,made and saved enough money to invest in a cattle shipping port where Rockport Texas is now.I would guess that's about 800 miles? My great grandmother told us that when the herds went through,there wasn't a sprig of grass for 40 miles east or west.Every herd would scoot over to the next grass,just like giant lawn mowers mowing a path north.Hwy 287 from Ft.Worth to Wichita Falls has all kinds of businesses called the Chisolm trail this and that.The big crossing was at Ringold,but There was another crossing north of Muenster called Corral Point.It's a big pointed bluff about Red River that drops straight down on 3 sides,and it only took a couple men to watch a whole heard of cattle.Aint history some cool stuff? Jerry

[FC]

Thank you for the warning!

I used to live 3 miles from Deadwood. When I was last there there were no cassinos, and it was still a fun place.

[fritz]

Jerry,

Those cattle drives went through Cuero (30 miles north of me and a rough town at the time).

 

Considering the terrain and hostile environment, these cattle drives to Kansas were no picnic.

 

I drove from Cuero to Wellington, Kansas (with a little help) years ago overnight. Left Cuero around 5 PM and ate breakfast in Wellington. Probably followed the same trails as the old cattle drives. But it is easier now.

 

 

fritz

[Nelsdou]

When I was 14 until the time I graduated from high school I worked summers as a tractor/combine jockey and working cattle on farmland in the Wellington area. It amazes me to think back that as a kid I cound not be trusted to drive a car unrestricted or enter a bar, but I could be turned loose in the countryside with a tractor rig and machinery worth a small fortune!

 

Those hard summers certainly reinforced the drive in me for higher education, that's for sure.

 

I believe those old Chisolm Trail signposts are still there.

[swamprat]

I wish I could scan and post pics. I have a picture of my Grandfather and his bunch of "Roughriders". They used to drive livestock to market. They drove cattle,horses,pigs,sheep,and one time they tried turkey's. The turkey drive was in the Ozarks and was a herd of 10,000 white hen's. When the wild Tom's in the area started calling, the hens made a beeline for the woods. They ended up with less than 500 hens. Grandpa said it was the funniest most discusting drive he was ever on.

 

Swamprat

[z1r]

I was in AZ over the weekend (Fri-Mon). Went to scout out possible locations to live. I was impressed by Prescott at least with regards to the shooting sports. Ruger has a facility there, the Gunsite acadamy is there, Wolfe Publishing is there, and the local JC teaches gunsmithing, mostly as a feeder to Ruger. I may have missed some. Also made it to Flagstaff and the Phoenix area. Saw the biggest set of Elk Antlers in the back of someone's truck in fountain Hills. It was a huge rack.

 

Now, if I could just find a job there.

[FC]

Pretty interesting stuff.

[AzRednek]

Z as long as I can remember work has always been little hard to find in Prescott. To many Phoenicians want to escape the heat and large city hussle for the favorable climate and the small town lifestyle in Prescott and the surrounding areas. You can expect alot of competition on the job market. Favorably speaking Prescott like the enitre state is growing like crazy so chances are good one might land a job with a new business BUT, overall Arizona's wages rank pretty low when compared to other parts of the country especially manufacturing. Construction workers I've known used to complain of the work not being steady there but I'm speculating that has changed and likely improved since the growth boom here the past few years. Speaking for what I know in the Phx area, manufacturing job wages are low because of the influx of legal green card carrying Mexicans willing to work for peanuts.

 

If it is a gun related business you're seeking employment Prescott is probably the best part of the state. However I do recall seeing a big sign at a gun shop a month or two ago looking for a gunsmith in the Glendale area. In the casual conversation something was said of trouble finding as real gunsmith not a parts replacer.

 

Of all the places you went to bad you missed J&G in Prescott, maybe good though, I can't go in and out of there without spending to much money. Davidson's warehouse is also located in the area. I got a warehouse tour apx 1990 when I was in the uniform business and held a FFL. I watched them unload Browning Bars off a tractor-trailer by the pallet loads and sure enough I walked out of there with one.

 

Anyhow good luck if I can be of any assistance let me know.

 

[Horsefly]

Z,if heat isn't a factor,come on to Texas.We'd love to have you! Just stay away from Houston. Jerry not just because of hurricanes

[Emul8]

Prescott, AZ is a wonderful town...it seems that the stuck-in-a-timewarp hippies and the gun-friendly folk co-exist well. J&G Sales is an awesome place, totally packed on weekends. And let me tell you, there is something completely thrilling to this CA resident about bellying up to the counter along with the local people who have their holstered handguns on a hip!

 

AzRednek, I had no idea that the Ruger of Ruger Drive in Prescott was THAT Ruger! I guess you do learn something new everyday! Though, I did know that Yavapai College has a great gunsmithing program.

 

As my sister currently resides in Cottonwood, AZ, and my travels take me throughout AZ frequently, I find that I get to explore more of the state every time. I like AZ.

 

I first visited Tombstone, AZ in 2003, and I was completely fascinated with the town...but then, I had no prior knowledge aside from depictions of the town in movies, the most notable of which is "Tombstone" -- at least to me. So, going through the cemetary was amazing to see the graves of Marshal Fred White, and of course, the infamous Les Moore! Naturally, the town has taken on the aura of a lived-in tourist attraction...too much paint on the buildings, too many signs pointing out the obvious, etc., but I will say that to my eyes, the first time I saw Tombstone, it was a joy!

 

 

[AzRednek]

 

Emul8, next time you're in Prescott go visit whiskey row. Many of those bars are often used in western movies and look basically the same as they did a hundred years ago. The original Billy Jack was filmed almost entirely in Prescott. The fight scene was filmed in the park across the street from Whiskey Row.

 

I haven't been to Cottonwood in about 25 years. I used to go to Cottonwood's dump early in the morning for easy short range varmit hunting.

 

[Nelsdou]

Dagnagit, I & the Mrs were in Prescott in the summer of '03 and we missed whiskey row! At the time my highlite was J&G. My favorite scene in Billy Jack was the girl in the convertible. WOW; I'll have to go back now.

 

We were really there for a weekend get-away at Sedonna (what a new-age tourist trap!) and I convinced my honey a trip to J&G was necessary. It was worth it!