North most star is Kartchner
The main highway from Kartchner was straight and boring, but I soon took the left turn towards Tombstone and onto a narrower road with a few twisties. Perfect for the moto. Not far to Tombstone now. But first....
Enroute is the ghost town of Fairbank. This town was originally a small native village known as Santa Cruz. It was "settled" in 1881 as Junction City, when the railway was built through the area. The town received a huge boost in 1882, when the railroad station was constructed. This would cement the town as the key supply point for the boom town of Tombstone. Many notorious outlaws would pass through here enroute to the Territorial State Prison in Yuma. In 1883, the post office opened and the town was renamed Fairbank.
House & stable
Commercial building
All-ages schoolhouse
This building was partially restored.
It now houses a small info center.
Close-up of the house from the first picture.
This is the only residence remaining.
Sign outside all buildings except the schoolhouse
Before the BLM took over, everything was open
Walkway up to the train station platform
The platform is still in great condition
You can almost see smoke on the horizon from the incoming Bisbee train
The town's prosperity, however, was short lived. The Tombstone mine closed in 1886, and the San Pedro Valley suffered a series of droughts and a damaging flood over the next several years. The town survived another 30 years on life support before a steady decline took hold that would not be slowed. The town was officially abandoned in the early 1970s.
Onto Tombstone. If you ever visit Tombstone, you'll no doubt hear the story of how it came to be. Everyone in town appears to be reading from the same script. There was a camp in the region that was used to launch "scouting missions" against the Apache Indians. In 1877, a prospector named Ed Schieffelin was staying at the camp. He would strike out on his own, sometimes for days, "looking for rocks". The military men would say "the only stone you'll find out there is your tombstone." Well, what Ed found was a brilliant seam of silver. He ironically decided to call the mine Tombstone.
A town, originally named Goose Flats, was established around the mine in 1879. It wasn't long before the town itself was renamed Tombstone. By the mid-1880s the town population was estimated at between 15-20,000 people. The mine operated 24/7 with many separate shifts. This meant that miners were coming off work at all hours of the day. To support their needs, the saloons were also open 24/7. At the height of the town's prosperity there were 107 saloons on the main street of Tombstone. Combine this with every person over six carrying a gun, and the consequences were obvious.
Tombstone quickly became the gunfighter capital of the world. The streets were literally painted with blood.
In the late 1880s, the mine finally hit the water table, and flooded. Water laboriously was pumped out for a few years to allow progress, but eventually the returns could not overcome the costs, and the mine closed in 1889. The town almost instantly evacuated, as there was no other source of income generation. By the 1930s, the population sunk to about 150 people.
Today about 1500 people call Tombstone Arizona home. The town is entirely a tourist attraction, and receives the second most number of tourist visits in Arizona each year (first of course is the Grand Canyon).
The highway passes through just a block from the main street of Tombstone. Parking is abundant and free - didn't even have to tip anyone. The main street is cordoned off to motorised vehicles. Shops line both sides of the street, as does a covered boardwalk to provide shade for the shoppers. Armed gunslingers (actors) roam the streets and loiter on the corners. They're endlessly available for photo ops - for a fee. And tipping is encouraged.
Open only to horse traffic
The only show I wanted to see was at the Wyatt Earp Theatre (it had, by far, the best reviews). The show was about 40 minutes long, and depicted several famous Tombstone gunfights (including the back stories). The actors used real guns with blanks. The same was true for all shows in Tombstone, and you could year gunfire just about any time during the day.
For $7, it was appropriately priced. All in attendance enjoyed the show. After the show, the hats came off - tipping was encouraged. I didn't get any decent pictures of the show. Still haven't got the hang of this camera for indoor shots.
Next site was the Good Enough Mine Tour, at the original Tombstone Mine.
Had about 45 minutes to kill first, so it was off for a bite to eat. Had an exceptional fajita lunch at Cafe Margarita. They even took $4 off because I asks for no meat :) Gave it all back and more as a tip though. Very worth it.
Off to the mine tour. Our guide for the day was had been a miner all his life. He now did mine tours and entered the occasional competition. Here he shows us how drilling was done in the early days.
Amazing combination of power and accuracy
The bigger jobs were done by two men. One with a 10lb sledge hammer, the other holding a longer spike. Surprisingly, the sledge wielder rarely missed. Those that did, didn't have a job for very long.
Steam and air powered drills were also used, but prone to failure.
And, only air powered drills could be used underground.
Some old equipment from the original mine
An old safe
Various carts for raw ores
When you gotta go...
Once the holes are drilled, in goes the dynamite. Drill, blast, excavate, repeat. Some of the chambers were over two stories high.
Most of the mine consisted of narrow tunnels about 6' wide and 7' high
Some, even smaller
...and smaller
We didn't go into the above tunnel, but it was being prepped for future use. The current owners were planning an 'aventure' tour of the entire mine system that remained above the flooded areas. Some sections will only be accessible by crawling, and squeezing through tight openings. In case you're interested, it should be ready this summer.
The 90 minute tour I took was priced at $15. Well worth it.
Ended the day browsing the town shops. Every place seemed to have more or less the same fare - trinkets, t-shirts, leather goods. Guns were the central theme.
On the way in/out of town is the Boothill Graveyard, where many infamous outlaws were laid to rest. All of the original headstones have been replaced with generic markers, so it's not quite the draw it deserves to be. Or maybe it is.
It's a quick, though windy, ride back to Kartchner. Another great day.
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