Time for another field
trip. We make our way to Tombstone to visit the site of one of the
infamous Wild West shoot outs.
Being so close to the
border, the town was an open market for cattle stolen from ranches in
Mexico by the 'Cochise Cowboys'. In those days the word cowboy meant
rustler or cattle thief. The Earp brothers (including Wyatt of later
fame) and Doc Holliday were keen to clean up the town as it was
better for (their) business.
For months tension had
been rising between the two groups and the cowboys had been uttering
threats against the Earps who had become deputy marshals. The actual
gunfight took place on Oct 26, 1881 around 3pm. The 4 'good' guys
confronted the the 4 'bad' guys on a vacant lot. When the shooting
started they were only about 6 feet apart from each other. After 30
seconds and about 30 shots, 3 bad guys lay dead on the ground (one
had ran away). The 'good' guys all walked away, some with minor
injuries. We witness a comedic gunfight show re-enacting the whole
lead up and showdown.
There was a lot of debate
around town and in the press surrounding the shooting. Later, the
'good' guys were actually trialed for murder, but acquitted. In
revenge, one of them was killed and another survived an attempt on
his live. Wyatt Earp became quite notorious due to events before and
after the Tombstone gunfight. It became hard to tell what was real
and what not. He eventually sold his story to book publishers and
Hollywood who romaticised him into a western superhero...
The town prospered in the
early 1880's but suffered from fires and mining disasters. By the mid
1880's the population started to dwindle. The main road in town has
been reconstructed to look like as it did in the 1880s. We have a
lovely time walking around and talking to the cowboys and marshals.
It really feels like the Wild West and we spot some authentic bullet
holes around town.
Janine and Niels go on for
some shopping and stop by at the Visitor Information Center in Benson
where Niels gets to drive the model train.
Today: 82km - 1h32m
Total: 21,530km - 420h53m
