The Town Too Tough To Die

That's the tagline for Tombstone, AZ. I was unexpectedly impressed with this little town. I'm not saying it's NOT a tourist trap, but it does an incredibly good job of taking you back to the 1880's. In some ways, it hasn't changed much since then. There are actually grungy cowboys, maybe missing a few teeth, leaning against the sides of buildings or walking along the dusty boardwalks. (Mark insists they're in costume, hawking their gunfight re-enactments, but they sure look like real cowboys to me.)

Tombstone was the site of the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. You remember, where Wyatt Earp and his brothers shot four cowboys that allegedly stole silver from a stagecoach. Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil was the U.S. Marshall Sheriff, so they were the good guys, but the cowboys had friends who went after them, wounding Virgil and killing brother Morgan. The good guys then killed a bunch more cowboys until a Tucson judge issued a warrant for the arrest of the Earp contingent, which by the way also included Doc Holliday, so then they officially became the bad guys.

That's my summary - if you stop by Tombstone, you will be intrigued enough to study the facts for yourself.