Could You Survive in 1881 Tombstone?

We’ve spent some time thinking about life in the Wild West of the 1880s as we get ready for the 125th Anniversary of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. I’m eventually leading up to a discussion of the importance of the event. But not right now. Have you ever wondered if you could survive in the Wild West? What was life like, especially in Tombstone? The other day I discussed aspects of life in Tombstone in 1881. Let’s just think of this as part two.

Could you survive in Tombstone in 1881?

Would you want to live there?

Bottom line, if you like camping, you can deal with it. The easiest way to explain life in Tombstone in 1881 would be ‘blackout’. It would be living with a permanent power-failure, only easier. If we were to be the victims of an EMP (Electric Magnetic Pulse) weapon, where basically all unprotected machines were fried, we would have a much more difficult time of it than we would if we were to time travel back to Tombstone. (Dibs on Wyatt Earp!) Just think about the Gilligan’s Island theme — no phone, no jets, no motor-car, not a single luxury…! Only it would not be that bad.

There is constant argument as to whether or not Tombstone had telephone service in 1881. I’ve found evidence of such service in Charleston and a mine about a dozen or so miles from Tombstone in 1882.

Motorcars to people in 1881 were like space tourism. They were just on the horizon and everyone knew it. Visionaries were playing with ways to fly.

There were bicycles, light bulbs, washing machines for clothes. Every woman had to have a sewing machine! C.S. Fly could teach you the rudiments of modern photography. A pioneer in the world of photography, his studio and gallery were in Tombstone, where he had a front row seat to the gunfight at the OK Corral as Ike Clanton went slamming into his gallery to hide from the shooting! You could reach anyone in the civilized world very quickly by telegraph. Mail service ran seven days a week! Matches were old hat.

They had gin, tonic water, limes, and ice. For teetotalers there was Hires Root Beer!

They had tequila, limes, sugar, salt and ice. If you were bored enough you could read Crime and Punishment or The Origin of Species. Ben Hur was a best seller. Jules Verne was writing science fiction. Mark Twain was in his heyday. You had the books of Jane Austen, thank heavens! Thomas Hardy and Dickens were popular, though Dickens was dead by then. And the National Baseball League was already five years old! Wagner had already completed The Ring, Verdi ruled opera, and classical music was ‘popular music’. You could listen to Gilbert and Sullivan on a player piano. Carmen was a flop. And Edison was pushing his phonograph. And P.T. Barnum was promoting The Greatest Show on Earth! Just think of it as time to finally read all those classics you promised your eleventh grade English teacher you would read. Seriously, there were some excellent books available.

Article Author: SJ Reidhead

SJ Reidhead is the author of two western novels, and several books about Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. She blogs at The Pink Flamingo. While she is highly critical of the influence of far right conservatives on her beloved Republican Party, her first …

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