In Part Iof this series, I discussed the handbill problem. Part II detailed the problems with the closing of Fourth and Fifth Streets at Allen. Will Mayor Escapule be recalled? Will the off-Allen Street businesses be terminally damaged? Stay tuned as the Horse Opera continues.
Did you know in Tombstone you can now be arrested for walking down the street dressed like a cowboy and subjected to anywhere from a $600-5,000 fine and up to two years in jail?
Once upon a time (back in 2008) the streets of Tombstone were filled with guys and gals dressed like characters from the 1880's. It gave the town a tremendous amount of color, flavor, and turned out some really cool photos. Now though, those days are gone, chilled by the selective enforcement of various city codes.
Back in the “day” — the 1880s — Tombstone, Arizona was considered quite a city, even if it was just a mining town. The town was made up of a collage of people: miners, lawmen, gamblers, merchants, clerks, ranchers, drovers, the upright, uptight, and the older profession. They were all in Tombstone for one reason: to make money, and if possible get very rich, very quick. Unfortunately few people managed to see that fantasy fulfilled and many did what was predicted of Ed Schieffelin - they found their tombstone.
If the diary of Endicott Peabody is to be believed, (and trust me, as the one who transcribed and published the diary, I ought to know) people in Tombstone were very well dressed. The young Episcopalian divinity student was assigned the duty of overseeing the construction of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church there in Tombstone. Coming from a very wealthy, aristocratic family in New England, Peabody’s observations about the local attire in Tombstone are very important, and give us a perspective about how people actually dressed.
According to Tombstone historian Ben Traywick (during a recent discussion about my upcoming book), when the cowboys and drovers rode into town they would stop at one of the corrals and leave their horse. Because Tombstone had a “no carry” policy, guns could be left attached to the saddle or checked at the corral. They would peel off their chaps, leave their dusters, and take off their spurs.
Ben told me a cowboy wearing spurs could cause a lot of damage - on his dance partner. One evening, many years ago, while working at the Crystal Palace, Ben was present when a guy wearing spurs was dancing. His spurs caught his partner’s leg, and she was seriously injured.
After leaving their things at the corral along with their horses, the men would head for a shave, haircut, and then a bath. If they had any money, they might spring for new clothes; if not, they did their best to spruce up for a hot night on the town. Often their wide-brimmed hat would be exchanged for a bowler hat. The current version of what a cowboy might wear is a Hollywood invention. If possible, our cowboy on the town would dress like a banker rather than a “John Wayne” look.
Article comments
1 - Jordan Richardson
Did you know in Tombstone you can now be arrested for walking down the street dressed like a cowboy and subjected to anywhere from a $600-5,000 fine and up to two years in jail?
There goes my weekend!
2 - Joanne Huspek
Damn interesting place SJ. Beats Detroit all to hell.