What was life like in Tombstone in 1881? As part of my ongoing series of articles centered around the 125th anniversary of the Gunfight at the OK Corral, we’re going to do some time traveling.
Southern Arizona in the late 1870s was a very dangerous place to live. The Apache, having been consigned to reservation living, weren’t happy with the state of affairs. Geronimo was making life very interesting for any non-Apache who dared to venture into what is now Cochise County, Arizona. For many years intrepid prospectors tried to exploit the vast mineral wealth in an area known as “Goose Flats”. Their fatal adventures read like a Stephen King novel with murder upon murder, betrayal, violence, massacre, and that was just among "friends". So, in the late spring of 1879,when Ed Schieffelin, safe at Fort Huachuca, announced he was heading a bit east to prospect, everyone told him he would never make it out alive. His now famous retort, “So, I’ll find my Tombstone.” Which he did.
Schieffelin tapped into what was one of the greatest mineral bonanzas thus far discovered in the United States. Naturally he couldn’t keep a good thing to himself. Within just a few months of filing his claim, a small town began to grow at “Goose Flats”. It was soon moved a few miles to Tombstone. By December of 1879 the Earps had arrived in a bustling boom-town. The growth was so great that newcomers like the Earps were forced to reside in their covered wagons or in large canvas tents until they could arrange to have a house built. Tombstone was literally in the middle of nowhere. Aside from a plentiful supply of water (a rarity in the Southwest), there was little else to offer a newcomer. Everything for civilized living had to be exported from Benson, the nearest rail-head, at great expense. One word: Inflation.
The town was growing so fast, residents did not have time to wait for adobe to harden or bricks to be imported. They used wood, thus the constant and often disastrous fire danger. There was a shortage of fresh vegetables and fruit. Beef was plentiful thanks to the enterprising auspices of a few legitimate ranchers and the cowboys who augmented their income with pilfered cattle. It was a meat and potatoes culture for the average person. For those with money, and there were plenty of people with money, it was anything money could buy!
Within a year there were several Chinese restaurants, French, two Italian, numerous Mexican, several upscale "Continental" establishments, and many "home cooking" hot spots including Nellie Cashman’s famous Rush House. Today, at the very same location in one of the few original buildings in Tombstone to escape one of the numerous fires, Nellie Cashman’s Restaurant still exists. Tombstone had an ice house and an ice cream parlor. In other words, one could purchase (at great expense) a bottle of Schweppes Tonic Water, add some gin, a lime, and have an G&T over ice, in Wyatt Earp’s days in Tombstone!
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Article comments
1 - Donnie Marler
SJ, I'm greatly enjoying your series! I'm a lover of the history of the old West. You're doing a great job.
2 - T. Michael Testi
SJ, Nice job. I have always been fascinated by history, especially the different view points that we are given by today's manipulation of history vs. the reality that was their world. This was their world and they live in it. Reality is how they experienced it, not how some reporter viewing through a single set of eyes reports it. To be true it must contain enough viewpoints to be representative of the time.
I look forward to reading more.
3 - SJ Reidhead
Thank you so much for your kind comments. They are much appreciated.
SJ Reidhead
4 - Scott South
Hello SJ. How did Old West towns like Tombstone manage an ice house and an ice cream parlor? I don't understand where they would get ice in the far southern edges of the Arizona desert in 1881. There wasn't electricity in Tombstone yet; only in very few places back east. How would they transport ice to Tombstone without it melting--let alone maintain an ice cream parlor?