From the beginning, Tombstone was bound to be an interesting and entertaining stop. We were in the land of the old western gunfighters and some of the most iconic characters in American history, such as Wyatt Earp and his brothers and the outlaws Frank McLaury, Billy Clanton, Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury.

One of the most famous gunfights in history took place there, at the well-known OK Corral, between the Earps and the above nation outlaws.

But our trip started in San Diego, from where we drove about seven hours towards a small city just 30 kilometers from Tombstone. This long trip was almost entirely along the border with Mexico. We had some doubts about our Garmin GPS, as it had got us lost in Sequoia National Park and the Mojave Desert, and then just a few kilometers from the city of Yuma we had to stop at a border patrol check point. We were wondering why there was a checkpoint there and whether we had driven towards Mexico rather than Tucson by mistake. Naively I asked the officer if we took the wrong direction and if we were going to Mexico, and he told me yes and that the border was just one mile away and we could not go back before going to Mexico. He inspected our car, checked our passports, asked normal questions about where we were coming from and where we were going to. Meanwhile, we were ready to destroy our GPS. That´s when the officer told us it was just a practical joke and that we were going in the right direction. We had a good laugh 🙂 (of course he was from border patrol, but at least it was a good way to keep us entertained 🙂 ).

We spent the night in Sierra Vista and the next morning we spent some time visiting Tombstone and the OK Corral.

Tombstone – The town too tough to die

Upon arrival in Tombstone we parked the car right in front of the old town hall, an abandoned place that it is probably full of bees and honey nowadays (at least that is what we were told).

We wanted to get there early, but most of the establishments only open at 10 or even 11. Within just a couple of hours there were a lot of tourists, all wanting to know a bit about the history of the town. Most of the houses and establishments are kept and maintained in the style of an old town. You really feel like you’re in the Wild West. The houses, saloons, hotels and everything about those streets takes you back to the XIX century. You immediately start wondering what it was like living on those dangerous streets and how it was possible to survive in those times.

Tombstone is definitely a place to visit for at least one full day, and we spent part of the afternoon and the next morning enjoying ourselves at the Tombstone Monument Ranch, one of the best lodges in town, which is a real ranch.

The best thing we did was find the gunfight shows in the town, buy tickets and sightsee until the show started. The most famous one is the OK Corral gunfight show, but instead we chose the Old Tombstone Western Town, which is aimed at families (funnier and recommended for children) and as Noah is young we have to be careful about what we let him see.

Just before the show we went on a trolley tour through some of the most iconic places in town, such as:

The old mine that gave many inhabitants millions of dollars in silver.

The place housing the biggest rose tree in the world (which is actually a world record)

The houses belonging to the Earps

The OK Corral site where the cowboys were actually killed

The famous Boothill Graveyard (free entry), where the remains of famous characters from Tombstone rest (The McLaury brothers, Billy Clanton and Marshall Fred White, to mention a few)

The Crystal Palace Saloon 1879, that was opened by the prostitute Big Nose Kate (this is where we had our lunch)

The famous Tombstone Epitaph (free entry) that still prints the newspaper from the day after the gunfight at the OK Corral today. This was the most famous paper in Tombstone.

Tombstone Courthouse, where outlaws and criminals were hanged.

After this tour that lasted about 30 minutes we went for the show. In the show there are a lot of noisy gunshots (fake of course) and the fights in Tombstone in the olden days are presented in a funny and entertaining way.

The show was nice and even Noah enjoyed it a lot, but I wanted to see the famous OK Corral gunfight show, so after having a delicious and unhealthy meal (ribs, a burger and a hot dog) at Crystal Palace, I went to see the show by myself.

The Ok Corral show lasted about 25 minutes and presented the facts of that day with some comedy elements. After this show there was some time to see some old objects, such as carriages, pistols, a replica of the room where Doc Holliday and Big Nose Kate spent the night and many other things, before heading to the hotel/ranch, Tombstone Monument Ranch.

Wyatt Earp … hero or villain?

Much is said about the famous Earp family and Hollywood has always displayed Wyatt as a hero, but if you research him a bit you find that there was a lot of controversy in his life, as well as with his brothers and his father. Allie Earp, Wyatt’s wife, once said “when the Earp family is together there is a lot of mystery. It is almost like a clannish atmosphere”

We had our personal views about the family’s story, and in our humble opinion Wyatt was far from a hero – he was simply a tough lawman. There were other lawmen that were tougher than him or his brothers, but Hollywood and the OK Corral helped him and the city to gain a lot of fame.

We believe that living in such a violent place, you had no choice but to be tough and sometimes cruel and cold, otherwise you may not have survived. Again that´s just our personal and humble opinion, but anyone can be fascinated by the stories of the town, that gunfight day, the outlaws and cowboys, and the Earp family led by Wyatt.

 Next stop, White Sands National Monument!