Happy New Year's Day from Tombstone
We woke up to ice in Matt's pool brrrr!
Driving to Tombstone Matt pointed out the "V" on the mountainside...
... and then took us to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Sierras...
... where I got this picture of a stone building I really liked...
Sharyn, Jill and Matt walked up the hill for a better look.
At the intersection with the highway we realized just how many people lived on the foothills near the shrine.
A little later in Bisbee I got a shot of a really nice mural...
... and this really beautiful white structure.
From Bisbee we went to Tombstone and the home and statue of Wyatt Earp.
One of the special things about Tombstone is that many residents and visitors dress in costumes and walk the streets bringing images of the old west back to life...
... with much of the history centered around the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Of course everyone loves fudge and Grandma is making $$
We liked the tiles built into Grandma's Fudge factory stucco walls.
Somewhere in my Texas past I remember references to the Bird Cage Theater.
"The Bird Cage Theatre was opened on December 25, 1881 by William “Billy” Hutchinson and his wife Lottie. Its name apparently referred to the 14 “cages” or boxes that were situated on two balconies on either side of the main central hall. These boxes (also referred to as “cribs”) had drapes that could be drawn while prostitutes entertained their clients. The main hall contained a stage and orchestra pit at one end where live shows were performed."
"Contention" Pete was walking the street when we struck up a conversation. The conversation was good finding out that all the costumed people were not in any of the shows but folks wanting to keep the past alive in re-creating the look of the old west.
Of course there are many wagon rides for tourists to savor the taste of dust and sun...
... in between stops in the many local specialty shops.
I liked this stage coach with the white horses.
We stopped in "Big Nose Kate's" for a refreshing drink and a look at the great stained glass inside. There was, of course Doc Holliday and this one of Wyatt Earp along with...
... some great looking saloon girls...
... and, of course, with a gambling theme...
... and some were less clothed than others.
" Big Nose Kate was born Mary Katherine Harony on November 7, 1850, in Pest, Hungary, the second oldest daughter of a Hungarian physician, Dr. Michael Harony.
In 1874, Kate had left St. Louis and made her way to Dodge City, Kansas, where she was known as "Kate Elder."
In 1876, Kate had moved to Fort Griffin, Texas where she met Wyatt Earp and began her long-time involvement with Doc Holliday. Doc had once stated he considered Kate to be his intellectual equal.
Wyatt Earp, in the controversial Stuart Lake biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal tells a colorful tale of Kate helping Holliday escape lawmen in Fort Griffin, by setting fire to a shed, but there is no other historical evidence for this tale. Kate acknowledged the story but did not admit its truth."
Jill was in her element in Tombstone having loved the West since she was a young girl...
... and even the host at "Big Nose Kate's" was in full Sheriff's gear.
This coffin in "Big Nose Kate's" speaks for itself.
A Wyatt Earp look alike came walking by...
... and then I saw the Bella Union sign, again, I vaguely remember the name probably from old western movies. Looking it up on the web I found this:
"The Bella Union was not only a Saloon, but housed, like many of the other Saloons did as well, cribs for prostitutes to work in. What was different about it was that it was also an opium den. It is rumored that the first owner, in an opium delirium, killed several people with a knife."
I really liked this vaquero costume and the gentleman wearing it. It's important to note the Vaqueros were the first real cowboy.
"One out of every three cowboys in the late 1800s was the Mexican vaquero," says Kendall Nelson, a photographer from Idaho. "All of the skills, traditions, and ways of working with cattle are very much rooted in the Mexican vaquero," Nelson told National Geographic News. "If you are a cowboy in the U.S. today, you have developed what you know from the vaquero."
The Vaquero then posed with the ladies I'd seen earlier ...
... followed by Wyatt himself...
... then I moseyed down the street to get Doc Holliday and another of the the Earp brothers...
... ending with this modern day cell phone slave - (just kidding Matt)
I did find the local police hangout by following a trail of doughnuts and their doughnut holes.
I must say Tombstone is not all about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral but it is about minning and ...
... miners. Sean is one of the guides at the Consolidated Mining Company and studied Metallurgy in college before he switched to Agriculture . Matt and I had a long talk with this intelligent and fine young man. Some company would be lucky to hire him.
Another gunman came walking down the street, I think he was in the Helldorado gun fight show just up the street.
"The Town too Tough to Die" ...
... well maybe, maybe not.
The world famous "Tombstone Epitaph"
The Cochise County Courthouse ...
... and it's frontier justice.
On the way home we stopped of at the local Gelato shop for a cool cup of heaven and saw cold birds warming up on a wire...
... then took off to see the sunset from Coronado Monument. Even on the way there it looked promising if we reached the peak in time...
... after a short drive we were there for another great sunset over Mexico...
... but I have to tell you we had forgotten there was snow on the mountain. After a harrowing but safetly driven trip both up and down the mountain we ended the day visiting with Matt and Jill.
No Scrabble
Quote of the Day
"A gun is a tool, Marion, no better or no worse than any other tool, an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that." - Alan Ladd who played the title role in the 1953 western Shane a moviethat had a profound influence in my life
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