Tombstone, Arizona
"The Town Too Tough To Die"
In 1877 prospector Ed Schieffelin searched for silver in Apache land. He was told he would only find his own tombstone. Schieffelin ignored the advice. The result was a strike worth at least forty million dollars.
This brought not only miners and businessmen, but gamblers, prostitutes and gunmen to the new town. The most famous gunfight in the western history occurred at the OK Corral, October 26, 1881, when the Earps shot it out with the Clantons and the McLaurys.
In 1882 the mines flooded and huge steam pumps were installed. A fire in 1886 destroyed the pumps and operations ceased. In 1901 the mines reopened but boiler problems and flooding again closed the mines.
In 1929 the county seat moved to Bisbee. Tombstone's future was uncertain, but a group of determined citizens coined the phrase “the town too tough to die” and invited the public to come celebrate the town's rowdy past. Tombstone continues to live off a unique and violent past.
Marker is on Allen Street, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
