I have spent the week in Arizona, which for me is my first visit. I did not come to Arizona as my capacity as a blogger, but for my full time job.
As a self-described history nerd, I could not resist using up most of my free time going to historical sites within the state. Since I was working in the city of Tucson, I decided to make the less than 90 minute drive down to Tombstone. The city was made more famous by the movie “Tombstone,” which had Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer depicting Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
On October 26th, at 3pm, near the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, what is regarded as one of the most famous battles in the Old West, took place. Virgil, Wyatt, and Morgan Earp, along with Doc Holiday attempted to disarm a group of loosely affiliated outlaws known as Cowboys. Out of the four Cowboys in the fight, two were killed and two ran from the fight. Virgil, Doc, and Morgan were wounded, Wyatt received no injuries.
Town has mostly original artifacts making it a superior historical site to visit
Once I drove into Tombstone, I immediately realized they were going to make lots of money of what happened. It is very commercialized. However, I have traveled to museums and historical areas all over the country. I judge a place is by how many original artifacts a site has. I hate replicas.
The first stop I went to is the Tombstone courthouse. It has been turned into a museum. I would estimate about 90% of the display items are real and have not been reproduced. It costs $7 to get in, but it is well worth it. It was like going into a time machine back into the 1880-1930.
Above is the court inside the Tombstone Courthouse. The doors in the back, the judges desk and many of the chairs are all original.
O.K Corral offers a reenactment and visit to the site of the gun battle for reasonable price
I then went to the O.K. Corral. Of course, it is not free to see it. I am not sure the price, but all I know is I got to see a reenactment of the gunfight, see the actual site, and get a magnet for $13. Not bad, in my opinion.
I was surprised by how close they were to each other during the gunfight. In some cases they were only inches apart. The reenactment was great. The character they got to do the colorful Doc Holliday played the part beautifully.
Doc Holiday on the left talking to Wyatt Earp during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral reenactment
The site of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. You can see how close the men were to each other.
Ignore the commercialization and immerse yourself into the history using real artifacts
All in all, it is worth the visit if you are interested in the history of the Old West. And as I mentioned earlier, the amount of original artifacts puts it high on my list of good places to visit. You will need to get around the commercialization of it all, but the town of Tombstone is in a very rural area of the Arizona desert, so I completely understand finding ways to raise funds for their economy.
Check out my Instagram if you want to see more pictures and videos.
https://www.instagram.com/the_nutty_historian/
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/shootout-at-the-ok-corral
https://www.visitarizona.com/places/parks-monuments/tombstone-courthouse-state-historic-park/
