Book Review: Legends of the Wild West: Tombstone, Arizona (by Charles River Editors)

Book Review: Legends of the Wild West: Tombstone, Arizona (by Charles River Editors)

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Legends of the Wild West: Tombstone, Audible Edition

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I listened to the audible (audio) version of TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA, with the intention of learning an overview about the impact of the silver strikes in southern Arizona, the legends surrounding the famous men who fought and died there, the dynamics of the lawmen vs. the lawless. I also borrowed the kindle edition with my kindleunlimited subscription. Overall, I was fully satisfied.

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Tombstone in 9 Chapters

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Charles River Editors‘ retelling of the many stories surrounding Tombstone, Arizona, explains why this one town embodies the lore of the American Old West–primarily because well-known individuals spent time–and some died–in Tombstone. In 9 chapters, Charles River Editors covered:

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CHAPTER 1: The Birth of Tombstone

CHAPTER 2: People and Businesses Come to Tombstone

CHAPTER 3: Tombstone Becomes a Town

CHAPTER 4: Entertainment

CHAPTER 5: Tombstone’s Chinese Heritage

CHAPTER 6: The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

CHAPTER 7: Revenge

CHAPTER 8: The End of Tombstone’s Glory Years

CHAPTER 9: The Legends and Legacy

(and BIBLIOGRAPHY)

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The O.K. Corral Then and Now

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Tombstone’s Fascinating History

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The chapters included lots of important background as well as the famous gunfight that stands as one of the best-known Old West showdowns in history:

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1. The original silver strike that brought people to mine…and the first mine named: Tombstone
2. Three towns that developed into tent cities, then finally adobe structures, to meet the needs of the miners.
3. The mines and the amount of silver bars obtained
4. Water supplies
5. Railroads and all it took to bring the line through Tombstone
6. Stage Coach and freight lines
7. Tombstone becomes a town, incorporated as a village
8. Population in the new counties and towns
9. Bearing Arms, gun rules enforced
10. Cowboys and rustling of cattle–forth and back across the Mexican/American border
11. Outlaws (McLaury brothers, Billy Clanton, Curly Bill Brocious)
12. Lawmen and law-and-order (Marshal Fred White [town’s 1st marshal], Marshal Ben Sippy, 3 Earp brothers: Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan, and John Henry “Doc” Holliday, then Johnny Behan)
13. The Clanton brothers
14. Restaurants and fine dining
15. Churches
16. Illnesses and disease
17. Cats and dogs–their value and the problems
18. Bordellos
19. Saloons and drinking
20. Theaters (Danner and Owens Hall, Sixth Street Opera House a.k.a. Free and Easy, Ritchie’s Hall, Turn-Verein hall, Schieffelin Hall, and the infamous Bird Cage Theater)
21. Fires and the first fire alarm
22. Gambling (gaming tables, cock fighting, horse racing)
23. Sports (fishing, baseball, boxing)
24. Chinese residents and Chinatown and prominent resident China Mary
25. Boothill Cemetery (and how it got its name)
    
26. Contributing events leading to the Gunfight at O.K. Corral
27. Stagecoach robberies and Wells Fargo Strongboxes
28. Vigilantes
29. Circumstances and dates of the brewing animosity and threats between the McLaurys and Clantons against the Earps and Holliday
30. Ranchers around Tombstone
31. Details that brought the fated parties nearer physically to the O.K. Corral
32. Other business establishments (Fly’s Boarding House, Harwood’s Boarding House, Fly’s Photography Gallery, butcher shop, dance hall, and many more)
33. Historic images of the layout of the town including streets and location of businesses, apparently drawn to scale
34. Location of the famed gunfight in relation to the O.K. Corral (and fact that they’re near one another but not synonymous, despite the historic name)
35. Details of the controversy about how the fight actually went down–differing stories have survived, including some of the dialogue. Some details survived because the Tombstone Epitaph had a great deal of coverage about the gunfight.
    
36. Who was killed, who was wounded, who died soon, who died later–and who was uninjured in the fight.
37. Plenty of corrals in historic Tombstone: Dunbar’s Corral, West End Corral, and the famous O.K. Corral.
38. The bodies of the “murdered” were put on display in the local undertakers’ window: bill Clanton, Frank McLaury and Tom McLaury with a sign that read “Murdered in the Streets of Tombstone.”
39. Though the newspapers originally sided with the Earps, an inquest was called by H.M. Matthews. Ike Clanton filed murder charges against Holliday and the Earps.
40. Defense attorney, Judge Wells Spicer, bail, threats of hanging, conflicting testimonies.
    
41. Town newspapers: The Tombstone Nugget and The Tombstone Epitaph.
42. and more!

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History of Tombstone in Photographs

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The kindle (and print, I assume) book/s contains pictures of various Tombstone historical subjects–both reenactment (modern) images of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and vintage photographs such as those below.

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“The Tombstone Epitaph‘s described the shootout, ‘Wyatt Earp stood up and fired in rapid succession, as cool as a cucumber, and was not hit.’ The San Francisco Examiner suggested that Tombstone’s residents should be grateful to have the Earps on their side of the law.”

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~ Legends of the West: Tombstone, Arizona, by Charles River Editors

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“In March 1881, a stagecoach robbery took place outside Tombstone. Sheriff Johnny Behan led one posse, and Virgil Earp led the other. Virgil Earp’s posse was a veritable ‘who’s who’ of Western lore. In addition to his brothers Morgan and Wyatt, his posse included Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, as well as Bob Paul and Marshall Williams.”

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~ Legends of the West: Tombstone, Arizona, by Charles River Editors

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“The 26th of October, 1881, will always be marked as one of the crimson days in the annals of Tombstone, a day when blood flowed as water, and human life was held as a shuttle cock, a day to be remembered as witnessing the bloodiest and deadliest street fight that has ever occurred in this place, or probably in the Territory.”

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– The Tombstone Nugget

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“In Tombstone, prostitution was a legal form of business and was not hidden. In fact, prostitution was expected, and there were plenty of townspeople who took issue with gambling but had no complaints about what happened in bordellos. Some women even freelanced out of their own homes with no outside interference.”

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~ Legends of the West: Tombstone, Arizona, by Charles River Editors

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Did you know lots of enjoyable FICTION is set in Tombstone, Arizona?

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Updated June 2022
Copyright © 2016 Kristin Holt LC
Book Review: Legends of the Wild West: Tombstone, Arizona (by Charles River Editors) Book Review: Legends of the Wild West: Tombstone, Arizona (by Charles River Editors)