Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday Accused Of Murder!
Following the Gunfight at the OK Corral, Ike Clanton filed murder charges against the Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, as well as Virgil and Morgan Earp who had been wounded in the gunfight.
Continue readingCategory Archives: Old West
John Clum: The Only Man To Ever Capture Geronimo!
John Clum became one of those legendary characters from Tombstone’s infamous past. His life before Tombstone is just as interesting, but that story is known only to a few. He was born in upstate New York in 1851 and attended a military academy before enrolling at Rutgers College where he … Continue reading
Ever Heard of a Heliograph? It Was Used in Arizona Territory
Do you know what a heliograph is and what it’s most famous use was for? The heliograph was a mirror attached to surveying equipment that sent beams of light several miles using Morse code to alert the next station of upcoming newsworthy events. In the case of Arizona, the heliograph … Continue reading
Who Killed Johnny Ringo?
Almost everything we “know” about the outlaw gunman Johnny Ringo is either factually inaccurate, unsubstantiated hearsay, or intentional embellishment by authors to sell their books and magazine articles. Here is what we know with a reasonable degree of certitude. We know he was born in Indiana in 1850 and died … Continue reading
The Camp Grant Massacre: Part I, Circumstances Leading up to the Slaughter
How Tucson’s Wealthiest & Most Prominent Civic Leaders Committed Mass Murder & Got Away With It. Today, there’s nothing there. Nothing to suggest what happened in the early morning of April 30, 1871. Nothing to commemorate this blood-soaked ground where between 118 and 144 people, almost all women and children, … Continue reading
Exploring the Millville Ruins with the FSPR
Ever since Jim and I have been travelling to and from Tombstone I have been curious about the Millville Ruins, stone structures outside of Tombstone about 8 miles. They sit on the side of a hill facing the San Pedro River to the west as it meanders northward. My opportunity to … Continue reading
Katie Elder,a.k.a. Big Nose Kate, Her True Story
Katie Elder was more, much more, than the title character in John Wayne’s 1965 western, “The Sons of
Katie Elder,” She was more than the portrayal by Faye Dunaway in the 1971 film “Doc.” Katie Elder was
a real person, whose background was perhaps more plaid than checkered. For one thing, there were all
those names.
The Most Extraordinary Presidential Inaugural Parade
Theodore Roosevelt, often referred to simply as TR, was a highly successful American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer … this latter much to the chagrin of the rich and powerful; particularly J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller; and Andrew Carnegie … not to mention the political bosses of his … Continue reading
Tucson History As Told By People Who Lived It
Throughout the history of Tucson, people who lived here, and others who were just traveling through, occasionally recorded their impressions. These hardy pioneers left us with a way to peak into our past though a tiny knothole in time.
Continue readingTour Pearce AZ: A (Sometimes Lively) Ghost Town!
A few people still live in Pearce, AZ. They enjoy the solitude and long north-south expanse of the Sulfur Springs Valley. Not far to their east are the magnificent Chiricahua Mountains where the National Monument hosts what the Apaches called “Standing Up Rocks”. Close by to their west are the … Continue reading