History Archives - SouthernArizonaGuide.com

The Bisbee Massacre

On a cold December day in 1883, five men robbed the Goldwater & Casteneda Store on Main Street that substituted for Bisbee’s only bank. They did so believing that the mining company’s payroll was locked inside the store’s safe. What started as a quick and easy robbery ended in the death of almost a dozen people.

The robbers quickly discovered a problem. The mine’s payroll had not yet arrived. Foolishly, the five robbers stuck around to steal what they could from the store, its owners, and customers. This took time. Time they did not have.

Wyatt Earp and the Vendetta Ride

The Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone was only the beginning of the murderous conflict known as the Wyatt Earp Vendetta Ride, between Wyatt Earp, his brothers and their friends, known as the ‘Posse’ and the outlaw gang known as ‘The Cowboys’. ‘The Cowboys’ were about two-dozen hard riding, … Continue reading

Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday Accused Of Murder!

Boothill Graves Of Billy Clanton, Tom & Frank McLaury. "Murdered On The Streets Of Tombstone."

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.

The Roads Of Tucson: A Historical Perspective

The most common complaint I hear about Tucson is the awful condition of Tucson roads, particularly the proliferation of potholes. Every time this subject comes up I recall that Congress Street wasn’t even paved until 1912 the year Arizona became a state. From myriad accounts by travelers in those early years, any pavement was better than no pavement.

The Coronado Expedition: 1540-42

Coronado Expedition. Painting by Frederick Remington in 1898.

The story of the Coronado Expeditions is one of bravery, perseverance, high adventure, faith, and incredible greed. Between hiking trails and scenic back roads, we can retrace their historic route.

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.

Baseball History in Bisbee Arizona; Warren Ballpark

warren-ballpark bisbee deportation ballpark

Bisbee, Arizona boasts an exciting piece of baseball history. It is home to the Warren Ballpark, considered the oldest continuously used professional baseball venue in the country. The field was built in 1909, five years before Wrigley Field in Chicago!

The Truth About Geronimo: A Review

Like so many others, I enjoy local histories. Understanding history is how I get a sense of the places and people I visit as I travel around Baja Arizona creating my videos, photographs, stories, and reviews to share with you on my Southern Arizona Guide. Of late, I have been reading extensively about the Apache […]

The Wrath of Cochise, by Terry Mort: A Book Review

Most Americans know at least a little about Custer’s Last Stand, also known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The incident has an epic quality worthy of Homer’s Illiad or Virgil’s Aeneid. The battle took place on June 25th & 26th, 1876 between the combined forces of the Lakoda, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes […]

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough To Die Almost Did

By the 1930’s, Tombstone was dying. The mining boomtown of the 1880’s was long gone. In 1882, Tombstone residents numbered between 6,000 and 7,000. By the time these photographs were taken, the nation was deep in the Great Depression, and Tombstone was almost a ghost town.

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