Travel Guide Tombstone

When prospecting in the area in 1877, Ed Schieffield was told by soldiers at a nearby outpost that all he would find here was his tombstone. In reality, he discovered silver - the equivalent of $37 million in less than ten years - and renamed the town Tombstone. With its mines and 10,000 inhabitants by 1886, it rivalled Tucson in the silver rush. The area had already become part of Western legend five years earlier, in 1881, for the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral - a horse corral - during which the lawman Wyatt Earp distinguished himself. Every day at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., the scene is re-enacted by shooters - information here: www.ok-corral.comTombstone now looks more like an amusement park than an authentic Wild West town of the time, but two or three hours spent on its dirt streets allows visitors to immerse themselves in the world of westerns. You'll enjoy strolling through the souvenir stores where vintage clothes and Stetson hats rub shoulders, trying to find money in Old Tombstone and having a beer in Big Nose Kate's saloon.