Today we took a day trip to Tombstone, AZ which is southeast of Tucson about an hour. It was the name given by a prospector to his first claim because he had been scoffed at for seeking his fortune in the Apache territory and wilderness and told all he would find there was his tombstone. It became a prosperous mining town in the late 1800's attracting fortune seekers like the Earp brothers. Their conflict with the Clanton and McLaury brothers ended in the famous gunfight at OK Corral in 1881, though we were told today that it did not take place in the corral, but in the street behind the corral.
We also visited Boot Hill where the Clantons and McLaurys were buried. The epitaphs in this cemetery testify to the lawlessness of that era. Even after the mining peaked and tapered off, there was farming and cattle ranching in the area until the drought in the 1930's. Currently, tourism and western memorabilia are the main commercial enterprises in Tombstone.
When we got back to Tucson, we went the Campbell Ave river bridge hoping to see the Campbell Avenue Bat Colony that lives under the bridge and come streaming out by the hundreds about sunset. We did see a few of the bats, but unfortunately we got to Tuscon after most of them has migrated back to Mexico for the winter. They generally 'hang out' in Tucson from April to early October. We did see another nice sunset.
Today we took a day trip to Tombstone, AZ which is southeast of Tucson about an hour. It was the name given by a prospector to his first claim because he had been scoffed at for seeking his fortune in the Apache territory and wilderness and told all he would find there was his tombstone. It became a prosperous mining town in the late 1800's attracting fortune seekers like the Earp brothers. Their conflict with the Clanton and McLaury brothers ended in the famous gunfight at OK Corral in 1881, though we were told today that it did not take place in the corral, but in the street behind the corral.
We also visited Boot Hill where the Clantons and McLaurys were buried. The epitaphs in this cemetery testify to the lawlessness of that era. Even after the mining peaked and tapered off, there was farming and cattle ranching in the area until the drought in the 1930's. Currently, tourism and western memorabilia are the main commercial enterprises in Tombstone. 
When we got back to Tucson, we went the Campbell Ave river bridge hoping to see the Campbell Avenue Bat Colony that lives under the bridge and come streaming out by the hundreds about sunset. We did see a few of the bats, but unfortunately we got to Tuscon after most of them has migrated back to Mexico for the winter. They generally 'hang out' in Tucson from April to early October. We did see another nice sunset.
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