The setting is the Year of 1899...
On March 16, 1861 the southern half of New Mexico Territory had declared itself independent of the United States
In the summer of 1877 prospector Ed Schieffelin was working the hills east of the San Pedro River in the southeast portion of the Arizona Territory, when he came across a vein of very rich silver ore in a high plateau called Goose Flats. When Schieffelin filed his mining claim he named it "The Tombstone", after a warning given to him by his brother, "If you go back there, that place will be your "Tombstone"
The town of Tombstone was founded in 1879, taking its name from the mining claim, and soon became a boomtown. Fuelled by mineral wealth, Tombstone was a city of 1000 by the beginning of 1881, and within another year Tombstone had become the seat of a new county (Cochise County) with a population between 5,000 and 15,000.
Rich gold and silver discoveries drew eastern investors to this area. By 1880, copper was king, with mines operating at Ray, Clifton-Morenci, Jerome, Globe-Miami, Ajo, and Bisbee. Copper companies such as Phelps Dodge and the Arizona Copper Company built short-line railroads for the Mines.
Tombstone, like many mining camps in the Southwest, had a large Chinese population. They brought with them Chinese food, several laundries, ready-made household, labor, and drugs. Among them was China Mary who owned several opium dens. Around 1870, hundreds of Chinese were employed in the construction of the Southern Pacific railroad through Arizona.
Tombstone had been lobbying for a rail line since March 1880, when the Southern Pacific Railroad constructed its transcontinental route through Benson, only 25 miles to the north. The need for a railroad to encourage commerce by providing a reliable form of transportation for goods and passengers was seen as being of paramount importance. It was also needed to move ore from the silver mines around town to the mills along the San Pedro River.
Over the years, several projects were proposed, but never materialized. Stagecoaches and other horse drawn conveyances continued to be relied upon by the town for its transportation needs. The dream came a bit closer in 1882, when the New Mexico & Arizona Railroad was built between Benson and Nogales. The 88-mile line passed through Fairbank, located only nine miles from Tombstone. (It wasn’t until July 1902 Tombstone got a railroad))
Without railroad access the increasingly sophisticated Tombstone was relatively isolated, deep in a Federal territory that was largely unpopulated desert and wilderness. Tombstone and its surrounding countryside also became known as one of the deadliest regions in the West.
When the railroad construction was completed, all the Chinese laborers were let go immediately. The competition of less intensive jobs filled by the whites resulted in the Chinese exclusion Act of 1882. Born survivors, the Chinese managed to settle in nearby towns, finding work in the mines or being redeployed into the service industry.
The average wage for a miner was $10 a week. If a miner could prospect he could increase that amount. A school teacher and a Priest couldn't make much more than that. It was entirely possible the County Sheriff could make $40,000 a year in commissions. If this number is correct, the person who was Cochise County Sheriff, be it Wyatt Earp or John Behan, would stand to make nearly $800,000 a year.
The Army Base, Fort Huachuca was nearby and often brought not only the men on leave to our town for some livelihood and refreshment but also brought many a family to live in our town.
Fort Huachuca was built in 1870 in the Huachuca Mountains and designated a Fort in 1882. The headquarters for the Geronimo Campaign and main supply route always vigalent in resolving border troubles, renegade Apache, Mexican bandits, Outlaws and
Housing was sparse near the Fort and being the closest town with amenities,
Arizona was rapidly becoming known as the destination for the asthmatic and severely allergic population. The dry and arid climate along with the lack of the offending vegetation brought many easterners to our state. Tombstone would shortly become known as the town for Health, History and Hospitality.
Homes and apartments were being built to accommodate the influx of military families as well as those seeking better health
It was hot. It was cold. The wind was almost always blowing sand and dust. If you lived in a wooden house you were hot in the summer and cold in the winter.So often many did live in wooden houses as during the boom they were erected quickly.
There was a shortage of fresh vegetables and fruit. Beef was plentiful thanks to the enterprising auspices of a few legitimate ranchers and the cowboys who augmented their income with pilfered cattle. It was a meat and potatoes culture for the average person.
The late 1880's and up to the turn of the century found the silver mining industry failing as efforts to remove the seeping water that found its way into each mineshaft failed. Miners were disgruntled and soon found new employment in the copper mines of Bisbee and other new mining towns. Families were moving away and the town was soon becoming its predetermined status, a ghost town
Saturday afternoons could be spent watching a double feature. Grocery shopping, dropping off one's dry cleaning, picking up the pharmacy needs, or perhaps seeking refreshment at the soda fountain would have occupied one's days then. This was no ghost town. In fact, it was home to many, many families who were living in "The Town Too Tough To Die".
Many residents had continued to stay on here. Homes were still occupied and residents still met at the town hall for the political banter. Flour and coffee as well as other dry goods would have been purchased from the local market perhaps located on Allen Street. The ladies auxiliaries would have met and box lunch socials would have been prepared and anticipated. The town did not die
This is the state of affairs in Tombstone that you will be entering in 1899....
