Ed Schefflin was a miner; he cared little what the others said

If his tombstone was the only thing he found

What care he for that?

He had his pack mule; he had his mining gear,

He was free and happy, looking for that lucky strike

Imagine his joy to strike it rich that day in Goose Flats!

He was a silver miner but that was not all he found,

Nor was it all he left. As any miner will tell you

If it gets so crowded, you can’t hear your own pick strike the rock

That’s the time to pull up, sell out, restock your mule and light on out!

So sell Ed did and off he went, did he miss the big fight?

The one that everyone takes a part in, sooner or later.

Yes sirree, that there is the fight that all grownups yearn to play act

Seems the little cowboys and Indians stay inside all of us

Just waiting to come out, guns blazing.

There have been many re-tales of that Ok Fight at the corral

In reality, it was not pretty, nor strictly on the up and up

Worse, though the loudest called it revenge and eye for an eye,

Look a bit deeper; you will find the truth hard to digest,

It was money, land, power; swagger was all it was at stake.

Nevertheless, a part of history it was and will remain

And glad was I to walk the streets of old Tombstone

Glad to talk, laugh and beg the locals for their pictures

I told them they too would live on in history

As an article about Helldorado Days

On this, my favorite, HubPages!

Tombstone Arizona, what do you think about when you hear that said in a conversation? First of all, it’s probably not a polite conversation and secondly, you are probably having laughingly good time discussing past and future times in this historic city! Tombstone in the Chiricahua Mountain ranges, the Dragoon Mountains are visible from Highway 82. Cochise is in there, still, his body hidden with strong magic so he would never be disturbed. Tombstone was once the county seat of Cochise County, but later the seat went to Bisbee, Arizona, just down the road a piece. Funny to think of tombstone as a mining town, when there are none there, not since the founding fathers felt water was more precious even than the booze, which was always handy. A water pipe was dug out of the mountain and it flooded all the silver mines! Poor ole Tombstone, it really had a relatively short-lived time of rich and famous didn’t it? Yet here it remains, still living off the ghosts of its nefarious past! Goodness, the living make such a noise with all the reenactments even if the tales of haunting were true who would ever know? A ghost can’t even get a decent night haunting in especially during Helldorado Days!

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s all civilized and fun nowadays, yes, safe and entertaining, right down to a real stagecoach ride, sedately walking through town. Whew, the ride up that mountain in the 1800’s! Put yourself in one, ladies, in Tucson; you are going to Bisbee to visit your sick sister. Your outfit is cotton but your are still layered upon layered of cottoned up and bustled up and don’t forget your gloves, boots and parasol! The stagecoach rattles along a desert trail, hard packed dirt and dusty. No one knew about Valley Fever back then, wouldn’t have mattered if they did, the stagecoach has a lovely spring construction, especially once all six horses get to pulling hard and fast to get up those hills to Tombstone! So there you go springing and bouncing and more afraid, hot, and sore by the time you reach Tombstone.  Expecting a nice, long stop with refreshments and privacy for your toiletries what do you find instead? A town that has more saloons than it has streets! If you are there in the time of the silver rush there were over 100 saloons in the city all fully packed and running day and night! Three, at the least, owned by the Earp’s. The stagecoach has to stop for water and a change of horses, getting down to Bisbee will be a bit more terrifying by far! Deep gouges out of the mountain, going down to the bottom and the back of the Chirahauha Mountain Range. That would take a lot of sisterly love to make that trip!

That was then, now the stagecoaches are four horses, they go slow, the ride is a delight and you can imagine you are there, making the trip into Tombstone. Perhaps your imagination will bring you a story with less dust and more padding than mine just gave you. Besides the reenactments during Helldorado Days, all the stores are up and going full tilt. You will have the best time you have ever had in this little town so full of different and beautiful pieces of art, history, souvenirs. My favorite is Red Buffalo Trading, owned by Nell Kline and Mike Burns. Inside Nell will greet you with an infectious grin, her love of people shines through in her eyes! Of course, I am a bit prejudiced as Nell and I go back to the Tall Tales Days. I love you, Nell. Her store is an eclectic mix of western gear, beadwork that will make you swoon, strung beads in all colors of the rainbows, clothes and western hats, even branding irons and buffalo jaws! But oh my the art. One picture called Wyoming Girl looks like Nell, all decked out in her riding outfit. There is even a huge stuffed buffalo! Reminded my beloved and I of the stuffed Brahma Bull at the KOA camp in the Hole, Wy. Poor kids, we stuck them up on that old thing to take their picture, it was so cute, baby girl was so brave until she saw how high off the ground she was! But the buffalo is a reminder as well, of all that the desert, indeed, the West itself, supported all who dwelt in it, then and today. We are lucky to be a part of this desert, responsible for it as well. Thank goodness for our National Parks! Our loved stronghold is protected for all to enjoy. My David and I spent our honeymoon in the stronghold. It is comforting to feel a living connection with the land you stand upon. Cochise County has always had that affect on me. You can sense the people who were there before you, working, hunting, living life as they wanted.

Tombstone is an adorable town; all gussied up like the bawdy girls at any given night! One block off Allen Street is a clothier; she is extremely talented and will make you an authentic replica of an 1880 outfit! Oh but wait, your outfit is not complete yet oh no! You must have the parasol to keep the sun from burning your delicate complexion! You will find that parasol at The Shady Lady, just down from Nell’s store. Parasol in any color and complete in Battenberg lace. Oh, be still my heart! 

Helldorado is not all about the wonderful items to see and buy, you men will love the corner saloon, and their saloon girls have their own calendar! If you like, you can have a drink in the same place that the Earp’s and the Doc himself did, over a hundred and twenty years ago.  Lots of good fun and beverages are consumed over Helldorado Days in Tombstone! If I were a ghost, that would be the time to hang out, sit back and watch the show! We are probably way too tame for the likes of any Tombstone ghost!

Ok promise not to tell, cause you know the older we get the less we want to have our mug out there for all to see! The above is my best friend, my David, at our honeymoon campsite March of 1982. The next is three years later, of myself holding David Wyatt (now the USMC) and baby girl at my feet, daydreaming in the opposite direction of the camera! We are at Nells fur trading stand on the south rim of the canyon! David ad Nell were working, I just got to play all summer!