Bisbee Az (three postings)

Took a day trip from Benson down to Bisbee. It is about 55 miles south. Bisbee is a mining town that is still in operation but not to the scale it once was. Just a little south of town the open mine pit is located. The picture does not due justice to the size. The historic downtown section of Bisbee is full of old building that are really works of art themselves. It was difficult picking a few pictures to show the style of the town. Most of the building now are shops. The large building with the arches is still a libary. The streets are not level and there is a climb, the photos does not show it. We took a picture of some of the stairs that are throughout the town. There are a couple hotels and a bed and breakfast and several places to eat. Just south of Bisbee (about 6 miles) is the town of Naco and it is on the border of Mexico. There is nothing there as far as shops or stores but the main draw is a rv park and the oldest golf course in Az. We drove down and took a look. Very nice looking course, well taken care of. We are moving to Tucson for a few days then working our way to Sacramento area. Weather is warm and a little windy (STILL wearing shorts)

more Bisbee

As you can see Bisbee is built into the hills. A lot of the homes do not have roads to them, you have to climb steps to get to the house. Walking around town is a chore because of the steep streets. The picture of the lady standing in the doorway is a small, very small shop. She said it is the third smallest business in the USA. The door opening and the little glass window to her right is the width of the business and it is about 30 deep. She sells honey that the produce locally.

more Bisbee

A few more pictures of town. The large brick building is now a tavern and a few shops. Across and up the street is St Elmo a bar that is a locals hangout. It claim to fame is it is the oldest bar that has never shut down or been something else. The picture of the strange looking house is a home that someone has created. There is a fair amount of artist/hippy types in Bisbee. The market has been in operation since 1924 and remains the same inside. Makes Joe's look like a supermarket.

Wilcox Az (double post)

There is alot of history in this area and Wilcox has it share. One thing that was interesting is that Warren Earp was killed and buried here. He was the youngest Earp and was in Tombstone but did not take part in the famous gunfight. He quit lawman and left the area, then returned to Wilcox driving a stagecoach. Got into a argument in a bar and was shot. We went to the cemetary and saw his grave. Also near by is the Cochise Stronghold. It is located in the mountains and Cochise and about 200 indians raided the area from there. The army never could get them out. We walked around Wilcox historic area, most of the buildings still are in use but not what they were first used for. For example, the Rex Allen museum was once Schley Saloon. The picture of Jackie and I was taken in the Palace Saloon. (used the bar mirror to take it) It has been a bar since 1905, before that it was a butcher/meat market and a restaurant. The picture with the stop sign in the background on the corner was a bar named Headquarters Saloon and that is the saloon that Warren Earp was shot on July 6, 1900. The weather has been in the low to mid 80's but dropping down later this week. We still have to turn on heater in the morning. Desert weather, cold at night and hot in the day. Today is Saint Pattys day, so corned beef in the crock-pot.

Wilcox Az (double post)

Wilcox is a small town located about 75 miles east of Tucson. Its claim to fame is Rex Allen. The town was a construction camp for Southern Pacific Railroad and was named Maley. In 1880 it was rename Wilcox in honor of General Orlando B. Wilcox. It was a major rail depot for ranching and cattle shipping. It still is a large farm and cattle area. Rex Allen was born here and became a country music star and movie actor. Similar to Roy Rogers. He did over 30 movies and had a hit song "Crying in the Chappel.

Benson Rv Park

Home sweet home. A few pictures of the rv park we are in. The picture to the right in the near background there are 3 buildings, the middle one is the golf course. This is the view out our back window. The picture with the chain link fence was taken when we had strong winds, the dust storm doesn't show up well but take my word it was dusty. We had to close up the trailer. I am able to take Pepper out into the field and let her run around without a leash. We went to Willcox Az yesterday and may get that on the blog today. It was nice outing. There is much Indian history in this area. My Indian roots were the Cherokee and the Okie. On my dad's side his great grandmother was on the Trail Of Tears. The Cherokee were considered a beautiful tribe and by my handsome looks it is easy to see I have Cherokee blood. (just a drop or two)

Question? What do you see in Tombstone? (double post)

A cowboy, a tourist and a cowgirl !!

Tombstone

There was a lot of interesting history in the 10 years of the boom of Tombstone. It was considered the most bloodiest town in the USA. In the intersection of 5th and Allen there were 75 gunfights. We all know the history of Wyatt Earp and his brothers and Wyatt's house still stands (there is a picture of it on this post). There is no record of the other brothers owning a house. The main street of town is a mall for shopping (typical tourist stuff) with a few historic buildings. One of the old saloons is now a very exciting place to buy tee shirts, ball caps and junk. But I was suprised that durning the its hayday Tombstone had 195 bars on the main street and 3000 prostitutes worked the town of 10,000 men. Another town built on the backs of the working woman. We are going to go back again, we didn't get to the court house and a couple other things. We are 23 miles north of Tombstone so its a short drive.

Boothill in Tombstone

We visited Tombstone yesterday and the 1st stop was Boothill. It was laid out as a burial plot in 1878 and was called the Tombstone Cemetery. Most of the old cemetery is now parking lot and highway but the most famous gravesites still exist. They did studys thru the Arizona Historical Society and identified they gravesites. Tombstone was a tough town and a lot of people were killed, they had 2 mortuarys and both were busy. At its peak they say about 15000 to 18000 people lived here. Bigger than Los Angeles at the time. We are staying about 25 miles north in Benson. Next posting I will have pics of downtown. Weather is warm and will be in the mid 70's for the next 10 days. Today I golf. We are parked less than a mile from a 18 hole course. If you bring in a receipt from the rv park they give you a local rate. $20 with cart after 1:00. Pepper likes the location, we are backed up to several acres of unused land and I can let her run without a leash. Oh, the old movie 3:10 to Yuma, well we are about a mile from the tracks. Trains heading toward Yuma pass by "with horns blasting" at 3:10, 4:10, 5:10..............midnite......you get the gist.