A few days before Christmas, I drove 45 miles southeast of Tucson to visit that legendary town from the old west, Tombstone, Arizona…”the town too tough to die.” I really picked a good time to go as there were very few people in town that day. One employee there told me that had I come just a week later, the town would be jam-packed full of tourists.
Tombstone is built for tourists…or as it is sometimes called, a tourist trap. Within five minutes of my arrival, I was laughing to myself as it reminded me so much of Leavenworth, WA…a tourist town in the Pacific Northwest where I spent a great deal of time in the last few years exhibiting my art. If you have not been there, Leavenworth a Bavarian-theme town set in the mountains that look similar to those in Bavaria.
The difference between Tombstone and Leavenworth (besides the obvious) is the former has a long history as an old west icon…whereas the latter was built from scratch from an ex-lumber town that was dying. Both attract lots and lots of tourists and their dollars. One friend of mine referred to Leavenworth as a cheap date for people from Seattle. I am not sure the same can be said for Tucson residents.
It’s obvious that downtown Tombstone was remodeled to present the downtown you see today, although a great portion of the old town still remains. You can still go into the Bird Cage theater and see the bullet holes from when cowboys shot their pistols in the air to show their approval.
Old Tombstone is three long blocks long and offers all kinds of old-west style shops for you to spend your money. While shop workers in Leavenworth wear Bavarian costumes, folks in Tombstone wear cowboy outfits. And there also any number of cowboys wandering around town along with horses, stage coaches and buckboards. It’s kind of fun, actually.
Here are a couple of observations I made while there:
There are two art galleries in town featuring paintings and photographs of mostly western themes. In a word…the art shown there was God-awful…along with the prices. While not being an trained art critic, I know bad art when I see it. And the photographs…I would be completely ashamed to show such terrible photos if I had taken them…and they were so overpriced. Talk about a holdup (that’s a joke)…
There is also at least one photography studio that I saw where a family can go in and dress in Old West outfits and have their picture taken. The pictures turn out well and I am sure that the families who have done this still enjoy them…except when you stop and think about it…the men pose as cowboys and the women pose as saloon gals…who, in those days, also doubled as prostitutes. Now, I am not sure I would want to have a photo of my daughters posing as prostitutes. Just a thought.
I enjoyed some of the town’s employees wandering around the town dressed as authentic cowboys…but it should be a policy that they must go somewhere less public if they want to use their cell phones. Sort of spoils the illusion.
If you like history, you will enjoy wandering around the office of the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper. It also has a permanent place in the history of the Old West. The same can be said for Fly’s Photography Studio.
I hope I didn’t sound too negative here as I enjoyed my brief time there even though my wallet stayed mostly in my pocket. I would like to go back again and focus on some close-up photo opportunities.
Now, you may have noticed that I have not mentioned the town’s most famous event…the gunfight at the OK Corral. Well, that is because I am saving it for my next blog. Stay tuned.
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