Western Sky RV Resort, Vado, NM and Maverick Ranch RV Resort, Lajitas, TX – October 19-25, 2015

Monday, October 19, we finished packing up and headed east to Vado, New Mexico, located just a few miles south of Las Cruces and north of El Paso, Texas. It was an easy drive this day—only about 232 miles. The only hiccup was missing the turn off the 2^nd round-about at our turn to the RV park, leading us to a local quarry. Thankfully, we had room to turn around and make the correction. We arrived to Western Sky RV Park in Vado, NM at 2 p.m. Mountain Time, meaning we also lost an hour heading east out of Arizona.

Here, without cable, we were able to pick up 40 HD channels from El Paso, Texas about 40 miles away on our TV, with our KING Jack Antenna! Yeah! That, coupled with our KING Dish satellite gave us plenty of entertainment when we weren’t out and about.


Monday evening brought thunderstorms aplenty! Wow! One clap made me almost jump out of my chair! I think this was a prelude to what was to come later in the week.

Tuesday we drove into Las Cruces to run a few errands, taking it easy after our travel day Monday.

Our day Wednesday was spent in Old Mesilla, an historic section of Las Cruces. What a charming area! It is the most visited historical community in southern New Mexico. Mesilla was a lively social center in the 1880s, becoming a prominent part of the rich history of the Southwest. Today, many of Mesilla’s residents are direct descendants of its early settlers. It has a rich and diverse heritage with the integration of Indian, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American cultures. The traditional adobe structures and architectural features still remain, even though some have been updated due to style and technology.

Mesilla, established as a colony in 1850, was under constant threat of attack from the Apache. By 1851, the attacks caused the U.S. to protect its people by establishing Fort Fillmore, (which was subsequently abandoned in 1862). By 1861, Mesilla had become the capital of the Confederate Territory of Arizona; in 1864 it became the headquarters of the Military District of Arizona. During the Civil War, 2 battles were fought at or in the town.

Mesilla, known for its cantinas and festivals, attracted such figures as Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and Pancho Villa. The crossroads of 2 major stagecoach lines (Butterfield Stagecoach and the Sante Fe Trail), it was the most important city of the region until 1881. It was at that time that the Sante Fe Railway wanted to build a railroad through Mesilla, but the people of Mesilla wanted too much money for the land rights. A nearby land owner in Las Cruces stepped in and offered free land, thwarting the proposed deal with Mesilla. Mesilla hasn’t grown much since; Las Cruces grew to being the 2^nd largest city in New Mexico.

We loved walking through Mesilla’s historic district, including Mesilla Plaza, which became a National Historic Landmark in 1961. The Fountain Theatre has been in operation since the early 1900s (with the exception of 12 years when it was used for storage or left vacant), presenting plays, vaudeville, light opera, lantern slide shows, English-subtitled films (most of the patrons were Spanish-speaking),  and finally the new “talkies” in 1929.

In the center of the historic district is the Plaza, featuring a large gazebo. At the time Mesilla was founded, the population was concentrated around the Plaza for defense against Apache raiders, a constant threat to the settlement. Many of the adobe buildings built during that time remain today, and have been transformed into shops, galleries, and restaurants. In 1957 the Plaza was declared a state monument of New Mexico because of its significance in the history of New Mexico as well as the U.S. 

 

We passed the Roman Catholic parish church of San Albino, originally established in 1852; the current structure was built in 1906, and is one of the oldest churches in the region, replacing the original building made of mud and logs.

The rain started to fall so we left Old Mesilla and drove into Las Cruces for lunch and a movie. Lunch was at Applebees, and as we were eating a thunderstorm hit with heavy thunder, lightning, rain and hail. Hail fell the size of quarters, but thankfully, no damage to our black truck. 

We decided to see “Bridge of Spies,” starring Tom Hanks as New York lawyer James Donovan, who was recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate the release of U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers, from the Soviet Union, who was captured after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. In exchange, the U.S. will relinquish a convicted spy, Rudolf Abel—if all goes well. This is not to be missed, and is one of the best movies we’ve seen.

By Thursday morning the rain had stopped, so Dick took a 50 mile motorcycle ride, through the countryside around Vado. He saw cows, cows, and more cows (I forgot to mention that directly across Highway 10 from our park were acres and acres of cows, all belonging to local dairy farms. Oh, the fragrance they can generate!), cotton fields, pecan orchards, an almost dry Rio Grande River, and about 10 sheriff cars surrounding a house. (I stayed home to work on Christmas gifts.) When he returned, we did preliminary preparation for our departure Friday morning.

By 9:50 Friday morning we were on the road, heading to the Maverick RV Resort in Lajitas, in the Big Bend area of Texas. It was a long day of driving (329 miles), and with losing an hour, we arrived at 5:00 p.m. It’s a lovely little park with 101 sites (most pull-through) plus a tent camping area. It’s affiliated with the Lajitas Resort and Spa, so we have access to all the resort’s amenities, as well as those offered at the RV park.

 Lajitas is located about 16 miles west of Highway 118 on Highway 170, and there’s not much here other than the resort. There is a general store, though, for essential purchases. The big draw is Big Bend National Park, about 40 miles away.

Saturday we were “home-bound,” with the cloudy, rainy remnants of Hurricane Patricia passing to the south of us. We’d have to wait for our first trip into Big Bend National Park ‘til Sunday.

Big Bend National Park encompasses more than 801,000 acres; it administers the international boundary between the U.S. and Mexico for about a quarter of the 1,000 miles. Much of that boundary is the twisting Rio Grande River. As its flow changes abruptly to the northeast, it forms the “big bend” of the Rio Grande, thus the park. Big Bend has the national significance as the largest protected area of the Chihuahuan Desert, one of North America’s 4 major deserts. Many of the park’s famous and expansive vistas mix scenes of both the U.S. and Mexico.

Sunday we drove into Big Bend National Park, and were amazed at the vast and different vistas that met us. It is really different from the central and eastern sections of Texas! We drove to Panther Junction Visitor Center to garner as much info as we could before venturing out. We watched a fabulous video on the park, narrated by Peter Coyote, giving us insight into the park, its history, and what we could expect to see. We were not disappointed!

Our first stop was at the Chisos Basin Road overlook; there we met Len and Angela from Atlanta, whom we talked with for quite a while (they were really interested in our RV nomad life!). From there we drove 6 miles to the Chisos Mountain Lodge where we had lunch as we looked out over the Chisos Mountains.

Then, it was back to the main road, and to Castolon/Santa Elena Junction where we connected with the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. This took us 30 miles to the Santa Elena Canyon Overlook, with a stop at the Castolon Visitor Center along the way.

The Santa Elena Canyon Overlook is right along the Rio Grande, where the river cuts through the Santa Elena Canyon. Cliffs rise vertically 1,000 to 1,500 feet above the Rio Grande, forming one of the most spectacular scenic wonders in Big Bend. The canyon is carved out of thick layers of limestone that were deposited as sediments in the shallow sea that covered the Big Bend between 60 million and 130 million years ago. Even though the cliffs are so high and sheer, the canyon is narrow (sometimes as narrow as 25 feet). Here the water is always cloudy from the sediment runoff; it flows quickly and looks deep in places, but at some times of the year the depth is only about 2 feet. Here's a video, as well as photos of the canyon.

We left the canyon late in the afternoon, but made a few stops on the way home to take a few more photos. We stopped at Tuff Canyon, and the Homer Wilson Ranch overlook (established in 1929 as the summer grazing land for 4,000 sheep and 2,500 goats). 

Then, it was a quick stop at the only grocery store in the area for a few items, and home. We’re here in this area until Friday, so there’ll be a lot more to share with you next week. Stay tuned!

Until then,

RJ and Gail

Valley Vista RV Park – Benson, AZ – October 12-18, 2015

We started out our week with a day of rest on Monday, knowing we’d probably be out and about the rest of the week. And…it being a holiday, we didn’t want to contend with hoards of people at the places we wanted to visit.

Tuesday we drove just a few short miles to the Kartchner Caverns State Park, which is just 55 miles southwest of Tucson, near Benson where we’re staying.

Kartchner Caverns boasts of having the longest stalactite formation in the world. The caverns were discovered in 1974 by 2 “cavers”, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts. While exploring, they found a narrow crack in the bottom of a sinkhole; they followed the source of warm, moist air to what ended up being more than 2½ miles of cave passages and caverns, untouched by humans. Realizing the value of their find, they knew they needed to work to preserve the caverns and protect them from vandalism. They kept the location secret from even the owners of the land on which the caverns were found until about 4 years later when they secretly approached the State of Arizona about developing the cave into a state park, to protect their find and allow controlled public access. When they took the head of state parks to the site, and still worried about the find getting out, they blindfolded him, driving a circuitous route to the site to further protect it. The discovery of the cave was finally made public in 1988 when the Kartchners sold the land to the state, in order that it be developed into a park to show the caverns. Prior to its opening in 1999, the state spent $28 million on site development, a high tech system of air-lock doors, misting machines and other equipment designed to preserve the cave.

The two major features of the caverns, currently open to the public, are the Throne Room (which features one of the world’s longest soda straw stalactites, which reaches 21’2” and a high column called Kubla Khan, after the poem), and the Big Room (which contains the world’s most extensive formation of brushite moonmilk; this section is closed from mid-April to mid-October every year to allow returning bats to use it as a nursery roost. Other areas available for viewing are the Mud Flats, Rotunda Room, Strawberry Room, and Cul-de-Sac Passage.

No photographs area allowed within the caverns; one is not allowed to carry anything into the caves, including cameras, cell phones, backpacks, purses, and strollers. Here’s a link to photos of the caverns for you to enjoy.

Inside at Taco Giro

Afterwards we drove to Sierra Vista, AZ for lunch, hoping to find an authentic Mexican restaurant where we could sooth our hunger pangs. We found just that, at Taco Giro, where we noshed on home-made salsa and chips, a beef burrito (made with real pot roast-like beef), chili rellano, and rice and beans. Yum-yum!

The day was getting warmer by the minute; when we walked out of the restaurant the thermometer on the truck was nearing 98 degrees. We made a decision to call it a day.

That is, until we passed a sign for Fairbank Historical Townsite on the way home.

Fairbank, now a “ghost town”, was an Old West railroad town founded in 1882 during the Tombstone silver boom, and from 1882 to 1903, Fairbank was Tombstone’s train depot. (Tombstone is located just a few miles away).  

Famous and some not quite so famous historical characters of Tombstone passed through Fairbank, and it was the site of an attempted train robbery on February 15, 1900. The Burt Alvord gang attempted to rob the express car on the Benson-Nogales train, but were driven off by express manager and former lawman Jeff Milton, despite a serious bullet wound to his arm. The robbery was unsuccessful, and gang member “Three Fingered Jack” Dunlop was mortally wounded, to die later in Tombstone. (We saw his grave marker at Boot Hill last week.)

 

When the Tombstone mines closed after flooding in 1886, Fairbank’s rail depot became increasingly unnecessary as nearby mills shut down. Subsequent droughts drove away area farmers and ranchers, further isolating the town. The later flooding of the San Pedro River in 1890 caused significant property damage, thus diminishing the population even more.

By the mid-1970s Fairbank was all but deserted. The buildings still left onsite are the schoolhouse, the stable and outhouses, 2 houses (one was used as the teacher’s residence) and the commercial building which consisted of a general store, a post office, and a saloon. The Montezuma Hotel, constructed in 1889 was demolished to make way for Highway 82, as was the railway depot and other structures.

We walked ½ mile to the Fairbank cemetery, which was atop a nearby hill and so overgrown with creosote that it was difficult to distinguish grave sites from just piles of rocks.

On the way back to our camper we stopped at the Holy Trinity Monastery in St. David, AZ. In the spring of 1974 a bishop from the Diocese of Tucson made a request for a Christian renewal center to be established in the southeast corner of the diocese. Later that same year they settled on 92 acres in St. David. In December 1974 ground was broken for Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. From a small nucleus of about a half dozen people, the church continues to thrive. Adjacent to the church is a small cemetery, now overgrown and in need of care.

Wednesday was another quiet day for us, just hanging around the camper, except for running a few errands.

Thursday we drove to Bisbee, AZ, about 40 miles away. Bisbee was founded as a copper, gold, and silver mining town in 1880, and is home to the Copper Queen Mine as well as the Lavender Pit. (Oh, and it’s also home to Sheriff Joanna Brady from J.A. Jance’s popular fiction series. I have to say that Bisbee is not at all as I envisioned it from reading her books.)

 

Mining in this small town proved successful with the opening of the Copper Queen Mine, and later in open pit mining of lower grade copper was successfully introduced to meet the copper demand during WWI. A high quality turquoise promoted as Bisbee Blue was a by-product of the copper mining. Museum collections worldwide hold collections of mineral specimens from the Bisbee area mines, and include cuprite, aragonite, wulfenite, malachite, azurite, and galena. Here’s an example of azurite found there.

Mining operations were halted in Bisbee in 1975, due to the decrease in the value of copper. However, we thought you’d be interested to see the value of what was mined in this area until the mines closed.

The effort to create “heritage” tourism as another economic base for the town helps compensate for the economic loss due to the end of the mining industry in the area. A mine tour and historic interpretation of a portion of the Copper Queen Mine is part of that effort. Community volunteers cleared tons of fallen rock and re-timbered the old workings. Through a grant from the Economic Development Administration the mine tour project and downtown improvements in Bisbee have come to fruition. Bisbee has become a tourist destination. The Queen Mine Tour was officially opened in 1976. Since then more than a million visitors from all 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries have taken the underground mine tour. We did the same. Here's a video of the miner explaining how rock was blasted.

Last week we mentioned that the county seat was moved to from Tombstone in 1929. Population has risen and declined over the years, due to the mining industry. It increased almost 160% between 1950 and 1960 when open-pit mining was undertaken, to almost 10,000 people. However, in the following decade the population declined again. 

In the 1960s Bisbee became a destination for artists and hippies who were fleeing the larger cities of Arizona and California. Even though the Copper Queen Hotel was for sale, offering the deed to any local resident for just $1.00, there were no takers. Then, an artist couple purchased the Copper Queen Hotel in 1970, renovating it and other buildings in downtown Bisbee. In the 1990s, people who were attracted to Bisbee opened coffee houses, myriad restaurants and shops, and live theatre—a thriving cultural scene. Many of the old houses have been renovated, and property values in Bisbee now exceed those of other southeastern Arizona cities. Because the town plan was laid out to a pedestrian scale before the automobile hit the scene, Bisbee is “compact” and walkable. The town’s hilly terrain is exemplified by the old 4-story high school; each floor has a ground level entrance!

One interesting thing to note is that AARP highlighted what they called the most “alive” places to retire in the U.S. Bisbee was runner-up as one of the “quirkiest” towns in America.

 

Friday brought a highlight to our week. Friends from Bay View, our winter destination in Texas, met us in Benson for lunch at the Horse Shoe Café. They were on their way from their summer destination in Idaho to Texas for the winter. What fun! We’ll see them again in about a month.

Friday night brought thunderstorms with rain until the early morning hours on Saturday. Saturday morning I did laundry, meeting a couple from Fernley, Nevada who were also doing their wash. They’re here for another week, heading to Fredericksburg, Texas for the winter. Later in the day, when skies had cleared, Dick took an 85 mile motorcycle ride through the surrounding area. Saturday night brought more thunderstorms and rain. 

Sunday after breakfast we drove to Dragoon, AZ to take in the Cochise Stronghold. We expected there to be a visitor center for more information, but all we saw were the Dragoon Mountains where Cochise and his people lived and hid out. We can certainly understand why he chose this spot, as you can see from the photos. Although Cochise died and was buried here, his grave has never been found.

 

Then, we drove another 40 miles or more to the Chiricahua National Monument. Known as the “wonderland of rocks,” this traditional haunt of Cochise and his Chiricahua Apache band was declared a preserve in 1924. The rock formations are unbelievable, and go on and on for miles. It is not to be missed!

As you drive into the Chiricahua National Monument area you begin climbing a mountain range that rises above surrounding grasslands. Cactus and mesquite are replaced with sycamore, juniper, and oak trees; then cypress, pine and fir join in. The air is fragrant with Douglas Fir. Then, rock pinnacles begin to loom over the road, and your breath is taken away. The Chiricahua Apache called these pinnacles “standing up rocks.”

Eruptions from nearby Turkey Creek Volcano spewed ash over 1,200 square miles. Geologists estimate the Turkey Creek eruption was 1000 times larger than the 1980 Mount Saint Helens eruption in Washington State. The Turkey Creek Volcano blew out 100 cubic miles of material while Mount Saint Helens produced one-tenth of a cubic mile. The super-heated ash particles melted together, then cooled; subsequent uplifting created joints and cracks. After eons of weathering by ice and water, weaker material was washed away leaving behind an endless variety of spires, balanced rocks, and other shapes.

The park comprises almost 12,000 acres; 86% is designated as wilderness. The 8-mile scenic drive from the visitor center to the summit of Massai Point is one of beauty and wonder. From the summit you have a 360° view of mountains, the pinnacles, balanced rocks and other formations in the park. 

We hiked the Massai Nature Trail and the trail to the Echo Canyon Grotto. Whew! We were at almost 7,000’, but we wouldn’t have missed this treasure!

By the time we were through hiking the trails we were famished. Pizza sounded good so we headed back for dinner at G&F Pizza in Benson. We were not disappointed. We ordered the G&F Combo with a thin and crispy crust. Yum-yum!

 

By the time we were done, the sun was setting. The sky was on fire between the heavy rain clouds that threatened the area. Beautiful! We leave you with this photo (taken with my phone).

Until next week, love ‘n’ hugs,

RJ and Gail

Casa Grande RV Resort to Valley Vista RV Resort, Benson, AZ – October 5-11, 2015

Monday morning we woke up to a wet and windy day. Dick spent some time working on one of the camper slides, and I worked on the blog from a week ago. We decided to take in some entertainment, so we hit the local theater and saw “The Martian” starring Matt Damon. Oh, and we saw it in 3-D. Excellent!

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) and his astronaut crew are struck by a fierce wind/dust storm. Mark sustains a direct hit by blowing debris and a strong wind gust. With the lives of her crew at stake due to the severity of the storm, the mission commander is forced to leave the planet. Separated from his crew, Watney is presumed dead and left behind. Watney survived the storm and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. His communications equipment has been destroyed so he’s not able to contact NASA. However, with only meager supplies and his knowledge as a botanist, he must find a way to live and let NASA know he’s still alive.

It was still raining on Tuesday, but had cooled considerably. This was one of the only days since we left Minnesota in mid-June that we didn’t need the AC! Wonderful!

Dick finished working on the slide, then took a 60-mile motorcycle ride to Maricopa and back to Casa Grande, hitting Walmart for a few items on his return trip. We did preliminary packing and preparation for our departure Wednesday, which always helps to cut ‘get ready’ time on our travel days.

By 10:15 a.m. Wednesday morning we were on the road, heading to Benson, AZ for a 12-day stay at Valley Vista RV Resort. It was an easy driving day for us, only about 116 miles. Perfect. And, the temps were cooperating, too: 74° when we left and 66° when we arrived.

Benson is located about 45 miles east-southeast of Tucson. Founded in 1880, Benson was a junction point for mining operations in the area, selected as the site to cross the San Pedro River. Today, the town of a little over 5,000 is perhaps best known as the gateway to Kartchner Caverns State Park (that we plan to visit before we leave this area).

I thought this was interesting: Just outside Benson is the 40,000 acre Jay Six cattle Ranch that has played host to political figures like 21-year old Joe and 19-year old Jack Kennedy, as well as Barry Goldwater. The Kennedy brothers were sent to the ranch in the spring of 1936 to work as ranch hands, and so that Jack could recuperate from a recent illness in the dry desert heat.

We arrived here early in the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 7. Although the camp is fairly old and our site isn’t quite level, we’re happy with it. It’s sheltered on the east and west by trees, and there’s a huge Saguaro in the front. To the back of us is a fence bordering a road to an assisted living facility so it’s not too heavily travelled.

We spent Thursday at the park, doing a 45-minute walk-about to take photos and enjoy the outdoors. During our walk, while walking on one of the park roads, an unleashed dog belonging to another resort guest charged us; thought we’d get hurt, but the owner managed to bring the dog under control. We did report the incident to the office; the manager said he’d take care of dealing with the owner/dog, but we don’t know the outcome.

Friday was our first touristy day, as we drove back to Tucson to the Pima Air and Space Museum, located just east of the Tucson International Airport. (We had been to the air and space museum in Dayton a year ago, so we were interesting to see the difference.)

The Pima Air and Space Museum is one of the world’s largest non-government funded aerospace museums in the U.S., funded only by admission fees, tour fees, and museum-store sales. Opened to the public in 1976, the museum itself features nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres. Since 1991, it is also home to the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame. The museum is also home to the “Graveyard of Planes” or “The Boneyard”, the largest aircraft storage and preservation facilities in the world. Really cool. Lunch was at the museum’s Flight Grill. Here are just a few of the almost 700 photos Dick took.

After over 5 hours of trekking through the air and space museum on Friday we took a day of rest on Saturday. Dick did venture out on the motorcycle for a bit, and had an exciting “race” with a young bull as he was travelling down one of the roads through an open-range area (no fences, livestock free to roam about). Thankfully, all were safe and the motorcycle won! While on his ride he came upon Gammon Gulch--pretty interesting.

Dinner that evening was at the very popular Horse Shoe Café, located in downtown Benson. Wow! There was hardly an empty table while we were there, and we sure can understand why, the food was wonderful, the portions immense, and service friendly. They’ve been in business since 1936, serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, and have a full bar. YUM-YUM!

Our next touristy day was Sunday when we drove 22 miles south to Tombstone, AZ. Founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin, a scout for the U.S. Army, headquartered in nearby Camp Huachuca. During his off-hours he scoured the wilderness looking for valuable ore samples. When a friend and fellow Army Scout learned what Schieffelin was up to, he’s quoted as telling him, “The only rock you will find out there will be your own tombstone.” Another account reported that Schieffelin’s friends told him, “Better take your coffin with you; you’ll find your tombstone there, and nothing else.” Huh. 

While working the hills east of the San Pedro River, Ed found pieces of silver ore in a dry wash on a high plateau called Goose Flats. When, several months later, he located the source, he estimated it to be 50’ long and 12” wide. Schieffelin filed his claim on September 21, 1877, and called it Tombstone.

Tombstone was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. The town prospered from about 1877 to 1890, during which time the town’s mines produced $40 million to $85 million in silver bullion, the largest productive silver district in Arizona. Tombstone’s population grew from 100 to around 14,000 in less than 7 years. During that time the town had a bowling alley, 4 churches, a school, 2 banks, 3 newspapers, and an ice cream parlor, alongside 106 saloons, 14 gambling halls, and numerous dance halls and brothels. Visiting troupes presented operas at the Schieffelin Hall opera house to the gentlemen and ladies of the town; the miners and cowboys saw shows at the Bird Cage Theatre, the “wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street (New Orleans) and the Barbary Coast (San Francisco).”

In the mid-1880s, the silver mines penetrated the water table; water began seeping into the shafts so pumps were installed, but the mines were soon flooded to the 600’ level and could not be worked. By 1886, Tombstone’s heyday was over. Tombstone almost became a ghost town.

Tombstone, however, is probably best known as the site of the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.” Only about 30 miles from the Mexican border, the area was an open market for stolen cattle by the “Cowboys,” a loosely organized band of outlaws. The Earp brothers (Virgil, Wyatt, Morgan and Warren) arrived on-scene in late December 1879 and mid-1880, and decided to take on some of the Cowboy members, namely Ike and Billy Clanton, and Frank and Tom McLaury. The conflict between the two parties escalated into a confrontation that turned into a shootout a block or two from the O.K. Corral (rather than Hollywood’s version of the gunfight at the actual corral).

We decided to take in the gunfight show at Doc Holliday’s Gunfight Palace depicting three historical gunfights. The first resulted from a disputed poker game with the dealer accused of cheating. In addition to the dealer’s luck at cards he was also lucky in the fight and took out the disgruntled card player. The second involved a dispute between mining partners over one partner’s poor management of the partnership’s finances. The partnership was dissolved with a bullet. See a video of this skit here. The final gunfight involved an unruly drunk with a gun, a terrible combination. Finally the bar owner had to put him down.

Tombstone became the Cochise County Seat in 1881, remaining so until 1929, when the county seat was moved to Bisbee, AZ. We visited the Tombstone Courthouse, built in 1882, that had housed the offices of the sheriff, recorder, treasurer, board of supervisors, jail, and Cochise County courtrooms. Exhibits include the history of Tombstone as a frontier mining boomtown, cattlemen and pioneers, reproductions of the courtroom and sheriff’s office; displays include a tax license for operating a brothel and an invitation to a hanging (a replica of the gallows is the courtyard, where 7 men were hanged). Except for an ill-fated attempt to convert the courthouse into a hotel during the 1940s, the building stood vacant until 1955 when the Tombstone Restoration Commission acquired it and began rehabilitation. The building opened as a historical museum in 1959.

Lunch was at the O.K. Café…umm, not so OK… Dick’s order wasn’t complete, and it took forever to get our tab and to-go box. The meal was so-so; Dick had a turkey sandwich and tomato soup, I had a BLT and coleslaw. We probably should’ve gone to the Four Deuces Saloon and Grill across the street. Oh, well…

On the way back to our truck we stopped in at the Bird Cage Theatre that I mentioned earlier, the most famous honky-tonk in America between 1881 and 1889. In the 9 years it was open, the Bird Cage never closed its doors. Before its operation would end in 1889, it would be the site of 16 gunfights—the 140 bullet holes that riddle the walls and ceilings are evidence. Named for the 14 bird cage cribs that hang suspended from the ceiling above the gambling casino and dance hall, it was from these that the “ladies of the night” plied their trade. The refrain for the song, “she’s only a bird in a gilded cage” became one of the nation’s most popular songs. Those cages remain today, hung with their original red velvet draperies and trimmings. Entertainment featured French circuit can-can dancers, risqué performances for the men, and national headliners. Directly below the stage are the wine cellar, dressing rooms, and the famous poker room, where the longest poker game in western history occurred: it was a house game with a $1,000 minimum buy-in. The game ran continually for 8 years, 5 months, and 3 days. The poker table still stands as was left, with its chairs on the dirt floor. A painting of Fatima, a famous 12-toed burlesque dancer at the Bird Cage, hangs in the bar. The painting stands 9’ tall, and bears the scars of 6 bullet holes, as well as that from a knife. When the mines flooded in the late-1800s, the Bird Cage was closed and boarded up, with all its fixtures and furnishings intact. For almost 50 years it stood closed, its contents touched only by time. As Tombstone’s only historic landmark in its original state, preserved from its beginning in 1881, the lighting fixtures, draperies, gambling tables on the casino floor, massive grand piano (still sitting in the orchestra pit), coin operated jukebox (still operating as it did in 1881), and the hand-painted stage with its original stage curtain, all retain the faded luster from its heyday. Oh, the stories they could tell…

As we left Tombstone, we stopped at Boot Hill, just on the outskirts of town. Of the more than 300 graves, more than 250 graves are marked in this burial plot laid out in 1878. For years it lay neglected until interested citizens of the town undertook the huge task of preserving what is seen today. The cemetery had become overgrown, going back to nature, but research and hard work gave us back this bit of history. A list of those interred here is available from the docents, for just a $3 contribution. It’s well worth the investment, as it helps provide a bit of the background of most of the individuals whose remains are buried here.

Buried here are outlaws with their victims, suicides, and hangings, legal and otherwise, along with the hardy citizens and refined population of Tombstone’s first days, including the 3 men who were killed during the famed Gunfight at the O.K. Corral: Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury. So much of the good and so much of the bad lies here; and, over the graves of both the good and bad is growing the plant called the crucifixion thorn.

Whew! That’s it for this week. We did a lot of walking and saw a lot of America’s history—wild west and aviation. Stay tuned for more! Until then,

Hugs ‘n’ love,

RJ and Gail