History | Interesting Facts

In 1877, with a prospector’s outfit and .30 cents to his name, Edward Schieffelin headed for the Apache country, east of Fort Huachuca, to look for silver. When soldiers at the Fort heard of his folly, they laughed and told him all he would find in those hills would be his own Tombstone . . . meaning that the Indians would surely get him. In late August of 1877, Schieffelin made the first of many silver mine discoveries, and named his first mine "The Tombstone." By 1879, the boomtown of Tombstone arose. By 1883, the mining district was one of the largest population centers between St. Louis and San Francisco.

The infamous 30-second gunfight that took place on October 26, 1881, at the rear entrance to the O.K. Corral forever immortalized Wyatt Earp and Tombstone itself. It elevated both to a mythical status in the annals of the American West, and Boothill Graveyard, last resting site of the OK Corral dead, became the most famous graveyard of the West.

A terrible fire in 1882 and the failure of the silver mines nearly ended Tombstone, but it survives today, both a vibrant town and a historic landmark. That's why we're known as "The Town too Tough to Die"!

The City of Tombstone was given designation as a National Historic Landmark District in 1961 as "one of the best preserved specimens of the rugged frontier of the 1870s and '80s." National Register Number: 66000171. 

Mrs. Laura Bush designated Tombstone, Arizona as a "Preserve American Community" on January 21, 2009.  The Preserve America initiative is a White House effort to encourage and support community efforts to preserve and enjoy America’s priceless cultural and natural heritage. “Sustainable historic preservation is a wise investment in the future, not a cost for maintaining the past. Communities and the nation receive significant economic, educational, and cultural benefits, including heritage tourism, in return for their preservation efforts,” See our Press Releases page for more information.

You'll see Tombstone's pride in its history displayed in its excellent museums, reenactments and other historic special events, and the preserved historic sites themselves. Come see for yourself what makes Tombstone "The Town too Tough to Die"!