The copper era. (Clifton, Graham County, Ariz.) 1899-1911, 1902-01-02
OLD-TIME SKETCHES
IIGItIIIiIIr
JIIlIlIlIIII
TOMBSTONE.

stone, which for years ha. been but a
memory, is about to be revivifed, anc
its streets may yet again re-echo The
familiar sounds of pistol shots, as il
the days OF yore, when man or two
for breakfast was no unfamiliar sight
5. T. Gage, man familiar to mining
fame on the western slope for the pas
thirty years or more, has secured con-
troll OF all properties considered OF any
value, and he proposes to unwater the
mines long lain idle, and to instill new
/ life into the once famous silver camp.
He has associated with him men or, ~
| limited capital, and they propose to
/ demonstrate their theory that deep
mining pays.
Tombstone was originally settled by
people from southern Majove county d.
The two Schieffiins, Ed. and AL, also
r. C. Gird and Judge Bidwell, the To-
Gators and owners of the bonanza
mines, hailed from Signal, on the
Sandy. Ed Schieffin was miner en-
ployed at the Signal mine, Dick Grid
was assayer at the same place, and
Judge Bidwell presided over the Tenn
pie OF Justice at the town of Signal,
eight miles distant from the Signal
mine. They were all poor in those
days, and comparatively respectable.
None OF them had acquired wealth or
fame, and Cnly one of them, Judge
Bidwell, wore a handle to his name.
The writer OF this article was also
employed at the Signal mine, and first
met Ed. Schieffin when he came into
camp late one evening with a mule
load of samples from the afterward cell
ebrated camp of Tom bstonc. Dick
Gird was pleased with the ores when
he first saw them, and he pronounced
them good.
The ores were tested by every meth
Cd then known, and their values being
established, no time was lost in prepar-
ing for Il trip to the new Dorado Ed. !
Schiefflin went ahead so as not to excite |
suspicion, and the others followed /
leisurely in wagons. Their secrecy, /
however was Of little avail, and within |
4 few week, every man in MajOve I
county who was foot loose, or could get .
away, was on the trail. When the .
Schie fllinGird crowd reached their
destination, they Immediately set to
work. Dick Grid, among his other
was a surveyor. and
when he and his crowd got through.
they had surveyed, monumented, and
Others had in the meantime drifted
n, and finding rich ore, the camp sud-
lenly sprang INTO fame and the name
u Tombstone was on every lip. As 10
Usual in such cases, the tough element
vas early on the ground, and by reason
II their numbers, they in measure.
an the town. AS was said of san
Francisco in tho sos, prior to the or
yanila;ion of the NiGilantcs, men who
would have to show recommendations
u enter hell, were welcome guests in
tombstone. They all had money, and
fter tho manner Of their class, thev
prnt 1t lavishly. 1t mattered not how
hey acquired their wealth, they had {
t and that was all sufficient. No
nolish questions wcro ever asked. {
Alder Randall OF Mineral Park, Mo. I
ave county, was Tomhstonc's first Z
mayor, and Frod White of Hack c
erry, was It's first marshal. Tho I
>avor was allowed 10 live out his torn q
ot'ice, but Marshal White was killed |
No night 10y Curlcy Bll Bin had Il
cen having somo iun with the lady
oarders at Josie Harcourt's (Rlack
ack's) seminary, aud Fred White,
rsidcs hoing marshal " the town, was 4
nslo's lover. The two men mot In tho |
ark, aud Marshal White, having Tho q
rop on BIN, ordered him to throw up f.
Is hands, which ho did. The Mar. 4
,al then told him To give up his gun, i
I'd to present IL butt foremost, which ~
9 started to do, and as White reached a
II II the pistol was reversed, shot q
'ng out on the still night air, aud II
arshal White dropped dead. As
urlcy claimed the shooting was acci- q
'ntal, aud as there were no witnesses n
the contrary, nothing came OF the
after.
1t may be interesting to state in
'eaking OF Tombstone, that it was b'
Vt lost when Ed Schiefflin found 1t. u
had been discovered years previously
: Lieutenant Mowray, dashing
yang army officer, who shortly after OF
e close OF the civil war was stationed
various posts on the frontier. Mowray =,
As the first man to find mineral any c
here in Arizona south of Tucson. He L
lilt smelter of adobes on the San
adro river, not far from Charleston.
ssldes working rich float found on
e site of Tombstone, he operated =
lite extensively AZ the Bronkow mine.
'out midway between Tombstone and Z,
q river. He and his men had sew
al brushes with the Indians. and
me OF his miners were killed.
The first sale ever made in Tomb -
one was the Contention mine, one OF to
g many claims belonging to the 7. or
& NJ. Co, as the Schieffiin-G n-Gird oo.e
mbination called themselves. Billy D
,rsons, an old California aud Nevada NJ
inc operator was the purchaser, and
ma ia sl0 OnD for ~ 7, Drorad - l..