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Tombstone's Epitaph: The History of a Frontier Town as Chronicled in its Newspaper

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Using articles from the pages of Tombstone, Arizona's major newspaper, the Epitaph, and some pieces from a rival paper, author Martin paints a vivid picture of life in this booming mining "camp" as it is referred to. Besides plenty of bordellos and saloons to divert the hardworking miners, the affluent citizens of Tombstone enjoyed concerts, elaborate parties, and social events of various sorts. The exploits of some of the more colorful lawmen and outlaws (sometimes they were one and the same) of the Arizona territory were chronicled in the Epitaph's florid articles, and the much-recounted shootout at the OK corral is detailed (Epitaph writers went into almost clinical detail in describing gunshot wounds). The last part of the book covers a disastrous blaze in one of the mines that shut down mining and the town and then presents a series of exuberantly optimistic articles in which new investors and mining engineers restore mining activity by installing massive pumps to keep groundwater from invading the ore face. However, by 1908, the water had overwhelmed all efforts, and Tombstone camp ceased to produce ore once and for all. The book suffers some from the author's rather awkward writing, but the book is mostly taken directly from the pages of the Epitaph, and his selection of colorful and evocative prose by various Epitaph editors and reporters conveys the life and times of this vibrant community very well.

This book is certainly fun to read, but don't get the idea that it will give you a complete history of Tombstone. Those who want that will need to look elsewhere. This book is no more than what its title says it is, perhaps a little less. It is chock full of old Epitaph articles on the more colorful occurrences in Tombstone's history. It was a decidedly partisan newspaper, and regrettably, the reader doesn't get to see the opposing articles from "The Nugget", which was the Epitaph's nemesis during the Earp-Clanton days. The book also ends rather abruptly without any attempt at summation.

Nevertheless, for light reading this book is very entertaining. I recommend it on that basis.