Cold Case: The Tombstone Mysteries

Book excerpt: From the late 1870s to mid-1880s, Tombstone, Arizona, enjoyed impressive growth and prosperity as a result of the discovery of major silver deposits nearby. As in many boomtowns in the American West, its sudden prosperity attracted businessmen, outlaws, grifters, gamblers, prostitutes, and preachers. It wasn’t long before there was a desperate need for lawmen and law enforcement. Outlaws like Johnny Ringo, Curly Bill Brocius, Buckskin Frank Leslie, Burt Alvord, and a handful of other lesser known criminals, all faced off with the legendary lawmen, including the Earp brothers—Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan, and Warren—who to one degree or another represented law enforcement in this wild, no-holds-barred town. In addition to Tombstone’s reputation as a setting for colorful outlaw-lawman confrontations, it is also associated with a number of compelling and baffling mysteries. Ghosts are reported to roam the old taverns, hotels, opera houses, and other buildings. Eerie and unexplainable sounds and sights have been associated with Boot Hill, the famous cemetery, as well as the New City Cemetery. Cold Case: The Tombstone Mysteries investigates the real stories behind the mysteries, including unsolved crimes that await a solution. These old west cold cases continue to attract researchers and investigators to the town too tough to die.