Tombstone, A.T.

Book excerpt: Once nearly forgotten, Tombstone, Arizona, is trapped in myth and legend. Walking its quiet streets, one finds it hard to separate truth from illusion and remember this was a real town, not some Hollywood fantasy. Tombstone’s rough and rowdy exploits were reported from San Francisco to New York. William B. Shillingberg rediscovers the real Tombstone in this historical tour-de-force. The rough mining town of boomers and investors, of hard men and women seeking their fortunes, comes to life with startling clarity. Tombstone, A.T.: A History of Early Mining, Milling, and Mayhem relates true tales of those who founded and built the town, including the infamous Earps and Clantons. Shillingberg details life in a pioneer mining town, from the discoverers of the mines, Edward and Albert Schieffelin and Richard Gird, to the amazing cast of characters in the most celebrated gunfight in western history—the shootout at the OK Corral, between Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, Doc Holliday, and a gang led by Ike Clanton. And tales of John Ringo, Frank Leslie, and diarist George W. Parsons are filled with the famous and the notorious. Today Tombstone slumbers, a shadow of its faded glory, supported by clouded memories and tourist dollars. But the real story remains, and Tombstone, A.T. tells it.