Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Here Lies...

In honor of our trip to historic Tombstone today, I'm posting pictures of some of the restored tombstones at Boot Hill, Tombstone, AZ.

This first one was erected fairly recently in honor of a former slave, who was an AZ pioneer.

How would you like to be memoralized on a gravestone? "Here lies ..... ...., beloved wife, mother, etc. " How about some of these final resting place markers...

According to family history, Mr. Noonan was a lone rancher who was shot when he went out to chop wood.


Mrs. Ah Lum, born in China and buried in Boothill in 1906, had great influence amog the Chinese residents of Tombstone.

Mr. Heath was taken from county jail and lynched by Bisbee mob, Feb. 22, 1884. He was called the leader of the five men who were legally hanged and was said to have planned the robbery. He was hanged from a telegraph pole a short distance west of the court house.


Poor Mrs. Stump - not even given her first name - she died in childbirth from an overdose of chloroform given her by the doctor.


This is my favorite. "Here lies Lester Moore, Four slugs from a .44, No Les, no more." Moore was a Wells Fargo agent at Naco and had a dispute with a man over a package. Both died.


Marshall White's death is depicted in the movie Tombstone, starring Val Kilmer and Kirk Russell. Mr. White was accidentally shot as he started to take Curly Bill's gun.


Poor George Johnson really got a bad deal. A good argument against capital punishment, or for better investigation of crimes.

Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and Frank McLaury were murdered on the streets of Tombstone, 1881 - tragic results of the Gunfight at O.K. Corral which took place between the Earp Brothers with Doc Holliday, and the cowboys. Three men were killed and three were wounded. (see the movie Tombstone I mentioned earlier - a great movie.)

Frank Bowles' horse became frightened and threw him off. This caused a rifle to discharge and badly injure his knee. He lay in camp for several weeks without medical attention and when friends took him to a doctor for amputation, it was too late. (Information provided by his daughter). His marker reads, "As you pass by, remember this, as you are so once was I. And as I am you soon will be. Remember me".

That's just a sampling of some at Boot hill. I have lots more pictures from our trip to Tombstone today and I'll probably blog about them later. Lloyd and I were talking on our way home (a 3.5 hr trip - we had to do something to pass the time!!) and we realized that we're excited about this old west history because we were raised on cowboys and indians on television - Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, etc. But our children and their children weren't so they're not as enthusiastic as we are when we hear about and see these old places we used to see on television when we were kids. Pity - they've missed a lot. Oh well, that's why we blog about them!