I was easily transformed into the historical feeling of Old Tombstone’s Wild West of yesteryears. Today, Wyatt Earp’s name was Kenn Barrett, a prominent citizen and a member of the Board of Directors of the Tombstone Chamber of Commerce. “Wyatt” is slight in frame and he looked like he had just stepped back into 1881 into Wyatt’s black outfit. As we talked, I could tell he was truly conscientious and devoted to keeping Historical Tombstone alive and memorable.) 

  
 Tombstone is in southern Arizona, in Cochise County, which is called the Land of Legends. Tombstone boasts of legends like Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, Johnny Ringo, the Clanton Brothers, etc. Even the most famous Native Americans, Geronimo and Cochise, were here in Cochise County.


 “In Tombstone, we celebrate the history and the legends,” Kenn said with a quiet modest pride in his voice.


 “When we grew up,” Kenn said, “half of the TV shows were Westerns suitable for children to watch like: Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, Davy Crockett, Gene Autry, and many more. In 1955, a TV series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, played by Hugh O’Brien, was considered the first adult TV Western. It premiered on a Tuesday and the following Saturday, one of the longest running TV series, Gunsmoke, premiered. Do you recall other TV Westerns like Lonesome Dove, Maverick, Big Valley, Bonanza, The Rifleman, The Wild Wild West, Rawhide, to name a few? 


 You might recall the author Stuart N. Lake who wrote the book, Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal. Many people considered this book to be the definitive story of Wyatt’s life. Others consider it highly fictionalized. In the book, Lake claimed that Wyatt told him that Ned Buntine, the famous dime novelist, bought five long barrel guns and gave them to five lawmen in Dodge City. Buntine mostly wrote books about the sea and the Wild West. Lake’s book about the life of Wyatt Earp became a classic. 


 In Western TV series, special guns were used. Each man, who was a featured star in the TV shows, had his own special style of firearm. Of course, from these popular Western TV shows, the merchandising of toy replica guns grew many businesses.
 Was there really a “Buntline Special”? Kenn looked thoughtfully and said, “We don’t really know for sure. After Lake’s book was published in 1931, many doubted that such a gun ever existed. No one previously had spoken or written about Wyatt having a long barreled Colt 45. Did he have a Buntline gun or not? When I was playing Wyatt Earp in the OK Corral shootout shows, I used my Buntline gun. Many spectators were impressed with the length of the 12” barrel, which I felt comfortable using for the shootouts.”


 I asked “Wyatt Earp” about the history of his town. He replied, “Here in Tombstone, we have a lot of living history. Our town is involved in keeping the history of the Old West alive. Many residents come into town, dressed in period attire, walk the boardwalks and talk to the tourists. They feel like they are playing a casual part of a character from Tombstone’s history and it inspires visitors as they talk with them.” 


 Some residents who have moved to Tombstone say, “I found something special here. It just reached up and grabbed me.” Kenn then commented about his own wife. “My wife grew up watching Westerns as a young girl and it was what drew us here.” Maybe together, I mused, it was special that a couple could help enliven the Old West in a town so it stays too tough to die. He paused slightly, then mentioned, “In Tombstone, it is Halloween every day. It’s the only place you can get dressed up and become part of history by walking the boardwalks of our town. It pleases me to see people dress up in period Western wear and walk around, blending in with the actors who are recreating the events that led to Tombstone being called ‘the town too tough to die.”

 
 “When I come to town from my ranch, I dress Western. Kids will always say, ‘Look Daddy, there’s a real cowboy.’ A lot of locals only come into town in Western dress, not necessarily period costumes. Even that is a good thing.” 


 “Some folks are like me and my wife who came here and dressed the “Tombstone look,” twenty-two times before we bought a place here to live and called it home. Just think, you can’t go to Disneyland and dress up like Mickey Mouse, etc., but here in Tombstone, you can be Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday or Big Nose Kate for the day!” 


 I asked Kenn about their huge fall event called “HELLDORADO.” His face lit up a bit and he enthusiastically replied, “It’s the biggest celebration we have each year and not to be missed. People from all over the world come to it. It happens on the 3rd full weekend in October. That would be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. People make annual pilgrimages from around the world for HELLDORADO. Some of the events included in this celebration are shows in the streets, gun spinning and bullwhip shows, gunfight shows, and the Tombstone Wild West Witches who put on dances. There is also a full parade. The calvary unit from the Fort participates in the parade along with celebrities and local politicians. There are lots of reenactments and activities for the entire family to enjoy and learn from us about the Wild West.” He added, “October 26th was the anniversary of the OK Corral Gunfight, which occurred in 1881 on Fremont Street, not inside the OK Corral stables.” 


 I learned at that time that there were two newspapers: The Epitaph, which was a Republican paper on the side of law and order and the Tombstone Nugget, which was the Democrat newspaper favoring the opposing side, which was mostly cowboys. I also learned that it was always these two factions opposing each other-- the law and the lawless. The lawmen cared about bringing law to the Wild West. The lawless were the cowboys who would go over the border to Mexico and steal cattle and bring them back to Arizona. They would sell them to the government to feed their soldiers and to feed the Indians on reservations. They sold the cattle cheap to local businesses who just wanted the meat. They figured it was no skin off their noses. 


 Kenn said, “To set the record straight: For years, the OK Corral shootout was called the “Street Fight”. That was the day the cowboys were in town to assassinate the Earp’s. Normally, when riders came into town, they first went to the stables (like the OK Corral) to board their horses. It was illegal to tie your horse up on main street in order to keep it clear for businesses; although, you could use side streets. You couldn’t carry a gun in town, but you could wear them in the livery stable area. And it was okay to carry guns in your saddle bags when checking into a hotel. 


 That fateful day, the cowboys rode into town and waited to ambush the Earp’s. They skulked around the back of the livery stables and started down Fremont Street with their guns. 


 “The Nugget Newspaper tried to say they were legally carrying their guns, but that was not so,” Kenn said seriously. “Next came what is termed, 'The Walkdown’ — the moment when the law and the lawless met up and thus began the shootout at the OK Corral.” 


 Who was alive after the shootout? Wyatt Earp was the only one who was not shot. Although many bullets were fired at him, they missed him, and it was believed that Wyatt shot the shooters. Virgil Earp got shot in the leg. Morgan Earp was shot in the shoulder. Doc Holliday was wounded in his right hip. The two McLaury brothers, Tom and Frank, and 19 year-old Billy Clanton were killed. Ike Clanton ran away from the gunfight. He was told by Wyatt to “Git to shooting or get out!” 
 After the shootout, there was a hearing to see if the Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday would be charged. Whenever someone filed a complaint, there was a preliminary hearing to see if there was justification for a trial. Wyatt was accused of murder twice and released twice. The Judge, after long consideration, determined there was not enough evidence for a trial.


 “How about today’s young people who didn’t grow up watching the Western movies?” I asked Kenn. “Come to Tombstone to learn about living history,” Kenn urged. “When our generation is gone, will there be enough people interested in the genuine history of the Old West to come here and experience its history?” “When the movie, Tombstone, came out, our tourism really shot up. 

 One time, my wife and I, in full period dress as Josie and Wyatt Earp, were part of the entertainment at a Tucson medical convention. A doctor came up to us and asked why we were dressed that way. He was born in Tucson, grew up there, and went to medical school, but he had never been to Tombstone or read about the history of the Old West. He didn’t even know the name of Wyatt Earp! When people don’t know the name of a person or place, how can they care about it? Our history has meaning for us because we grew up with Western TV shows and movies. We are concerned that twenty years from now, when we are gone, how many people will care about Wyatt Earp and Tombstone unless another movie comes out? “Well, I hope it does!” I assured him. “I would love to bring friends to see it, especially if they grew up without the rich and rugged history of Tombstone.” 


 I asked him what frequent questions he gets asked. “Well, just so you know, the town never closes, but shops open at 10 a.m. And there is no charge to enjoy Tombstone’s town. Some of the shows, gunfights, and museums have nominal charges. See website: www.tombstonearizona.com for more information.


 Another name worth mentioning is the man responsible for starting the real Tombstone. One historical story reports that prospector Ed Schieffelin was at Fort Huachuca. He decided to go out and look for silver and gold. He told his plan to the soldiers stationed at the fort. They laughed and told him, "The only thing you'll find out there is your own tombstone." But Ed Schieffelin did discover silver and he named his strike, “Tombstone.” The town that grew up around the mine took the name Tombstone in 1877. He was a prominent figure in the founding of this town. He requested that when he died, wherever he was, that his body be returned to Tombstone and buried, not in a graveyard, but put in the sagebrush. His wishes were granted upon his death in 1897.


 Tombstone became one of the last boomtowns in the American frontier. Kenn added, “The main thing about Tombstone’s history is that you can come here and live that history. People are intrigued because it’s like a time machine…you can literally step back in history here. You can see the people and the town as it was in 1880; we never became a ghost town. Our population was down to 500 people; that’s all. We owe a lot to some of the business people who redid their businesses, for example: Miss Kimmy redid the Crystal Palace.” 


 Kenn commented, “I saw an old guy walking down the street with a tear in his eye and he said, ‘I made it. I finally made it! It took me 80 years, but I finally made it to Tombstone.’ Coming to Tombstone was on his bucket list since he was a little kid.” 


 I decided to take my photo with “Wyatt Earp.” We stood on the main street with the OK Corral as a backdrop. As I looked to the side of the street, I saw a couple with a little boy decked out in western wear and a cowboy hat. I could tell that his parents were eager to see if my “66Wyatt Earp” would talk to him. The little cowboy eyes were filled with wonder and awe. “Wyatt” turned to the little boy and asked his parents if he would like to have his photo with him. The little boy, shy and smiling, approached his Western hero. I could see after their photo that both of his parents and the little cowboy would be talking about that moment for a very long time. I smiled at “Wyatt” and silently gave a “hooooorah!” for the West will stay alive a little longer!