One day in 1877 the prospector Ed Schieffelin stood in Camp
Huachuca and he looked at the mountains in the northeast. The rich
colors of the mountains looked very promising and he decided to go
there and dig a little. He told that to a soldier who was standing
beside him and the soldier warned him about Apaches who controlled
the area, and he sais to him "All you'll find in those hills is
your tomb-stone". In February 1878 Schieffelin decided at go alone
on the search for his fortune. He found a rich silver ore (on the
place were he was hiding in two nights for Apache Indians and in
the memory what the solder told him, he registered the two lots:
"the Tombstone" and "the Graveyard". He decided that his brother Al
shall see the ore and check the ore value, so he traveled all the
way to Signal (now ghost town itself). The brothers returned
together with Signal assay Richard K.Gird, who saw the ore value,
and talked the brothers into being their partner. On the way back
Ed found two more places with silver ore and registered the lots as
"Lucky Cuss" (he called him self that) and "the Toughnut" (he
counted that will be "a tough nut to crack"). 40 million dollars in
silver (value of 1.7 billion dollars today) was the result from
those and others mines in the area between 1880-1886. Tombstone
flourished under the hunt of silver in the beginning of 1880 and
was known as one of the most notorious and violence towns.
Tombstone was also the most cultural town in the West. The city had
4 churches, a shool, two banks, a newspaper ("The Epitaph"), one
opera house and about 15,000 citizens. Fire destroyed Main Street
in 1881 and in 1882, and every time was built up again. Ed
Schieffelin left Tombstone and he traveled after a new adventure to
Yukon. Tombstone was the place were men lived fast and died
quickly. The post office opened on December 2, 1878 and is still
not closed. The fight by the OK Corral in 1881 is remembered as the
mostly notorious fight in the history of the town. The main reason
for the shooting was the fight for political power in the new
grounded Cochise County. On the one side was Sheriff Johny Behan
and Clanton clan who ran "moonshine ranch" with stolen cattle and
Stage robberies. The (relative) good men were US Marshall Wyatt
Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan, and the known alcoholic
gunman "Doc" Holliday. On the afternoon on October 26 the Earp
brothers and Holliday came to corner of Fremont and 3th Street
where five young members of Clanton gang were looking for a
possible fight. According to the late explanation of Ike Clanton,
Wyatt Earp pushed his gun in Clantons stomach and yell "You son of
a bitch, you can have a fight." Clanton turned around and ran away,
guns and rifles send lead away, and in about 30 seconds 3 of
Clanton's men were dead and Virgil and Morgan were serious wounded.
The Earp brothers and Holliday were questened in the court and
found not guilty. Two months later around midnight masked men tried
to kill Virgil Earp, but they only invalided his arm for the rest
of his live. Three months after that, Morgan Earp was killed in a
pool hall. Wyatt Earp who worked outside the law to find the
killer, killed 3 men who were suspected for the murder of his
brother, and left Cochise County forever. Because of the many
killings almost every day, President Chester Arthur was ready to
send the military into the town when the troubles topped in 1882.
The town build a serious theater, but the town wasn't known for his
cultural life, but for the flying lead. After one hard period of
rain in 1886, water was flooding into the mines which collapsed and
that was end of mining. Charleston and Millville died and Tombstone
were serious "wounded". The numbers of citizens dropped but the
town survived. Mines started to open again in 1890 an those worked
until after the change of the century, when new flooding stopped
the mining. When the town lost the title as County town to Bisbee,
proclaimed the newspaper "Graham County Guardian": "Tombstone got
his dead stitch". The pockets of silver in the mountains are
changed to silver in the pockets by the tourists, and Tombstone is
still alive and lives good as a tourist town by its history.
Besides others, the Crystal Palace Saloon from 1879 was restored
along with the office of city Marshall Virgil Earp and Sheriff
Johny Behan; and the OK Coral which became famous in one turbulant
moment of shooting is open again. Allen Street (named after John
Allen), once full with bars, casinos, bordellos and the Courthouse
are restored. The original Cochise County Courthouse build in 1882,
including court hall and gallows are now a "State Historic Park".
In the northwest corner of Tombstone is famous Boothill graveyard.
West of the city, behind Boothill graveyard is one pyramid looking
stone monument that marks Ed Schieffelin's grave site, who wished
to be buried on the place were he hid for two nights from Apaches
shortly before he found the big silver ore.
MOGA MMIX (2009)
Welcome to Mark Twain Lake
and Mark Twain State Park.
In striving to make each MOGA competition
different and better than the last, The MOGA staff have hidden over
100 permanent caches around the Mark Twain Lake each with a western
theme. This cache will fall into 1 of the 4 different groups of
caches hidden around the lake.
- Ghost Towns - 30 caches named after
old towns from the wild west, all with their own special story.
They will range from a terrain of 1.5 to 3.5.
- Western Movies - 30 caches named
after some of the top 100 western movies shown in theaters. They
will range from a terrain of 1.5 to 3.5.
- Indian Tribes - 20 caches named after
the numerous tribes of the old west, with a brief history included.
They will range from a terrain of 2 to 4.
- Gunslingers - 20 caches named after
some of the famous lawmen and outlaws of the old west. They will
range from a terrain of 1 to 1.5.
Mark Twain Lake is accessible year round with
the exception of a special Handicap Hunt. During off season, you
must check in at the district office and let them know you are
hunting caches. A special window geocaching card may be issued.
Some areas of the recreation area can be gated so you would have to
park and walk in. Letting the office know will prevent a meeting
with a ranger and having to explain why you were back there in the
first place. During regular season, usually from April - October,
the area is wide open. Check the following websites for more
information.
US
Army Corps of Engineers - Mark Twain Lake.
Clarence
Cannon Dam website.
Federal Recreation Reservations.
This cache is placed on property
managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District,
Mark Twain Lake. A special thanks to Allen Mehrer, USACOE Forester,
who provided the Ammo Cans and recommended where to hide
them.
