Tucson, Tombstone & Bisbee

At the end of February, Carolyn and I made our annual pilgrimage to Tucson. We had a great visit to the Saguaro National Park where we spent the day hiking. The park features miles of trails from which you can see more than 50 species of cactus as well as a wide variety of other desert inhabitants.

If you ever get lost in the desert, the Barrel Cactus will help you get your bearings. It always leans to the south as it orients toward the sun.

Can you see the jack rabbit? (If not, click on the image to enlarge it.) This guy was bigger than either of my two dogs.


Here you can see a cactus condo. Woodpeckers have made homes in the top of this saguaro. A woodpecker will live in the home he built only one year then will abandon it. Other species of bird will use it in subsequent years. (The woodpecker chooses a new mate each season. Apparently the new wife refuses to live in the old house.)

The life cycle of the saguaro is fascinating. They can live to be 200 years old. They grow very slowly and take 50 or more years before they grow their first arm. To preserve precious water, they sleep during the day and wake up at night to engage their metabolic functions. This saguaro has an arm that has drooped and twisted. This is the result experiencing a very cold night. The cellular structure broke down. You can see at the tip that it is just beginning to arc upward again.


There are so many saguaros in the park that you would think that the cactus easily reproduces. That is not the case. In its lifetime a saguaro will produce a million seeds. Due to the difficult conditions a saguaro is lucky if one seed survives to create a successor plant.

While we were there, desert plants were just beginning to flower. One of the first do to so each year is the Fairy Duster seen here.


This cactus has produced its fruit for the year. Native American harvest the fruit and produce a drink and other edibles from it.

We also took a day trip down to Tombstone, the "town to tough to die." Tombstone was laid out in 1879 after Edward Schieffelin, a miner, staked a claim for a silver in the area. At the time there were 40 cabins and 100 people living there. Two years later the population grew to more than 7,000.

With the influx came a building boom including a theater, a court house and a host of saloons.

One saloon was supposedly run by Big Nose Kate, the common law wife of Doc Holliday. Kate was the well educated daughter of a Hungarian aristocrat. She is buried here is Prescott under the name Mary K. Cummings. (She married after Doc's death.)

In the early 1880's Tombstone was home to desperate men on both sides of the law. Cattle rustling, stage coach robbery, and murder were common occurrences. Sometimes the lawmen were as shady as the bad guys.
The OK Corral, site of the most famous shootout in western history. On Oct. 26, 1881, Virgil Earp learned the Clanton Gang was gathering and looking to fight with the Earps. Virgil, Morgan and Wyatt Earp joined by their friend, Doc Holliday, headed out to meet them. The fight lasted 30 seconds at point blank range. When it was over, Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury were dead. (All shot by Holliday.) Virgil was shot in the leg, Morgan in both shoulders and Doc was grazed across the hip. Only Wyatt was unscathed.

The outlaws were buried at Boothill Cemetery. From the sign on the right you can see, not all agreed with the law. In fact a trial was held before the Earps were exonerated. Many contended the fight was for political control of Cochise County. Three months after the OK Corral, Virgil Earp was shot and wounded. Months later Morgan was murdered by an unknown assassin. Wyatt killed three men he suspected were involved then left Tombstone forever.

Finally we went to Bisbee which reveals another chapter in Arizona history. Bisbee was a mining town. In its heyday it produced tons of copper and as a by product, turquoise.

Unlike other mining towns, however, Bisbee made itself over. Now the European-like town is a tourist attraction with quaint shops and restaurants. Situated at higher elevation than Tombstone, it enjoys a mild year around climate.