| Submitted by: Evelyn C. LeeperUnited States |
| Submission Date: 14 February 2005 |
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We had breakfast at the Village Inn at 7 AM, then drove west on I-10 for 153 miles to Steins, a 'ghost town.' It's a ghost town convenient to the interstate, though, and that means it's been commercialized by being fenced off and admission charged. (The same is also true of Shakespeare, another nearby ghost town.) Paying to see a ghost town seemed kind of silly, especially since in appearance it resembled a lot of the occupied parts of the Dominican Republic (occupied meaning lived in as opposed to military occupation).
We drove another 49 miles west on I-10 to the Fort Bowie turnoff at Bowie. One difference between New Jersey and the Southwest is that in New Jersey the dead animals by the side of the road are opossums and raccoons; in the Southwest they are coyotes.
The paved side road became an unpaved road crossing open range, and then a mountain road. We finally pulled up to the small parking area at the start of the one-and-a-half-mile trail to Fort Bowie, the only people there. As we were getting ready to hike the trail, though, who should pull up to this spot in the middle of nowhere but a Japanese tourist with a camera? Well, he wasn't actually a tourist, but he did have a camera, and a very complex box camera at that, because he was from the University of Arizona at Tucson Center for Creative Photography.
We started hiking about 11 AM and got to the ruins about 12:30 PM. Along the way we saw a lot of ants, a few lizards, a couple of road runners, and some mule deer. There was also a small cemetery where the son of Geronimo was buried, and a few other remnants of that era. The hike wasn't difficult but I was glad it was October and not July, and also that there were some clouds that occasionally blocked the sun.
We rested a bit when we finally reached the ranger station at the ruins. I asked the ranger if he lived there or commuted. He said he lived down below and came up every day. But he didn't hike it--there's a back road the rangers can use. (And because of this, even this site up in the hills in the middle of nowhere is handicapped-accessible, though by prior appointment only.) There isn't much left of the actual fort--after the fort was abandoned, most of the materials were carted off to be used elsewhere. But there are still some walls standing and seeing the flag flying over these walls in the distance as you're hiking up the trail brings to mind all the old Westerns where the people couldn't wait to see the fort ahead. There were also photographs of what the fort looked like when it was in operation. On most of our trips the history is too old for photography, so this is not something we're used to.
We spent about a half hour walking around the ruins. The fort was quite large and (for its time) comfortable. It even had a steam-powered ice machine! Then we hiked back to the car. This took about an hour; we arrived at 2:30 PM. So the whole stop took three and a half hours, which is exactly what the sign recommends. Considering that we hadn't even planned on this until this morning, it's nice we had the time. (It's also nice that the weather was perfect.)
We continued along the access road, finally connecting with AZ 186 on the other side of Apache Pass. 9 miles east on AZ 186 and 8 miles east on AZ 181 brought us to Chiricahua National Monument. Our Golden Eagle Passports saved us the $3 entrance fee and we drove to the Visitors Center, still toying with the idea of taking one of the hiking trails in addition to the scenic drive. But getting out of the car at the Center convinced us to settle for the drive. For one thing, the Carlsbad hike yesterday and the Fort Bowie today were taking their toll. For another, the trails were at almost 7000 feet. (Fort Bowie was at 5000 feet.) And lastly, it was 3:30 PM, a little late to start on even the shortest trail. (Oh, I should have said that before Steins we crossed from Texas into New Mexico and after Steins we crossed into Arizona. Arizona doesn't do Daylight Savings Time, so we immediately gained an hour. But that also meant that sunset would come an hour earlier. All things taken into account, sunset would be about 6 PM.)
Chiricahua National Monument is known for its fantastic rock formations. In fact, that's why it was designated a national monument. If this sounds familiar, well, think of this as Carlsbad Caverns turned inside out. Some of the most famous formations, such as Balancing Rock and Duck on a Rock, can be seen only by hiking on of the trails, but many others are visible from the road. At the top of the scenic drive it is cold and windy (after all, you are on a mountaintop at 7000 feet), but you get an excellent view of Cochise's stronghold and Cochise Head. The former is a huge area covered with giant stone columns, looking like a giant maze. It is rumored that when Cochise died, he was buried there and the Apaches rode their horses over his grave to conceal it. If so, it worked, as his grave has never been found. Cochise Head is a rock formation on top of a hill that supposedly looks like the profile of Cochise as if he were lying on his back on the hill. I'm not sure how they know--there are no pictures of Cochise and I think this was named later. Unfortunately, Cochise's Stronghold was to the west of the road so we couldn't see it very well and it didn't photograph well in the afternoon. (We did get a slightly better angle from a side road to Sugarloaf Mountain.) Cochise Head, on the other hand, was lit perfectly. Serious photographers should obviously plan on a whole day here, with hiking, so they can get all the best light for everything.
At the summit we met two other tourists, one a 75-year-old man from California and the other an 89-year-old from Arizona who talked about how he moved to Arizona fifty years ago and killed a mountain lion the day after he arrived. I doubt Mark's brother, who moved to Scottsdale this July, can make such a claim.
We didn't see much wildlife along the road here, though a coatimundi did wander across at one point. They seem to be importing a lot of South American mammals here (I can't believe the coatimundi just migrated up on its own); in Lincoln we saw two llamas in a field.
We left Chiricahua National Monument about 4:30 PM and went eight miles west on AZ 181 and then another 31 miles on AZ 186. The scenery was of course gorgeous. I don't say that every time it's true because it would get repetitive, so take it as given that the scenery is always gorgeous.
We rejoined I-10 at Willcox and went west 36 miles to Benson. Benson's major claim to fame, so far as I know, is that there was a song about it in the science fiction film DARK STAR. Here we left the interstate and went east (southeast, really) 25 miles to Tombstone.
Tombstone is not a very big town so our motel choice was limited. However, there was the Hacienda Huachuca, where John Wayne stayed when he was making a film here. We figured if it was good enough for the Duke, it was good enough for us. For the price ($25 a night plus tax) it was an amazingly good deal--a huge room with two double beds, a sitting area with a couch and two chairs, and a full kitchen. That is considerably above what Motel 6 offers, though this was somewhat less modern. (For example, it had a bathtub but no shower.) We couldn't stay in #4 (which is where Wayne stayed) because that was already rented to the only other guests, a couple who was staying a week for Helldorado Days, which start in two days. I'm sure the festivities will be great for the town's economy, but I'm glad we'll be out before the crowds arrive.
We didn't have a whole lot of choices for places to eat dinner. We saw only one restaurant on AZ 80--the Top of the Hill. I suppose the Best Western had a restaurant, and there were a couple on Allen Street, but the choice was limited. Tombstone has no McDonalds (the desk clerk found even the idea odd, and said there was still a battle about whether to put an ATM in the bank). So we had Mexican food at the Top of the Hill--good, but not absolutely traditional, as the dishes had been microwaved. Then we tried to pick up some snacks, but the best we could do at the convenience store was a gallon of washer fluid (the car didn't come with any).
Tombstone bills itself as 'the town too tough to die,' but by 9 PM it does a very good imitation.
Mileage today: 352 miles.
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We stayed in the room until 8:30 AM, late for us but our sightseeing started only a couple of blocks away. We had breakfast at the Longhorn, the other restaurant in town. It has twelve tables, each seating four. Where are all the Helldorado tourists going to eat?
The main sightseeing area of Tombstone is Allen Street, in particular the four blocks with the Bird Cage Theater at one end and the O.K. Corral at the other. We started with the Bird Cage Theater (which has a $2 admission plus tax; everywhere else I've been, the admission prices include the tax, but not here--Arizona is different, it seems).
The Bird Cage Theater was the cultural center of Tombstone. Stars who appeared here included Florence Roberts, Maude Adams, Eddie Foy, Ethel Barrymore, and Enrico Caruso (in April of 1907). Sarah Bernhardt appeared in Tombstone in 1906, but in a tent by the railroad depot rather than in the theater. Lillian Russell in 1881 here introduced the song 'She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage,' inspired by the theater itself. Which leads to an explanation of the name of the theater. In the theater on the second floor balcony were fourteen 'boxes,' like box seats in theaters today, only these were gilt-trimmed and had red velvet curtains to provide privacy because these boxes, or 'bird cages,' where were the 'soiled doves' plied their trade. (Okay, so it wasn't all culture.)
While we walked around the theater, the audio system told various anecdotes about the theater. Once, during a performance of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, a drunken spectator got so excited when he saw the bloodhound chasing Eliza across the ice that he jumped up and shot the dog. (When he sobered up, he offered his horse as well as a cash payment in recompense.) And then there was Russian Bill, who claimed he was the brother of Czar Nicholas. He wanted to seem tough, so he stole a horse. Unfortunately, he was caught and hanged.
We walked down Allen Street towards the O.K. Corral. Tombstone may have been 'the town too tough to die' at one point, but now it seems to be 'the town too commercial to die.' There are still a couple of historic sites, such as Big Nose Kate's Saloon and the Crystal Palace (both still serving drinks), but most of the stores are very tourist-oriented. Even the bookstore, the Territorial Book Trader, is entirely Southwest-oriented rather than stocking a cross-section of categories to satisfy the local customers.
The O.K. Corral also had an admission price ($1.50). In the movies it's shown as an open corral with just a split-rail fence, so you might wonder how they could charge admission. Well, they built a ten-foot-high adobe wall around it. Inside the buildings are a few exhibits, including the hearse that carried the McLaury (or McLowry) brothers and Billy Clanton to Boot Hill. There was also a list of the twenty-five films featuring Wyatt Earp and some posters and lobby cards for some of them. But the main attraction is the corral itself, complete with life-sized statues of the participants. |
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