The Wild West Tombstone, Az Vs Deadwood, S.D.

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The Wild West: Tombstone, AZ vs. Deadwood, S.D. XXXXXXXXXX ENG 121 Joan Golding November 21, 2011 The Wild West: Tombstone, Arizona vs. Deadwood, South Dakota With the days of lawlessness and violence Tombstone, Arizona, founded in 1879 and Deadwood, South Dakota, founded in 1876 could be called two of our most memorable towns in history. Deadwood could be considered to be the more violent of the two. Both of these towns were founded in greed. The town too tough to die, Tombstone, Arizona, was founded by a prospector named Ed Schiefflen (1847-1897). In 1877 Schiefflen was staying at Camp Huachuca, which today is known as Fort Huachuca. As a part of a scouting expedition against the Chiricahua Apaches Ed would sometimes venture into the wilderness to look for rocks. The soldiers warned Schiefflen of the dangers which he ignored; the soldiers told him “Ed, the only stone you will find out there will be your tombstone”. (Tombstone Web). Ed did find stone out there during his ventures, he found silver. Because of what the soldiers had said to him he decided to name his first mine Tombstone, which would one day become the town of Tombstone. Once word spread of Ed’s silver strike, everyone from prospectors to gunmen flocked to the area to find their own riches. By 1881 Tombstone had a population of 4000, making it Arizona’s largest town and the biggest community between New Orleans and San Francisco. Tombstone would find itself full of lawlessness; outlaws and soiled doves would soon outnumber the law abiding citizens. With the town becoming out of control Wyatt Earp was called in to bring the law back into the town and clean up the mean streets of Tombstone. He brought along his brothers, Virgil and Morgan, and was soon followed by Wyatt’s friend Doc Holliday. The worst of them all were the Clanton Clan also known as The Cowboys, and run by Billy Clanton. A

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