Roundtree’s and Dickson’s saloons were crowded with customers, and we will not say how much whiskey was disposed of–it might surprise our temperate friends in Tucson and La Paz. Nobody was hurt, but the boys waxed very merry, and some of them very tipsy, and there was no little promiscuous firing of revolvers… —Prescott Arizona Miner Newspaper, July 6, 1864

I am blessed to reside in Prescott, Arizona, twice the capital of Arizona in Territorial Days. Founded in 1864, the town of Prescott quickly became a popular destination for many and remains so today.

When people think of the Old West, Tombstone, Arizona, famously comes to mind, and rightfully so. The legend of the Earp brothers certainly made it the historical landmark it is today. Founded by a mining prospector who discovered silver in 1877, it quickly turned into a rough and tumble sort of place and proved to be one of the last boom towns on the Western Frontier.

Bird Cage Theatre, Circa 1937, Tombstone, Arizona–Courtesy Library of Congress

Sadly, there isn’t much left of Tombstone today–save the tourist traps. But even the tourist traps are far from what they used to be decades ago in the 1960s and 1970s. I visited there about seven years ago, only to be disappointed and disheartened at how much it really had changed and not for the better–shops had closed, many were up for sale, and the Bird Cage Theatre, now a museum, no longer had the shows (featuring shootouts and costumed dance hall girls) that I fondly remembered years ago. Contrast Tombstone with the vibrant, lively, bustling, small town of Prescott and you’ll find a town that is every bit as historically rich as Tombstone (arguably more so), Earp brothers and all.

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