The city of Tombstone has long been touted as the rip-roarinest, wildest, gun-totin'est town in the Southwest. With a reputation that preceded it, Tombstone gained notoriety as the roughest mining town of 19th century America. Adding to its allure was the rapid expansion that occurred there in the 1880's. Unrivaled by any other U.S. city at the time, this desert town was a true economic phenom. Tombstone remains an area of interest even today and its legacy lives on as the town celebrates its heritage with a very special anniversary.

October 26, 2006 marks the 125th anniversary of the notorious shootout at the OK Corral. Tombstone commemorates this anniversary every year with a five-day celebration that attracts nationwide attention. Visitors travel from all over the U.S. to attend. This year, I am one of them.

I arrive on Saturday at 10 a.m. and the town is already in full swing. This is the fourth day of the event and there are still new visitors arriving. It would be an understatement to say that the scene is a madhouse. Costumed men and women overflow downtown's covered sidewalks, spilling into the dirt streets. Horse drawn carriages whisk passengers from one sight to the next. Every shop, bar and restaurant is filled to capacity. Tombstone has a thriving tourism industry and receives visitors year round, but this is a special occasion and the turnout is suitably stunning.

The shootout at the OK Corral has been a topic of interest since its inception. The famous showdown turned Hollywood blockbuster has spawned countless web sites, books and other forms of memorabilia. It's documentation and re-creation has been a money making endeavour for years. The anniversary celebration is a perfect example of this. You can walk the streets of Tombstone for free, but if you want to see a recreation of the shootout you have to pay. Although worth seeing once the show itself is not much to look at. There is a much better reason for paying the entry fee to the OK Corral. Without the revenue from shows like this Tombstone would be unable to preserve the most important part of its history. The city's past will live on through photographs, oral tradition, and written documentation but there is a more tangible element of Tombstone's legacy that needs protection - the town's original buildings.

The true legacy of Tombstone lies in these structures. These buildings are paramount to the people and events that gave Tombstone its reputation as the town "too tough to die." There are several that continue to draw attention from historians and tourists alike. The Crystal Palace is one of them.

The Crystal Palace is situated at the corner of Fifth and Allen Street. However, this is not the building that originally stood here. The first recorded structure to occupy the southwest corner of Fifth and Allen (pictured) was a wooden building called the Golden Eagle Brewery. Constructed in 1881, the Brewery was in operation for less than one year. Months after opening, the bar was hit with a fire that spread through most of Tombstone’s business district. The extent of the damage was enough to close many a door, including the Golden Eagle's. Unfortunately, this was only the first of two fires to ravage the bar. The second destroyed the building and the Brewery was permanently closed.

An entrepreneur named Frederick Wehrfritz purchased the leveled bar and in its place constructed a new two story building. This time it was made of adobe. On the first level Wehrfritz opened the Crystal Palace Saloon which quickly became a popular hangout. The second level was divided into offices.

The first of the offices facing Allen Street belonged to Dr. George Goodfellow. The famous "gunshot physician," so named because of the number of gunshot wounds he treated, was one of the most innovative surgeons of his time. A graduate of Wooster University School of Medicine, Goodfellow was working years before doctors in Arizona were even licensed. He performed the first recorded abdominal wall surgery and first known successful facial reconstruction. Goodfellow was also trained in procedures such as bone setting and child delivery. His expertise was known far and wide and he was one of a few doctors willing to travel to treat medical emergencies. Goodfellow was awarded a silver medal for his humanitarian efforts.

Also well known was Goodfellow's penchant for drinking and gambling. Many of the wounds he treated were actually the result of his own hand during a drunken night of cards. In 1891 Goodfellow left Tombstone for Tucson where he served as head surgeon for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He eventually joined the U.S. Army and went on to fight in the Spanish American War. He died in San Francisco in 1910 at the age of 54. His death was diagnosed as the result of degenerative nerve disorder.

The second of the offices facing Allen Street was occupied by Virgil Walter Earp. Born in Hartford, Kentucky in 1843 Virgil and his family moved to Illinois when he was a young boy. It was there that he met and married his first wife, a Dutch immigrant by the name of Magdalena Rysdam. Virgil was only 17.

Shortly thereafter he enlisted in the Union Army and served 3 years as a soldier with the 83rd Illinois Infantry. By the time he returned, Magdalena had taken their young daughter and moved on. Incorrectly informed that Virgil had been killed, she moved to Oregon where she quickly remarried. Virgil did not see her again until 37 years later.

After the Civil War, Virgil traveled from state to state working a variety of jobs. By 1877 he was living in Prescott, Arizona with his third wife Alvira Sullivan. It was there that he began his career in law enforcement.

Earp was appointed Deputy U.S. Marshall in 1879 in recognition of his assistance during a street fight in Prescott. Shortly thereafter he and Alvira left for Tombstone. The suddenness of this move indicates that Virgil was deputized specifically with Tombstone in mind.

At this time Fred White was Tombstone City Marshall. Shortly after Virgil arrived, White was shot and killed. Virgil was the obvious replacement. He was named acting City Marshall - a position he only held for two weeks. A special election was called and Virgil was narrowly defeated by Ben Sippy.

Sippy did not last long. It was quickly revealed that the new Marshall was struggling with a massive debt. He asked for a leave of absence and never returned. Virgil was appointed his permanent replacement and moved into the office above the Crystal Palace Saloon.

The Crystal Palace Saloon was a popular hangout and remained so until Tombstone's silver mines were flooded in 1886. At 500 feet the miners struck water and the pumps used to suck the water up and out were destroyed by a fire. The mines were permanently flooded and Tombstone's silver rush came to a sudden end. The economy never recovered.

Fortunately for Frederick Wehrfritz, luck was on his side. The Crystal Palace suffered a decline in revenue, but remained in business even through the Panic of 1893. It wasn't until 1920, when both alcohol and gambling were outlawed, that the Saloon was forced to close its doors. Overtime the bar, gambling tables, fixtures, and wall hangings were removed and sold. The second floor fared much worse. It was removed all together.

The building was left vacant until the 1940s when it was reopened as a different entity altogether. Still called the Crystal Palace, the site now functioned as a bus station, warehouse and movie theater. It remained as such until 1963 when the property received its third overhaul. Historic Tombstone Adventures, a local preservation organization, recognized the cultural significance of the building and orchestrated its restoration. Using historically accurate photographs the bar, wooden sidewalk and awnings were restored. The new second story is for looks alone and is not historically accurate or inhabitable. Like most of Tombstone, it is only a shell of its former self.

To really gain an appreciation for Tombstone's colorful past it's important to understand what the city was like in 1879. This was 30 years after the gold rush in California ended, but that feeling of fever was still fresh in the minds of many. Prospecting was still a way of life and there was no shortage of men looking to make their fortune with the next big lode. Ed Schieffelin was one such man. Although already a successful prospector when he made his way towards Tombstone, Ed was not content to sit back and let others discover hidden wealth that he himself might find first.

When Schieffelin announced that he was going to look for precious metal in the San Pedro Valley, it was a bare and largely unpopulated province (with the exception of a small Apache presence). Because of this, it was remarked that all he would find for his trouble was his tombstone. Disregarding the comment Ed continued on, forging a path through the uncertainty of what lay ahead. His ambition was rewarded. Ed discovered a large vein of silver and used the opportunity to poke fun at all the skeptics by naming the site Tombstone.

It took about a year to prove that the silver Schieffelin unearthed was actually valuable. When the good news was received word spread quickly. Miners from all over the U.S. started towards Tombstone. Most traveled from California where they had been prospecting for years. In today's world travel between neighboring states is a short and easy journey. But in 1879 the trip from California to Arizona was not pleasant. Trains did not exist yet so the Mohave Desert had to be navigated on foot or by horse. Once the fortune seekers reached the Desert, they had extreme temperatures and Apaches to deal with. Nevertheless thousands of prospectors made the journey hoping to take their share of the fortune.

The town of Tombstone did not spring up over night. Fortune seekers arrived without their families, mined all day, and slept in tents. There was no real town to speak of. It wasn't until the size of the silver lode was confirmed that families and commerce arrived. When they did, the town grew quickly.

For months the daily output of precious metals averaged about $50,000. New arrivals continued to flow into the city as quickly as the silver flowed out. It's estimated that by 1881 the population of Tombstone was between 12,000 and 15,000 people.

Tents were replaced by one story wood and adobe buildings. Buildings in the commercial part of town were also made of wood and adobe and had awnings projecting over wooden sidewalks. There was a business district and a law district which was humorously dubbed "Rotten Row". There were libraries, churches, literary societies and theater troupes. Many historians paint a purportedly crude picture of 19th century Tombstone, but this is a misconception. Tombstone was actually a progressive and established community with all of the usual facets of daily life.

This is not to say that Tombstone's nightlife was unexceptional. It was more than exceptional- it was singular, even by today's standards. Swindlers, cowboys and miners traveled from all over to gamble and otherwise disport themselves. Cited for their unusual wickedness, Tombstone's saloons provided a high spirited and extravagant nightlife unrivaled by any other city in the nation. The miners worked long hard days and used every second of their night to it's fullest. They were a hard drinking, bellicose lot that provided fodder for many a colorful American legend.

This is the environment in which Virgil Earp was appointed City Marshall. Many a troubling situation was thrown his way including that which ended his Tombstone career - the shootout at the O.K. Corral. It's popularly believed that Virgil's attempt to disarm Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton was the event that triggered the gunfight.

Unfortunately for Virgil he was shot in the calf during the fight. A few days later he was ambushed from a second story window while walking past the Golden Eagle Brewery. He took most of the buckshot in his back and left arm, which was permanently crippled as a result. Believing that the wounds were fatal the position of Tombstone City Marshall was given to his brother Wyatt. Fearing for his life Virgil, his wife and their bodyguards left Tombstone for California on March 20, 1882. It's rumored that Virgil was so weak he had to be carried onto the train and his wife had to wear his pistol for him. Virgil eventually recovered from his injuries and continued to serve in law enforcement on the west coast. He died of pneumonia on October 19, 1905 at the age of 62.