Tombstone is More Than Just Gunfights

I like most book genres. Right now on my list toward the top would be thrillers, historical fiction and non-fiction, and kid’s fiction (my daughters and I have just begun listening to the first Percy Jackson audio book at night before bed).

The book I’m reading now is a non-fiction, a short paperback with photos having some really interesting information on Tombstone, Arizona and the goings-on at the O.K. Corral back in the 1880s. We visited there a couple of weeks ago and it left me with a burning need to find out more. *Let me point out that the Old West historical stories never seemed to interest me much, but I am amazed at how much I would like to learn more about the settling of the American West.*

So after this book, shown above, I will also be reading (and reviewing) Lady at the O.K. Corral, about Wyatt Earp’s common-law wife, Josephine.

In keeping with my earlier promise to keep my posts brief (and hopefully interesting), here is a tidbit I’ll bet you didn’t know about the miners who worked the silver mine in Tombstone back in the 1880s.

Excerpt from Tombstone: Wyatt Earp, the O.K. Corral, and the Vendetta Ride 1881-82 by Sean McLachlan:

‘The reality of Tombstone for most people was a dreary ten-hour day, six-day week working the mines. They lived in wretched shacks as dirty as the mines they worked. A miner’s most prized possession wasn’t a gun but a cat. Cats were essential to good sleep, as they ate the rats that would crawl over miners at night and disturb their slumber. A miner had to guard his cat, as cat theft was one of the most common crimes.’

I can’t tell you how surprised I was to read this! What an unfortunate way to live, and thank goodness for the cats! When in Tombstone recently they never said a word about the lives of the miners, so I’m really glad I found this book, it makes it all seem so much more real to me.

I haven’t finished the book yet but am so far finding it entertaining and informative. Will be reviewing it when I finish.

Thanks, readers, writers and lovers of the written word, for coming by! -Li