Editing Tombstone, Arizona (section)

===Mines strike water===
The Tough Nut Mine first experienced seepage in 1880. In March 1881, the Sulphuret Mine struck water at {{convert|520|ft}}. A year later, in March 1882, miners in a new shaft of the Grand Central Mine hit water at {{convert|620|ft}}. The flow was not at first large enough to stop work, but experienced miners thought the water flow would increase, and it did. Soon, constant pumping with a {{convert|4|in|adj=on}} pump was insufficient. The silver ore deposits they sought were soon under water.<ref name="desert">{{cite web |author1=Jeff Egerton |title=Reverend Endicott Peabody: Tombstone's Quiet Hero |url=http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=42621 |date=September 30, 2008 |access-date=April 19, 2022}}</ref>

Several mine managers traveled to [[San Francisco]] and met with the principal owners of the Contention Mine. They talked about options for draining the mines, and found the only system available for pumping water out of mines below {{convert|400|ft}} was the [[Cornish engine]], which had been used at the [[Comstock Lode]] in the 1870s.<ref name="desert"/> They bought and installed the huge Cornish engines in the Contention and Grand Central mines. By mid-February 1884, the engines were removing {{convert|576000|gal}} of water every 24 hours. The city merchants celebrated the continued success of mining and the transfer of funds to their businesses.<ref name="desert"/> The Contention and the Grand Central found that their pumps were draining the mining district, benefiting other mines as well, but the other companies refused to pay a proportion of the expense.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tombstone's Riches |url=http://www.legendsofamerica.com/az-tombstonemines2.html |publisher=Legends of America |access-date=May 23, 2011 |archive-date=January 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108023931/http://www.legendsofamerica.com/az-tombstonemines2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On May 26, 1886, the Grand Central hoist and pumping plant burned. The fire was so intense that the metal components of the Cornish engine melted and warped. The headworks of the main mine shaft were also destroyed. Shortly afterward, the price of silver slid to 90 cents an ounce. The mines that remained operational laid off workers. Individuals who had thought about leaving Tombstone when the [[mine flooding]] started now took action. The price of silver briefly recovered for a while and a few mines began producing again, but never at the level reached in the early 1880s.<ref name="desert"/>