Editing Tombstone, Arizona (section)

===Founding===
Ed Schieffelin was briefly a scout for the U. S. Army headquartered at [[Fort Huachuca|Camp Huachuca]]. Schieffelin frequently searched the wilderness looking for valuable ore samples. At the Santa Rita mines in nearby Santa Cruz Valley, three superintendents had been killed by Native Americans. When friend and fellow Army Scout [[Al Sieber]] learned what Schieffelin was up to, he is quoted as telling him, "The only rock you will find out there will be your own [[headstone|tombstone]]",<ref>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/americanwest0000unse | url-access=registration |title= The American West: the Pictorial Epic of a Continent | year=1955 | publisher=Dutton |first1=Lucius Morris |last1=Beebe |first2=Charles |last2=Clegg}}</ref> or, according to an earlier version of the story, "Better take your coffin with you; you will find your tombstone there, and nothing else."<ref name=harper1888>{{cite journal | title =Across Arizona |journal= Harper's New Monthly Magazine|date=March 1883 |number=364 |volume = 66}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Bishop| first=William Henry| title=Mexico, California and Arizona| year=1900| publisher=Harper and Brothers| location=New York and London| page=[https://archive.org/details/mexico.californi00bishrich/page/486 486]| access-date=January 12, 2025| url=https://archive.org/details/mexico.californi00bishrich}}</ref>

In 1877, Schieffelin used [[Brunckow's Cabin]] as a base of operations to survey the country. After many months, while working the hills east of the [[San Pedro River (Arizona)|San Pedro River]], he found pieces of [[ore|silver ore]] in a dry wash<ref name=janice/> on a high plateau called Goose Flats.<ref name=azhistory>{{cite web| title=Silver in the Tombstone Hills| url=http://www.discoverseaz.com/History/TStone.html| access-date=May 3, 2011}}</ref> It took him several more months to find the source. When he located the vein, he estimated it to be fifty feet long and twelve inches wide.<ref name=moore>{{cite journal| title= The Silver King: Ed Schieffelin, Prospector |first= Richard E. |last=Moore |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly|volume=87 |number= 4 |date=Winter 1986 |pages= 367–387 |jstor=20614087}}</ref> Schieffelin took on a partner named William Griffith who financed the filing of the claim in return for a later claim for himself. Griffith filed Schieffelin's first claim, which was named Tombstone, on September 3, 1877.<ref name=janice>{{cite web| first=Janice| last=Hendricks| title=Thirty Cents and a Hunch| url=http://www.tombstonetimes.com/stories/ed.html| access-date=May 2, 2011}}</ref><ref>Horn, Tom (1973, [1964]). ''Life of Tom Horn, Government Scout and Interpreter.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Originally published in 1904 by John C. Coble. pp. 26–27. {{ISBN|978-0806110448}}.</ref> Another account says the first claim was called Graveyard "because it proved worthless and for no other reason."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gird |first=Richard |url=http://archive.org/details/outwestland27archrich |title="The Story of the Discovery of Tombstone" in Out west magazine |date=1902–1914 |publisher=Los Angeles, Calif. : Land of Sunshine Pub. Co. |others=The Bancroft Library |pages=39 |language=en}}</ref>

When the first claims were filed, the initial settlement of tents and wooden shacks was located at Watervale, near the Lucky Cuss mine, with a population of about 100.<ref name=nhlsnom/> The Goodenough Mine strike occurred shortly after. Former Territorial Governor [[Anson P. K. Safford]] offered financial backing for a share of the mining claims, and Schieffelin, his brother Al, and their partner Richard Gird formed the Tombstone Mining and Milling Company and built a [[stamping mill|stamp mill]] near the San Pedro River, about {{convert|8|mi|km}} away. As the mill was being built, U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor Solon M. Allis finished surveying the new town's site in March 1879.<ref>{{cite web| title=Solon Allis| url=http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1329| work=The Mineralogical Record| access-date=May 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042457/http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1329 |archive-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref> The tents and shacks near the Lucky Cuss were moved to the new town site on Goose Flats, a [[mesa]] above the Goodenough Mine at {{convert|4539|ft}} above sea level and large enough to hold a growing town. Lots were immediately sold on Allen Street for $5.00 each. The town soon had some 40 cabins and about 100 residents. At the town's founding in March 1879, it took its name from Schieffelin's initial mining claim. By fall 1879, a few thousand hardy souls were living in a canvas and matchstick camp perched amidst the richest silver strike in the Arizona Territory.<ref name=nhlsnom/>

When [[Cochise County, Arizona|Cochise County]] was formed from the eastern portion of Pima County on February 1, 1881, Tombstone became the new [[county seat]]. [[Telegraph]] service to the town was established that same month. In early March 1880, the Schieffelins' Tombstone Mining and Milling Company which owned the original Goodenough Mine and the nearby Tough Nut Mine (among others), was sold to investors from [[Philadelphia]].<ref name=minjournal>{{cite news |title=Engineering and Mining Journal |date=January–June 1880 |volume=29 |publisher=Scientific Publishing Company |location=New York}}</ref> Two months later, it was reported that the Tough Nut Mine was working a vein of silver ore {{convert|90|ft|m}} across that assayed at $170 per ton, with some ore assaying at $22,000 a ton.<ref name=minjournal/>

On September 9, 1880, the richly appointed Grand Hotel was opened, adorned with fine oil paintings, thick Brussels carpets, toilet stands, elegant chandeliers, silk-covered furniture, walnut furniture, and a kitchen with hot and cold running water.<ref>{{cite web| title=Tombstone History – The Grand Hotel| url=http://www.bignosekates.info/history1.html| access-date=May 25, 2011| archive-date=April 30, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430205513/http://www.bignosekates.info/history1.html| url-status=dead}}</ref> At the height of the silver mining boom, when the population was about 10,000, the city was host to Kelly's Wine House, featuring 26 varieties of wine imported from Europe, a beer imported from [[Colorado]] named "[[Coors Brewing Company|Coors]]", cigars, a bowling alley, and many other amenities common to large cities.

{{wide image|Tombstone_Arizona_panorama_1909.jpg|1200px|Panorama of Tombstone in 1909 from the upper floor of the Cochise County courthouse on 3rd and Tough Nut St. At the center, Third St. is to the left and Tough Nut St. is to the right.|alt=Panorama of Tombstone in 1909 from Fremont and Second Streets.}}