First day was spent in Tombstone, where we watched a reenactment of the famous "Gunfight at the OK Corral"...a gunfight between the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Clayton gang in 1881. We wandered down main street, seeing the Bird Cage Theater, Crystal Palace, and Big Nose Kate's Saloon (all on the register of historic buildings).
At the end of the day we stopped at Boot Hill Graveyard, just outside Tombstone, and saw where victims of the OK Corral shootout are buried.
Kartchner Caverns State Park was next on our list of places to visit. One of the few "wet caves" open to visitors, we followed a guide through the maze of trails, seeing such structures as soda straw stalactites, flowstones, and a super-sized calcite column named "Kubla Khan" which has been growing over hundreds of thousands of years. This wet cave is still forming, as water from the surface drips, seeps, flows, and pools in the cave. Special precautions are in place to keep the dry desert air out so structures can continue to grow.
A drive through the river valley to Sierra Vista took one afternoon. Sierra Vista, at 4600 feet above sea level, has different scenery than the desert we had been in. Huge cottonwood trees grow along the river valley; you can see a line of green snaking through the dry desert where the San Pedro River flows. Sierra Vista is also close to Fort Huachuca, one of the longest operating military operations in the US. The fort dates back to 1877 when the Buffalo Soldiers protected early settlers.
Bisbee was last on our places to visit. An old copper mining town in the Mule Mountains, between 1877 and 1900 people flocked to the Queen of the Copper Camps. Copper and other precious minerals were abundant. Mining continued until 1975...now museums and shops line the streets.
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