The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral-And How It Changed the American West

Guinn's book may be named for the infamous gunfight, but the story he tells is so much bigger than that one day in history. The events that culminated in the shootout included a large cast of characters, and Guinn follows each of them from their early lives through their time in Tombstone. The Earps and their wives, Doc Holliday and his companion Kate, Josephine Marcus, the McLaureys, the Clantons, Curly Bill, John Ringo, Johnny Behan, John Clum, and more are brought to life in the pages of this book. For key players, he summarizes their lives afterwards as well. He also describes the town and its history as a mining town and later a place that represented an entire region preserved for tourists to visit and imagine what life was like during that era. The Last Gunfight is painstakingly researched to bring an accurate depiction of the people who played a part in a tumultuous time in Wild West history, and to describe the times and places in which they lived. The build up to what was obviously an unavoidable conflict helps the reader understand just why that was so, and what could possibly have prevented it. Guinn is able to create quite a bit of tension leading up to the main event, despite the fact that the outcome is already known. He unmasks the men behind the legends, and I find them every bit as interesting as the heroic personas invented from them for the big screen, perhaps more so for their complicated motives and real life problems. I've seen reviewers disparage the real-life town of Tombstone as it exists today. I think that's unfair. We spent a day there recently, and honestly we could have stayed longer if we hadn't had a schedule to keep. The courthouse museum that one reviewer described as creepy was fascinating to us, though the docent was quick to point out that Wyatt Earp is not what they want to be known for, nor was he a good man. The entire town places a well-deserved emphasis on their founder, Ed Schieffelin. We walked the streets, now asphalt rather than dirt, and speckled with cars, and still felt an affinity for the past. The Bird Cage Theater has been almost perfectly preserved as it was when it closed in the early 1900's. Many buildings still have bullet holes from gun battles that took place there. The Oriental Saloon offers a comic look at the Earp days, and the OK Corral a more historic look at the same. The Good Enough Mine Tour is a fascinating return to the underground discoveries that truly built Tombstone, and the tour guide there was filled with historical facts about the lives of the miners and the backbreaking work they performed. The graveyard, filled with familiar names, is well kept and its population is diverse, from lawmen to outlaws to prominent business men, including leaders within the Chinese population such as China Mary and Quong Gu Kee. After reading The Last Gunfight and visiting the town of Tombstone, still a popular stop for tourists and with a small but fiercely proud population keeping history alive, I have a new respect for both its mining history and the part it played in civilizing the West. The mines may have flooded out, but the original strike encouraged other more profitable prospecting in nearby areas such as Bisbee. The stage coach robberies, bloodshed, and corruption caused by the presence of the "Cowboys" gang ushered in a era of stronger governance and better use of the courts of law versus violence in the streets to put a stop to criminal exploits. And certainly its infamy keeps the town alive through tourism, which now affords visitors a look back at the region's checkered past. This book includes a section of pictures, with captions, a detailed list of sources and why they are important, extensive footnotes, and a thorough index.