Book 22 - Tombstone

Tombstone is a town that I have always been fascinated by. It was founded in 1878, when a struggling prospector found silver in the jagged mountains of Arizona. Within a year the town of Tombstone was filling up with merchants, tradesmen, gamblers, whores, and gunslingers, and was what I imagine to be a wild west town.

 

In this book, Matt Braun hypothesises that "the Earp family came to Tombstone - five brothers with their women and their wives and along with Doc Holliday and a band of thieves, Wyatt Earp treated the Arizona territory as his personal stomping grounds."

 

Now, I am not sure that I completely believe this side of the Tombstone story. Matt is convinced, though it is the only book, or text, or even movie, or anything else, that depicts Wyatt Earp in this way. Yes, Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and Doc, were all rat bags and were wrapped up in gambling and all sorts of money making schemes, but I am not sure that they were into stage robberies and other things that Matt says there were.

 

Then, there was the legend of the OK Corral shootout. 

 

In this book, private detective Luke Starbuck was sent to Tombstone to find the truth. And when he got there, Starbuck's mission turned into one burning, personal obsession: to kill Wyatt Earp. See, Wyatt lived to a ripe old age, though this book says that Luke Starbuck was intent on killing him, hunted him, etc. It also says that Wyatt never remarried after he left Mattie Blaylock, which we know to be incorrect, as he married Josephine Marcus.

 

Really, on reflection, I am not sure if Matt is trying to tell us a true story, here, or if it is all a made up yarn. See, the other thing is, Luke Starbuck, at the end of the book, is all upset that he has not become a famous house hold name, like Wyatt Earp did. Sounds far fetched.

 

Anyway, overall, the book was not a bad read. It was sort of a 'dime novel'. It has 20c on the front of it, so I am guessing that I bought it on the cheap somewhere.

 

I love the story of Tombstone, and the Tombstone movie, where Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer are the main actors, is still one of my all time favourites. Great movie - if you haven't seen it - get into it, quickly. I suppose I was a little disappointed that this book did not have the same story line as the movie, and proposed theories that I really thought were a little out there. Anyway, Matt appears to be a good writer, though, and overall 3.5 out of 5 for this one. Not a bad read.