Page 9 - 2009 DT 7 issues

I n T h i s I s s u e

Featured Article
Tombstone........................................1

Special
Boot Tracks.....................................5
Departments
News & Notes..................................2
February 2009 Programs & Hikes...........................4
Desk Schedule................................6
Bulletin Board................................8

The Story Tombstone was a very violent town, There was an outbreak of diph-
where most of the deaths were the theria in 1881 which resulted in two
of Tombstone result of shootings and lynchings. deaths, one of Thomas Cowan aged
Actually, approximately one third 11 months. Scarlet fever, another com-
. . . a gruesome tally of the times; of the deaths were from natural mon cause of deaths in infants claimed
not for the squeamish! causes and one seventh were as a the life of Eva Waters at the age of
result of accidents. three months. Infectious diseases were
William Carpenter, who was the greatly feared. When Johnny Blair
by Dan Wray first Baptist Minister of the town, died died of smallpox, he was dragged to
s you enter Tombstone, Ariz., of nephritis, or inflammation of the his grave at the end of a rope. There
the road rises. At the top of the are two recorded deaths from leprosy.
Ahill it curves to the left and Both were Chinese.
reveals a view of the town. What is to It can only be assumed that Mead,
your left reveals the story of the town who was a blacksmith, and who was
in the first half of the 1880s. Boot Hill found dead one morning in one of his
Cemetery is a famous tourist attraction. coaches, died of a heart attack, as did
It is not a cemetery full of magnificent Thomas Fitzhhugh found in the water
monuments—many graves have only closet at the back of his lodgings. “Old
wooden markers. Among them is the Man” Ridgeway, who was found dead
grave of Emmett Nunnelly. The date in his wagon on the road outside the
of the memorial is, surprisingly, 1946. town, probably died likewise. Ben-
How then, if the cemetery was in use nett, who originated from England,
for a relatively short period in the certainly did.
1880’s, is it such a relatively modern Three children died in infancy.
burial? Stand at that grave and say a Rose Campion died in childbirth with
word of thanks. The restored cemetery a stillborn child. Mrs Stump died in
in which you are standing is largely childbirth, largely as a result of being
due to Nunnelly’s enthusiasm and given an overdose of chloroform by
the dedication of a few townspeople. her doctor. Agnes Kenney died at the
Together they researched and restored age of one year as a result of what we
the graves, which date roughly from would now call medical malpractice.
1880 to 1885. Let us walk along the kidneys. Cancer claimed the lives of Her doctor gave her calomel, but it
rows of graves and see what they have James McMartin and of McBride, who could be argued that her death was as
to tell us about the lives and the deaths was a hotel proprietor. Cancer victims a result of eating an orange.
of residents of Tombstone in that five- were operated on, but not always suc- Foo Kee died from ptomaine poison-
year period. cessfully. George Russell, who worked ing, which he probably accidentally
The events of the OK Corral give for the local paper, died during an
us the overriding impression that operation for stomach cancer. Tombstone, cont’d on p. 6