The Killing Of Frank Stillwell

 Just like a stagecoach heading to Tucson with a Wells Fargo box of gold, my trip to Tombstone got waylaid yesterday.  The Earp family leaving with their dead brother after his assassination March 18, 1882 (which happened after the gunfight at the OK Corral) was on my mind.  I decided to go to the train station, probably the second stop on their trip after leaving Tombstone.

Morgan, laid out in a blue suit belonging to Doc Holliday, along with Wyatt, Virgil, James, Ally (Virgil's wife), Mattie (Wyatt's wife) and Bessie (James' wife) went to Benson by wagon.  There they hired another wagon to take them to Contention (south of my little piece of heaven), where they then caught the train to Tucson.  Morgan's wife Louisa was in Colton California at the time.

Town looked like this with one set of train tracks.  The original tracks coming in to Tucson go right by my house where all of those twelve noisy freight trains pass by ever single day.  It's a good thing I like trains.

In 1887 the original building was wood.  That was replaced in 1907 with this Southern Pacific Railroad beauty.  

By this time everyone had forgotten the story of Wyatt Earp and his brothers.  While on their way to Contention, the coroner decided to conduct a Coroner's Inquest to determine who killed Morgan.  In the end, the only one who could testify as to who was involved, was married to one of them (Pete Spence), so her testimony was disqualified.  

Pete Spence, Indian Charlie, Frank Stillwell and Frederic Bode were not charged.  By this time, the Earps had arrived at the train station in Tucson.  Wyatt heard a rumor that Frank Stillwell was near the station, so he went looking. 

Back to the train station ...... in 1941 Southern Pacific decided to enlarge the building by 1/3 and modernize the Tucson station.  They even built tunnels to allow passengers access to the platform.

And they added a LOT more tracks.

Here's what it looks like today since SP sold it to the City of Tucson and big renovations were completed.  I rather like the old version!!  It's a cool place to wander around, but take lots of change for the parking meters.  The main section is the Amtrak station, a walk back to the 40's.  

The original seats are beautiful and original tile can be seen on the walls.  It reminds me of when I was maybe 6 years old and was put on a train to the big city of Bakersfield.  It was pretty scary, but I loved it, which is probably where my fascination with trains came from.

This is one of Southern Pacific's consoles.  One man sat here and controlled all the trains within 100 miles, simply by pushing a few buttons here and there to control the track switches.  What a disaster if you hit the wrong one!!

Back to the old days, if you wander out back, you will find the locomotive #1673.  Built in 1900, it logged over 1,000,000 miles in Southern Arizona.  Too bad the museum was not open when I was there.  They have a wish list for this baby ... if you happen to know where they can find an SP6 Chime Whistle.  They are taking donations toward the $2400 cost in case you can help.

She's a beauty to be sure, although completely locked up on this day.

Back to the Earps ... while loading Morgan's body on to the train, Wyatt heard that Frank Stillwell might be at the station.  He and Doc went looking and found him very close to this spot where he was shot dead dead dead!!  That began Wyatt's vendetta ride to kill all those responsible for his brother's murder, while everyone else in the family went back to Colton California.

The bronze statue depicts Wyatt and Doc Holiday.

Just as I was standing there, I heard the whistle blow as a freight train came right down the same tracks.  I got a chill as I peered through the steel fence that keeps you far from the trains.

Ladies, there is a hair salon here if you need a haircut and an Atelier.  I had to look that one up.  Apparently it's a clothing designer.  Everything else is closed, most likely permanently.  If you'd like to have breakfast, The Cup (with really good food) is across the street at the Congress Hotel.

From there I wandered off down the street (going the wrong way) and ended up at the Zoo!  How did THAT happen??