For the Tarnished West Team, calling Tucson, Arizona, home means living in the very heart of America’s “Old West.” Every dusty street, sun-baked hill, and abandoned mining camp in southern Arizona whispers of legendary lawmen, notorious outlaws, and the tough-as-nails pioneers who built the frontier. This isn’t just history—it’s a living, breathing reminder of a turbulent and fascinating past, and we’re on a mission to uncover it, preserve it, and share it.
From Tombstone’s infamous Allen Street to the silent ruins of Charleston… from Bisbee’s bloody past to Fairbank’s forgotten train depot… the Tarnished West Team follows the trail of real history. We dig deep into the events that shaped the Southwest—gunfights, lawless escapades, and acts of grit and survival—bringing the stories of those who lived them back into the light.
Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Geronimo, Johnny Ringo—names forever etched into the lore of the West. But somewhere along the way, the truth got tangled with Hollywood scripts and dime-novel exaggerations. Our job is to untangle it. When the tales drift into fiction, we call them “Horse Droppings”—a clear sign that the story belongs in the world of entertainment, not in the pages of history.
Our commitment is simple: cut through the myths, stick to the facts, and tell it straight. By separating legend from truth, we keep the legacy of the real American West alive—so that future generations can walk these same streets and know exactly what happened here, without the Hollywood sheen.
The past is waiting. Saddle up, and ride with us into the real history of the Wild West.
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Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum
The outlaw Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum met his fate not in a a gunfight or during a daring escape, but in a courtroom in Clayton, New Mexico. Following a failed solo attempt to rob the Colorado & Southern Railway near Folsom, New Mexico on August 16, 1899, Ketchum was apprehended—seriously wounded and alone. Unlike his …
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Warren Earp Dies In Willcox, Arizona
Willcox, Arizona Territory – July 6, 1900 On this fateful day, Warren Earp dies in Willcox, Arizona. The youngest of the Earp brothers, Warren, died not in a hail of vengeance or in the middle of some grand vendetta, but in a rough-edged Willcox Arizona saloon on a summer night that began with intimidation and …
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The Bisbee Massacre
December 8, 1883 — Bisbee, Arizona Territory It began like any other Saturday in Bisbee, a fast-growing mining settlement in the Arizona Territory, built into the rugged slopes of the Mule Mountains. The town had been established only a few years earlier, but by 1883 it was already a hub of mining and freight traffic. …
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Mayor John Clum Assassination attempt
The air was crisp and dry on the evening of December 14, 1881, when Mayor John Clum stepped into the stagecoach outside the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Tombstone. Clum, editor of the Tombstone Epitaph and the town’s first elected mayor, was bound for Benson, a small but vital rail junction 25 miles west. He had business …
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The Aftermath of the OK Corral
On a crisp autumn afternoon—October 26, 1881—the dusty streets of Tombstone, Arizona Territory, bore witness to one of the most infamous and hotly debated events in the annals of the American West. The sun had just begun to cast long shadows across Allen Street when tensions that had simmered for months between two rival factions …
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John Gillespie Dead, Zwing Hunt Dying
By midday, the bodies and wounded had been prepared for transport. Deputy John Gillespie’s remains were carefully wrapped in canvas and placed in the wagon, his hat resting beside him. In the back, under armed guard, lay Zwing Hunt, still conscious but dying—his breath shallow, his shirt caked with dirt, blood and sweat. The return …
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Billy Kinsman shot by May Woodman
On the morning of February 23, 1883, the bustling streets of Tombstone, Arizona Territory, bore witness to another tragic event. William Alexander “Billy” Kinsman, a 28-year-old Cornish-born gambler known for his frequent presence at the Oriental Saloon, was fatally shot by May Woodman, a woman with whom he had shared a tumultuous relationship. The Oriental …
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The arrests of Hunt and Grounds
As Deputy Billy Breakenridge and John Gillespie stood watching the main house, the front door creaked open. A man stepped out cautiously—a freighter named “Bull” Lewis, a teamster passing through the area who had sought overnight shelter at the ranch. Right behind him came Zwing Hunt, rifle raised and eyes blazing. The outlaw had expected …
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The Arrests of Zwing Hunt and Billy Grounds
In the final days of March 1882, Cochise County lawmen received urgent word of two dangerous fugitives, Zwing Hunt and Billy Grounds, reported to be hiding out near Tombstone. With Sheriff Johnny Behan absent from the city on official business, the responsibility of maintaining order and executing the law fell to Deputy Sheriff E. A. …
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