Entertainment Magazine: Arizona: Tombstone
Celebrate Vigilante Days and 125 Years of the Courthouse at Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park
(Phoenix Arizona - August 8, 2007) - Please join
us during Vigilante Days to celebrate 125 years of the Cochise County
Courthouse on Saturday, August 11 at Tombstone Courthouse State Historic
Park.
Live musical performances by the Dusty Buskers, a balladeer
troupe, will kick off the festivities at 10 a.m. They will be followed
at 11 a.m. by the Old Arizona Brass Band costumed in red and black
uniforms. At 2 p.m., Mr. Hollis Cook will reenact the original
commemoration speech given before the laying of the cornerstone 125
years ago.
The first 125 participants will receive a
reproduction of the original Tombstone Epitaph article about the 1882
commemoration complete with Col. Sanford's speech and list of
cornerstone contents.
The Tombstone Vigilettes and Vigilantes
will also be on hand to give a touch of color to the event. 125th
commemorative souvenirs will be available in the museum gift shop. The
Friends of the Courthouse will be providing cake on a first come, first
served basis. Ice-cold beverages will also be available for a donation
to the group.
In 1881 the population of Tombstone had reached 10,000 rivaling
both Tucson (county seat) and Prescott (territorial capital). Arizona's
11th Territorial Legislature created a new county from the eastern
portion of Pima County and called it Cochise (the only county in Arizona
named after the last hereditary chief of the Chiricahua Apache).
Built in 1882, at a cost of nearly $50,000
the Cochise County Courthouse was a stylish Victorian building as well
as a comforting symbol of law and stability in those turbulent times. It
once housed the offices of the sheriff, recorder, treasurer and the
board of supervisors.
125 years ago at 5 p.m. the good citizens of the City of
Tombstone commenced their celebration to lay the cornerstone for their
new county's first "temple of justice." "Lowering clouds, ominous of a
storm," threatened to end the affair. Many prominent citizens and
old-timers, present in 1879 through to the strike of silver at the
600-foot level were in attendance, though the fair sex was noticeably
absent, "petticoats were still a familiar object."
Tombstone's growth and success as a silver
producer was now made permanent with the laying of the cornerstone. An
Epitaph Reporter wrote, "A courthouse is a symbol of the equality of the
weak with the strong. It is an eternal monument to the absolute justice
that prevails whenever the standard of the United States of America
holds sway."
Today Tombstone no longer produces silver, but revels in its
living history daily while the old Courthouse is a museum of collective
memories of those bygone days featuring nearly10, 000 square feet of
exhibits about the history of Tombstone, Cochise County and the
Courthouse.
For more information please call Tombstone Courthouse State
Historic Park at (520) 457-3311. Admission to Tombstone Courthouse State
Historic Park is $3 per person for ages 14 and up; children aged 13 and
under are free when accompanied by an adult. Arizona State Park Annual
Pass is available for $45 (some restrictions apply) and Premium Annual
Pass is sold for $100.
Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park is located on the
corner of Toughnut and 3rd Streets, 2 blocks off Highway 80, in
Tombstone, Arizona.
For information about Arizona State Parks call (602) 542-4174
(outside of the Phoenix metro area call toll-free (800) 285-3703) or
visit the website at www.azstateparks.com.
Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park
125th Year Celebration for Courthouse
August 11, 2007
8AM Park opens
10-11AM Band "The Dusty Buskers"
The Band plays late 1920's early 30's Americana music with guitar, banjo and harmonica. (Location Northeast lawn)
10 AM through 2 PM
The Friends of Tombstone Courthouse S.H.P. will serve cake and for a donation provide beverages, while supplies last.
(Location, west of the main entrance of the park on the front lawn.)
11AM-Noon
Old Arizona Brass Band: Dressed in red and black uniforms the
band will present a medley of 19th century regimental and dance music of
the late 1880s.
(Location Northeast lawn)
Noon
1-2PM
Old Arizona Brass Band
(Location Northeast lawn)
2-2:45PM Commemoration Ceremony
On the Front steps of the Courthouse, Hollis Cook will reenact
the original speech given before the laying of the Cornerstone to an
assemblage of invited spectators on the front steps of the courthouse.
2:45-3:45PM Band: The Dusty Buskers will play another hour of Americana music. (Location Northeast lawn)
EVENT SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE