THE TOMBSTONE EPITAPH, Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona, Feb. 4, 1882  The front page of this sought-after Old West issue is dominated by a spectacular array of local advertisements, including an illustrated ad for the Arizona Mail and Stage Line, notices for the Schieffelin Hall theater featuring the Fifth Avenue Comedy Company, and local merchants such as the Cosmopolitan on Allen Street. The interior pages contain fascinating, short frontier briefs from across the territory, featuring a section on "Mormon Proselytes" traveling from Texas to Salt Lake City, an adjacent report titled "The Anti-Polygamous Crusade," and a grim, darkly humorous front-page anecdote regarding a Texas desperado who was lynched by vigilantes, remarking to his executioners as they tied a bow knot under his chin, "Boys, you've got the drop on me this time."
The significance of this issue lies in both its legendary title and its incredible timing. Founded in 1880 by John Clum, The Tombstone Epitaph is arguably the most famous newspaper in the history of the American frontier. This specific issue was published a mere three and a half months after the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (which occurred on October 26, 1881), capturing Tombstone at the absolute zenith of its violent, boomtown notoriety. The local advertisements offer an unparalleled social blueprint of the historic town, listing the very streets, saloons, and stage lines walked by Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clanton faction. Combined with the text detailing frontier vigilante justice and the regional tensions surrounding Mormon migration, this newspaper stands as a premier museum-grade artifact from the heart of the true Wild West.
Other news of the territory, mining updates, and local notices are found throughout.
Complete as a four-page rag edition newspaper, featuring a clean archival mend along the midfold near the margins of both leaves, archivally rejoined at the spine, good condition.