TOMBSTONE PROSPECTOR, Arizona, Nov. 20, 1889  

* Very rare wild West publication
* Gunfight at the O.K. Corral fame
* The Wham Paymaster Robbery trial

We have had a few other newspapers from the iconic Old West town of Tombstone, but this is is perhaps the most uncommon. The masthead features a great engraving of a miner on a mule.
The front page has nearly 1 1/3 columns taken cup with: "The Wham Trial" " 'Frankie' Campbell Relates Her Experience With the Robbers".
This trial concerns the robbery of U.S. Army Paymaster Major Joseph Washington Wham & his military escort.
The ftpg. also has a nice headed: "$500 REWARD" noting in part: "...for the apprehension & evidence that will lead to the conviction of each & every person engaged in the murder of Judson White...". Page 3 has a similar: "Reward Proclamation" for: "...the above-mentioned Indians...if captured or arrested alive..." with much more.
Four pages, archivally rejoined at the spine, chipping at a margin of the back leaf does not affect the mentioned content, plus a bit of chipping at the top margin, affecting nothing.
A fine opportunity for a very rare title from this famous town.

Background: These events collectively underscore the profound volatility and institutional fragility of the Arizona Territory as it transitioned into the late 19th century, highlighting a lawless frontier caught between federal authority and entrenched local defiance. The Wham Paymaster Robbery and its subsequent trial exposed deep-seated political, racial, and social fractures; the ambush of Buffalo Soldiers by local, politically connected white ranchers—followed by a highly politicized trial that resulted in a controversial acquittal despite overwhelming evidence—demonstrated how easily the frontier justice system could be manipulated by community biases against federal intervention. Concurrently, the frantic reward proclamations for the murder of Judson White and the capture of Apache outlaws reflect a society plagued by overlapping anxieties of civilian lawlessness and lingering indigenous resistance. Together, these stories splashed across the pages of the Tombstone Prospector signify a critical historical inflection point where the federal government desperately sought to impose order, yet local lawlessness, racial tension, and frontier violence still dictated the reality of daily life in the Old West.