Ghost Town

If the crumbling walls could only speak-what a story they'd have to tellAt NUMEROUS places in Arizona -when the rush for precious metals resulted in communities "springing up over night" when and where a new strike was made-rich man, poor man, gamblers and crooks brushed elbows in the mad whirl and frenzy of "boom town" days at La Paz, Ehrenberg. Charleston, Fairbank, Contention and other towns. Today, shattered walls and heaps of ruins present mute evidence of their death-towns that flared up, blazed in glory, then flickered out with the life of their mines-towns that, with the passing of the pioneers, are fast slipping from memory-the history of their existence barely recorded.

Closely allied in the early mining days of Cochise county were the neighboring towns of Tombstone, Charleston, Fairbank and Contention. They were all rip-snorting boom-towns "full of dynamite." Tombstone boasted a population of 14,000 and was the most important city between El Paso and San Francisco. Underground water flooded the minesbrought an abrupt end to Tombstone's prominence and the energetic, prosper-

Ghost Town By Joseph Miller

ous town lost her population almost as fast as she had gained it. The number of inhabitants soon dwindled to less than 2,000, and although there has been some revival of operations there, the town generally remains about the same.

Rich in history from her few short years as a boom town, there are several historic sites that still ring of Tombstone's exciting past.

Less fortunate in sustaining existence were Charleston, Fairbank, and Contention. For need of water these mill towns were established on the banks of the San Pedro river, to handle the ore from Tombstone. Although they were typical western towns, none held such social prominence and importance as did Tombstone.

With the shut-down of the mines the stamp mills ceased to operate. Charleston, referred to in Western fiction as "Red Dog," clung to a spark of life until a few years ago and Fairbank, though also a ghost of its former self, still has an inhabitated building or two.

Contention, or Contention City as it was sometimes called, was named after the Contention Mine. A group of mining men had an agreement they were to share in any new discoveries. Upon locating this particular claim, one of the party insisted upon keeping it for himself. After considerable verbal fireworks, the other members of the group contended they should be "cut in" on the new strike. It was finally agreed they should share, and the site, which turned out to be one of the richest silver producers in the district, was then and there named Contention.

The physical remains of these old ghost towns all are within about ten miles of Tombstone. Strung along the banks of the San Pedro are the crumbling walls of the buildings of old Contention that not so long ago played a living part in the hustle and bustle of this once active community a typical town of the old West, the last and best West, which, not unlike the towns that flourished then faded, is, too, a ghost of its former self.