# Sources explained — Tombstone

> Chapter companion for Tombstone by Walter Noble Burns.

## What happens

The author details the primary sources used to write the book, including old newspaper files from the Tombstone Epitaph, Tombstone Nugget, and Tucson Star, court testimony from the Earp-Clanton feud trial, coroner's inquests, personal manuscripts and memoirs of key figures like Ed Schieffelin, Billy Breakenridge, and John Slaughter, as well as interviews with numerous pioneers and old-timers who lived in Tombstone during its heyday.

## Themes in this chapter

### Community and Memory

The chapter emphasizes how the history of Tombstone is preserved through newspapers, personal manuscripts, and the recollections of pioneers, highlighting the role of community memory in shaping the historical record.

### Character and Reputation

The author uses trial testimony from both Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton to present both sides of the Earp-Clanton feud, underscoring how character and reputation were contested in the public record.

## Character check-ins

### Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp's written testimony from his trial after the street battle is cited as a source for the Earp side of the feud.

### Ike Clanton

Ike Clanton's testimony from the same trial provides the Clanton side of the feud.

### Morgan Earp

The assassination of Morgan Earp is mentioned as an event documented through coroner's inquests.

### Frank Stilwell

The killing of Frank Stilwell is noted as an event documented through coroner's inquests.

### Florentino Cruz

The killing of Florentino Cruz (Indian Charlie) is noted as an event documented through coroner's inquests.

### Ed Schieffelin

The Schieffelin chapter is based on Schieffelin's own manuscript in the archives of the Arizona Pioneers Historical Society.

## Key lines

> Bound volumes of old files of the Tombstone Epitaph , Tombstone Nugget , and Tucson Star fill certain shelves in the rooms of the Arizona Pioneers Historical Society in Tucson.

The Arizona Pioneers Historical Society in Tucson houses bound volumes of old newspapers from Tombstone, including the Epitaph, Nugget, and Tucson Star.

_Describes the primary archival source for the book._

> My account of the origin of the Earp-Clanton feud and the street battle in which it culminated is based on testimony from the witness stand.

The author's version of the Earp-Clanton feud and the resulting gunfight is drawn directly from courtroom testimony.

_Explains the source for the feud narrative._

> For my version of the assassination of Morgan Earp and the subsequent killing of Frank Stilwell and Florentino Cruz, or Indian Charlie, I have depended on the evidence brought out at the coroner’s inquests.

The author relied on coroner's inquest evidence for the accounts of Morgan Earp's murder and the killings of Frank Stilwell and Florentino Cruz.

_Specifies the source for these violent events._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/sources
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tombstone_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tombstone_se/chapters