# Sunshine and Peace explained — Tombstone > Chapter companion for Tombstone by Walter Noble Burns. ## What happens The chapter describes Tombstone's decline from a bustling metropolis of 15,000 to a ghost town of 646 by 1900, and its slow revival to about 1,200 residents. It contrasts the dead physical buildings with the live present-day community, highlighting the town's efforts to attract tourists, preserve its history (e.g., turning the Bird Cage Theatre into a museum), and develop as a health resort. The narrative tours the modern uses of historic sites—the Oriental, Crystal Palace, O.K. Corral—and recounts the fates of old figures: Ike Clanton's death, Finn Clanton's peaceful end, and the scandalous Crabtree will case that brought Tombstone's wild past into a Boston courtroom. It concludes with a portrait of the quiet, hospitable present-day community and the few remaining pioneers. ## Themes in this chapter ### Boom and Bust The chapter details Tombstone's dramatic decline from a booming mining town of 15,000 to a near ghost town, and its slow, modest revival—illustrating the boom-and-bust cycle of frontier mining communities. ### Community and Memory The present-day community's efforts to preserve historic landmarks, the gathering of old-timers at the Arizona Pioneers Historical Society, and the Crabtree will case all show how memory and community identity persist. ### Character and Reputation The fates of Ike Clanton, Finn Clanton, and the depositions in the Crabtree case highlight how personal reputations and character are remembered and contested long after the events. ## Character check-ins ### Wyatt Earp Mentioned as having known the old business section; gave a deposition in the Crabtree will case; saved Johnny Behind-the-Deuce from a mob. ### Doc Holliday Mentioned as having dealt faro in the old Oriental. ### Buckskin Frank Leslie Mentioned as having tended bar in the old Oriental; his former wife gave a deposition in the Crabtree case. ### Morgan Earp Mentioned as having been killed in Bob Hatch's old billiard hall. ### John Behan Mentioned as having known the old business section; later became superintendent of Yuma prison and died in Tucson in 1912. ### Billy Breakenridge Described as a distinguished gentleman in his eighties, still alive and full of talk of old times; gave a deposition in the Crabtree case. ### Ike Clanton Killed in 1887 on Bonita Creek by deputy sheriffs while trying to escape arrest. ### Finn Clanton Last of the Clanton family; died in bed at his ranch after serving ten years for cattle stealing. ## Key lines > Tombstone, that in its days of glory as the metropolis of Arizona had 15,000 people, had dwindled to a ghost town in 1900, when only 646 inhabitants stood between it and utter extinction. Tombstone's population fell from 15,000 to just 646 by 1900, nearly becoming a ghost town. _Describes the town's dramatic population decline._ > The old Oriental, where Doc Holliday dealt faro and Buckskin Frank tended bar, is a drug store, and dainty young women gossip over ice-cream sodas where hard-eyed gamblers once bucked the tiger. The Oriental saloon is now a drug store where women chat over ice cream, replacing the gamblers of the past. _Contrasts the old gambling hall with its modern, mundane use._ > Ike Clanton, who, with boastful tongue, swaggered among Tombstone's bars and whose running feet left indelible prints across Tombstone's early history, was killed in 1887 on Bonita Creek twenty miles west of Montmorenci. Ike Clanton, known for his bragging and cowardice, was killed in 1887 on Bonita Creek while trying to flee from deputies. _Recounts Ike Clanton's death._ > The company went into bankruptcy in 1911, having lost $5,000,000. At a receiver's sale in 1914, the Phelps-Dodge interests... purchased the properties for $500,000. The mining company went bankrupt in 1911 after losing $5 million, and Phelps-Dodge bought the mines for $500,000 in 1914. _Details the financial collapse of the Tombstone mines._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xxii-sunshine-and-peace - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tombstone_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tombstone_se/chapters