Tombstone, in the Arizona Territory was notorious as the meanest mining town in the western frontiers, and Tombstone’s Oriental Saloon was similarly renowned. As many as 200 men may have been shot to death there in pointless even idiotic arguments that originated in the Oriental. On one occasion, John Ringo invited Louis Hancock to have a drink with him. When Hancock agreed and asked for a beer, Ringo said, “No man drinks beer with me. I don’t like beer.” Ringo finally shot Hancock who allegedly was buried with a bottle of beer. The original Oriental was started by Jim Vizina in a canvas tent with two wagon loads of whisky. It later moved to an actual building that was lavishly decorated by the new owner, Mike Joyce. Joyce later sold out to Lou Rickabaugh, who gave a quarter interest to Wyatt Earp for protection purposes. Gunmen Bat Masterson and Luke Short ran the gambling tables, with Earp and his friend Doc Holliday often present. Earp and Doc Holliday left town following the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Tombstone’s silver mine died out, and the Oriental folded with it.
Standing in the shadows of a ghost town.
