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Recent Articles from Jane Eppinga
Tombstone’s Chinese Pioneers
In the late 19th century, about 400 Asians resided in Tombstone and were ruled by a Chinese woman named China Mary. She was known for wearing opulent brocades and expensive jewelry, and was considered one of Tombstone’s most influential Chinese residents. China Mary, whose Chinese name was apparently Sing Choy, had acquired enough money to buy a Tombstone property on block 2, lot 9. She also was[...]
Tombstone’s Surgeon to the Gunfighters
Dr. George Goodfellow with his horse, a gift from Mexico’s President Porfirio Diaz.
A case of territorial voter fraud
Robert Paul was born in Massachusetts on June 12, 1830. At the age of 12, he boarded a whaling ship and spent the next several years traveling around the world. In 1849, he arrived in San Francisco — just in time to participate in the gold rush. Then from 1859 to 1864, he served as sheriff of California’s Calaveras County. After several financial setbacks, Paul began riding shotgun for Wells F[...]
Arizona’s Great Velocipede Race
El Tour de Tucson, one of the largest road bicycling events in the United States, started in 1983. The ride takes place every November.
However, the seeds for the event were planted as early as the 1890s.
Manuelito
In the mid 1800s, Manuelito led the Navajos in some of the fiercest battles of the Indian wars with the U.S. He was born near Bear’s Ear in Utah and belonged to the Bit’ahni clan.
Arizona Firsts: Dr. Rosa Goodrich Boido, M.D.
Rosa Goodrich Boido was born in Navasota, Texas, Feb. 24, 1870, to Briggs Goodrich and Rosa Meador. Briggs Goodrich served as Arizona Territory’s attorney general from 1887-1888, and his brother, Ben Goodrich, represented Cochise County as a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1909.
Murder at Ruby
In the 1870s, Jack Smith discovered rich ore reserves of silver, gold, lead, zinc and copper at the Montana Mine located in Ruby, Ariz. The Ruby town site is located in southern Arizona, roughly halfway between Tubac and Sasabe. Julius Andrews operated the general store near the mine for 18 years and became the area’s first postmaster. He named the post office in honor of his wife, Lillie B. Rub[...]
Hyman Capin
Hyman Capin, a native of Lithuania, learned the trade of tailoring, a skill which would serve him throughout his life and began working in New York and Pennsylvania around the turn of the 20th century. He did well in Harrisburg, Penn., but his wife, Dora, had respiratory problems, and her doctor recommended that the family seek a warm, dry climate. So, the Capin family moved to Los Angeles in 1907[...]
The Getaway Train
It all started when Thomas Hart, a drifter with a penchant for alcohol, stole a case of whiskey from Paul Moretti’s saloon. Moretti reported the theft to Yuma County Sheriff Gus Livingston. Not long after, Moretti spotted Hart on Main Street and pointed him out to a young deputy, Matt DeVanem, who confronted Hart and tried to arrest him. Hart shot the deputy at point blank range with a gun hidde[...]
Tombstone’s deadliest gunfighter
John Peters Ringo — famously known as Johnny Ringo and dubbed Tombstone’s deadliest gunfighter — first turned up in Arizona at a bar in Safford in 1878, where he offered a whiskey to a man seated next to him. The unarmed man declined and said he preferred beer. Ringo then drew his pistol and fired, nicking the man’s ear. When the case came before a grand jury, Ringo did not appear.
Tucson Mayor William Armine Julian
William Armine (W. A.) Julian arrived in Tucson in 1899 at age 34 from San Diego with his wife Margaret. He promptly opened the W. A. Julian Company in a two-story building featuring a handsome facade of granite and pressed brick and several large show windows at 122 E. Congress. The business would eventually control 85 percent of Tucson’s plumbing, heating and roofing business. He also sold Cha[...]
Nathaniel Plumer and Tucson’s Speedway Boulevard
Nathaniel E. Plumer, along with two business associates, was instrumental in getting the road built that would eventually be known as Speedway Boulevard.
