In relation to that already published book, here's an image of J.W. Swart's Saloon in Charleston, Arizona. They look like a friendly group, don't they? Charleston was a rough town situated nine miles southwest of Tombstone. It was right across the San Pedro river from Millville, so named because it milled the silver ore mined from Tombstone. The milling process required more water than was available in Tombstone, so the ore had to be shipped down to Millville.
Charleston was where the men who worked in the milling plant lived. It was a rough town and a meeting place for the infamous band of rustlers called the Cowboys, who would have a date with the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday at the OK Corral. The Clanton family, who were prominent among the Cowboys, had a ranch not far from Charleston. One wonders how many outlaws are in this picture.
Charleston has all but disappeared. The collapse of Tombstone's mining industry in 1886, and an earthquake in 1887, pretty much erased Charleston from the map. All that's left of this wild west town today are a few foundations in a lonely stretch of desert.
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
