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Tombstone and The Epitaph™
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Walter Cole: ‘The Town Too Tough To Die’
Walter and Edith Cole’s tenure began in 1930. In their initial vision for Tombstone’s future, they blissfully
called for a “bigger and better Tombstone.” But what indelibly stamped Cole’s name on the Epitaph’s
composing stone were comments two weeks later, when he wrote, “The spirit of Tombstone is to never
say die.” Forgoing the imagery of the little town that could, Cole said Tombstone was “the town too tough to
die.” To be sure, just a few words, but in measure and content they seemed to capture Tombstone’s place
in the history of the Old West – standing tall in the face of adversity. In words, it mirrored the silhouette of
Wyatt Earp, standing unscathed, as the gun smoke cleared after the Shootout at the O. K. Corral.
Overshadowed by other names in the pantheon of Epitaph editors, Cole nonetheless cemented the
slogan to Tombstone’s name.
Drawing on another image, Cole promoted the idea of “Tombstone the Beautiful,” a bit of local pride that
Clum, in a letter, applauded. To the Epitaph founder, Tombstone’s future lay in “the broader and wiser and
more substantial plan of exploiting the attractions and advantages with which nature has so generously
endowed your section.” Still, silver’s siren call struck Cole, who joined previous editors who had
proclaimed that Tombstone was on the verge of reclaiming its productive prowess. But it never came to
pass. Having guided the Epitaph during the peak years of the Great Depression, what he called “the most
trying times in the history of this camp,” Cole sold the Epitaph in 1938.
Clayton Smith: The Long Haul
If anyone might reasonably claim the title “Mr. Tombstone,” the honor might well go to Clayton Smith, who
was the Epitaph’s longest-running editor, from 1938 until his death in an airplane crash in 1964. Editing a
weekly paper might be enough for most; for Smith it was but a beginning. He also served as a school
board member, a justice of the peace, a volunteer firefighter, a Boy Scout leader and a passionate voice –
in print and in person – for the preservation of Tombstone’s historic structures. A North Dakota native,
Smith came to Tombstone in 1936. After he purchased the paper from Cole, he began to pursue the
thread that Kelly had initiated in the 1920s. That effort lay in foregrounding Tombstone’s “wild west” period.
As more and more time separated the Old West as experienced from the Old West as artifact, Smith
believed that it was in the town’s best interest to embrace that heady frontier moment. Toward that end,
Smith used the pages of the Epitaph to present historical sketches on Tombstone’s past. He encouraged
researchers to use the Epitaph’s files – an open-door policy that produced Douglas Martin’s award-
winning book, Tombstone’s Epitaph. And he took a leading role in each year’s Helldorado celebration,
which featured re-enactments of Tombstone’s memorable moments.
Tombstone and Beyond…
In the immediate aftermath of Smith’s death in January 1964, his widow, Mabel, published the paper for
several months. Then an important period of transition began, when Detroit, Mich., investors, headed by
attorney Harold O. Love, purchased the Epitaph along with other Tombstone landmarks, including the O.K.
Corral, the Crystal Palace and Schieffelin Hall. For the next decade, the Epitaph was capably edited by
Wayne Winters, an Arizona newspaperman, with extensive background in both printing and mining.
In 1974, Love and his colleagues, including Clayton, a Detroit advertising executive, pursued plans to
launch a new edition. As envisioned in early planning sessions, the National Edition would be an
historical journal of the Old West, broadly defined. While it would never lose touch with its Tombstone
roots, the National Edition would take the entire West in the second half the 19th century as its canvas. At
the same time, the weekly Epitaph would continue as the local paper for Tombstone’s 1,500 residents. To
accomplish the restructuring of the publications, the Epitaph corporation hired E. Dean Prichard, a long-
time newsman and writer, to edit the new National Edition and Frederick A. Schoemehl, then a reporter at
a California daily newspaper, to edit the weekly edition and to assist Prichard with the monthly. Within a
year, the weekly editor’s job had been assumed by Don Cantrell, another Southern California newsman.
Then came a novel turn of events: the corporation decided to meet with the University of Arizona
Department of Journalism to discuss a partnership whereby journalism students would produce the local
edition. This would give them practical experience in all aspects of newspaper production, including
reporting, writing, editing, photography, design and printing. The U of A journalism department continues
to publish the Epitaph’s local edition, on a bi-weekly basis, during the regular school year.
Between 1975 and the late 1990s, editorial management of the National Edition, with subscribers
throughout the United States and many foreign countries, passed from Prichard to Clayton and back to
Prichard following Clayton’s death in 1998. From Tombstone to Virginia City to Bodie; from the “Last
Stand” at Little Big Horn to the Massacre at Wounded Knee; from Pat Garrett to Billy the Kid; from Wyatt
Earp to Pinkerton detectives; from the photography of Evelyn Cameron to Mollie O’Bryan’s seat on the
mining exchange, the National Edition has continued to bring a lively mix of stories and photographs on
events, places and people associated with the history and culture of the Old West. For Clayton, the high
point of his editorship was the addition of The Tombstone Epitaph as a national journalistic landmark by
Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists.
Prichard’s 33-year association with the National Edition ended tragically in August 2006 when he suffered
serious, irreversible injuries during a fall at his Arizona ranch. Unable to continue, the Epitaph turned to
Schoemehl, who holds a doctorate in U. S. history, to become editor of the monthly edition. “My desire is to
showcase the history of the Old West in as accurate, entertaining and readable ways as we can,”
Schoemehl said. “I want our readers to receive a monthly package that reflects the depth and breadth of
the West, as it was experienced in its frontier period and as we remember that period today.” Schoemehl
is also working to improve the Epitaph’s visibility through the recent launch of this website,
thetombstoneepitaph.com, and improvements to the paper’s historic printing museum in Tombstone.
Your comments are invited at info@thetombstoneepitaph.com
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