Tombstone, city, Cochise County, southeastern Arizona; settled by Ed Schieffelin, a prospector, in 1877, incorporated 1881. Tombstone is a popular tourist center and health resort with a colorful history as a lawless mining town. Points of interest include Boot Hill cemetery, containing the graves of many outlaws; the O.K. Corral, the scene in 1881 of a famous gun battle, mainly between the Clanton gang and the Earp brothers; and Tombstone Courthouse Historic Park, Monument, and Museum. Much gold and silver was produced here in the 1880s, but large-scale mining ended by 1890, partly because of flooding of the mines. At its peak, the community had some 10,000 inhabitants. Population 1,632 (1980); 1,220 (1990); 1,504 (2000).
