Everything about Tombstone screams tourist trap, nothing more so than Boot
Hill. The oldcemetery is at the western edge of town and is the most famous
"Boot Hill" In the United States. This is a public cemetery, so we were
suspicious when we saw that it was surrounded by a large and gated wall. You
have to go inside a building, where you can purchase memorabilia and snacks, to
get to the graves. There is no fee, but you have to pay $2 to get a grave
guide. I foolishly paid and we went to see the resting places of the most
notorious denizens of this southwestern sin city. What we saw outside has to be
one of the biggest tourist scams I’ve seen. Each grave consists of a uniform
pile of rocks, laid about a foot high above the presumable remainsof assorted
murderers, murder victims, thieves, those wh succumbed to dread diseases, and
prostitutes. A cheap wooden cross identifies the deceased. Not one headstone,
just one inscription. We went back inside and asked an oversized man who was
intently counting the day’s take, why there were no headstones and why no
ordinary people were buried here. He said that the wooden head markers had all
rotted. And most of the good folks in the graveyardhad been moved across the
highway to a new cemetery. Some might still be buried underneath the parking
lot, he told us. Only those of ill repute were left behind, and we are to
believe that exhaustiveresearch has identified the man who was found dead at
the bottom of a mine shaft, stabbed, and who is now buried in one of numbered
plots identified in the $2 brochure. This is a real P.T. Barnum enterprise.
... The truth of Tombstone can be seen in its demographic and economic data.
1,562 residents; household income 30 percent below the state average; housing
prices low and falling; percent of people with higher education "significantly
below" the state average; median age "significantly above" the state average;
over 40 percent of men working in construction (mostly nonunion),
accommodations/food service, and arts/entertainment/recreation (read stage
coach drivers and fake cowboysfor the daily shootouts); 25 percent of women
working in accommodations/food service. A town of middle incomeretirees come to
enjoy the warm weather, living with low wage workers and proprietors
"servicing" the tourists. We noticed that the barkers and hucksters had a look
of desperation on their faces. Will the downturn in the economy spell our doom?
A hard-looking women sitting on a bench told a friend that she was goingback to
Minnesota. No doubt the stage coach drivers, shootout actors, cooks,
dishwashers, bed and breakfast owners,motel room attendants, and trailer park
attendants face a tough winter.Full at http://www.blog.cheapmotelsandahotplate
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