November 2003 Guadalupe Canyon The Guadalupe Canyon, in the Southeast corner of Arizona, provided an excellent trail for smugglers, rustlers, and travellers to move easily between Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. In the summer of 1881 two events occured in the Gadalupe Canyon which helped set the stage for the shoot-out between the Earps and the McLaurys and Clantons. The first event involved a band of Mexican smugglers who were ambushed allegedly by cowboy-bandits of the region. During the Earp/Holliday inquest, Wyatt Earp tesitified that Frank and Tom McLaury were involved in this deed. A couple weeks after the ambush a group of ranchers moving a herd through the Guadelupe Canyon were themselves ambushed. Among the dead were Dixie Lee Gray, son of eminent Tombstone businessman Mike Gray; James Crane, suspected stagecoach robber and murderer of Bud Philpot; and Newman "Old Man" Clanton, head of the Clanton Ranch operation and father of Ike and Billy Clanton. The group was attacked at dawn by Mexicans bent on revenge for the earlier ambush. A short drive from the Slaughter Ranch brought us to a modern gate with a shiny new chain and pad-lock on it. Once beyond that gate, it was easy to imagine you had stepped back in time. |
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| The entrance sign to the Guadalupe Canyon | After the feast at the Slaughter Ranch, most were ready to work it off. |
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| The cliffs and hills of the canyon provided ample hiding spots for ambushers. | Although no water sources were evident, it was obvious from the tower trees in the vicinity that the canyon provids enough. |
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| Weary but high spirted, one group takes a break from the sun. | Rugged and worn, the view at each bend of the trail was magnificent. |
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| As fervent in their pace as they are in their research, the leaders of the expedition were soon well out of sight of the main group, which eventually decided to turn back. | After a 4-6 mile hike, the ice-cold water bottles was enjoyed very much. Some headed back to Tombstone to set up the tailgate party while the rest waited for last of the hikers. |
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| "Trailblazin" Annie makes a trail-marker only the sharpest of trackers could possibly read which points the last hikers back to the tailgate party. | With the shadows growing longer, stragglers return and welcomed with water and apples. |
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| With the last of the sun shining only on the hilltops, the last group returns. While the planners of the hike were a little put out that the hike did not go off exactly as planned, no one left the canyon disappointed. | The very last group to leave the canyon walked a quarter mile to the border with Mexico, identified with this marker. |
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| The Earp-McLaury... er, McLaury-Earp gang rides! Clay "Suckinthatgut" McLaury, "Trailblazin" Annie, and Eric "Shoulda-aimed-higher" Earp make a run for the border. | Well I ain't never been to Heaven, but I've been to Arizona. Being the in the last car out of the Guadalupe Canyon we were greeted with a most beautiful sunset over the South end of the Suphur Springs Valley. The perfect cap to a perfect day. |
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