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//Howdy,//

//A Frenchman once asked if Arizonans still wear cowboy hats and have gunfights in the streets. "Connaisez-vous Tombstone?" I asked. He did know of Tombstone which speaks on the impact of the American Wild West. Watching the five 'o' clock news today, one may think events like the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral still occur (e.g. don't cut in the flatscreen TV line on Black Friday). In rural Arizona and at the Parada del Sol parade, cowboy hats are still stylish but America's fascination with the Wild West runs far deeper into our collective consciousness: the Wild West captures our spirit of independence, the gray lines between right and wrong, and great storytellin' told through the Hollywood Western. Beyond plopping down to watch a flick, how much do you know about Tombstone? About the Wild West? About Arizona history? About reading film?//

//To honor Arizona's centennial, CHS English III and English IV teachers are collaborating on a transmedia literary analysis of the film Tombstone. Any huckleberry can watch a flick but it takes sound skills to analyze a film and to help y'all, this six-shooter of teachers have specialized to break down the movie.//

//I, Mr. Gerchick, will specialize in the historic context surrounding Tombstone and it should be tooted that former Coronado social studies teacher and current State Historian Marshall Trimblehas generously shared his time and source materials on the Wild West and Frontier Arizona. Much obliged, Mr. Trimble.// //Mr. Carey, a thespian and film expert, will introduce you to the Western as a cherished genre of American film-making. Mrs. Vickers, our AP Literature and Composition teacher, will focus on archetypal characters found in Westerns. Media literacy scholar Ms. Anderson will focus on mis-en-scene // //and her student teacher, Ms. Huskey, will focus on allusions. Vickers' student teacher, Mr. Morgan, will introduce you to the Kuleshov Effectand how it influences our perceptions of films.// //Unless you want to be more ignorant of the Wild West than a city-slicker Frenchman, use this Wiki as a learning resource.//

//Much obliged for your time,// //~Mr. Gerchick//

=Tombstone historic context=

Howdy from Mr. Gerchick
"History tells us what happened," wrote John Steinbeck. "Literature tells us how it felt." The Wild West, some argue, lasted into the Twentieth Century but the famed "Cowboy Era" lasted less than a half century. While this era's past, enjoy learning this era's history to elevate your appreciation of the film.

Within a decade of the closing of the West's "Cowboy Era," living legends like "Buffalo Bill" Cody were being legendized (sometimes by others and sometimes by themselves) through storytelling. Buffalo Bill's Wild West show was a hit in the early 1900s.

The Wild West is till cherished today, as depicted above when former Coronado social studies teacher and State Historian Marshall Trimble poses in front of Buffalo Bill's image. Picture taken by Dave Siebert.

Welcome to Tombstone
1879 - the Civil War is over, and the resulting economic explosion spurs the great migration west. Farmers, ranchers, prospectors, killers, and thieves seek their fortune. Cattle growers turn cow towns into armed camps, with murder rates higher than than those of modern day New York or Los Angeles. Spurred by a silver boom, the town of Tombstone attracted stagecoaches filled with people, money, dreams, and guns...

Law enforcement, gangs, and justice in the Wild West
In the Wild West as in anywhere else in the world, lines between the good, the bad, and the anti-heroes are hard to distinguish. Famed outlaws like Doc Holiday defended lawmen like Wyatt Earp and bands called "Cowboys" were the "bad guys." According to the Apache, militants like Cochise and Geronimo were heroes while the American federal government branded them "outlaws." Billy "the Kid" was loved by locals but hated by cattle owners from New Mexico to Arizona. Because the Wild West had little law enforcement, crime ran rampant and organized crime, in-fact, flourished during this era. These circumstances led to some epic clashes between law and the lawless as portrayed in the film //Tombstone//.

According to Discover Arizona, in the 1880s iIlegal traffic flourished along the U.S./Mexico border with American "cow-boys" bringing stolen Mexican cattle north while Mexican smugglers came north for alcohol and tobacco. The Mexican government taxed these items so heavily that a handsome profit could be made by smuggling them across the border. Some Arizona outlaws made a practice of robbing the Mexicans on their way north, when they were carrying gold, coins and bullion to Tombstone or Tucson to make their purchases. The robberies were seldom reported since the victims were themselves operating outside the law. Sometimes the victims dind't even survive to tell the story.

In one famous encounter in Skeleton Canyon in the far southeast corner of Arizona, 15 Mexicans were reportedly held up and killed by the Curley Bill Brocius gang (A.K.A. "The Cowboys"), their bodies left for the buzzards. Despite clashes like these, towns like Tombstone tried to etch their permanent places on the map by becoming more "sivilized," as Mark Twain spelled it.

"Sivilizing" boom towns like Tombstone
Tombstone, like may Western boom towns, tried bringing in modern stores, fancy fashion, and even performed Shakespeare to convince passers-through that the town was more than a boomtown; it was a blossoming desert metropolis. Unfortunately, for Tombstone, a few decades of its founding, the town would go bust.

So how much do you know about Tombstone and the Wild West? Take this Tombstone history quiz to see what you know about the town's history.

Click through this Flickr montage to get a feel for town life in Tombstone
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Earps vs. Cowboys Feud and the Shootout at the O.K. Corral
By 1881 a feud had developed between the Earps and a gang led by Ike Clanton. The feud was resolved in the celebrated gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Oct. 26, 1881), pitting the Clanton gang against three Earp brothers (Virgil, Wyatt, and Morgan) and Doc Holliday. Three of the Clanton gang were killed, but Ike and another member escaped.

The feud that ensued from the shootout is the stuff of Western legends and the premise for this film.

Wyatt Earp
Leaving Dodge City with his second wife, Wyatt Earp went to New Mexico and then California, working for a time as a Wells Fargo guard, and ended up in 1878 in the Wild West town of Tombstone, Ariz. Most of the Earp family had congregated there, buying real estate and businesses; Wyatt became a gambler and guard in the Oriental Saloon, and his brother Virgil became town marshal.

For a broader list of historic characters played in the film, check out this casting list given by IMDB.com.

=The Western=

Howdy from Mr. Carey:
The Western genre is a cherished art form, constantly challenging us to reconsider the legacy of the Wild West.

"Tombstone Introduction" review
To review and complete this section of the "Tombstone Introduction" packet, view the below PowerPoint.

=Archetypes in Film=

Howdy from Mrs. Vickers:
Just as knights in shining armor slayed dragons, sheriffs with silver spurs shot outlaws. Listen to Mrs. Vickers' presentation on character archetypes and how they appear in Westerns.

"Tombstone Introduction" review
To review and complete this section of the "Tombstone Introduction" packet, view the below PowerPoint.

=Mis-en-scene=

Howdy from Ms. Anderson:
As demonstrated in class, there's a writing process taking a story from history to script to film. Listen as Ms. Anderson narrates this writing process.

"Tombstone Introduction" review
To review and complete this section of the "Tombstone Introduction" packet, view the below PowerPoint.

=The Art of Allusions=

Howdy from Ms. Huskey:
Know what music Doc Holliday's playing on the piano? Literary allusions are prominent in the film and Ms. Huskey will help you understand them.

"Tombstone Introduction" review
To review and complete this section of the "Tombstone Introduction" packet, view the below PowerPoint.

=The Kuleshov Effect=

Howdy from Mr. Morgan:
To revisit and extend knowledge on the Kuleshov Effect, enjoy the contents below.

This picture rules and so does the Kuleshov Effect. How does each pair of images impact your perception of the individual pictures?

media type="youtube" key="hdGwokj8IDo" height="315" width="420" Watch as Oscar-winning director Alfred Hitchcock (Strangers on a Train, Vertigo) explains the Kuleshov Effect.

"Tombstone Introduction" review
To review and complete this section of the "Tombstone Introduction" packet, view the below PowerPoint. 