April 1881 – Bob Paul, former Wells Fargo agent, becomes Pima County Sheriff after a protracted challenge over the November 1880 election results. April 1881- Tombstone’s city council reorganized the City Marshal’s office as a police department, and established a Chief of Police for the city of 4,000.

November 2, 1880 – Initial results gave incumbent Charles Shibell a slim lead over Bob Paul for Pima County Sheriff. Bob challenged the count, and in April 1881 the courts declared him the winner. November 4, 1879 – George Hinckle defeated “Bat” Masterson for the position of Sheriff for Ford County, Kansas by a vote [...]

June 4, 1880 – John Clum was appointed postmaster of Tombstone. June 22, 1880 – Mike Killeen attempted to ambush “Buckskin” Frank Leslie in the Cosmopolitan Hotel for having an affair with his wife, when George Perine walked in. A gunfight ensued and Mike was killed. Frank and George were arrested for murder, but the [...]

May 1, 1880 – The Tombstone Epitaph began publishing daily and weekly editions. John Clum, founder, wrote a two-column editorial which appeared on the front page. It said, in part: “Tombstone is a city set upon a hill, promising to vie with ancient Rome upon her seven hills, in a fame different in character but [...]

February, 1881 – The city of Tombstone was incorporated February 10, 1881 – Johnny Behan becomes sheriff of Cochise County, which includes the town of Tombstone. February 11, 1882 – The defendants (Earps and Holliday) filed a Writ of Habeas Corpus petition, stating that: Judge Smith in Contention City had no right to hold them [...]

January 3, 1882 – John Carr defeated John Clum for mayor of Tombstone. January 4, 1881 – A committee headed by George Parsons substituted John Clum for another candidate after he withdrew from the mayor’s race less than a week before the election. John was elected mayor of Tombstone with 532 out of 697 votes. [...]

December 14, 1879 – Johnny Ringo shot Louis Hancock in the throat at a saloon in Safford. December 1881 – U.S. Marshal Crawley Dake commissioned Wyatt Earp as a Deputy U.S. Marshal by telegraph from Prescott. December 14, 1881 – An attempted hijacking of the Benson night stage that contained Mayor John Clum took place, [...]

October 1, 1881 – Geronimo and Naiche, son of the late Cochise, escaped the San Carlos Reservation with about 400 other Apaches. Despite pursuit by a posse of 35 -40 men, they remained free until February 1884 when Geronimo surrendered and returned to the reservation. October 2, 1879 – The first issue of the Tombstone [...]

September 6, 1884 – “Doc” Holliday was released after posting bail in Leadville, Colorado. He had been held in conjunction with shooting Billy Allen at Hyman’s saloon on Harrison Avenue. Doc was later found not guilty of attempted murder. September 8, 1881 – Three or four masked men robbed a stagecoach just outside of Bisbee. [...]