{The Tombstone Epitaph}

Stories of invention, personal dedication, industry, and adventure litter American

history. I stopped to learn about one of them while we were at Tombstone, Arizona

in late December.

Tombstone became a town in the late 1800's when silver was discovered there. People

migrated to the dry, hot west in hopes of exchanging hard work for a small fortune. It

quickly became the biggest city from San Diego to St. Louis. When conditions changed

and they couldn't get anymore silver out of the mines, people deserted the town of

Tombstone. Arizonians have preserved it's "old west" nature and made it a tourist

attraction. Some big names in Tombstone's history left their mark. One of them was

John Clum.

Clum saw an opportunity to start a daily newspaper in Tombstone when people rushed

there to live and mine. He packed up his experiences -- recording weather patterns in

New Mexico, working as an agent of U.S. Indian Reservation under President Grant's

Peace Policy and making a weekly-turned-daily newspaper in Tucson, Arizona -- and

moved to Tombstone. He named the paper The Tombstone Epitaph because no

tombstone should be without one. He published the first edition on May 1, 1880.

The town of Tombstone was deeply divided between Democrats and Republicans. Another

local paper, The Nugget, and the "cow-boys" sided with the Dems. Clum an The Epitaph

aligned with Republicans. Divisions turned violent in the fall of 1881. They exploded in

the now famous shootout at the O.K. Corral that pitted the Earp brothers and Doc

Holliday against the Clanton and McLaury brothers. The "cow-boys" made an

assassination attempt on Clum the following December, but Clum survived.

Here are some photos of the press machines Clum used to create The Epitaph:

Clum decided his life and the safety of his family came first. They packed up and fled from

Tombstone. He found employment with the United States Post Office, a job that

eventually took him to Alaska where he created a postal network to service all the

people who rushed there for gold.

My quick glimpse into John Clum's story left me with the impression that he had figured

out some important things in life. He wasn't afraid to let one chapter lead to another; he

took a leap when opportunity presented itself; he reinvented his career many times over;

and he found ways to make an impact or fill a need in distinctly different cultures.