Joe Poniatowski

My family and I recently took a break from Michigan’s cold and rainy early spring and vacationed in Arizona. We flew into Phoenix, rented a car, and set out for a number of destinations, all of which were great for R and R.

First we visited some good friends in Lake Havesu City. Matt and Tee showed us around Lake Havesu, and Matt particulary proved to be a fountainhead of knowledge about the town and it’s history. For example, Robert McCulloch of McCulloch Oil (think also, “Chainsaws”) basically founded the town, and he paid to move the London Bridge from London To Lake Havesu. Yes, the London Bridge. Matt and Tee were great hosts, and took us tooling around on the Colorado River and Lake Havesu in their boat. Most of us got our first glimps of California there.

After a few days we headed on down to Sierra Vista to visit my Dad and his two dogs, Bonnie and Lucky. We also met his friend (GF?) Marita. Sometimes we just lounged around and enjoyed the weather or swam in the pool, but we also went hiking in the neighboring mountains. Even though she is not a native to the territory, Marita proved to be delightfully knowledgable about the local flora, pointing out to us alligator cypress, manzanitas, prickly pear, and other species that grow there.

While we were staying with my Dad, we took a day trip to legendary Tombstone, where the gunfight at the OK Corral took place in 1881. The movies always portray the Earps and Doc Holliday as the good guys, standing up for law and order and trying to protect the town’s citizens from the outlaw gang known as the Cow-boys. The truth is, the Cow-boys (with the possible exception of Ike Clanton, an abrasive loud-mouth) were actually well liked by most of the towns’ people. They brought money into the town, whose principle business was saloon keeping, and they rarely carried out their lawbreaking in town.
On the other hand, the Earps were seen by many as opportunists, setting up gambling a establishment and using their connections with the law to play favorites. Nevertheless, the story is rich with drama, action, intrigue, and conflict that persists to this day. I was inspired to write an article, Surprising Facts About the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Oh, and feel free to check out all the pix from the Arizona trip.