You can visit The Tombstone Epitaph Museum for free today! Follow these directions and learn about Arizona’s longest, continuously-published newspaper.
The Epitaph started in 1880 by an easterner, John Clum. Clum had moved to the west in the 1870’s and later became Mayor of Tombstone in 1881. His resume was long, having worked as an Apache reservation agent, in newspapers back home, as a meteorologist, and lawyer. Later in his time as a resident of Tombstone he was a postmaster and head of the vigilance committee. He was ready to take on any challenge.
He believed, “No tombstone is complete without its epitaph.” By May 1880 The Epitaph was in full-swing.
Clum’s newspaper focused on business and the local goings-on from his perspective. This one-sidedness wasn’t always the most fact-based. For example, the October 1881 publication of the O.K. Corral shootout, it was clear from Clum’s view that with three Cowboys dead and his friends, the Earps, walking, that justice had been served.
In 1882, John Clum faced the end of his term as mayor, the death of his wife and daughter, and the loss of his job as postmaster. This series of events led him to sell The Epitaph to some of his political rivals.
The newspaper would continue to bounce from owner to owner over the next 82 years, until its eventual home with investors from Michigan, led by attorney, Harold O. Love in 1964.
The University of Arizona Department of Journalism has been collaborating with Love and the corporation since 1974. Students today continue to print the local bi-weekly edition of The Epitaph during the school year.
Today, The Epitaph is the longest-running newspaper in Arizona, clocking in at 140+ years old.
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