The Town Too Tough to Die was on life support when Edna Landin came to town in 1949.
It was still just a rugged town with more past than future; still a place only remembered for Wyatt Earp and a gunfight near the O.K. Corral 68 years earlier. Its once majestic courthouse was already falling apart.
None of this suited Edna, nor her husband, Ted, who retired here from Ohio. But Ted died soon after, and Edna carried on as a one-person savior for the next 18 years, earning her the title "Mrs. Tombstone."
Two governors could tell how tenacious she was-Ernest McFarland and Paul Fannin; two U.S. senators could attest to her laser focus-Barry Goldwater and Carl Hayden; both Udall boys knew her well-Stewart and Morris. And they all came to see the same vision Edna had.
This story is from the December 2022 edition of True West.
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This story is from the December 2022 edition of True West.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
FIREARMS COLT WALKER 47
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While a prisoner at the castle of Perote, Walker was put to work raising a flagpole. At the bottom of the hole, Walker placed a Yankee dime, vowing to someday come back and retrieve it, at the same time exacting revenge on his Mexican captors. In the summer of 1847, when Walker's mounted riflemen returned and routed Santa Anna's guerillas, the young captain kept his promise and got his dime back.
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