About This Painting – Trail at Old Tucson

This painting is of a trail found in the surrounding desert of the southernmost portion of Tucson, Arizona. A path where Infamous Outlaws, Famous Lawmen, and many Native Americans might have traveled through and settled into for a night’s encampment, while on the chase/run, depending which side of the law one was on.

Sizes and Prices

16″ x 20″ Limited Edition of 100, Archival Reproduction, Oil on Canvas
Unframed: $750.00
Framed: $1,250.00

A Brief History of Old Tucson

In the mid to later 1800’s, the Arizona Territory was home and an escape route out of the Territory of New Mexico for infamous outlaws such as William “Curly Bill” Brocius, The Clanton Gang, aka The Cowboys, Pete Spence, Johnny Ringo, The “High Fives Gang” with Black Jack Christian, and many others.

On the other hand, lawmen such as Wyatt Earp and his brothers, Doc Holliday, Harry Wheeler, and later the Arizona Rangers (created in 1901) would have the difficult task of keeping the peace and bringing such outlaws to justice or merely dispatching them to another place, not of this earth.

Bank and train robbers, murderers, rustlers, horse thieves, and other criminals would travel through the vast desert surroundings of Tucson, Benson, Wilcox, Tombstone, and the like to escape justice. The many trails and canyons of the surrounding desert provided shelter and concealment for these travelers to protect their whereabouts from law enforcement during their encampment.

One of the most famous incidents in Old Tucson during this era was part of the Earp Vendetta Ride. Outlaw “Cowboys” Frank Stillwell, Ike Clanton, and Hank Swilling were watching the Tucson Train Depot in hopes of finding and finishing off Virgil Earp. Fortunately, Virgil and his wife Allie were escorted by Wyatt and Warren Earp, Doc Holliday, “Turkey Creek” Jack Johnson, and Sherman McMaster.

Noticing men hiding on a flatcar near the engine, Wyatt and company decided to pursue them, and before long, Frank Stillwell lie dead next to the train tracks. Ike Clanton managed to escape, but it was only a matter of time before he was killed by Detective Jonas V. Brighton when resisting arrest for cattle rustling.

Today, at the Historic Tucson Train Depot are statues of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday to commemorate the revenge killing.

However, at the time, the Arizona Star Newspaper misinformed the readers of the facts and spun some sensationalism:

“… without any provocation a band of four or five slayers pursued a lonely man in the dark and without a word of warning murdered him in cold blood and then hied to their stamping grounds as unconcerned as though they had when out on a hunting expedition, or like so many blood-thirsty Apaches rejoice over their crime.”

Nowadays, walking along the Trail at Old Tucson is a lovely and tranquil experience. The lawless violence of the Wild West is a fading memory.