1885 TOMBSTONE ARIZONA TERRITORY Handwritten Letter

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We offer AT NO RESERVE this ORIGINAL 122 YEAR OLD Four Page Handwritten Letter from One Brother who Lives in TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA TERRITORY, to his Brother Living in the Catskill Mountain Region of New York State. The letter is written on stationery marked "Tombstone, A.T.," and the envelope is postmarked "TOMBSTONE" in the 1880's. Picture one shows the first page of the letter and a "Tombstone" postmarked envelope. The letter is headed "Tombstone, A.T., Jan. 4 1885," and as such is dated about three years and two months after the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral and 27 years before Arizona Territory became a state. The envelope appears to be postmarked "JUL," not JAN. Last year on eBay I sold two Arizona Territory letters from the same family, and it appears that the letters had not been placed back in their proper envelopes. One of last year's buyers must have gotten the January envelope that goes with this letter. AT any rate, you still get a mid-1880's TOMBSTONE postmarked envelope with this letter. Moving on to the letter, the first paragraph deals with dividing an inheritance. The second paragraph turns to TOMBSTONE and its surroundings: "Now about this country. The summers are very warm, especially on the river bottoms." Picture two shows the second page of the letter which continues ... "90 & 100 is common temperature but 90 is not felt as much as 70 t (New York State's Catskill Mountains). The winters are mild as a rule but we have some snow in the high mountains snow fall two or three feet-deep some times. Water in some parts of the teritory (I am transcribing the letter AS WRITTEN complete with ORIGINAL SPELLING) is scarse and poor in other parts plentiful and good. we have splendid mountain water Arizona has formily been looked upon as a mineral country only but experiments prove this to be false as the farmers are now raising nearly everything they plant or sow. fruit vegtibles grain grown in abundance and only a few years more and we will raise everything we need." Picture three shows page three of the letter which is also headed "TOMBSTONE, A.T." The letter continues ... "Wild game is plentiful but will not be long as it always disapears when the white man comes. We have deer antalope hare wild hog turkey quail rabits ducks and in fact nearly all the wild game found anyw in the mountain country. The country is composed of valeys and broken mountain ranges . some of the vallys are very large. Sulpher spring vally near this place is over 100 miles long and 30 miles wide. Stock raising is perhaps the most profitable industry in the country...."Picture four shows the final page of the letter on which the writer asks his brother to send "...all the news ..." from back east. The letter is signed FRANK YAPLE who was, I believe, a storekeeper in TOMBSTONE during the 1880's. Shipping and insurance within the United States on this ORIGINAL 1885 TOMBSTONE ARIZONA TERRITORY LETTER are 2.50. Seller acccepts personal checks (item shipped ten banking days after deposit) and money orders. PAYPAL is NOT a payment option. Postal insurance is required on our auctions and is INCLUDED in the 2.50 shipping fee quoted above. Payment is due in Vermont within seven days of auction end. ************ An internet search confirms that FRANKLIN YAPLE was indeed a "Dry Goods Merchant" in Tombstone. Frank was 54 years old when he registered to vote in 1890, which would make him about 49 when he wrote this letter. Frank was to make TOMBSTONE his home for the rest of his life, living long enough to see Arizona become a state in 1912. According to records of the TOMBSTONE CEMETERY, Frank died September 24, 1916, at age 80. ************ read more

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