The Tombstone Epitaph The Tombstone Epitaph The Tombstone Epitaph is a Tombstone, Arizona-based monthly publication that serves as a window in the history and culture of the Old West. Founded in January 1880 (with its first issue published on Saturday May 1, 1880), "The Epitaph" is the oldest continually published newspaper in Arizona. It long has been noted for its coverage of the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on Oct. 26, 1881, and its continuing research interest in Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and their cowboy adversaries. In 2005, for example, it presented for the first time a sketch of the O. K.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral day. Though usually opposing each other in their reporting of events, reporting by both the "Epitaph" and the "Nugget" initially supported the lawmen's version of events. Woods, the publisher of the pro-Cowboy "Nugget", was out of town during the hearings, and an experienced reporter, Richard Rule, wrote the story. The "Nugget" staff had a close relationship with Sheriff Behan, but Rule's story, as printed in the "Nugget" the day after the shootout, backed up the Earps' version of events. This varied widely from Behan's and the Cowboys' later court testimony. Subsequent stories about the gunfight published in the "Nugget" after