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.
O.K. Corral (building) corral and buildings were completely destroyed by a fire that burned almost all of the western business district on May 25, 1882. The rebuilt corral began to gain attention from the American public in 1931, when author Stuart Lake published an initially well-received biography, "", two years after Earp's death. Published during the Great Depression, the book captured American imaginations. It was also the basis for the 1946 film, "My Darling Clementine," by director John Ford. After the film "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" was released in 1957, the shootout became known by that name and the corral became wrongly