In 1875, two years before the Tombstone mine was discovered, a rich Silver load called the Tip Top was discovered in the Arizona Territory at the base of the Bradshaw Mountains. Two towns and a host of characters, both infamous and famous populated and visited the two towns that sprung up to support the mine. The ruins of these two towns can still be found today with a little research, but it is the people that make them so interesting and that really bring the towns back to life.

I was recently invited by Windwalker Expeditions to tag along with two other people on the inaugural tour of these two amazing towns and to hear the history of the towns and of the people who helped shape them and also shape Arizona. From the founder of Phoenix and the father of one of Arizona’s most respected and noted Arizona Senators in Washington D.C. to the rough and tumble that included Doc Holliday and Big Nose Kate.

My guide on this trip was LaMont Bankson, a native Arizonan and the proverbial fount of information on Arizona’s Territorial history, the ghost towns we visited and the folks who lived in them. His knowledge and stories seamlessly weaved together to make it one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken.

At our first stop we pulled up to a flat area with one prominent ruin and a bunch of desert brush and trees. Then LaMont took us on a walk and we could all picture the town that once existed on the site. LaMont pointed out low rock formations that outlined the houses and shops and I got to stroll along Market and California streets as they were called at the time and I could see the town in my minds eye.

At the next ghost town, we ate a lunch catered by AJs Fine Foods in the ruins of the former restaurant and explored the brewery (the first in Arizona!). We also took easy and moderate hikes to the mills that processed the silver ore and to the head works of the mine which features a vertical shaft dropping 800 feet into the ground.

Our group was also given ample time in both ghost towns to explore at our own pace and to our own agendas with LaMont nearby to answer our questions.

In addition to the step back in time at the ghost towns, we also stopped along the way to take in the vistas. At one stop we could see all the way to Black Canyon City and the rugged mesas that surround this stunning section of the Sonoran Desert.

All in all we spent about 7 hours off road exploring the beautiful desert and the ruins. Honestly, to a person we all thought it ended too soon.