The Tombstone mining district-history, geology and ore deposits
— Devere, B. J., Jr.

The Tombstone mining district, located in a small group of hills 6 mi north of the San Pedro River and 65 mi southeast of Tucson, Arizona, was one of the rich "bonanza" silver districts of the late 1800's. Mining commenced in 1878, escalated rapidly until 1882, and then slowly declined until the last mine closed in the late 1930's. The total production from 1878-1957 amounted to approximately one million tons of ore worth about $39,000,000; of that total value, half was derived from the production during the seven-year period 1879-1886 (Wilson, 1962).

The district has been described in the literature by Blake (1882), Church (1903), Ransome (1920), Butler and others (1938), Gilluly (1956) and Newell (1974). Of these works, that by Butler and others was the most extensive and detailed. The accompanying geologic map and section (figs. 4, 5) are from their publication and have been reproduced without modification.