The Bird Cage Theatre ... the Old Tombstone

We rode into Tombstone late afternoon on our steel steeds (Thursday, March 20) and got set up at our hotel, aptly named the Tombstone Hotel.  It was a short walk to the main street where there’s usually a lot going on, but it closes down pretty early, which is about when we arrived.  Like Sturgis, during the motorcycle rally, it’s closed off to vehicles.  At least those that are motorized. 

One attraction that was not yet closed for the evening was the Bird Cage Theatre.  It’s one of the West’s most famous landmarks and a trip into an era seen only in wild west movies.   It’s a registered national monument, and therefore a piece of history, so of course, Jaz and I wanted to explore it further.

The Bird Cage Theatre doesn't look that large on the outside, but it houses a large collection of history, and was the place of many happenings back in the 1880s.

The Bird Cage was a famous honkytonk between 1881 and 1889.  It’s said that it was the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast, operating 24/7/365 for nine years.  It was a theatre, brothel, dance hall, saloon, gambling hall … a true den of iniquity.  We had to see this.

We walked into the lobby area that began our trip back into time and were met with a famous bar painting of Fatima, which has hung in the same location since 1882.  It stands nine feet high and carries the scars of six bullet holes. Fatima was the stage name for a woman who played the Bird Cage in 1881 and this painting was a gift from her to the theatre.

Back then  women were the size of women with curvaceous figures. 

We were greeted by a gentleman who had stepped through a time warp.  He could have played any part -- a card dealer, a photographer, an undertaker.  He asked if we’d like to see the museum, because that is what the Bird Cage is. Yep.  We paid our money, and entered through the door that sent us further back in time, back to 1881, or maybe a few years later.  Doubt not, my friends, we may have been living in the 2000s, but we were now tossed into the 1880s, a time when a mining boom was taking place and miners needed a way to spend their hard-earned silver and coin.   

The Bird Cage was named for the 14 bird cage crib compartments suspended from the ceiling and overhanging the gambling casino and dance hall.  Ladies of the night were in these compartments and called to and tempted the men to sample their wares as they drank below.

As we wandered through we could see that this building, the Bird Cage Theatre, is a piece of western lore like none other.  That’s because it is not a building that has been rebuilt or reproduced for some Hollywood spaghetti western (although I do love those).  The Bird Cage is the real deal, the real building, the actual piece of history that you can see, taste and feel.  It’s a building that helped build the reputation of Tombstone, and is known for being the sight of 16 gunfights and having 140 bullet holes riddling the walls and ceilings.  It was known for its onstage entertainment, including cancan dancers and risqué performances; however, it also hosted national headliners of the time … including Eddie Foy and Lotta Crabtree, comedians, vaudevillians, actor/actress, entertainers.

This grand piano has sat in the same spot at the Bird Cage since 1881.  It was used by a five-piece band that played the Bird Cage Theatre from 1881 through 1889, providing music for shows and dances.  It's built from rosewood and is hand-carved.  It was the first piano to arrive in Tombstone, being shipped around the horn of South America to San Francisco.  It was brought to Tombstone via mule train.

On the other side of the page, the ladies of Tombstone would never venture to the Bird Cage, and it’s said they’d cross the street and not even walk near the building so as to not be tainted by its character nor its patrons.  That’s a building with a true wicked reputation.  It’s the kind you want to see, to be immersed in.

Now I think I know why the term "Shady Lady" is used.

The main floor has artifacts from those times that were hard … living, loving, dying.  Nothing was easy, although I’m sure many thought it was much easier than a life they may have had in even earlier times or miles from the town.  There are cooking utensils, sepia-toned photos from days when photos were a modern marvel, bullet holes in the walls, and photos of famous people who played there including Enrico Caruso.  There’s so much history in this small building one cannot take it all in.

The main floor is full of items of history.

We walked over old wooden floors, saw lighting fixtures, chandeliers, drapes that are the original décor.  You could look up and see the rooms where the ladies did their entertaining.  In fact, there’s a bar and a dumbwaiter close by that was used to send drinks upstairs to the ladies of the night and their men friends.

The upstairs cubbies were used by the ladies and their gentlemen.

The gambling tables and chairs downstairs look as though their occupants will return at any moment to take up the game where it left off.  There’s crumpled up bills, coins, shot glasses, beer mugs.  It’s all just the way it was left when it was sealed and boarded up in 1889 after the great flood.  The great flood was when a subterranean water way broke through the 500-foot level of the mines, flooding them so the miners could not mine the silver.  Pumps were brought in but even those could not handle the volume of water.  No mine, no silver, no town.  Wow. 

One of my favorite photos was of a “license” for the BC Red Light District, House of Ill Fame, signed by Wyatt Earp.  Those were the days, and I believe it’s hard for many to get their heads around that in our times.  It seems that so much of our history is not believed by many of the younger crowd these days.  And that’s why it’s so important to not lose that history and the pieces that show the younger generations what it was really all about.

Licenses were issued for houses of ill repute.

The downstairs also houses an old hearse … the power item in the museum.  This is the original hearse used to haul bodies to Boothill Graveyard from 1881 to 1917.   All but six bodies were taken to Boothill in this hearse.  It’s said to be worth more than $1,000,000, with trim of sterling silver and 24-carat-gold-leaf.  (Twenty-four-carat gold is pure gold.)  Built by Cunningham Bros. of Rochester, New York, at a cost of $8,000 each, there were only eight of these models built in 1881.  This is the last one left from the original eight. 

The famous hearse, used to give that last ride to most of those buried in Boothill.

 

The entrance to Boothill Graveyard.

 I thoroughly enjoyed the museum and the slice of history it offers and think anyone visiting Tombstone would appreciate this walk back through time.

As I was leaving, I asked who could give me permission to use the above photos.  A Mr. William Hunley.  As it turns out I was speaking to his son who was kind enough to edit my story for accuracy, and to grant permission.  Thank you, Billy Hunley.

(Information provided by the Bird Cage Theatre and Billy Hunley of Tombstone.)