Zane Grey, part-time Arizona resident and prolific western author, penned 64 novels in his lifetime. Grey loved Arizona, owned several homes in the state, and even honeymooned at the Grand Canyon. He used Arizona as the setting for 30 of his novels.

One would have assumed at the time that he would be a life-long resident. However, this was not to be. In 1930, Grey decided that he wanted to hunt bear out of season. When the Arizona Game and Fish Commission refused to grant him a waiver to do so, he packed his bags, left the state, and never returned.

Although the “bear hunting” incident was the catalyst for his departure, many believe that he was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the way Arizona was being managed. In a published explanation for his departure, he proclaimed: “The glory and beauty of Arizona is being sacrificed to the lumbermen and sheep and cattle raisers.”

Who was Ed Shiefflin? He was an Arizona prospector who left the safety of a southern Arizona fort to search for silver ore. At the time, the area was controlled by hostile Chiricahua Apaches. According to legend, as he left the fort, someone shouted the warning, “The only thing that you will find out there will be your tombstone.” Shiefflin survived and in 1877 and found a valuable silver lode worth 19 million dollars. The town that grew up at the site was named Tombstone, the now famous western town and location of the Shootout at the OK Corral.

Photo courtesy of USGS.