In Search Of Mattie Blaylock (Earp)

In August of 2014 I discovered the ruins of Pinal City and the Silver King Mine. It was then I learned that the Pinal City cemetery was the final resting place for Celia Blaylock aka Mattie Earp, Wyatt's common law wife, who he left for an entertainer shortly after they left Tombstone, AZ.

I decided to set out to find her gravesite. Turned out to be easier said then done, as the Pinal City cemetery wasn't in the immediate town boundaries, but on the opposite, north side of what is now U.S.60, 

Pinal City Wagon Tracks

Silver King Mine Ruins

This cemetery was down the old Silver King Mine Road to Happy Camp Road and there were no markings at all to direct you to the site. A few days later I tried using GPS coordinates to find my way and they took me to nowhere fast. I then returned home and found detailed driving instructions by odometer readings and finally got there! Third try was the charm!

Mattie's plaque states she committed suicide, but she was a know heavy drinker and user of the narcotic laudanum and baring someone coming up with a suicide note, I'm somewhat 

dubious that it wasn't an accidental overdose.

There are numerous graves there, most of which date back to the 1800's with the latest appearing to be around 1926. Several would appear to be children. Most are in deteriorated condition.

I was talked into shooting the first wedding I've done since 1989 Saturday 10/20/2012 in this beautiful little chapel in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The confines of the chapel, being rather diminutive, were a bit difficult to shoot in, but it is quite a picturesque chapel nonetheless.
All in all, I'm glad the lovely bride managed to persuade me to photograph their beautiful event!

Chapel of the Valley
Prescott Valley, Arizona

I have a cactus in front of the house and there is a nest in it that has twice been used by Cactus Wrens, but has been recently taken over by Doves. I photographed a Dove and her chicks in June and noticed a Dove with chicks again the past several days. It would seem by her identical markings that she is the same Dove that nested there before. I thought maybe a new shot of her and her fledglings might be appropriate.

I was just thinking how much easier things are now in photography. The manual for my good old Nikon F-Photomic was a grand total of 43 pages and you could spend an interesting few minutes reading through it. The manual for my Nikon D7000 is 325 pages and, even though I've been using the camera for several months now, I still haven't read all the way through it!

The cameras most of us are using now are more like a computer with a lens attached and now, instead of spending hours in the darkroom you can spend just minutes in Lightroom. No more smelly, messy chemicals and you can keep track of what's going on around you a lot easier. I don't miss that trade off in the least.

I can think of almost nothing I can't do with my present setup. If I can conceive a shot, I can do it. Current cameras have far more onboard storage than my first 2 PC's had and can handle almost any situation without breaking a sweat.

While I do sometimes look back to the days of film with a bit of nostalgia, I don't even begin to have any thoughts of reverting back to the days of film and processing

How about you? 

Did the 1st Annual Google + Photowalk in Old Town Scottsdale Saturday, organized by Christina Lawrie. A good time was had by all, even though the temperature could have been a little cooler for most of our liking!

Some of the G+ gang

Boyce Thompson Arboretum
Looking forward to tomorrow's shooting at the Arboretum with Greg Murray and the following Saturday at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve with several of us.
Gilbert Riparian Preserve

I just shot this on a mother dove and her newborn. This was hand held at 1/10 second and I
think it's almost amazing that I can still hand hold and get a decent shot. Shot with a Micro-Nikkor 85mm. There is no crop to the shot. I was that close to her!