Tombstone Territory

This TV show featured Sheriff Clay Hollister keeping the peace in the “town too tough to die.” Newspaper editor, Harris Claiborne, of the Tombstone Epitaph, narrated each episode. Sound corny? The characters were no-nonsense. The problems and lives of the characters seemed modern. I related to it somehow. I really liked this ABC show on KREM 2. It’s difficult to realize that it only lasted from 1957 through 1960, but there were 91 episodes! That just about covered our voyage on the John R. Rogers.

The show was done in black-and-white of course. During the 1959-60 seasons the competing show, Wyatt Earp, was also set in Tombstone. Oddly, I don’t recall seeing good ol’ Wyatt stroll through the set streets of Tombstone Territory.

William M Backer wrote several catchy songs for advertisers. They became part of our culture for a time. They included "If You've Got The Time, We've Got The Beer" for Miller Beer; "It's The Real Thing” for Coca-Cola; "Never Borrow Money Needlessly" for Household Finance Corporation; "Here's To Good Friends" for Michelob Beer, and "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing," for Coca-Cola.

He wrote the simple, theme song for Tombstone Territory that predates all of those works. When I think of it, I see the main street of Tombstone with people going about mundane business. A man on a horse trots from a side street, making a left turn, as if he were driving a car. The song plays in my head thus:

Whistle me up a memory

Whistle me back where I want to be

Whistle a tune that will carry me

To Tombstone Territory

If your past has run afoul the law

It's a handy place to be

But your future's just a good as your draw

In Tombstone Territory

-Ed Mauget