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Tombstone Western Heritage Museum Auction: The Earp Brothers & Cowboys

Sat, Jul 26, 2025 11:00AM EDT
  2025-07-26 11:00:00 2025-07-26 11:00:00 America/New_York North American Auction Company North American Auction Company : Tombstone Western Heritage Museum Auction: The Earp Brothers & Cowboys https://live.naabid.com/auctions/north-american-auction/tombstone-western-heritage-museum-auction-the-earp-brothers-cowboys-20021
Join North American Auction Company on July 26th for a once-in-a-lifetime auction of the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum Collection. This extraordinary sale features the largest private collection of Tombstone history, including rare and historic pieces tied to Wyatt Earp, the Earp Brothers, and the infamous Cochise Cowboys. From original artifacts, outlaw relics, and the largest collection of C.S. Fly photographs, this is a can’t-miss event for collectors of the Old West’s most legendary chapter.
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Lot 395

Rare Wyatt Earp St. James Hotel Business Card

Estimate: $800 - $1,500
Starting Bid
$400

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
For your consideration is this Rare Wyatt Earp St. James Hotel Business Card, circa 1887 to 1891. Provenance: Tombstone Western Heritage Museum, Tombstone, Arizona. Wyatt Earp was a legendary America Old West gunslinger, gambler, and lawman in Dodge City, Kansas, Deadwood in Dakota Territory and Tombstone in Arizona Territory. Earp was involved in the gunfight at the O. K. Corral, during which lawmen, which included his brothers Morgan and Virgil as well as Doc Holliday, killed three outlaw Cochise County Cowboys on October 26, 1881. After leaving Tombstone, Wyatt went to San Francisco to spend time with his convalescing brother Virgil, his wounds received during the Gunfight at the O. K. Corral in Tombstone. In 1887 he and his wife Josephine went to San Diego as a real estate boom was underway. Earp speculated in San Diego's booming real estate market, and he bought four saloons and gambling halls between 1887 and around 1896, all in the "respectable" part of town. The St. James Hotel had been built in 1885, two years prior to the Earp's arrival, in that same "respectable" part of town. San Diego’s first sky-scraper, the St. James Hotel was where fortunes were made and lost, large business deals were planned and executed, and small swindles plotted and consummated. And Wyatt went there often to gamble. In its heyday, the St. James was an opulent structure. The business card features the printed image of the hotel. Name and adress printed on bottom centre border, "The ST. JAMES, Cor. Sixth and F Sts., SAN DIEGO." The reverse features, "The ST. JAMES NEWLY AND HANDSOMELY FURNISHED LARGE SUNNY ROOMS, THE BEST IN THE CITY, AT THE MODERATE PRICE OF 25c. (cents), 50c. and 75c Per Day.Reduced Rates by Week or Month. Neatly Furnished Sunny Rooms, $1.00 Per Week. LADIES' PARLOR AND GENTLEMEN'S READING ROOM. BEST ACCOMODATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL TRAVELERS. One Block from the Electric Cars. Get off at Cor. 5th and F Sts. Post-Office and Public Library are in the same Block. CORNER SIXTH AND F STREETS, SAN DIEGO, CAL. S. KAHN, Proprietor" Tombstone Western Heritage Museum label, "St. James Hotel business Card belonged to Wyatt Earp who used go there often to gamble.", museum code, "E-9" Business card is in nice preserved condition, age tanning noted. Measures 2.5"W x 4.5"L, weight is U6.

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