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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 762

SIGNED 1st Ed. Helldorado by Breakenridge & Photos

Estimate: $500 - $1,000
Starting Bid
$150

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
Featured in this lot is this signed 1928 first edition Helldorado by Billy Breakenridge with photographs of Breakenridge and displayed in the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum; Provenance: From the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum in Tombstone, Arizona. There is a book with two photographs of Billy Breakenridge with original museum tags that read as follows: 1st Edition book signed by Billy Breakenridge - In 1927 Ben Sanders took this photo of Billy Breakenridge sitting in the tree John Ringo was found dead in. You can clearly see John Ringo's ghost face in the tree. Billy Breakenridge was a notable figure in the Old West, best known for his role as a deputy sheriff under Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan in Tombstone, Arizona. Born in Wisconsin in 1846, Breakenridge served in the Union Army during the Civil War before drifting westward, eventually landing in Arizona Territory. As a deputy in the turbulent 1880s, he was a contemporary of legendary lawmen and outlaws alike, including Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clanton gang. Unlike the Earp brothers, Breakenridge was considered to be aligned with the so-called “Cowboys,” and his loyalties were seen by some as sympathetic to the outlaw element in southern Arizona. After his law enforcement career, he worked as a railroad detective and surveyor, living into his 90s. In 1928, Breakenridge published Helldorado: Bringing the Law to the Mesquite, a memoir chronicling his experiences in Tombstone and the broader Arizona frontier. The book is a colorful, though highly controversial, account of the events surrounding the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Breakenridge painted Wyatt Earp in a negative light, portraying him as a self-serving opportunist rather than a principled lawman. Earp, still alive at the time, was outraged by the portrayal and dismissed the book as fiction. Despite its biases, Helldorado remains an influential work in Old West literature, notable for inspiring the annual “Helldorado Days” festival in Tombstone and contributing to the mythologizing of frontier history, albeit from a disputed perspective. The condition of this of this book and photographs is well preserved with some slight wear to the cover of the book with browning to the pages consistent with age but otherwise shows a well preserved condition. The measurements of this book is 9 1/4" x 6 1/4" and the photographs measure 6 1/4" x 9 3/8" and 5 7/8" x 3 1/2". The collective weight of this collection is 2lb. TTD-53, TTD-12, TTD-13

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