Bisbee is a city in Cochise County, Arizona with a population of approximately 4,900 people. It's roughly 205 miles southeast of Phoenix and just 11 miles north of the US/Mexico border. It sits at an elevation of just over 5,500 feet, making it a fairly high elevation, desert town.

Bisbee was founded in 1880 as a copper, gold and silver mining town and named after Judge DeWitt Bisbee, one of the financial backers of the Copper Queen Mine, the largest and most productive mine in the area. Bisbee grew to become the largest city in the territory, with over 25,000 people in 1910, and the seat of Cochise County in 1929 (formerly located in Tombstone). At one point Bisbee had it's own Stock Exchange Board and was the largest stagecoach stop between New Orleans and San Francisco.

On December 8, 1883, it was the site of the Bisbee Massacre, a robbery gone wrong by a cowboy gang loosely associated with the Cochise Cowboys-the same outlaw cowboy group involved in the shootout at the O.K. Corral. The Bisbee Massacre resulted in the shooting deaths of 4 people, the eventual conviction and hanging of five

suspects, and the mob lynching of a final suspect. While lesser known, it was far more deadly than the shootout at the O.K. Corral.

Bisbee was also the site of the infamous Battle of Brewery Gulch on July 3, 1919 which pitted the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Calvary against the local Bisbee police forces. The riot was triggered by a confrontation between a military policeman and some of the soldiers, who were drinking and gambling in the town’s red-light district. The situation escalated into a street battle that involved gunfire, rocks, and bottles. At least eight people were seriously hurt, and fifty soldiers were arrested.

During almost a century of mining, 8 billion pounds of copper, 102 million ounces of silver, 2.8 million ounces of gold, and millions of pounds of zinc, lead, and manganese were produced by Bisbee mines. However, by 1974 the ore reserves were depleted and the mining operations ceased. This caused a collapse of the real estate market and the population. With the departure of its industrial base, the real estate market in Bisbee collapsed as hundreds of homes went up for sale. The availability of cheap real estate drew retirees, hippies, and eventually a new group of speculators; these new residents purchased property and slowly began to contribute to the renovation of the city.

The Bisbee of today is an eclectic artist's community whose architectural and historic heritage has been well preserved. Located at the center of the natural and historic beauty of Cochise County, the city has transformed itself into the ideal spot for tourism. These benefits combined with a

perfect year-round climate makes it a great place to visit.

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