Abandoned Towns
Aerial view of the San Pedro River's pale, winding bed through dark mesquite, with eroded hills to the east where Contention stood

Silver mining town

Contention City

A mill town that crushed Tombstone's silver ore for less than a decade and gave its name to the climax of 3:10 to Yuma. Mill foundations and a few adobe walls are left, four miles by foot from the nearest road.

31°46′08″N 110°12′07″W · ≈3,800 ft

Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain). See the photographs in the gallery below.

Hike in · route not checked

Contention lies in the BLM's San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, where day use is free and needs no permit. There's no road to the townsite. The usual approach is a walk of about 4 miles each way from the Fairbank trailhead on AZ 82, and the route past the Grand Central mill isn't marked. The newest trip report we found is from 2018, so check with the BLM Tucson Field Office before you go.

Overview

Tombstone's mill town on the river

Tombstone sat on a dry mesa, and its silver ore had to travel to water to be milled. The nearest water was the San Pedro River to the west, and towns grew up along it at Charleston, Millville, Fairbank and Contention. Contention was the northernmost. Its name comes from a quarrel. When Ed Williams and Jack Friday found a silver lode, Ed Schieffelin disputed their claim, and the ground was split. The upper end became the Grand Central Mine and Schieffelin's lower end the Contention.

The townsite was surveyed in September 1879 and the post office opened in April 1880. The census that year counted 150 people. Two mills stood in town, the Contention and the Sunset, later renamed the Head Center, and the Grand Central's mill worked about two miles upriver. In March 1882 the New Mexico and Arizona Railroad arrived from Benson, making Contention the first stop in the Tombstone district with rail service. Later that year the line pushed on to Fairbank, which was closer to Tombstone, and Contention's depot lost its trade.

Water ended the boom. The Tombstone mines, the Contention among them, flooded in 1886 and 1887, and the river mills shut down. The post office closed in November 1888, and by 1890 only a few ranchers were left. The townsite is now public land in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, reached on foot from Fairbank.

Timeline

A decade on the San Pedro

  1. Ed Williams and Jack Friday find a silver lode in the Tombstone hills. Ed Schieffelin disputes it, and the ground is split into two mines: the Grand Central and the Contention, named for the quarrel.
  2. D. T. Smith and John McDermott survey a townsite on the east bank of the San Pedro, beside the new stamp mills.
  3. The Contention post office opens.
  4. The census counts 150 people. Three mills crush Tombstone ore along this stretch of river: the Contention and the Sunset, later called the Head Center, in town, and the Grand Central about two miles south.
  5. The New Mexico and Arizona Railroad reaches Contention from Benson. It's the first stop in the Tombstone district with rail service.
  6. Wyatt and Warren Earp put the body of their murdered brother Morgan on the train here, bound for California.
  7. The railroad is extended south to Fairbank, closer to Tombstone, and Contention's depot loses its business.
  8. The Contention and other Tombstone mines flood. The mills on the river shut down.
  9. The post office closes.
  10. The town is empty apart from a few ranchers.
  11. Elmore Leonard sets his story "Three-Ten to Yuma" in Contention. Films of it follow in 1957 and 2007.
  12. Congress creates the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. The townsite is now public land managed by the BLM.

Legend and record

The Contention of 3:10 to Yuma

Most people who know the name know it from 3:10 to Yuma. Elmore Leonard set his 1953 story in Contention, and the climax of the 1957 film and its 2007 remake takes place there. The Contention on screen is invented. The real one was a railroad town only briefly. The tracks arrived in March 1882 and moved on to Fairbank later that year.

Real events did pass through. After the gunfight near the O.K. Corral, Ike Clanton tried to have Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday tried here. No trial was ever held in Contention. In March 1882, after Morgan Earp's murder, his brothers brought his body to the Contention depot and sent it by train to California.

The population depends on whom you ask. The 1880 census counted 150. One estimate puts the 1884 peak at about 200; another gives just under 500 for 1882.

One more story is worth labeling. A local researcher writes that ranch owners may have bulldozed part of the townsite, but he presents it as an anecdote, and we haven't found a record of it. The river has done its own damage. It has widened and cut into the lower ground where the town spread toward the west bank.

What's left

Foundations in the hills above the river

"Contention (Ruins)" on the 1958 St David sheet
"Contention (Ruins)" on the 1958 St David sheet · Map: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain

Little of Contention stands. The best-preserved ruins are the mills. The Contention mill was built down a hillside in terraces, so ore could be dumped at the top and move downhill through each stage, and its stacked-stone foundations and a few timbers remain. The Sunset mill's foundations sit at the north end of town, near timbers from a bridge. The townsite itself has scattered adobe walls, cellar holes, rows of fence posts and a small cemetery. A 2018 visitor found the stamp mill crumbling and only fragments of adobe wall.

The historic maps below follow the site. The 1915 Benson sheet marks Contention as a point on the railroad along the east bank. The 1958 St David sheet labels "Contention (Ruins)" with a cemetery just north and "Quiburi Mission (Ruins)" downriver, the site now signed as Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate. The 1973 and 1996 Land sheets print "Contention Ruins" beside the abandoned railroad grade, with a second "Ruins" label about a quarter mile north. By 1996 the river channel had shifted west, and the conservation area's boundary appears on the sheet.

  • Contention mill terraces and foundations
  • Sunset (Head Center) mill foundations
  • Bridge timbers
  • Scattered adobe walls
  • Cellar holes
  • Rows of fence posts
  • Small cemetery
  • Raised rail bed
  • Grand Central mill ruins, 2 mi south
USGS topographic map of the San Pedro River with Contention on the east bank
USGS The National Map, topo. Contention sits on the east bank of the San Pedro, at the foot of the broken hills.
Aerial view of a pale, curving riverbed lined with trees, with eroded hills to the right
Aerial imagery, same area. The pale band curving through the frame is the sandy bed of the San Pedro. The townsite was on the bench east of it, to the right of center.

On foot

Walking in from Fairbank

The BLM parking area at Fairbank, where the walk begins
The BLM parking area at Fairbank, where the walk begins · Photo: BLMArizona, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Grand Central mill terraces on the trail north
Grand Central mill terraces on the trail north · Photo: BLMArizona, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

The BLM's Fairbank Historic Townsite, on AZ 82, is the starting point. A packed-gravel lot on the north side of the highway has parking for about a dozen vehicles and a toilet, and there's no drinking water. From the townsite a level, hardened gravel trail runs about 1.25 miles north to the Grand Central mill, whose stone terraces have interpretive signs. Contention is about 4 miles north of Fairbank, so plan on roughly 8 miles round trip.

Past the mill the way isn't marked. Bring a map or a GPS track. A 2018 trip report describes an overgrown stretch beyond Willow Wash, deep sand and a raised rail bed covered in slag. Another approach starts from the Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate trailhead on Kellar Road and follows the river north, crossing it, which is a bad idea after rain.

Historic maps

Contention City on USGS maps, 1915–1996

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Contention City, 1915
Benson sheet, 1915, 1:125,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

No road reaches Contention. Both routes below end at the BLM parking area at Fairbank on AZ 82, the usual trailhead, and from there it's about 4 miles on foot. Tombstone is the closest town. From Tucson, the fastest way runs down AZ 90 and east on AZ 82.

USGS topographic map between Tombstone and the San Pedro River, with routes to the Fairbank trailhead

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From Tombstone's historic district9.1 miabout 13 min
  1. From 4th Street in the historic district, turn left on Fremont Street, which is AZ 80, and follow it northwest out of town.3.2 mi
  2. Turn left onto AZ 82 and head west. The Fairbank parking area is on the right, on the north side of the highway, about half a mile before the San Pedro River bridge. The walk north to Contention starts here.5.8 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • AZ 80 and AZ 82 are paved to the trailhead. Beyond the Fairbank parking area the trip is on foot, about 8 miles round trip.
  • The trail is marked only as far as the Grand Central mill. Carry a map or GPS track for the last 2.5 to 3 miles.
  • The San Pedro floods in summer monsoon storms. Don't cross the river after rain, and turn back if washes are running.
  • There's no drinking water at Fairbank or along the way. Summers are hot, so go early in the day and carry plenty.
  • Day use is free. Overnight backcountry camping needs a BLM permit, $2 per person per night.
  • Leave artifacts where they lie. Removing them is illegal on BLM land, and metal detectors are prohibited at Fairbank.
  • The river corridor is a route for illegal border crossings. The BLM asks visitors to report suspicious activity and avoid contact.

Photos

Contention City in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Contention City?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Contention City

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Arizona index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Contention City": fact sheet fields (road, legal description, climate, best time, remains, post office dates).
  2. Wikipedia, "Contention City, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: name, survey, mills, 1880 census and 1884 estimate, railroad, Clanton and Earp episodes, decline, conservation area, remains, 3:10 to Yuma, coordinates (GNIS 24378).
  3. Wyatt Earp Explorers (John D. Rose), "Contention City and Its Mills": mill sites and surviving foundations, east- and west-bank townsites, the 1882 population estimate, the March 19, 1882 rail shipment of Morgan Earp's body, the bulldozing anecdote.
  4. BLM, San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area: free day use, camping permits and fees, office phone, as of October 2026. BLM, Fairbank Historic Townsite: parking, the 1.25-mile trail to the mill, no drinking water, flooding and border warnings, artifact and metal detector rules, as of October 2026.
  5. Wikipedia, "San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area": designation date.
  6. Arizona Handbook, "San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area" (undated): Contention 4 miles north of Fairbank, unmarked route, the approach from the Terrenate trailhead on Kellar Road.
  7. Desert Lavender, "Contention City" (trip report, March 2018): 8-mile round trip from Fairbank, trail conditions past Willow Wash, what was left of the mill and adobe walls.
  8. James E. and Barbara H. Sherman, Ghost Towns of Arizona (University of Oklahoma Press, 1969), pages 41–42, as quoted in Wikimedia Commons file descriptions: the Contention mill's 25 stamps.
  9. Friends of the San Pedro River, public events calendar: free Saturday history walks at Fairbank (November 7, 2026), Millville (November 14) and the Grand Central Mill (November 28), with meeting points, distances, trail conditions, shade and the Millville trailhead vault toilet, as of October 2026.
  10. BLM, "Fairbank Historic Townsite": parking hours, schoolhouse museum days and hours, fees, vault toilet, no drinking water, shaded picnic tables, the 1.25-mile trail to the Grand Central Mill, pets, metal detectors, cell reception, as of October 2026.
  11. Big Nose Kate's Saloon, official site: Allen Street location, saloon and kitchen hours, as of October 2026.
  12. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection: Benson 1915, St David 1922 and 1958, Land 1973 and 1996 sheets, for the ruins, cemetery and rail grade. Trailhead and Grand Central mill positions: OpenStreetMap. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

Record6 of 10
  • Coordinates (GNIS)
  • Post office dates
  • Mill history
  • Land status (BLM)
  • Historic maps, 1915–1996
  • Trailhead and first 1.25 mi of trail
  • Licensed photos from the 1880s
  • Trail condition past the mill
  • Recent photos of the townsite
  • Field report since 2018
Missing items are what we'll ask readers and local sources to fill.