RIP Ben T Traywick

 

Tombstone historian Traywick dies at 97

Green Valley News

October 7, 2025

 

Ben Traywick, considered the foremost expert on Tombstone, died Tuesday in Sierra Vista. He was 97.

Traywick, Tombstone's historian for 39 years, was considered the ultimate authority on the wild West's most notable frontier town.

He wrote 36 books and more than 1,300 articles for newspapers and magazines spanning more than six decades.

Whether making a movie on the famous town or just curious, Traywick was the one to talk to. Notables that sought him out at his local bookstore included actors Jack Palance, Bill Paxton, Sam Elliott and John Wayne, and history buff Gen. William Westmoreland.

Traywick was always a main source for a great number of authors covering the iconic Tombstone, Wyatt Earp  and the famous gunfight at the OK Corral.

Traywick was born in Tennessee in August 1927. He joined the Navy in 1943 at age 15.

"I was big for my age, and they were not too particular about such details at the time," Traywick said in a 2010 interview.

He served as a gunner's mate on the destroyer USS Jenkins, seeing combat for two years in the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Manila and Corregidor. The ship was awarded 15 major battle stars.

The Jenkins took a hit from Japanese fighters in 1945, killing seven sailors manning a turret next to Traywick's post. Later, the Jenkins was torpedoed and limped home on one engine to Long Beach, California. Traywick would re-up and serve the Navy in China where he barely escaped the advance of Mao's troops.

Traywick earned a degree in chemistry at Tennessee Tech and played a prominent role with Aerojet General and United Technologies. His work on propellants contributed to the Polaris project.

His interest in Tombstone prompted a move to the old silver camp in 1959. He began his quest, as he put it, "to get the real story." He uncovered many facets of the story surrounding the famous street fight. He also created a theatrical group that became a major draw for tourists and put Tombstone back on the front burner of national historical sites.

Colleague Scott Dyke lives in Sahuarita and has known and worked with Traywick for over 20 years.

"Nobody comes close to him in this field. Nobody," Dyke said. "He told me once that Tombstone was 'the place I was supposed to be.' They should name the town after him."

Services are private and will include a Navy ceremony. Traywick is survived by his second wife, Mary, and three children from his first marriage to Red Marie, who predeceased him and for whom his bookstore is named. He will be buried in Tombstone.

TRAYWICK, Ben (Ben T. Traywick)

Born: 8/3/1927, Watertown, Tennessee, U.S.A.

Died: 10/7/2025, Sierra Vista, Arizona, U.S.A.

 

Ben Traywick’s westerns – author, film actor:

Treasures of the Dead – 1967 [author]

Tombstone 1877 – 1900 – 1970 [author]

Historical Documents and Photographs of Tombstone – 1971 [author]

The Residents of Tombstone's Boot Hill – 1971 [author]

Big Jim Savage, Blonde King of the Indians and Discoverer of Yosemite – 1972 [author]

Tombstone's Immortals – 1973 [author]

Tombstone's Gastronomic Delilghts – 1974 [author]

Hell's Belles of Tombstone – 1984 [author]

Tombstone Outlaw Album – 1984 [author]

The National Tombstone Epitaph – 1985 [author]

Some Ghosts Along The San Pedro (Near Tombstone) – 1987 [author]

The Chinese Dragon in Tombstone – 1989 [author]

Madame Mustache Purveyor of Pleasure Tombstone Arizona - 1990 [author]

A Town Called Tombstone - Photos of the Old Town and it's People – 1990 [author]

Chronicles of Tombstone – 1992 [author]

Behind the Red Lights – 1993 [author]

Legendary characters of southeast Arizona: A sequel to the chronicles of Tombstone – 1993 [author]

A Man For Breakfast or Death's Doings in Tombstone – 1993 [author]

The Gunfight At O. K. Corral and Incidents Following – 1994 [author]

Legendary characters of southeast Arizona: A sequel to The chronicles of Tombstone- 1994 [author]

Tombstone Clippings – 1994 [author]

Chronicles of Tombstone – 1996 [author]

The Clantons of Tombstone – 1996 [author]

John Henry – 1996 [author]

Tombstone’s Boot Hill – 1996 [author]

Frail Prisoners In Yuma Territorial Prison – 1997 [author]

Wyatt Earp's 13 dead men – 1998 [author]

Minute book Common Council Village of Tombstone: September 10, 1880 to January 16, 1882. – 1999 [author]

Haunted History: Haunter Tombstone – 2000 [himself]

That Wicked Little Gringo – 2001 [author]

Wyatt Earp, Angel of Death – 2006 [author]

Camillus Fly – 2008 [author]

Analysis of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral – 2019 [co-author]

John Peters Ringo "Mythical Gunfighter" – 2019 [author]