The Gypsy and the Bear

One day during Tombstone’s boom times, a Gypsy came strolling into town with a bear on a leash. He announced to the gathering crowd that for only five dollars the miners could wrestle the bear and if they could put the bear on the ground, they’d win twenty-five. The boys laid down their five-dollar gold pieces and lined up awaiting their chance. The bear looked small but when he stood, he was over 6′ tall. The boys figured if they could get one of their arms around one of his legs the bear would lose his balance could and drop to the ground. However, that wasn’t as easy as it looked and one by one that bear wrapped his front legs around the burly miners and lay them gently on the ground.

That afternoon dozens of five-dollar gold pieces were bestowed upon the Gypsy. They begged him to return the next day so they could have another go at the wrestling bear and he agreed.

However the next day the Gypsy and his bear had vamoosed. It’s believed the saloonkeepers and gamblers got together and paid him a handsome fee to leave town so the miners would return to their usual habits of drinking and gambling.