America250 Independence Day Celebration

Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park

Saturday, July 4, 2026   9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary at Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park on Saturday, July 4th, 2026. Engage with history and learn to play Faro like Wyatt Earp during our Faro Demonstrations, expand beyond the exhibits with our interpretive guides, and connect our area’s history to the American Revolution with our historian presentation.

Visitors can also view a "Dear America, Love Arizona" display: a selection of postcards from K-12 students in the state whose postcards reflect on what they love about Arizona and their hopes for our nation’s future as we approach America’s 250th anniversary. If you're bringing a student of your own to this special Independence Day celebration, be sure to ask for a Junior Ranger program!

All programs are included with paid museum admission. Faro Demonstrations are from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will be located on the first floor. “Spanish Contributions to the American Revolution” by Lisa Howison begins at 1 P.M. in the historic courtroom. Please note that while our ADA ramp is now open, the second floor, including the courtroom, is staircase access only due to the historic nature of the building. 

Please be aware that air conditioning is not currently available in the museum. Plan ahead by bringing water and expect temperatures to be around 80-85° in the facility. Food and drink except for water is not permitted inside the museum.

Faro Demonstrations (9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.)

Faro is a card-based gambling game that was played in almost every single gambling hall across the American West for roughly 90 years of our country’s history. Faro was so popular that it could be played in 150 places in Washington D.C. during the American Civil War. As the country expanded westward, people brought their love of Faro with them. In 1882, as construction began on what would become Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, a study by the New York Police Gazette estimated that Faro was more popular than all other forms of gambling combined. Here in the historic town of Tombstone, Arizona, where the Wild West lives on, Faro could be found in just about every saloon, great or small. Soon after arriving in Tombstone, frontier lawman Wyatt Earp dealt Faro for a short time at the Oriental Saloon. 

Play along with our engaging and knowledgeable volunteers to learn how to play the most popular gambling game of America’s Wild West heritage. Just be sure to watch your cards carefully, as Faro was infamous for cheating dealers, and ours are no exception! Play your cards right and you might just walk away with a commemorative America250 Arizona Faro chip in celebration of America’s semiquincentennial anniversary on July 4th, 2026.

 

Spanish Contributions to the American Revolution Presentation (1 p.m.)

Lisa Howison presents "Spanish Contributions to the American Revolution." Spain's involvement in the American Revolution goes farther back than most realize. Several years before the Declaration of Independence was signed Spain was working in the background, shuttling supplies, up the Mississippi. Spain officially entered the war in 1779 along with France, then Louisiana Governor Bernardo de Galvez raised an army to protect the southern states from the British. Then to help raise much-needed money for the army in 1781 King Carlos of Spain issued a decree that everyone in Nueva Espana were to pay a special “donotivo”, millions of pesos were collected from places that would become New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Texas, and California. Even the Philippine’s, which fell under the governance of Nuevo Espana, were required to pay. With Spain keeping the British occupied in the south it kept them from sending more men to the northern colonies, which made it easier for Washington to defeat the British troops, thus the United States of America was born.

About our Speaker

Lisa Howison has been a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution since 2009; this is where she learned that there were more countries that had a stake in the revolution than she realized. By helping others with their genealogies during the application process, she came to realize that the revolution not only involved the thirteen colonies, it also involved the rest of the world. By helping on the DAR Spanish Taskforce she gained knowledge of the contributions made by the Spanish Empire at the time of the revolution and more importantly how that influence aided a fledgling nation to succeed against a foe that had conquered continents. Lisa has more than twenty years of genealogical experience but by no means thinks of herself as an expert. She loves to do research and learn about the stories of people and places. Lisa and her husband, George, moved to their final home in Arizona nine years ago from Southern California.