Cochise County in southeastern Arizona was the scene of a number of violent conflicts Violence in the 19th-century American Old West , including between white settlers and Apache Indians , between opposing political and economic factions , and between outlaw gangs and local law enforcement .

Cochise County was carved Removing off in 1881 from the easternmost portion of Pima County during a formative period in the American Southwest .

Complicating the situation was staunch resistance Defending to white settlement from local Native American groups , most notably during the Apache Wars Hostile_encounter , as well as Cochise County 's location on the border with Mexico , which not only threatened Influence international conflict Violence but also presented Giving opportunities for criminal smugglers and cattle rustlers .

Pima County and later Cochise County were the primary battleground for most of the resulting Causation quarter-century of warfare Hostile_encounter , which was almost constant in the region until the late 1880s .

In addition to the Native American conflicts Violence , there was also considerable tension Violence between rural residents of Cochise County , who were for the most part Democrats from the agrarian Confederate States , and more urban residents living within the region 's few developed towns , who were largely Republican business owners from the industrial Union States .

The division created Creating polarizing sectional alliances and culminated Process_end in countless local feuds , the most well-known of which has been called the Cochise County feud or the Earp–Clanton feud , which included the historic Gunfight at the O.K .

Dr. George E. Goodfellow famously described Statement Tombstone , the capital of Cochise County , as the `` condensation of wickedness . ''

President Ronald Reagan declared Expressing_publicly Cochise , Gila , Graham , Greenlee , Pima , Pinal , Santa Cruz and Yavapai counties a `` major disaster area '' .

Marshal in Cochise County , then took Conquering matters into his own hands in a personal vendetta .