How story can preserve and erode architecture with Michael Paul

Yeah, it's a 19th century entertainment venue.

That's the broad definition of it.

But to narrow it down a little more specific, it's a relatively small building constructed out of adobe that's fairly well protected.

And its identity is really linked to a lot of commercialized mythology today, which is maybe why the book was necessary.

From a young age, Michael developed a fascination with the American West, from its factual history to its mythical cinema.

But how did a kid from Wisconsin form such a strong interest in the tiny town of Tombstone and the even smaller Birdcage Theater?

There was a movie in the early 90s that came out that had a little segment of it.

Actually had a lot of history about the town in it.

This is back in the World Book Encyclopedia days.

I went back, watched the movie with my dad, came home and rated the encyclopedias I was interested in, the history of that town and whatever.

So that was kind of my on-ramp to the history of that place in a little more specific way.

Not that I started my research then, but that's when the seed was planted.

But it wasn't until nearly two decades later that that seed would start to develop roots and shoots when Michael relocated to Arizona and finally got to visit the birdcage.

I'd actually never even been out here.

I grew up in Wisconsin.

I came here in 2009 and I went to visit the town shortly thereafter.

And yeah, that was my first time.

And it was immediately different from any place I'd ever seen before.

That visit and his near lifelong interest in history eventually evolved into a career built around excavating and conveying the West as it was, in all of its magnificent beauty and its harshness, its reality.

As an art photographer, he has dedicated the last 10 plus years to capturing Western landscapes and wildlife, work that has culminated in a visual story of sorts titled Romance of the American West.

And as an author and historical researcher, he has also spent the better part of 10 years researching the real story of the Birdcage Theater, which he writes about in his book, The Birdcage Theater, The Curtain Rises on Tombstone, Arizona's National Treasure.

And spoiler alert, much of its legend is shrouded in fallacy.

But beyond uncovering the real history of this iconic structure, Michael's research also revealed how the power of story can both preserve and erode a place, and how our built environment can become so much more than just an assemblage of columns and beams.

They're time capsules of life, where story becomes nearly as important as the materials used in preserving them over the long term.