The Tombstone walkdown is a unique tradition that has been around since the Earps, Clantons and McLaurys. This is the way that the people of Tombstone offer a final tribute to friends who have died.

"I think it is a great and a very unique way to show respect, but it is very emotional," said Darba Jo Butler who works at the Bird Cage Theatre and has lived in Tombstone the last five years.

The walkdown ceremony has been around for more than 100 years here, but it has changed over time. The way locals do it nowadays is that mourners gather at the Bird Cage and are led by a police car down Allen Street, usually to the O.K. Corral.

The immediate family walks behind while friends and locals follow. The procession takes around 15 minutes. The town goes silent.

About half of the people who showed up dressed in 1880s attire as part of the tradition. Two rode horses. People walked dogs while others held hands consoling each other while a block of Allen Street filled with people.

Out of respect, tourists stopped what they were doing and watched silently. Minutes after the walk ended the town returned to normal. Tombstone characters came out and tourists resumed shopping and taking pictures.

The original walkdowns in the late 1800s were similar to funeral processions of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Friends and family escorted the body through the streets to the local cemetery. That tradition marked the beginning of the walkdowns in Tombstone, when the dead were carried down Allen Street and on to Boothill Cemetery.

Another tradition Tombstone adopted in its walkdown is the riderless horse, which symbolizes the deceased.

On Sunday, Paint, a white, blue-eyed horse, cantered down Allen Street with two boots turned backward in the stir-ups in honor of Tiscia.

The riderless horse is a military tradition that first started in America with the funeral of George Washington. It is an honor reserved for military officers and the president. But in Tombstone, it has become part of the walkdown.

Tiscia's memorial ended at the American Legion. A prayer followed and then the playing of "Taps." His walkdown was one of the largest in recent memory.

"The biggest walkdown I've seen in my eight years here," said local resident Ellen Hall. "Pete was special, he saved a lot of people's bacon around this town."

The legacy of Peter Vincent Tiscia is well known in Tombstone.

A resident and owner of the local pawnshop for more than 10 years, he died Feb. 27 at 70.

The Army veteran was born in Stamford, Conn., on Jan. 17, 1940.

As a pawnshop operator, he helped many people with money problems during tough economic times, which led to his reputation for being an honest businessman.

Tiscia, an avid artist, fisherman and gun collector, was only one month into retirement when he died.

Watch a slideshow of Tiscia's walkdown.

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