Boothill Graveyard, Tombstone, Arizona (6)

Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the given name of many

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

, chiefly in the Western United States. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds of gunfighters, or those who " died with their boots on" (i.e., violently).

Origin of term

Although many towns use the name "Boot Hill," the first graveyard named "Boot Hill" was at

Hays, Kansas Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The largest city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 21,116. It is ...

, 5 years before the founding of Dodge City, Kansas. The term alludes to the fact that many of its occupants were cowboys who "died with their boots on," the implication here being they died violently, as in gunfights or by hanging, and not of natural causes. The term became commonplace throughout the Old West, with some Boot Hills becoming famous, such as Dodge City, Kansas, Tombstone, Arizona, and Deadwood, South Dakota.

Boothill Graveyard

The most notable use of the name "Boot Hill" is at the Boothill Graveyard in Tombstone, Arizona. Formerly called the "Tombstone Cemetery", the plot features the graves of Billy Clanton,

Frank McLaury Frank McLaury born Robert Findley McLaury (March 3, 1849 – October 26, 1881) was an American outlaw. He and his brother Tom owned a ranch outside Tombstone, Arizona, Arizona Territory during the 1880s, and had ongoing conflicts with lawmen W ...

and

Tom McLaury Tom McLaury (June 30, 1853 – October 26, 1881) was an American outlaw. He and his brother Frank owned a ranch outside Tombstone, Arizona, Arizona Territory during the 1880s. He was a member of a group of outlaws Cowboys and cattle rustlers th ...

; the three men who were killed during the famed Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Located on the northwest corner of the town, the graveyard is believed to hold over 300 persons, 205 of which are recorded. This was due to some people (especially Chinese and Jewish immigrants) being buried without record. There is a separate Jewish cemetery nearby with some markers restored, and there are also marked graves of Chinese. However, most of the loss was due to neglect of grave markers and theft of these wooden relics as souvenirs. For example, when former Tombstone Mayor John Clum visited Tombstone for the first Helldorado celebration in 1929, he was unable to locate the grave of his wife Mary, who had been buried in Boothill. The Tombstone "boothill" cemetery was closed in late 1886, as the new "City Cemetery" on Allen Street opened. Thereafter, Boothill was referred to as the "old city cemetery" and neglected. It was used after that only to bury a few later outlaws (some legally hanged and one shot in a robbery), as well as a few colorful Western characters and one man (Emmett Crook Nunnally) who had spent many volunteer hours restoring it. Currently, the Boothill Graveyard is open to the public for a $5 fee, and is a popular stop for tourists visiting Tombstone.

Boot Hill Museum

Boot Bill Cemetery, 'Toothless Nell', Dodge City, Kansas (8735446744)

The Boot Hill Museum is located on the original location of the Boot Hill Cemetery in Dodge City, Kansas.

In popular culture

Boot Hill is the name of the cemetery in Dodge City in the ''Gunsmoke'' radio series. In many episodes, the marshal (

Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination. Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a te ...

) would allude to "putting you in Boot Hill", or "another man headed to Boot Hill". In the first season of the Gunsmoke#Television version, ''Gunsmoke'' television series, the introduction to each episode showed Matt Dillon walking around Boot Hill reflecting on the deaths of men buried there. Boot Hill cemetery is a main plot point in the The Twilight Zone, Twilight Zone episode ''Mr. Garrity and the Graves''. Boothill Graveyards are referenced in many films such as ''Tombstone (film), Tombstone'' (1993), ''Wyatt Earp (film), Wyatt Earp'' (1994), ''The Magnificent Seven (film), The Magnificent Seven'' (1960) and ''Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957), during which it was repeatedly sung over the recurring title theme song by Frankie Laine. In the later half of the movie Laine changes the theme to: ''Boot Hill (role-playing game), Boot Hill'' is the name of a role playing game first published in 1975 by TSR, Inc., the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. It was the third game released by TSR and notable as one of the first games to use ten-sided dice. Boot Hill also appears in the first-person shooter video game ''Borderlands 2'', located in 'The Dust', and playing home to a 'truxican standoff'. Carl Perkins wrote in 1959 a song "The Ballad of Boot Hill". Johnny Cash recorded it for Columbia Records and it was released in the same year. A Spaghetti Western named ''Boot Hill (film), Boot Hill'' was released in 1969 and it featured Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. The first of three parts that compose the Neil Young song "Country Girl", that appears in his 1970 album with Crosby, Stills & Nash, "Déjà Vu (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album), Déjà Vu", is called "Whiskey Boot Hill". The Outlaws' song "Hurry Sundown (Outlaws album), Hurry Sundown" also references "lying" an unnamed character in "Boot Hill". Several themes from Bob Dylan’s soundtrack album "Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid" (1973) contain the verse "Up to Boot Hill they'd like to send ya". The song "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" from Billy Joel's 1973 Album ''Piano Man (Billy Joel album), Piano Man'' contains the lyrics "And he never had a sweetheart, but he finally found a home, underneath the boothill grave that bears his name". "Boot Hill" (unknown) is the first track on Stevie Ray Vaughan's 1991 posthumous release The Sky Is Crying (album), The Sky is Crying. It was recorded in early 1989 and is one of the last fully produced songs completed prior to his untimely death in 1990. In cricket, the term 'Boot Hill' is used to refer to the fielding position of short-leg because of its proximity to the batsman and high likelihood of being hit by the ball, making the position particularly dangerous. Players fielding in this position typically wear a helmet and other protection. In the comic book series Preacher (comics), ''Preacher'', the Saint of Killers rests at a tomb on Boot Hill when not actively pursuing his goals. Boot Hill Cemetery is the name of the graveyard at Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris.

Gallery

Tombstone, Arizona

File:BootHillCemeteryTombstone.jpg, The entrance to Boothill Graveyard
File:TombstoneGraves.JPG, Graves of Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers File:Boot Hill 02.jpg, Alleged grave of John Wesley Heath File:BHGravestone1.jpg, Grave of George Johnson File:TwoChinese.jpg, Grave of "Two Chinese" File:Gene Barry Bat Masterson Tombstone Arizona 1960.JPG, Gene Barry as Bat Masterson standing next to Lester Moore's grave in 1960 File:Tombstone Boot Hill, FSA, 1940.jpg, The Boothill Graveyard in 1940 File:TombstoneinTombstone.jpg, Graves of Dan Dowd, Red Sample, Tex Howard, Bill Delaney and Dan Kelly in 1940 File:BHTCactus.jpg, A blooming Opuntia, prickly pear at Boothill Graveyard

Deadwood, South Dakota

File:Mt Moriah Cemetery.jpg, Deadwood's Boot Hill, the Mount Moriah Cemetery (South Dakota), Mount Moriah Cemetery File:Deadwood Cemetery- Wild Bill and Calamity Jane.jpg, Plaques for Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane File:Steve and Charlie Utter.jpg, Grave of Wild Bill Hickok File:Grabill - Wild Bills Monument.jpg, Bust of Wild Bill Hickok in 1891 File:Wild Bill Monument Deadwood South Dakota.jpg, Bust of Wild Bill Hickok File:Seth Bullock Tombstone.jpg, Grave of Seth Bullock and his wife Martha

Dodge City, Kansas

File:Boot Hill Museum Entrance (Great Western Hotel).jpg, The entrance to the Boot Hill Museum File:Boot Hill Museum Shops - West.jpg, The shops at Boot Hill Museum, including a reconstruction of the Long Branch Saloon File:Graves at Boot Hill, Dodge City, KS, 1959(1).jpg, Graves at the Boot Hill Cemetery in 1959 File:Hanging Tree at Dodge City (color print).jpg, Graves and the Hangman's Tree File:Hangman's tree, Dodge City, KS, 1959.jpg, The Hangman's Tree File:John M Lawson at Boot Hill Cemetery.jpg, John M Lawson at Boot Hill Cemetery

Miscellaneous

File:152631159106 0 ALB.jpg, The Boot Hill Cemetery at Tilden, Texas in 2006 File:738340030206 0 ALB.jpg, Historical marker in front of the Tilden Boot Hill Cemetery File:Soapy Smith grave Skagway 2009.jpg, Soapy Smith's grave at the Skagway, Alaska, Boot Hill File:Frank Reid Grave 1 Skagway 2009.jpg, Grave of Frank H. Reid in Skagway File:Boot Hill Billings, Montana.JPG, The Boothill Cemetery at Coulson, Montana File:Virginiacity.jpg, View of Virginia City, Nevada, from Boot Hill

List of places with Boot Hill cemeteries

* Alma, New Mexico * Anamosa, Iowa * Billings, Montana * Bodie, California * Bonanza, Idaho * Calabasas, Santa Cruz County, Arizona * Calico, San Bernardino County, California * Canyon City, Oregon * Canyon Diablo, Arizona * Columbia, California * Coulson, Montana * Cripple Creek, Colorado * Deadwood, South Dakota * Ford County, Kansas, Dodge City, Kansas * El Paso, Texas * Fort Sill, Oklahoma * Guthrie, Oklahoma * Hartville, Wyoming *

* Idaho City, Idaho * Leadville, Colorado * Livermore, California * Mowry Massacres, Mowry, Arizona *Newton, Kansas *Ogallala, Nebraska * Pioche, Nevada * Powderville, Montana * Riley Camp, Quay County, New Mexico * Seney Township, Michigan * Sidney, Nebraska * Silver Reef, Utah * Skagway, Alaska * Tascosa, Texas * Tilden, Texas * Tincup, Colorado * Tombstone, Arizona * Valentine, Nebraska, also known a
Minnechaduza Cemetery
* Virginia City, Montana * Virginia City, Nevada * Weaver, Arizona * Webster, Park County, Colorado * Prison graveyard at New Westminster, British Columbia. * Cemetery name given by the prisoners at the Japanese-run Batu Lintang camp, Batu Lintang POW and civilian internment camp in Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo during World War II. * Fictional cemetery at the end of Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris.

References

External links

Boot Hill Museum
Dodge City, Kansas

from a Library of Congress website {{Wild West American frontier Cochise County conflict Boot Hill cemeteries, *