Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the generic name of many cemeteries, chiefly in the Western United States. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds for paupers.
Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the generic name of many cemeteries, chiefly in the Western United States. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds for paupers.
Although many towns use the name "Boot Hill", the first graveyard named "Boot Hill" was at Hays, Kansas, five years before the founding of Dodge City, Kansas. [1] The meaning of why cemeteries were called "Boot Hills" has been lost, but there are three plausible reasons.
The first possible meaning of the term is based on poverty and alludes to the fact that many of the cemeteries' occupants were vagrants, or the impoverished. The concept is that those buried within either owned boots in such disrepair that no one salvaged the footwear, thus the footwear was left on the bodies at burial; or that the deceased owned no nicer formal clothing to place upon their bodies, which resulted in being interred wearing whatever clothing, and boots, they did possess.
The second concept is fairly similar - that those buried within (having been hermits, passers-through, or vagrants) had no family to contact to claim the deceased's valuables, which would include footwear.
Both of these concepts–one of poverty and worthless unsalvageable boots, the other of no next-of-kin to transfer ownership of valuables to–rely on the fact that during the 1800s, footwear had become expensive commodities. This is because a shift in shoes occurred in the 19th century. While all clothing could be made by people in the 1800s with moderate sewing skills, and doing so was quite common in the western frontier of the U.S., making shoes and boots had become a craft of cordwainers that required the expensive technical skills and specialized tools of the shoe makers. Prior to this era, everyday wear shoes and boots were frequently made from materials, and in limited pattern sizes, that could be easily made at home, then buckled and laced-up to create a formed fit for various sized feet. A switch was made from pliable materials to stiff form-keeping leathers, allowing for footwear that was no longer ambidextrous, but tailored to each foot's specific shape, as well as individual length and width. This required further craftsmanship and work to create specifically bespoke footwear. Thus, the increased cost of Victorian footwear makes either of these two theories the most plausible.
The third concept is likely a romanticized one. This postulates that the occupants of Boot Hills 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. This idea is the most commonly cited on tourist websites. In addition to this claim having numerous problems in the logic used to support it (i.e., significant numbers of people die while wearing footwear, for all kinds of reasons), there is no evidence to suggest that gunfights and hangings were so ubiquitous that entire cemeteries all across the western U.S. needed to be devoted to these types of violent unnatural deaths.
Despite the mystery of the term today, Boot Hill became a commonplace term for the neglected old municipal cemeteries throughout the U.S. West during the late 1800s and into the early 1900s as, more and more, families of means re-interred their deceased loved ones to the more elegant and exclusive grounds of the newer for-profit cemeteries. However, some Boot Hills became famous, such as the original in Dodge City, Kansas, or the Boot Hill in Tombstone, Arizona, because of three men involved in the so-called O.K. Corral shootout still being buried there.
The most notable use of the name "Boot Hill" is at the Boothill Graveyard in Tombstone, Arizona. 31°43′11.6″N110°04′13.6″W / 31.719889°N 110.070444°W Formerly called the "Tombstone Cemetery", the plot features the graves of Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury and Tom McLaury; the three men who were killed during the famed Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. [2]
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. [3] 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. [4]
Currently, the Boothill Graveyard is open to the public for a $5 fee, and is a popular stop for tourists visiting Tombstone.
The Boot Hill Museum is located on the original location of the Boot Hill Cemetery in Dodge City, Kansas. [5]
Boot Hill is the name of the cemetery in Dodge City in the Gunsmoke radio series. In many episodes, the marshal (Matt Dillon) would allude to "putting you in Boot Hill", or "another man headed to Boot Hill". In the first season of the 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 Twilight Zone episode Mr. Garrity and the Graves .
Boothill Graveyards are referenced in many films such as Tombstone (1993), Wyatt Earp (1994), The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), during which it was repeatedly sung over the recurring title theme song by Frankie Laine. [6] In the later half of the movie Laine changes the theme to:
Boothill... Boothill...
So cold... so still...
There they lay side by side,
the killers that died,in the Gunfight at O.K. Corral.
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.
Finnish Western writer Esa Paloniemi published his collection of Western short stories Saapaskukkula (Boothill) in 2024.
Boot Hill also appears in the first-person shooter video game Borderlands 2 , located in 'The Dust', and playing home to a 'truxican standoff'.
In the video game Fallout: New Vegas, Victor can say, “Next stop, Boot Hill” if provoked.
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. [7]
A Spaghetti Western named Boot Hill was released in 1969 and it featured Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. [8]
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", is called "Whiskey Boot Hill".
The Outlaws' song "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 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. 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, 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.
In season 5 episode 16 of the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants , "Pest of the West", the character Spongebuck is told the old sheriff of Dead-Eye Gulch is at Boot Hill.
Boothill is a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail.
The gunfight at the O.K. Corral pitted lawmen against members of a loosely organized group of cattle rustlers and horse thieves called the Cowboys on October 26, 1881. While lasting less than a minute, the gunfight has been the subject of books and films into the 21st century. Taking place in the town of Tombstone in Arizona Territory, the battle has become one archetype of the American Old West. The gunfight was the result of a long-simmering feud between five outlaws and four representatives of the law, including three brothers. The trigger for the event was the local marshal's decision to enforce a city ordinance that prohibited the carrying of weapons into town. To enforce that ordinance, the lawmen would have to disarm the Cowboys.
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by prospector Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It became one of the last boomtowns in the American frontier. The town grew significantly into the mid-1880s as the local mines produced $40 to $85 million in silver bullion, the largest productive silver district in Arizona. Its population grew from 100 to around 14,000 in less than seven years. It is best known as the site of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and presently draws most of its revenue from tourism.
John HenryHolliday, better known as Doc Holliday, was an American dentist, gambler, and gunfighter who was a close friend and associate of lawman Wyatt Earp. Holliday is best known for his role in the events surrounding and his participation in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. He developed a reputation as having killed more than a dozen men in various altercations, but modern researchers have concluded that, contrary to popular myth-making, Holliday killed only one to three men. Holliday's colorful life and character have been depicted in many books and portrayed by well-known actors in numerous movies and television series.
Morgan Seth Earp was an American sheriff and lawman. He served as Tombstone, Arizona's Special Policeman when he helped his brothers Virgil and Wyatt, as well as Doc Holliday, confront the outlaw Cochise County Cowboys in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. The lawmen killed Cowboys Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton. All four lawmen were charged with murder by Billy's older brother, Ike Clanton, who had run from the gunfight. During a month-long preliminary hearing, Judge Wells Spicer exonerated the men, concluding they had been performing their duty.
Billy Claiborne was an American outlaw, cowboy, drover, miner, and gunfighter in the American Old West. He killed James Hickey in a confrontation in a saloon, but it was ruled self-defense. He was present at the beginning of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, but was unarmed and ran from the shootout. Only a year later, while drunk, he confronted gunfighter "Buckskin" Frank Leslie and was killed.
Joseph Isaac Clanton was a member of a loose association of outlaws known as The Cowboys who clashed with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp as well as Doc Holliday. On October 26, 1881, Clanton was present at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory but was unarmed and ran from the gunfight, in which his 19-year-old brother Billy was killed.
Newman Haynes Clanton, also known as "Old Man" Clanton, was a cattle rancher and father of four sons, one of whom was killed during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Two of his sons were involved in multiple conflicts in Cochise County, Arizona Territory including stagecoach robbery and cattle rustling. One witness identified his son Ike Clanton as a participant in the murder of Morgan Earp. Billy Clanton and Ike were at the O.K. Corral. "Old Man" Clanton was reportedly involved with stealing cattle from Mexican ranchers and re-selling them in the United States. Records indicate he participated in the Skeleton Canyon Massacre of Mexican smugglers. In retaliation, Mexican Rurales are reported to have ambushed and killed him and a crew of Cowboys in the Guadalupe Canyon Massacre.
The Guadalupe Canyon Massacre was an incident that occurred on August 13, 1881, in the Guadalupe Canyon area of the southern Peloncillo Mountains – Guadalupe Mountains. Five American men were killed in an ambush, including "Old Man" Clanton, the alleged leader. They most likely belonged to The Cowboys, an outlaw group based in Pima and Cochise counties in Arizona. Two men survived the attack. The canyon straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state line and connects the Animas Valley of New Mexico with the San Bernardino Valley of Arizona. During the American Old West, the canyon was a key route for smugglers into and out of Mexico.
Frank McLaury born Robert Findley McLaury was an American outlaw. He and his brother Tom allegedly owned a ranch outside Tombstone, Arizona, although this ownership is disputed, that cowboy Frank Patterson owned the ranch. Arizona Territory during the 1880s, and had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp. The McLaury brothers repeatedly threatened the Earps because they interfered with the Cowboys' illegal activities. On October 26, 1881, Tom, Frank, and Billy Clanton were killed in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Tom McLaury 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 gang of outlaws and cattle rustlers called the Cowboys that had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp. The McLaury brothers repeatedly threatened the Earps because they interfered with the Cowboys' illegal activities. On October 26, 1881, Tom and Frank were both killed in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. The Tombstone shootout was his only gunfight.
William Harrison Clanton was an outlaw Cowboy in Cochise County, Arizona Territory. He, along with his father Newman Clanton and brother Ike Clanton, worked a ranch near the boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory and stole livestock from Mexico and later U.S. ranchers.
Jack Dunlop, also known as John Dunlop, Jess Dunlop, John Patterson, and most commonly Three Fingered Jack was an outlaw in the closing days of the Old West, best known for being a train robber. Whether he had just three fingers on one of his hands is not confirmed.
William Milton Breakenridge was an American lawman, teamster, railroader, soldier and author.
The Cochise County Cowboys is the modern name for a loosely associated group of outlaws living in Pima and Cochise County, Arizona in the late 19th century. The term "cowboy", as opposed to "cowhand," had only begun to come into wider usage during the 1870s. In that place and time, "cowboy" was synonymous with "cattle rustler". Such thieves frequently rode across the border into Mexico and stole cattle from Mexican ranches that they then drove back across the border to sell in the United States. Some modern writers consider them to be an early form of organized crime in America.
Cochise County in southeastern Arizona was the scene of a number of violent conflicts in the 19th-century and early 20th-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 off in 1881 from the easternmost portion of Pima County during a formative period in the American Southwest. The era was characterized by rapidly growing boomtowns, the emergence of large-scale farming and ranching interests, lucrative mining operations, and the development of new technologies in railroading and telecommunications. Complicating the situation was staunch resistance to white settlement from local Native American groups, most notably during the Apache Wars, as well as Cochise County's location on the border with Mexico, which not only threatened international conflict but also presented opportunities for criminal smugglers and cattle rustlers.
Boot Hill Museum is an American historical museum located in Dodge City, Kansas.
Boothill Graveyard is a small graveyard of at least 250 interments located in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona. Also known as the "Old City Cemetery", the graveyard was used after 1883 only to bury outlaws and a few others. It had a separate Jewish cemetery, which is nearby.
The O.K. Corral hearing and aftermath was the direct result of the 30-second Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, on October 26, 1881. During that confrontation, Deputy U.S. Marshal and Tombstone Town Marshal Virgil Earp, Assistant Town Marshal Morgan Earp, and temporary deputy marshals Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday shot and killed Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury. Billy's brother Ike, who had repeatedly threatened to kill the Earps for some time, had been present at the gunfight but was unarmed and fled. As permitted by territory law, he filed murder charges against the Earps and Doc Holliday on October 30.
