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 bu ...

, chiefly in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds of

gunfighter Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...

s, 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 Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

. 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 Tombstone is a historic city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1877 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 gr ...

, and

Deadwood, South Dakota Deadwood ( Lakota: ''Owáyasuta''; "To approve or confirm things") is a city that serves as county seat of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city had ...

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 William Harrison Clanton (1862 – October 26, 1881) 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 Territor ...

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 ...

; 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 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 Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which la ...

'' (1994), ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film ''Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...

'' (1960) and '' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957), during which it was repeatedly sung over the recurring title theme song by

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final ...

. In the later half of the movie Laine changes the theme to: '' Boot Hill'' is the name of a

role playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...

first published in 1975 by TSR, Inc., the original publisher of ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

''. 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 First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...

video game ''

Borderlands 2 ''Borderlands 2'' is a 2012 first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. Taking place five years following the events of '' Borderlands'' (2009), the game is again set on the planet of Pandora. ...

'', located in 'The Dust', and playing home to a 'truxican standoff'.

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

wrote in 1959 a song "

The Ballad of Boot Hill "The Ballad of Boot Hill" is a 1959 song written by Carl Perkins which was recorded by Johnny Cash on Columbia Records. Background The song was originally released in 1959 in the U.S. on a Columbia EP by Johnny Cash entitled ''Johnny Cash Sin ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...

recorded it for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

and it was released in the same year. A

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

named '' Boot Hill'' was released in 1969 and it featured Terence Hill and

Bud Spencer Carlo Pedersoli (31 October 1929 – 27 June 2016), known professionally as Bud Spencer, was an Italian actor, professional swimmer and water polo player. He was known for action-comedy and Spaghetti Western roles with his long-time film partn ...

. The first of three parts that compose the

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

song "Country Girl", that appears in his 1970 album with

Crosby, Stills & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth memb ...

, "

Déjà Vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is a French loanword for the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford Univers ...

", is called "Whiskey Boot Hill". The Outlaws' song " Hurry Sundown" also references "lying" an unnamed character in "Boot Hill". Several themes from

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

’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 "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel from the album ''Piano Man''. It was also issued as a single in the UK backed with "If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You)." Artistic license The song is Joel's ficti ...

" from

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

'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 Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

'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 Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, Seine-et-Marne, Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disney ...

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 Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was born to ...

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 prickly pear at Boothill Graveyard

Deadwood, South Dakota

File:Mt Moriah Cemetery.jpg, Deadwood's Boot Hill, the Mount Moriah Cemetery File:Deadwood Cemetery- Wild Bill and Calamity Jane.jpg, Plaques for

Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement ...

and

Calamity Jane Martha Jane Cannary (May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Lat ...

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 The Long Branch Saloon was a well-known saloon in Dodge City, Kansas from about 1874 to 1885. It had several owners, most notably Chalk Beeson and gunfighter Luke Short. The establishment provided gambling and live entertainment, including B ...

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 Tilden is a Census-designated place (CDP) and county seat of McMullen County, Texas, United States. Tilden lies at the intersection of State Highways 16 and 72 in the north central part of the county. It is located roughly an hour south of San ...

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 Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II (November 2, 1860 – July 8, 1898) was an American con artist and gangster in the American frontier. Smith operated confidence schemes across the Western United States, and had a large hand in organized cri ...

'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 Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

, from Boot Hill

List of places with Boot Hill cemeteries

Alma, New Mexico Alma is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Catron County, New Mexico, United States, north of Glenwood and south of Reserve. Demographics History Sergeant James C. Cooney laid out a town on site of Alma in the early 18 ...

Anamosa, Iowa Anamosa is a city in Jones County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,450 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Jones County. History What is now Anamosa was founded as the settlement of Buffalo Forks in 1838 and incorporated as ...

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

Bodie, California Bodie ( ) is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about southeast of Lake Tahoe, and east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet (2554 m ...

* Bonanza, Idaho * Calabasas,

Santa Cruz County, Arizona Santa Cruz is a county in southern Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population is 47,669. The county seat is Nogales. The county was established in 1899. It borders Pima County to the north and west, Cochise County to the ea ...

Calico, San Bernardino County, California Calico is a ghost town and former mining town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, it was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and was l ...

Canyon City, Oregon Canyon City is a city in Grant County, Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Grant County, and is about south of John Day on U.S. Highway 395. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 703. Geography Canyon City is ...

Canyon Diablo, Arizona Canyon Diablo is a ghost town in Coconino County, Arizona, United States on the edge of the arroyo Canyon Diablo. The community was settled in 1880 and died out in the early 20th century. The town, which is about northwest of Meteor Crater, ...

Columbia, California Columbia is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the Sierra Nevada foothills in Tuolumne County, California, Tuolumne County, California, United States. It was founded as a boomtown in 1850 when gold was found during the California Gold R ...

* Coulson, Montana *

Cripple Creek, Colorado Cripple Creek is a statutory city that is the county seat of Teller County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 1,155 at the 2020 United States Census. Cripple Creek is a former gold mining camp located southwest of Colorado Sprin ...

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Guthrie, Oklahoma Guthrie is a city and county seat in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 10,191 at the 2010 census, a 2.7 percent increase from the figure of 9,925 in the 2000 census. First k ...

Hartville, Wyoming Hartville is a town in Platte County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 62 at the 2010 census. History During the Old West period, Hartville was the scene of multiple shootings. Many of the victims were cowboys and are buried at the t ...

Idaho City, Idaho Idaho City is a city in and the county seat of Boise County, Idaho, United States, located about northeast of Boise. The population was 485 at the 2010 census, up from 458 in 2000. Idaho City is part of the Boise City− Nampa, Idaho Metrop ...

Leadville, Colorado The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...

Livermore, California Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californi ...

* Mowry, Arizona *Newton, Kansas *

Ogallala, Nebraska Ogallala is a city in and the county seat of Keith County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 4,737 at the 2010 census. In the days of the Nebraska Territory, the city was a stop on the Pony Express and later along the transcontinental ...

Pioche, Nevada Pioche is an unincorporated town in Lincoln County, Nevada, United States, approximately northeast of Las Vegas. U.S. Route 93 is the main route to Pioche and bypasses the town center just to the east, with Nevada State Route 321 and Nevada ...

Powderville, Montana Powderville, also Elkhorn Crossing is an unincorporated community in northeastern Powder River County, Montana, United States, along the Powder River. It is a small cluster of buildings that lies along local roads northeast of the town of Broad ...

* Riley Camp, Quay County, New Mexico *

Seney Township, Michigan Seney Township is a civil township of Schoolcraft County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 119. With a population density of only , Seney Township is the least-densely populated municipality in the ...

Sidney, Nebraska Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Cheyenne County, Nebraska, United States. The city is north of the Colorado state line. The population was 6,757 at the 2010 census. History The city was named for Sidney Dillon, president of the ...

* Silver Reef, Utah * Skagway, Alaska * Tascosa, Texas *

Tincup, Colorado Tincup, or Tin Cup, originally named Virginia City, is an unincorporated community in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The community was once a prominent mining town, but is now a community of summer homes with a few year-round residen ...

* Valentine, Nebraska, also known a
Minnechaduza Cemetery
*

Virginia City, Montana Virginia City is a town in and the county seat of Madison County, Montana, United States. In 1961 the town and the surrounding area were designated a National Historic Landmark District, the Virginia City Historic District. The population was 2 ...

Weaver, Arizona Weaver, or Weaverville, is a former gold mining town, now a deserted ghost town, in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. All that remains are some rusting mining machinery, a partially restored cemetery, and the ruins of a stone house. Histo ...

* Webster, Park County, Colorado * Prison graveyard at

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

, British Columbia. * Cemetery name given by the prisoners at the Japanese-run Batu Lintang POW and civilian internment camp in

Kuching Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River at the southwest tip of the state of Sar ...

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. * Fictional cemetery at the end of Phantom Manor at

References

External links

Boot Hill Museum
Dodge City, Kansas

from a

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

website {{Wild West American frontier Cochise County conflict *