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Boot Hill

January 07, 2023

For other uses, see Boot Hill (disambiguation).

Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the given 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 of gunfighters, or those who "died with their boots on" (i.e., violently).

Tombstone, Arizona's Boothill Graveyard in 2009

Origin of term

Although many towns use the name "Boot Hill," the first graveyard named "Boot Hill" was at Hays, Kansas, 5 years before the founding of Dodge City, Kansas.[1] 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. 31°43′11.6″N 110°04′13.6″W / 31.719889°N 110.070444°W / 31.719889; -110.070444 (Boothill Graveyard) 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.

Boot Hill Museum

 
Tomb at Boot Hill Cemetery in Dodge City, Kansas

The Boot Hill Museum is located on the original location of the Boot Hill Cemetery in Dodge City, Kansas.[5]

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) 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.

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.[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.

Gallery

Tombstone, Arizona

Deadwood, South Dakota

Dodge City, Kansas

  •  

    The entrance to the Boot Hill Museum

  •  

    The shops at Boot Hill Museum, including a reconstruction of the Long Branch Saloon

  •  

    Graves at the Boot Hill Cemetery in 1959

  •  

    Graves and the Hangman's Tree

  •  

    The Hangman's Tree

  •  

    John M Lawson at Boot Hill Cemetery

Miscellaneous

List of places with Boot Hill cemeteries

See also

References

  1. ^ "Boot Hill Cemetery". The Milwaukee Journal. January 10, 1939. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  2. ^ Martin, Douglas D. (1997). Tombstone's Epitaph. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806129822.[page needed]
  3. ^ Interment Cemetery Records. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  4. ^ Ben T. Traywick, Tombstone's Boothill, Red Marie's Bookstore, Tombstone AZ, 1971.
  5. ^ . Boot Hill Cemetery. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  6. ^ Reid, John Howard (2006). Best Western Movies: Winning Pictures, Favorite Films and Hollywood B Entries. Lulu.com. p. 58. ISBN 978-1847281814.
  7. ^ Alexander, John M. (2018). The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash. University of Arkansas Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-1682260517.
  8. ^ Sloman, Tony. "Boot Hill". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company Ltd. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Boothill Swords Park Cemetery Review | Billings, Little Big Horn, and the Montana Plains | Fodor's Travel Guides". Fodors.com. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  10. ^ . Yourhometown.org. Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  11. ^ Nye, pp. 243–247
  12. ^ . Wheatlandwy.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-01. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  13. ^ "Patagonia Backroad Ghost Towns". Legendsofamerica.com. 1903-03-04. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  14. ^ "Sidney Nebraska Boot Hill Cemetery". Sidneyboothill.com. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  15. ^ . Southeasttours.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  16. ^ "Boothill Cemetery: a Cemetery in Gunnison County, Colorado". Colorado.hometownlocator.com. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  17. ^ "National Park Service – Prospector, Cowhand, and Sodbuster (Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings)". Nps.gov. 2005-05-22. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  18. ^ Brown, pg. 291-292
  19. ^ "Boot Hill - New Westminster BC - Abandoned Cemeteries on". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 2012-10-26.

Further reading

  • Britz, Kevin (October 1, 2003). "'Boot Hill Burlesque': The Frontier Cemetery as Tourist Attraction in Tombstone, Arizona, and Dodge City, Kansas". Journal of Arizona History. Arizona Historical Society. ASIN B00E428MGY.
  • Brown, Robert L. (1972). Colorado Ghost Towns – Past and Present. Caxton Press. ISBN 978-0870042188.
  • Nye, Wilbur S. (1983). Carbine and Lance: The Story of Old Fort Sill. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806118567.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boothill Graveyard (Tombstone, Arizona).
  • Boot Hill Museum, Dodge City, Kansas
  • A tombstone in Boot Hill Cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona, from a Library of Congress website

January 07, 2023
boot, hill, other, uses, disambiguation, boothill, given, name, many, cemeteries, chiefly, western, united, states, during, 19th, early, 20th, century, common, name, burial, grounds, gunfighters, those, died, with, their, boots, violently, tombstone, arizona, . For other uses see Boot Hill disambiguation Boot Hill or Boothill is the given 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 of gunfighters or those who died with their boots on i e violently Tombstone Arizona s Boothill Graveyard in 2009 Contents 1 Origin of term 2 Boothill Graveyard 3 Boot Hill Museum 4 In popular culture 5 Gallery 5 1 Tombstone Arizona 5 2 Deadwood South Dakota 5 3 Dodge City Kansas 5 4 Miscellaneous 6 List of places with Boot Hill cemeteries 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksOrigin of term EditAlthough many towns use the name Boot Hill the first graveyard named Boot Hill was at Hays Kansas 5 years before the founding of Dodge City Kansas 1 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 EditThe most notable use of the name Boot Hill is at the Boothill Graveyard in Tombstone Arizona 31 43 11 6 N 110 04 13 6 W 31 719889 N 110 070444 W 31 719889 110 070444 Boothill Graveyard 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 Boot Hill Museum Edit Tomb at Boot Hill Cemetery in Dodge City Kansas The Boot Hill Museum is located on the original location of the Boot Hill Cemetery in Dodge City Kansas 5 In popular culture EditBoot 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 amp 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 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 amp Nash Deja 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 Gallery EditTombstone Arizona Edit The entrance to Boothill Graveyard31 43 12 N 110 04 13 W 31 720000 N 110 070278 W 31 720000 110 070278 Site of Boot Hill Cemetery at Tombstone Arizona Graves of Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers Alleged grave of John Wesley Heath Grave of George Johnson Grave of Two Chinese Gene Barry as Bat Masterson standing next to Lester Moore s grave in 1960 The Boothill Graveyard in 1940 Graves of Dan Dowd Red Sample Tex Howard Bill Delaney and Dan Kelly in 1940 A blooming prickly pear at Boothill GraveyardDeadwood South Dakota Edit Deadwood s Boot Hill the Mount Moriah Cemetery Plaques for Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane Grave of Wild Bill Hickok Bust of Wild Bill Hickok in 1891 Bust of Wild Bill Hickok Grave of Seth Bullock and his wife MarthaDodge City Kansas Edit The entrance to the Boot Hill Museum The shops at Boot Hill Museum including a reconstruction of the Long Branch Saloon Graves at the Boot Hill Cemetery in 1959 Graves and the Hangman s Tree The Hangman s Tree John M Lawson at Boot Hill CemeteryMiscellaneous Edit The Boot Hill Cemetery at Tilden Texas in 2006 Historical marker in front of the Tilden Boot Hill Cemetery Soapy Smith s grave at the Skagway Alaska Boot Hill Grave of Frank H Reid in Skagway The Boothill Cemetery at Coulson Montana View of Virginia City Nevada from Boot HillList of places with Boot Hill cemeteries EditAlma New Mexico Anamosa Iowa Billings Montana 9 Bodie California Bonanza Idaho Calabasas Santa Cruz County Arizona 10 Calico San Bernardino County California Canyon City Oregon Canyon Diablo Arizona Columbia California Coulson Montana Cripple Creek Colorado Deadwood South Dakota Dodge City Kansas El Paso Texas Fort Sill Oklahoma 11 Guthrie Oklahoma Hartville Wyoming 12 Hays Kansas Idaho City Idaho Leadville Colorado Livermore California Mowry Arizona 13 Newton Kansas Ogallala Nebraska Pioche Nevada Powderville Montana Riley Camp Quay County New Mexico Seney Township Michigan Sidney Nebraska 14 Silver Reef Utah Skagway Alaska 15 Tascosa Texas Tilden Texas Tincup Colorado 16 Tombstone Arizona Valentine Nebraska also known as Minnechaduza Cemetery Virginia City Montana Virginia City Nevada Weaver Arizona 17 Webster Park County Colorado 18 Prison graveyard at New Westminster British Columbia 19 Cemetery name given by the prisoners at the Japanese run 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 See also EditAmerican Frontier Bisbee Massacre Cowboy Action Shooting Fairbank Train Robbery Potter s field Shootout at Wilson Ranch Shootout on Juneau Wharf Western genre Boot Hill CemeteryReferences Edit Boot Hill Cemetery The Milwaukee Journal January 10 1939 Retrieved July 1 2014 Martin Douglas D 1997 Tombstone s Epitaph University of Oklahoma Press ISBN 978 0806129822 page needed Interment Cemetery Records Retrieved 2010 03 11 Ben T Traywick Tombstone s Boothill Red Marie s Bookstore Tombstone AZ 1971 Boot Hill Museum and Front Street Boot Hill Cemetery Archived from the original on 28 August 2011 Retrieved 2 November 2011 Reid John Howard 2006 Best Western Movies Winning Pictures Favorite Films and Hollywood B Entries Lulu com p 58 ISBN 978 1847281814 Alexander John M 2018 The Man in Song A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash University of Arkansas Press p 70 ISBN 978 1682260517 Sloman Tony Boot Hill Radio Times Immediate Media Company Ltd Retrieved 12 January 2019 Boothill Swords Park Cemetery Review Billings Little Big Horn and the Montana Plains Fodor s Travel Guides Fodors com Retrieved 2012 10 26 Arizona Tourist Attractions Hometown Offbeat Arizona Ghost Towns Travel Wall Maps Yourhometown org Archived from the original on 2013 06 23 Retrieved 2012 10 26 Nye pp 243 247 Hartville Wyoming Profile Wheatlandwy com Archived from the original on 2012 09 01 Retrieved 2012 10 26 Patagonia Backroad Ghost Towns Legendsofamerica com 1903 03 04 Retrieved 2012 10 26 Sidney Nebraska Boot Hill Cemetery Sidneyboothill com Retrieved 2012 10 26 Skagway Spectacular Sightseeing Tours Skagway Tours Skagway Alaska Tours Skagway Tour Skagway Train Ride White Pass White Pass Railroad Train Ride AK Southeasttours com Archived from the original on 2012 09 08 Retrieved 2012 10 26 Boothill Cemetery a Cemetery in Gunnison County Colorado Colorado hometownlocator com Retrieved 2012 10 26 National Park Service Prospector Cowhand and Sodbuster Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings Nps gov 2005 05 22 Retrieved 2012 10 26 Brown pg 291 292 Boot Hill New Westminster BC Abandoned Cemeteries on Waymarking com Retrieved 2012 10 26 Further reading EditBritz Kevin October 1 2003 Boot Hill Burlesque The Frontier Cemetery as Tourist Attraction in Tombstone Arizona and Dodge City Kansas Journal of Arizona History Arizona Historical Society ASIN B00E428MGY Brown Robert L 1972 Colorado Ghost Towns Past and Present Caxton Press ISBN 978 0870042188 Nye Wilbur S 1983 Carbine and Lance The Story of Old Fort Sill University of Oklahoma Press ISBN 978 0806118567 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boothill Graveyard Tombstone Arizona Boot Hill Museum Dodge City Kansas A tombstone in Boot Hill Cemetery in Tombstone Arizona from a Library of Congress website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Boot Hill amp oldid 1130183439, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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