Boot Hill comes from the fact that these graves were filled with people who died suddenly or violently with their boots on. In 1878, Boot Hill Graveyard was laid out and used as a burial place during Tombstone's wild years. Within Tombstone those who died by bullets were not always established gunfighters such as the Earp clan, or the Clanton mob.
At times, ordinary men went for their weapons and became instant "gunfighters" thus, giving them a resting spot in a grave in Boot Hill. Such was the case with a miner by the name of Joseph Ziegler who had gotten into an argument with a fellow miner named Ed Williams while at work. Later that evening, thinking the argument had been resolved, Ziegler thought nothing further. The other man, however, had different intentions and pressed the topic of the argument further. As Ziegler walked behind an old ice house near the corner of Toughnut and Fifth Street, Williams jumped out in the shadows and fired at him. Ziegler died a few minutes afterward.
Some were victims of lynching mobs. In present-day Tombstone, there is a marker which still stands, indicating the spot where the surprise execution took place for John Heath. On February 22, 1884, a group of angry Bisbee citizens rode down Tombstone, where Heath was being held for as the leader of the gang that robbed the Goldwater-Castaneda store of a payroll and left dead bodies behind. Although Heath did not participate in the killings, he had planned the robbery and lead the posse astray. His partners in crime were arrested and hanged, he was given life in prison. Breaking him out of jail, the Bisbee citizens lynched him from a telegraph pole. The pole no longer stands, but in its place is the marker.
Some were victims of the most famous gunfight in history -- the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. Such is the case with Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLowery. Reportedly, Billy may have been the first man to draw his gun during the gunfight. After being shot in his wrist, chest and stomach, this young man--in the spirit of bravado--managed to wound Morgan and Virgil Earp. As the gunfight continued, Billy's ammunition was spent, and as he lay dying on the ground, he tried to fire his empty gun while asking not to be given medical aid. He died shortly after the gunfight ended. Supposedly at the gunfight, Tom McLowery was unarmed, wearing no gunbelt. According to legend, after seeing his brother Frank fall, he decided to make a stand and went for his rifle holstered in his horse's saddle, shouting, "I've got you now" in the direction of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. To this, Doc Holliday supposedly responded with a shotgun blast that nearly tore his assailant in half, answering with a sarcastic, "I don't believe you have."
Although many of the markers in Boot Hill Graveyard still remain, controversy still reigns over the spelling of the names of two of the O.K. Corral victims. The graves of the "McLowery" brothers were noted originally as such on the markers, but were changed later to McLaury to match public opinion in modern times. Debate over whether it's McLowery, McLaury, or McLaurie still runs wild.
Boot Hill was replaced by a Community Cemetery in 1884.
Town records show the following:
Killed by another, 56
Hung, 11
Suicide, 8
Ambushed by Indians, 9
Accident, 24
Sickness, 25
Unspecified, 55
Some of those who were put to rest in Boot Hill Graveyard include:
Frank McLowery: Gunshot victim of the O.K Corral shootout
Tom McLowery: Unarmed gunshot victim of the O.K. Corral shootout
Billy Clanton: Gunshot victim of the O.K. Corral shootout
Old Man Clanton (Legally known as N.H. Clanton)
Tom Waters: Prospector and gunshot victim
Joseph Ziegler: Miner and gunshot victim
Dan Dowd: Hanged
Dan Kelly: Hanged
John Heath: Hanged
Red Sample: Hanged
Tex Howard: Hanged
William Delaney: Hanged
Florentino Cruz: Outlaw and supposedly took part in the killing of
Morgan Earp, and may have been killed by either Wyatt Earp orDoc HollidaySome sources used:
Wild West Characters
Leave yer mark in the guestbook
or
