Boot_Hill_Graveyard

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.

John Heath

Victims of the OK Corral shoot-out

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 inhalf, answering with a sarcastic, "I don't believe you have."

The bodies of Tom and Frank McLowery and Billy Clanton

on public display in the window of a hardware store

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Debate over McLowery spelling

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