How Boot Hill Got It's Name

howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas
where it is dry and dusty just like Dodge City was back in the
1870s when Boot Hill was started.

Ya know, it's interesting to talk to people from other parts of
the country here in the U.S. that think Dodge City, Boot Hill
and even Wyatt Earp are all made up by Hollywood!

source

I'm like no.. you can't make this stuff up, it's all based on the
actual thing or person, Hollywood THEN gets hold of it and
"embellishes" things. I wanted to talk a little about Boot Hill
and relate a personal connection to it.

First of all, the reason it was called Boot Hill is because in early
Dodge there was no law and people kept getting killed in a
sudden death situation, unexpectedly and violently. Not that
they didn't AFTER the lawmen came but not nearly as often.

In other words, "they died with their boots on" as opposed to being
sick and dying in bed like most people did.. except in the case of an
accident like getting thrown off your horse and breaking your neck
or something like that. savvy?

source
Interestingly the first man shot to death in Dodge City was not
because of a shootout or argument. There was some type of
commotion or celebration going on in the street and a tall Black man
by the name of Tex was standing out in the street observing all the
ruckus.

There was a gambler standing on a balcony overlooking the street
and while shots were being fired into the air by the crowd below...
this man shot Tex in the top of his head. At the time no one knew
what had happened and thought it must have been an accident.

There was no Lawmen in town so no questions were asked, no
investigation was done, and they hauled Tex's body up to the
nearby hill and buried him. That was the beginning of the Boot
Hill Cemetery.

Many years later this same gambler who had shot Tex bragged about
it, he was in another state by that time, said he had shot him just to
see him kick. Sounds bizarre but the truth is usually stranger than
fiction!

No information was given on whether Tex kicked or not. I don't think
a person shot through the head, probably with a .45, is going to kick
much though.

very young Dodge City probably 1873 source

The next big killing was in a saloon, probably the Longbranch, in a
fight between soldiers from Fort Dodge and gamblers who shot it out
right there at the table killing 3 or 4 and wounding several more.

This type of thing continued unabated because of the type of rough,
rowdy men that Dodge was attracting. Plus, they had to have been
shipping whiskey from back East to Dodge by the railroad car full!

After one year the town had 70 buildings and almost a third of them
were saloons! Probably another third were cat houses! I mean..it
was the place to go to have a good time but also a good place to
get killed!

early Dodge around 1872 source

Ok my personal connection...well first of all the modern Boot Hill
is a museum and tourist attraction that has re-enactments of the
gun fights in the street which never happened. lol.

But it's such apart of Old West lore that people believe so why not
make it part of the Dodge City experience right? no harm done,
they're just using blanks anyway, they make a sound and smoke but
no bullets are actually fired.

Unless one of the actors has been out practicing and forgets to load
with blanks! ha! I have to give him credit he was a good shot and did
indeed shoot the bad guy for real! People thought it was darn good
acting for a second.

I can just see the guy who was laying there shot.."dude you SHOT me!"
"well yeah that's what I'm gettin paid for!"
The guy who was shot lived and recovered just fine.

notice the non cowboy-hat hats they're wearin, they got the history right!

source

So my dad was in a local hardware store that sells guns and the owner
was telling him that he had the gun that was used to shoot the last
man on Boot Hill. Well my dad talked him into selling it to him but he
never brought it home because it needed some minor work, needed
to be sent to a gunsmith, so they did that after my dad paid for it.

Well I guess someone else wanted that famous gun because it got
lost in transit and we never found out what happened to it. My dad
was buying it for me so I was really bummed. I wanted to be able to
say that I had the gun that shot the last gunfighter on Boot Hill!

Now to someone on either U.S. coast that might not be a desirable
thing to have but to a young country boy gunslinger that was going
to be something to brag about!

Thanks for reading folks, I hope you enjoyed this piece of our history.
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck

ps- ya know..you might be a redneck if:

birds are attracted to your beard!

Hahaha! I like that one. God bless you all!