The Original Boot Hill Cemetery
- Andrea LaRayne Etzel
- Apr 11
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 12
Tombstone and Dodge City's Boot Hill Cemeteries may be better known, but they weren't the first.
Today, in a quiet residential pocket of Hays, a stack of rugged native stone slabs bears the words Hays City Boot Hill, chiseled and painted in black. It seems out of place. But step back 160 years, and this same ground tells a different story.
In 1867, this was an open prairie—unsettled, exposed, and shaped by the realities of a frontier community taking hold. There were no streets, no homes—only a growing town finding its footing, and a hillside set aside for those who wouldn’t live to see what came next.
History of the Boot Hill Cemetery
“There, side by side, quietly sleeping the last long sleep, that know no waking but in eternity lie these victims of a wild career.” - Ellis County Star, March 22, 1877
Soon after the establishment of any town, a cemetery is likely to follow. Hays City was founded in the summer of 1867, and the first recorded burial took place in November of that year. For the next seven years, it's believed nearly 80 people—men, women, outlaws, and lawmen—were buried here.
Three years after the last reported burial, the Ellis County Star described Boot Hill: “On the northern limits of our city rises a prairie mound, and capping its summit may be seen a few stone and wooden crosses.”
In the decades following the closure of Boot Hill, graves and remains continued to be uncovered as construction work was carried out in the neighborhood. In 1960, The Hays Daily News reported that, in 1936, four bodies had been disinterred by workmen.
Today, it remains unknown how many, if any, still lie beneath the hill.
Legendary Boot Hill Cemeteries
Hays can claim the first Boot Hill Cemetery, but it certainly wasn't the only one – or the most famous. In Kansas, mention Boot Hill Cemetery and Dodge City is likely the one people will think of. It operated between 1871 and 1879. As with Hays, in 1879, the remains were removed and reburied in nearby cemeteries. Today, the former site is part of Boot Hill Museum. (Note: the museum has placed headstones, but these are only replicas.)
Another legendary cemetery is Boothill Graveyard in Tombstone, Arizona. Boothill is the final resting place of Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury – killed in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral with the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday.
Other Boot Hill cemeteries can be found throughout the West in Texas, California, Montana, Nevada, and other states.
Why are these cemeteries named Boot Hill?
The logic behind the name is that the individuals buried here “died with their boots on”– an almost romanticized notion of a violent death. These cemeteries developed a reputation as places where criminals and other “unsavory” individuals were buried.
In Hays, Mount Allen Cemetery was founded in February 1874, when Martin Allen donated an acre of land for the burial of his 12-year-old daughter, Clara. Did he do this to avoid having his daughter buried at the infamous Boot Hill?
Those who were buried here (or could still be... or maybe never were.)
John Robinson
LABORER
John Robinson is the first documented burial at the cemetery in November 1867. At only 18 or 19, he was a laborer from Scotland, possibly working for the railroad. He died from a skull fracture after being accidentally kicked in the head by a mule. Robinson's remains were moved to Mount Allen Cemetery.
Bill Mulvey
OUTLAW
Bill Mulvey—if that was his real name—had a reputation as a murderer from Missouri. He is also known as the first man, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok planted on Boot Hill in Hays City.
The story goes that in September 1869, Mulvey caused a disturbance in Hays, riding through town drunk and shooting out windows. Hickok had recently been appointed sheriff of Ellis County. Locals attempted to calm Mulvey, warning him about Hickok, but Mulvey reportedly said he intended to kill him.
The two eventually came face-to-face. Mulvey raised his rifle. Hickok, glancing over Mulvey’s shoulder at supposed onlookers, called out, “Don’t shoot him in the back; he is drunk.”
Mulvey took the bait. When he turned to look behind him, Hickok fired.
Samuel O. Strawhun
COWBOY
September 1869 was a busy month for Wild Bill Hickok. In the early morning hours of September 27, Hickok encountered Samuel Strawhun. Newspapers reported that Strawhun and his companions were “wolfing all night” and arrived at John Bitter's Saloon around 1:00 a.m.
When Hickok entered the scene, the situation grew more chaotic. Insults were exchanged; in the end, Hickok shot Strawhun. The following morning, a coroner's verdict ruled it a justifiable homicide.
Peter “Rattlesnake Pete” Lanihan (or Lanahan)
LAWMAN
Peter Lanahan arrived on the western frontier in 1861 as a Quartermaster for Fort Hays. He briefly served as Hickok's deputy before defeating him in the November 1869 sheriff’s election. (Some speculated Hickok’s recent killings may have influenced the outcome.)
Lanahan took office in January 1870. On the night of July 16, 1871, a fight broke out at James Kelley’s saloon. When Sheriff Lanahan attempted to break it up, Charles Harris, a saloon keeper for Kelley, attacked him.
Lanahan was shot twice and beaten with a club. He died two days later from his injuries. Harris was also shot dead and was buried at Boot Hill as well.
Hon. John V. MacIntosh
BUSINESSMAN & POLITICIAN
John MacIntosh arrived in Hays City around its founding. Before heading west, he was a Leavenworth businessman. In Hays, he operated a drugstore on South Fort Street and quickly became involved in local politics.
During his short time in the frontier town, he served as probate judge, coroner, and sheriff, and was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1869.
At just 29, MacIntosh died in February 1871. Newspaper accounts did not list a cause of death, but the Leavenworth Daily Commercial reported his body was returned to Leavenworth for burial. Records show he was interred at Mount Muncie Cemetery in Lansing—meaning he was never buried at Boot Hill, and the plaque may be inaccurate.
His child, Jessie MacIntosh, is also listed on the plaque. Jessie died in 1872 at age five and is buried in the family plot at Mount Muncie.
Miss Lou Sherwood
DANCEHALL GIRL
Little is known about Lou Sherwood’s life before her death. What remains comes from newspaper accounts written afterward. She was described as one of the “fair but frail,” and the paper insinuated she was working in a dance hall or brothel.
Her death was tragic. Newspapers reported she took her own life by stabbing herself nine times. Her final words were recorded as, “It is all for you, Fred.”
She is believed to be the last person buried at Boot Hill Cemetery in February 1874.
"The Homesteader" Pete Felten Sculpture
Standing as a sentinel over the former cemetery grounds, “The Homesteader,” also known as the “Boot Hill Man,” was sculpted by Hays' artist Pete Felten. Standing seven feet tall, the statue was created in 1971.
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