Why boothill?

[thebinmann]

Why was boothill on a hill, health reason I guess.

Was reading a scenario of deadlands and just had the thought...

[white knight]

to be able to make a pun with "bootheel"?

[zbyshko]

i thought i'd look on wikipedia, but it is rather short on explanation but long in list of cemeteries labeled 'Boot Hill'.

i found a picture of the cemetery in Tombstone, AZ : http://www.interment.net/data/us/az/cochise/boothill/boothill3.htm.

while it has a hill as backdrop, it does not look like it is on a hill itself.  perhaps it is 'hill' because the land was not suitably flat for a dwelling or structure?  or perhaps it is a bit of hyperbole as the grave mound makes the deceased one's own personal hill?

[thebinmann]

I thought it might be on a hill because it's closer to heaven or for healh safety reasons (away from the masses)? But it seems its takes its name from a real graveyard

[Silent Invader]

In wet areas, cemeteries located at the top of hills can result in putrification seeping down to and contaminating the water source of an adjacent (but lower level) town.   

[Cory]

In the 19th century US cemetaries were usually placed on otherwise unuseable chunks of land, especially as they were parcels often donated by the initial settlers. Additionally there was a recurring theme of "view" being important for the dead -why I have no idea as it is contrary to most of the religous teachings of the time.

The actual name Boot Hill comes from Dodge City, Kansas which was one of the early cow towns. The name stuck, at least in the popular literature of dime novels, and thus passed into common useage.

[Red Orc]

British cemetaries after the mid-1800s were also often placed on hills; here the idea I'm told was that 'miasma' (disease-laden, corrupting bad air - this is long before 'germ theory' was medically accepted) would be blown away by health-giving winds.

Perhaps in the US a similar theory held good; put a cemetary on a hill and the winds would blow away the bad air.

[thebinmann]

In wet areas, cemeteries located at the top of hills can result in putrification seeping down to and contaminating the water source of an adjacent (but lower level) town.   

Yes, I did think it could have been a misguided idea or health and safety

[richarDISNEY]

I always thought it had something to do with all of the boots the undertaker was paid in...

Isn't that right?

[Smokeyrone]

Even better cemetary name:  Sad Hill

http://wikimapia.org/6405468/sad-hill-cemetary

 

[flooglestreet]

Many people were buried on Boot Hill; some because they were good, some because they were bad and some because they were dead.

[Alfrik]

Enough dead buried in the same place and you would figurativly speaking, have a hill of boots... He died with his boots on, and was buried with them. Shoes were often valued pieces of garment wear as finding any that would fit you corrrectly could be difficult at times. Never have seen many cobbler business's featured in western towns... hmm.....