Located half a mile from Tombstone proper. Boothill Graveyard is an authentic old-time Western experience. Originally Tombstone’s first City Cemetery, it was named Boothill Graveyardin 1920s, probably due to the popularity of Hollywood westerns and western novels.
When the new City Cemetery was established in 1884 at the end of the town’s Allen Street, Boothill was referred to as the Old Cemetery. It was then the tradition to bury most Tombstoners in the New Cemetery. This was possibly because loved ones weren’t comfortable laying them to rest with Tombstone’s most notorious deceased: thieves, murderers, rustlers, prostitutes, suicide victims, madames, etc. Many local families had their loved ones disinterred and relocated to the New Cemetery in town. There were few burials at Boothill after 1884.
Subsequently, Boothill became a garbage dump. Many original headstones were wooden crosses which disintegrated under the harsh elements or were stolen as souvenirs. Some were trampled by free-range cattle.
Around 1929, a few of Tombstone’s remaining citizens decided to restore the Old Cemetery. They sought information from older residents to learn where individual’s graves were located.
Many famous people are buried in Boothill Graveyard and the location of their gravesites are reasonably accurate. One such grave is that of China Mary (the undisputed ruler of Hoptown, Tombstone’s Chinese neighborhood) buried in 1906. Queen of the Red Light District, Dutch Annie, is buried where her marker rests. Billy Clanton’s, Tom McLaury’s and Frank McLaury’s grave locations are accurate. All were murdered on the streets of Tombstone in 1881 in the O.K. Corral gun battle. The event took place between the Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday and these cowboys. John Heath, mastermind of the robbery which resulted in the Bisbee Massacre was lynched by a mob in 1884. His five accomplices were hanged that same year. The location of their gravesites are reasonably certain. Many of these graveside locations are accurate due to the large attendance at their funerals by mourners and gawkers.
The most famous epitaph at Boothill Graveyard is that of Lester Moore (see photo below). He worked at a Wells Fargo Office in Naco, AZ along the Mexican border. Hank Dunston arrived one day to claim a package and found is was damaged. In his anger he shot Lester in the chest four times. As Moore fell, he shot and killed Dunston. The Wells Fargo clerk ended up with the most famous epitaph on Boothill.
(Lester Moore photo here)
Precise gravesites of many Boothill residents will never be known because either; (a) no one knew them at the time of burial, or friends and family moved away and their tombstones were lost to time and neglect. This is the reason visitors see so many Unknown grave markers onsite.
Current tombstones at the graveyard are relatively new, having replaced ones that deteriorated or were stolen. Booklets detailing the names and locations of about 250 graves are available for a small donation at the visitor building (which houses the information desk, gift shop and entrance to the cemetery). The graveyard’s rows are numbered from the bottom of the main hill and rising up to Row 11. Tourists can also follow along on their cellphones at the link here: http://www.boothillgraves.com/
Benefits, helpful links and Jewish Cemetery – The Jewish Cemetery & Memorial lies at the northwestern base of the hill. The memorial recognizes Tombstone’s Jewish residents who were buried in a separate section of Boothill Graveyard late in the nineteenth century. It was dedicated in 1991 by a corporation formed by the Jewish Friendship Club of Green Valley, Arizona. Follow the path laid out at the bottom of Boothill Graveyard to reach the wrought-iron fence which surrounds it. A two-tier pedestal made of local mountain rock sits at the center of the 50-foot-by-50-foot cemetery. Ceremonial items (including a yarmulke, a menorah, a Kaddish cup, prayer and hymn books, and an Israeli bowl filled with dirt from Jerusalem) were sealed into a burnished safe adorned with Jewish and Native American symbols atop the pedestal.
There were enough Jews in Tombstone in 1881 to organize the Tombstone Hebrew Association. Such groups conducted High Holy Day services and established a burial ground.
During that era Jews worked as miners, merchants, bankers, grocers, gunsmiths and owned a restaurant. A Jewish mine superintendent, Abraham Hyman Emanuel, served as mayor from 1896 to 1900. Josephine Sara Marcus, Wyatt Earp’s third wife, was a Jewish dancehall girl.
Boothill is a must-see when visiting Tombstone. First, I would recommend visiting the town proper and learning about the O.K. Corral incident, browsing their museum and the one at the Cochise County Courthouse in Tombstone https://www.visitarizona.com/places/parks-monuments/tombstone-courthouse-state-historic-park/ before visiting Boothill. This will give you a better connection to the individuals interred there.
Boothill Graveyard and gift shop are located at 408 Arizona Hwy 80 in Tombstone. The site is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
