Boot Hill Cemetery, Ogallala, Nebraska

Boot Hill Cemetery was the final resting place for many early Westerners who helped make Ogallala a booming cowtown in the 1870's and 1880's. These people - cowboys, settlers, drifters - made their way to Ogallala when the Railroad and the Texas Trail opened a new market for the Texas Longhorn.

Although one of the first burials here was a mother and child, many others were killed while running afoul of the law, some for horse stealing, others for refighting the Civil War. In July 1873, three cowhands were laid to rest in a single day, victims of the local sheriff's guns. Most were buried with their boots on, hence the name of the cemetery. The wooden headboards say little: "Pauper, 1887," reads one; "Pedro, Sept. 11, 1876" is another. Some bodies which were originally buried here have been removed. Only the unclaimed and unknown remain.

The sculpture in the center of the cemetery was placed by the local Lions Club in honor of Samuel David "Lep" Sanders, who was one of the first settlers of the area in 1869.