Entry No. 52 — the Oklahoma City file — filed under: haunted
Elmer McCurdy's Grave
Elmer McCurdy was a small-time Oklahoma train robber shot dead by a posse in 1911 — but death was only the beginning of his career. An undertaker embalmed him so well that the body went unclaimed for a year, then spent the next six-plus decades touring carnivals, haunted houses, and low-budget films as a sideshow prop, occasionally mistaken for a wax dummy. The ruse finally unraveled in December 1976 on the set of The Six Million Dollar Man, when a crew member at a Long Beach amusement park tugged on what looked like a mannequin hanging from a noose and the arm snapped off, revealing real bone. He was identified, buried in 1977 beneath two cubic yards of poured concrete in Guthrie's Summit View Cemetery "Boot Hill" alongside fellow outlaw Bill Doolin — and the concrete lid was ordered specifically so Elmer could never be dug up and used as a prop again. As of 2025, the Tony-nominated Broadway musical Dead Outlaw has turned the grave into an active pilgrimage site, with fans leaving Playbills fluttering in the Oklahoma wind.
The story
Elmer McCurdy was a thoroughly inept train robber who managed to net just forty-six dollars and a couple of jugs of whiskey before a sheriff's posse shot him dead in the Osage Hills in October 1911. Death, however, was his real big break. When no kin came to claim the body, the undertaker in Pawhuska embalmed McCurdy with an overzealous dose of arsenic, propped him up in the corner of the funeral parlor, and charged a nickel to view "The Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up." Two men posing as carnival promoters eventually tricked the undertaker into releasing him, kicking off a bizarre 65-year posthumous tour where Elmer was rented out to traveling sideshows, wax museums, and haunted houses as a mummified outlaw.
The ruse finally unraveled in December 1976 on the set of *The Six Million Dollar Man*. Production crew setting up at the Laff in the Dark funhouse at Long Beach’s Pike amusement park tried to reposition what they thought was a neon-painted papier-mâché mannequin dangling from a gallows. When a crew member pulled on an arm, it snapped cleanly off, exposing dried muscle and human bone inside. Forensic investigators stepped in, unspooling a paper trail that traced the wax-coated prop all the way back to the Oklahoma frontier.
In April 1977, Elmer’s remains were finally brought back to Guthrie for a proper burial in the Boot Hill section of Summit View Cemetery. To ensure his post-mortem show business career was permanently over, state officials ordered two cubic yards of solid concrete poured directly over his wooden casket before shoveling the dirt back in. Today, his headstone sits beside fellow outlaw Bill Doolin—and thanks to the Tony-nominated musical *Dead Outlaw*, fans now make trips to the quiet plot just to tuck theater Playbills into the grass over his concrete vault.
What it's like
Summit View is a sprawling municipal cemetery off North Pine Street, about 30 minutes north of downtown OKC. Head past the main gates toward the far north fence by the maintenance shed, where a unassuming "Boot Hill" sign points out the corner. The grave can take a moment to spot—look for two outlaw stones flanking a single shade tree. Elmer's simple gray headstone reads "Elmer McCurdy, Shot by Sheriff's Posse in Osage Hills on Oct. 7, 1911." It’s quiet, windy, and totally unshaded, so skip the direct heat of an Oklahoma summer afternoon. Look closely around the base of the stone and you'll spot pennies, train ticket stubs, and paper Playbills held down by rocks.
The move: Drive up to Guthrie (~30 min from OKC), find the Boot Hill corner of Summit View Cemetery, pay your respects to the most-traveled corpse in American history, and leave your own small tribute — a penny, a ticket stub, or a Playbill if you caught the show.
📍 Before you go Summit View Cemetery sits just off N Pine Street, about a 30-minute drive north of OKC. Once you're through the gate, look for the small "Boot Hill" sign and follow it toward the far side of the grounds, near the north fence by the maintenance shed; the two outlaw headstones flank a single tree. Come in daylight so you can actually find them, and favor mild spring or fall over the brutal, exposed Oklahoma summer heat. It's a working cemetery — free and open to the public — so keep your voices down and tread lightly. Pair the trip with a wander through historic downtown Guthrie's Victorian district.
- 📍 Guthrie
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1808 N Pine St, Guthrie, OK 73044
Hours: Added 2026-06-09 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Stone Lion Inn — Continue your macabre Guthrie tour two miles down the road at this 1907 Victorian mansion that once served as a local funeral parlor.
- Oklahoma Frontier Drugstore Museum & Apothecary Garden — Pair the embalmed outlaw's grave with a visit to Guthrie's 1890 pharmacy museum to see the actual frontier apothecary tools and cures of Elmer's era.
- Gandini's Circus Ruins — Match Elmer's sideshow past with the rusting animal cages and rotting bus skeletons of an early-1900s circus winter camp down in Edmond.
Good to know
How did they discover the mannequin was a real human body?
In December 1976, a crew member preparing to film an episode of *The Six Million Dollar Man* at an amusement park funhouse tried to move what looked like a hanging wax prop. When the arm broke off in his hand, human bone and tissue were clearly visible underneath the red paint.
Why was so much concrete poured over his casket?
When McCurdy was buried in April 1977, local officials poured two cubic yards of poured concrete directly over his coffin so no one could ever dig him up and put him back on the sideshow circuit.
Is the cemetery open to the public and free to visit?
Yes, Summit View Cemetery is a free, working public cemetery open daily during daylight hours. Visitors are asked to treat the grounds with respect and keep noise down.
Why are people leaving Playbills at a grave in Oklahoma?
The 2024 Broadway musical *Dead Outlaw* dramatized McCurdy's strange afterlife story. Ever since, theatergoers and fans have traveled to Guthrie to leave Playbills and ticket stubs as tributes at his grave.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Roadside America · Atlas Obscura · travelok.com · playbill.com · atomicredhead.com · rideok.com
last checked: 2026-06-09