Don't let me die;

[Shorty]

with my boots on.  I've heard this said in western movies when the protagonist is mortally wounded.  Why should anyone care if he dies with his boots on?  Anybody know where this idea comes from?

[Holiday]

I've wondered about this myself. I wonder if it had something to do with dying young as opposed to old and in a bed? Or maybe to the fact that dying with your boots on was usually associated with a violent end as opposed to a peaceful exit with your boots off and dying in your sleep. HAMP!! WHERE ARE YA!!

[williamlayton]

Doan go yellin Hamp where are ya, Where tha Hay have you been?
Really concerned bout tha feller.
I really hope they are ok, seems as though he woulda let us know if'n there were some concerns. Well anyway, I hope they would.
Lordy, I hope that boy aint on tha road agin.
Blessings

[paladyn]

The phrase is just typical Hollywood b.s., with no connection to the real old west at all.

[Gatofeo]

Dying with your boots OFF had the connotation that you died in bed, peacefully.
Dying with your boots ON connoted that you died in battle or while working; not the peaceful crossing-over we would all prefer.
Actually, I belive that this is an authentic phrase of the 19th century, but don't have my dictionary of Cowboy lingo handy to check it. I loaned it to a friend.  :roll:
Myself, I hope my obituary reads, "Gatofeo, the world's oldest and richest man, died last night in the arms of his 18-year-old bride on their honeymoon ... "  :eek:

[paladyn]

I believe they put the phrase on tombstones, but have never found any historical evidence of anyone uttering it before they passed on.

[cowpoke]

Interesting question... I don't have any good background on the phrase,

However a comment:

In the recent movie Second Hand Lions (I know not western history) Robert Duvalls character wanted to "go out with his boots on" meaning that he didn't end up be a useless old codger sitting around doing nothing

[Capt Hamp Cox]

Holiday, you're gonna regret you ever woke me up.

Think you and Gatofeo are on the mark.  Here's what I found:

Die with one's boots Also, die in harness.
Expire while working, keep working to the end....
Both phrases probably allude to soldiers who died on active duty. Until the early 1600s the noun "boot" denoted a piece of armor for the legs, which may have given rise to this usage....
From The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer (1997)

Boot Hill
A name given to the frontier cemetery because most of its early occupants died with their boots on. The name has had an appeal as part of the romantic side of the West and has become familiar as representing the violent end of a reckless life.
From Western Words: A Dictionary of the American West by Ramon F. Adams (University of Oklahoma Press, 1968)

[die in one's boots] or  [die  with  one's  boots  on]  {v.  phr.},
{informal} To be killed or hanged rather  than  die  in  bed.  *  /The
badmen of the Old West usually died in their  boots./  *  /The  robber
said he wanted to die with his boots on./

[williamlayton]

Glad to have the old man back. Knew he would clear things up.
Blessings