Whoa, Onhell! I JUST made a post about this in the Dance of Death thread when I scrolled down and this thread. I'll repost what I put there:
[!--QuoteBegin--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]The Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) , was originally a poem written in the 1300's. As with many medieval poems, it was in dialogal format; in this case between Charon/Death and a cross section of the populace.
The poem became quite popular, and eventually was 'illustrated' in various murals and relief carvings throughout Europe, especially at burial sites. Death was usually represented by a skeleton, and would lead the newly-dead victims in a sinister dance or musical piece. The idea was that the dead would rise in skeletal form and tempt the living into their realm. I think Goethe was inspired to write a song or a poem based on the Danse Macabre images in a small German town, but I can't remember for sure.
I haven't been able to find an electronic version of the original poem, so if anyone happens to be a better e-searcher than me and comes across it, please post it here for the benefit of all interested.[/quote]
So, you were right in thinking that there was a historical connection, but it is to late-medieval Europe, not the old wild West!
Coincidently, it seems every English-speaking region has its own euphamism for death by hanging. In the wild west of 19th cedntury America, it was the 'dance of death', in Upper Canada it was "Went the way of Riel"
My personal favourite comes from London: "Dancing the Tyburn Jig" (Tyburn was the area in London where hangings always took place)
