Bodie Foundation

2021 Ghost Walk details!

~The Bodie Report~ Sunrise on a still-snowy and very cold Bodie morning! Photo credit: Eric Draper

Bodie remains blanketed in snow! This isn’t the most snow we’ve seen or the coldest temperatures, but the roads remain closed and we logged a low temp of -11 degrees Fahrenheit this winter.

Throwback Thursday There are many women of Bodie whose stories are not yet told or perhaps, due to limited information, may never be told. Some only stayed in Bodie briefly in the boom years, others may have stayed longer, raising families and working. But census records reveal that women from all over the world came to this boom town, some with their husbands, some alone. Here is a list of a few women in 1880s Bodie. Jane E. Carter, 30, born in Connecticut, was employed as ...a hairdresser. Her race was listed as Black. Maria Martinis, 37, born in Spain, appears on the census with her husband Angel, born in Mexico, and their son, Jose, age 11. Maria’s occupation is keeping house, and Angel is a woodcutter. Ireland Native Bridget McKinney, 35, and her husband Edward, born in Newfoundland, reported they kept a lodging house. Choy Tin Ah, 28, born in Canton, listed her occupation as Courtesan. California Native Nellie Devine, 19, a single woman, was born of Irish parents. She worked as a waitress. The Native Paiutes had seen their hunter/gatherer lifestyle changed forever by miners and those coming to farm and homestead. Trees surrounding Bodie were chopped down, which affected the pinyon pine nut harvest, and the amount of game taken by the newcomers left little for the original residents of the land. Of the 35 Native Americans counted on Bodie’s 1880 census, nine of them were women. By 1900, 65 of the 119 Paiute listed are women. Many of the Native women worked as domestic help in homes, while men worked as day laborers in town, at ranches, and at the lime kiln at the base of the Bodie Hills. In this photo by Railway Superintendent Emil Billeb, taken in the early 1900s, four Native women, a man and a dog stand at the back of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) building, which still stands today. Their names are not listed. Photo courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society. Perhaps you have a connection to Bodie. We would love to share stories and photos of your ancestors on Throwback Thursday. Contact [email protected]. #ThrowbackThursday #WomensHistoryMonth

Throwback Thursday Eleanor Dumont, a woman gambler also known as Madame Mustache, traveled the west and has been the subject of books, articles and many, many stories. Trying to untangle myths from reality is difficult, although many have tried. Nevertheless, the story of her death in Bodie, told by newspaper accounts, paints a picture of a fascinating woman of the west. Michael Piatt, author of The Mines Are Looking Well, has a well-researched article on her at his websi...Continue reading

Throwback Thursday Submitted by Nancee Goldwater, granddaughter of May Preston: May Frances Preston was born Dec. 20, 1901 in the adobe house, down the hill from the railroad office. She lived there with her parents Fred and Caroline Preston, and her sister Margaret. (The adobe house has an interior wall partially made of adobe.)...Continue reading

From Bodie State Historic Park Facebook page: For those of you that missed it the first time we posted, Bodie State Historic Park is taking applications for seasonal park aide positions! This job is no walk in the park (it’s a LOT of walking in the Park!), but it can be a truly rewarding experience and your first step to living the parks life. Application forms are available here: https://jobs.ca.gov/pdf/std678.pdf... For more information on necessary qualifications, please check here: https://www.calhr.ca.gov/state-hr-professio/Pages/0986.aspx See more

Road closure notice: The Bodie Road (Hwy 270) is closed from near the junction with 395. Cottonwood Canyon Road is also closed 1.5 miles from the park. They wil...l be closed for at least 1 week. At this time, neither the continuation of the Bodie Road into Nevada nor the Bodie Masonic Road are recommended as alternative routes.

Snow in Bodie today!

Get your photos of Bodie ready as the 2022 Bodie Calendar Contest is now open for entries! Go to bodiefoundation.org/bodie-calendar-contest, then click on the calendar contest button to go to the entry website. You will find complete rules and requirements there New this year, cash awards for winning entries. The contest is sponsored by the Bodie Foundation to gather entries for the Bodie Foundation’s yearly calendar. The calendar is published in May of each year and is available for sale in Bodie State Historic Park, the Bodie Foundation Mercantile at 323 Main St., Bridgeport, Calif., or online through our online store. Proceeds from calendar sales help support the Foundation’s mission to support Bodie, Mono Lake and Grover Hot Springs state parks in Eastern California.

~The Bodie Report~ Greeting the first light as the sun rises over the ridge is one of the special pleasures in life! The railroad office was made for early risers!... Photo credit: Eric Draper

Keep an eye on weather & road conditions.

Bodie’s hours now are 9am-4pm.

Throwback Thursday We’re still waiting for a big storm in Bodie, and there's a chance for a change in the weather pattern soon. In the meantime, enjoy this story about the exploits of an unnamed man who took the ride of his life after the town’s first big snowfall in December 1879. In his book, Bodie Bonanza, Warren Loose related the story of a well-known young man about town who was a clerk and a sports enthusiast to the core, and eager for the first snowfall. When it a...rrived a few days before Christmas, his enthusiasm knew no bounds. The local newspaper related the details of what happened next. The young man strapped on his snowshoes (skis) atop the hill above Bodie and started down. Things went along smoothly for a 100 yards or so, the snow being soft and the descent gradual; but pretty soon, the hill got steeper and the snow comparatively harder. Then the snowshoes acted as if they were bewitched. Starting at breakneck speed, the rider managed to hold his balance for a couple of hundred yards, ‘til the snowshoes collided with the stable. There he made a flying leap of some 25 foot radius, alighting on the roof and crashing through to scare a pensive cow nearly to death. He was soon rescued and carried to his lodgings. No injuries were mentioned but he probably had some bruises, at least. As the rescuers carried him, he commented, "too smart, too cunning, and write on my tombstone, ‘He died in a successful attempt to put a skylight in a cowshed.’ Photo by Chris Spiller. Not a current photo, but wish it were. #ThrowbackThursday

Happy November 1st! Our Bodie Mercantile and Bodie Museum Gift Shop is now closed for the season. You may visit us at bodiefoundation.org for all things Bodie related. Keep an eye out for special promotions that will be on going throughout the holiday season. Enjoy the winter, see you next spring!

Throwback Thursday It’s almost Halloween and we send you spooky greetings of the season. One of Bodie’s best ghost stories is about Jerry, the white mule, who died in an 1896 fire deep inside the Standard Mine. According to the tale, a ghostly white mule appeared to a miner a few days after the fire. When that man was killed the next day, other miners feared they would see the ghost mule.... Were there any earlier stories of ghosts in Bodie’s mines? Apparently so, as we discovered a report about another ghost from March 1883 in The Record-Union of Sacramento. Bodie has another ghost in its mines, read the news brief. This time it is a tall figure in white, bearing a light. When a miner advances toward it, the figure recedes, and whether he goes slow or fast the same distance is maintained between himself and the sprite. When advancing or receding the light is swung as though borne in the hands of a man. Boo! Happy Halloween! #ThrowbackThursday

~The Bodie Report~ This year didn't seem to produce quite as many spectacular sunsets as I remember from past years. This gorgeous sunset is from September 2019.... Red at night, miner's delight! Photo: Betty McCunniff

For anyone planning to visit Bodie today or tomorrow, we recommend bundling up! Also, as the forecasted high is the current temperature, you might want to come as early as possible today, as it is only going to get colder. Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov).

Good morning! Please enjoy these sunrise scenes from Bodie and have a terrific Tuesday.

Throwback Thursday Ever wondered what this rectangular iron structure was used for in Bodie? This tank bailer, near the Metzger house, removed water out of Bodie’s mines. Some mines may have also used ore buckets, like the ones seen behind the Red Barn on the other side of the park. But the tank bailer was more efficient. Miners in Bodie generally hit water at the 400-500 foot level. Michael Piatt, author of The Mines Are Looking Well, explains the methods of bailing in a...n essay on his website, www.bodiehistory.com/drainage.htm. The most expedient and inexpensive method of clearing water from a mine, in terms of initial cost, was bailing, which required only a watertight bucket-like container and the mine’s hoisting machinery. Bailing was simple. The hoist lowered the container into the mine for filling, then emptied it at the surface. Using a heavy ore bucket was awkward as the bucket had to be submerged underwater to keep it from floating. Manufacturers soon developed tanks especially suited for bailing, said Piatt. Either cylindrical or rectangular bailing tanks were stoutly constructed of riveted iron platean inlet valve on the tanks underside opened when it reached water at the bottom of a shaft, allowing the container to fill as it sank. The valve closed when the tank began its ascent, trapping water inside. Many mine owners eventually switched to steam or Cornish pumps to clear the water quickly. Still, they kept their tanks handy, added Piatt, noting that seasonal fluctuations could overwhelm even the best pumps. Photos of tank bailer and ore buckets by Chris Spiller

And finally, here is Z in our Bodie Mines Alphabet: the Lizzie (a claim of the Oro Mining Company). The Lizzie was one of three claims that made up the Oro, w...ith the other two being the Inca and the Red Jacket. The Oro Mining Company was formed later in 1878 (image 4, Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 7, Number 200, 12 October 1878) and in short order they had a shaft and steam powered hoisting works. Being in the Silver Hill area with other prominent south end mines, they enjoyed prominence whenever there was excitement around the Red Cloud or the Noonday and also benefitted from pumping from the Red Cloud shaft. Not having their own stamp mill, they likely struggled through the years to process their ore (and yes, they did actually pull up some decent ore), but in 1881, $14,155 output contributed to the overall high production that year in Bodie. For a company that incorporated at $10,000,000, however, that did not amount to much. Their stock prices dwindled (image 5, Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 15, Number 51, 21 April 1882) and they closed by the end of 1882. How much of their profitable ore came from the Lizzie claim then (or later, when Treadwell-Yukon worked the old Oro Mine amongst the other southern mines), there is no information at hand to say. Newspaper clippings from: https://cdnc.ucr.edu.

Here is Y in the Bodie Mines Alphabet: the Treadwell-Yukon Company. This particular company did not spring into existence in or for Bodie. Being a consolidati...on of various companies that had operated in Alaska and had mining interests in several states, they had plenty of experience and capital to bring to the table here. In 1929, they took over the Old Gold Mining Company’s lease on the southern Bodie claims and resumed that company’s pumping of the Red Cloud shaft. Unlike Old Gold, though, they eventually succeeded. They started pulling up ore and processing it in the Standard Mill, which they updated. They also took over the Clinton-West Company’s lease to the Standard dump piles and purchased that company’s dry land dredge. Still, despite having finally produced some bullion in early 1931, the Treadwell-Yukon’s Bodie operations suffered a common Bodie fate. They stopped their underground mining in fall of 1931 and closed entirely in early 1932, having poured a million dollars into a project which yielded less than $100,000 in production. The company carried on with other interests in California, Nevada, and beyond. Photo is supposed to be part of the Treadwell-Yukon works in Bodie (from California Geological Survey). Newspaper article is Big Pine Citizen, Volume 16, Number 46, 16 November 1929 OLD BODIE MINE CAMP REPORTED ON REVIVAL (clipping from https://cdnc.ucr.edu).

Here is X in our Bodie Mines Alphabet: the Ajax (yes, cheating a bit again). The Ajax Gold and Silver Mining Company had a relatively late start (image 3, Dai...ly Alta California, Volume 30, Number 10369, 1 September 1878) and from early days seemed doomed. Before any news of rich ore being pulled out, there was the tragic news of the body of a dead miner being pulled from the shaft (image 4, Daily Alta California, Volume 30, Number 10404, 6 October 1878). Perhaps Thomas Dorsey cursed the mine, for the next big discovery in the Ajax shaft was also grim and grisly. Early in 1882, after the Ajax had been abandoned, miners found a bloody bit of cloth on a plank across the top of the shaft. A man from another nearby mine recalled a previous night seeing some men hauling a box by sled to the open shaft and dropping it down. An intrepid Bodie Free Press reporter was lowered down the shaft and found the disembodied and frozen remains of a woman. Was it murder or body theft? The answer came later, after painstaking investigation, the results of which can be read in images 5-7 (Inyo Independent, Volume XII, Number 37, 4 March 1882). And that marked the departure of Bodie’s first doctor... and the entrance of the Ajax Mine in Bodie infamy. Newspaper clippings from: https://cdnc.ucr.edu.

Throwback Thursday Bodie’s post office moved around over the years. Today, a mail cabinet remains in the bottom floor of what is known as the DeChambeau Hotel. The photo below shows the post office’s third location south of the Bodie Bank, seen in the background. The first post office was established April 13, 1877 inside Silas Smith’s store. Judge Frederick K. Bechtel, a Bodie mine owner, was the first Postmaster. ... As Bodie’s population grew quickly, more room was needed. A brick building was built in late 1879 on property owned by then-Postmaster George Putnam. The post office was on the bottom floor and the upper floor had rooms for rent. The new location provided plenty of room for what was a busy office. This is the brick building, later known as the DeChambeau Hotel, that still stands today. The decline of the town soon meant the post office was on the move again. Around 1897, the post office was inside the Reading Store south of the Bodie Bank, on Main Street. The post office moved to its fourth and final location, the former home of Lottie and Eli Johl, close to the 1930s. Edith Van Ciel was the last postmistress of record when it closed for good on November 13, 1942. Bodie’s other postmasters over the years were: James H. Page, Raymond Holmes, Andrew M. Phlegar, James W. Moyle, Solomon B. Burkham, Watkin Morgan, William E. Reading, Ethel B. Reading, Gladys T. Quinville, Mary Alice McDonnell, Winnie Lea Mahr, and Myrtle V.N. Pierce. Photo courtesy of the Glenn Family Collection

~The Bodie Report~ The cows sure do love Bodie! Photo by Tamara Woollard

Here is W in our Bodie Mines Alphabet: the Whitney Tunnel. According to Warren Loose’s Bodie Bonanza, shortly after the turn of the century, brothers Ed and... Warren Loose (Senior) got back together in Bodie for a new venture. They consolidated various claims in Bodie and Masonic with the Syndicate Mine. Warren had had interest in the Syndicate from the early days and, besides the Standard, it was one of the few acts to last in Bodie. To make good account of their new acquisition, the Looses’ new consolidation dug the 1400-foot Whitney Tunnel. According to the same source, it gave them profit for a number of years. If the San Francisco Call, Volume 87, Number 90, 29 August 1902 article in image 4 is an early indication of those profits, then the Volume 107, Number 39, 8 January 1910 article in image 5 may show that the several years of profit the tunnel provided were less than eight... Newspaper clippings from: https://cdnc.ucr.edu.

Last night’s sunset in Bodie. Photos by Chris Spiller

Here is V in our Bodie Mines Alphabet (and maybe cheating of a different kind): the Veta Madre. The Bodie Mining District’s Veta Madre, or mother lode, was an... idea put out by 1860s mining experts and geologists and still referenced during Bodie’s later boom. Professor Benjamin Silliman, who first surveyed Bodie in 1864, published a report of the district in which he determined that the parallel nature of some veins and the converging nature of others (see image 1) clearly indicated one central lode of rich ore at the heart of Bodie Bluff. His report guided the efforts of the Empire Gold & Silver Mining Company, and the revived notion in the boom helped sell stock. D.M. Geiger, for whom Geiger Grade on the Bodie Masonic Road west of town is named (he did design it), was a later proponent of the Veta Madre. The miners of Bodie, however, never struck this mother lode and it was finally considered myth rather than scientific fact. So many speculators were swayed by Silliman’s depiction of the Veta Madre, but it is a shame so few heeded his other words: The success of this...depends on... keeping the work of exploration well in advance of the work of extraction. The full quote above, the illustration in image 1, and more about the Veta Madre are found in Joseph Wasson’s Bodie and Esmeralda, originally published in 1878 and available as a special reprint (in cooperation with the Friends of Bodie) and for sale in the park or online through the Bodie Foundation.