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    Bodie: 1859-1962
    Bodie: 1859-1962
    Bodie: 1859-1962
    Ebook197 pages39 minutes

    Bodie: 1859-1962

    By Terri Lynn Geissinger

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    Nestled amongst the sage-covered, windswept hills of California s Eastern Sierra is the site of one of the most notorious mining towns of the Old West. In 1859, gold was discovered in the treeless hills northeast of Mono Lake. By 1879, Bodie was a metropolis of nearly 10,000 souls and was briefly the third-largest city in California. Excitement was short-lived, however, and word soon spread that the mines had reached peak production. An exodus began, but contrary to popular belief, Bodie was never totally abandoned. People continued living in this curious and beautiful place throughout the 1950s, and in 1962, the California State Parks system purchased the town site. Now stabilized against the elements, Bodie is today known as the largest unrestored ghost town in the West.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJun 8, 2009
    ISBN9781439620915
    Bodie: 1859-1962
    Author

    Terri Lynn Geissinger

    Author Terri Lynn Geissinger, a local historian, tour guide, and interpreter at Bodie State Historic Park, collects the oral histories of Bodie�s denizens. With extensive experience in educational lectures, she is dedicated to preserving this town�s past for future generations. Geissinger collected the stirring images in this volume from the Bodie State Historic Park Archive, the Mono County Museum, and various families with roots in this remarkable place.

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      Book preview

      Bodie - Terri Lynn Geissinger

      Folsom.

      INTRODUCTION

      One could surmise that California’s Eastern Sierra was the last frontier to be settled. The discovery of gold on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada launched the California Gold Rush of 1849. Thousands of people packed up their belongings and headed west across swollen rivers, barren deserts, and imposing snowcapped mountain ranges. Glimmering stories of wealth were intertwined with tragic accounts of misfortune and death. Most Argonauts were familiar with the fate of the Donner Party, and none wanted to repeat the dreadful mistakes. The weight of worry would only be lifted when one was over the Sierra, safely on the west side, before winter tightened its grip.

      By the mid- to late 1850s, placer mining on the western slopes began to decline, sending thousands of prospectors back over the Sierra and into the great unknown. The determined men blazed new trails east over the high mountains while panning for gold in the rushing streams. In 1857, placer gold was discovered near the small camp dubbed Dogtown. Two years later, placer excitement moved 8 miles south to what would become known as Monoville.

      In the summer of 1859, W. S. Bodey arrived in Monoville and partnered up with E. S. Black Taylor. They packed their burros with supplies and headed northeast to pan the creeks located in the hills above camp. The high desert remained treeless; only thick sagebrush and wild peach covered the ground. They followed the creeks up above 8,300 feet in elevation. Two days from camp, they were pleased to find color in the pans. Marking the area with stacks of rock, they selected samples and returned to Monoville for assay. The results were staggering, and word spread quickly.

      The months that followed the discovery were full of excitement, anticipation, and long days of hard work. The high altitude brought warm summer days and cool nights, which often dipped below freezing. Recognizing the need for shelter and lack of wood, the men wasted no time in shoveling out dirt from an embankment to create a simple dugout with rock walls.

      The exact account of Bodey’s fate has been lost over time. Several versions of the same story linger, and we can only choose which one to believe. The fact remains that W. S. Bodey died in the winter of 1859 during a treacherous blizzard while traversing between Monoville and his claim. His body was buried under the snow and found the following spring. He was buried where he was found; his grave marked by a stack of rocks. Two years later, Black Taylor was attacked and killed by Native Americans near Benton, California. His body lies in the Benton Hot Springs Cemetery. Neither of the men ever knew that they had discovered one of the largest gold and silver deposits in California, nor would the rest of the world for 17 more years.

      The year 1859 also marks the discovery of two other significant mining districts that intertwines with Bodie’s history: the Comstock Lode of Nevada and the rich silver lode of Aurora. The Comstock rush was responsible for attracting over 20,000 people who took residence in Virginia City and Gold Hill. Aurora, 14 miles north of Bodie, boomed and by 1863 was home to over 5,000 people. Due to the close proximity, Aurora was an important supply center for the mining camp of Bodie.

      Sporadic reports of Bodie’s gold and silver continued to spread throughout the region. In 1864, the Empire Company announced that they were preparing to open a large-scale mining operation on their newly acquired claims. By the following year, the company had invested over $300,000. The embryo mining district now boasted a 16-stamp mill equipped with the latest steam-operated machinery. Two years later, with slim profits, the venture was abandoned. News that the Empire Company was shutting down was contagious, and most men gave up on their prospects. Word had it that Bodie was a bust. Fortunately, there were a few men who persisted and, in 1875, a fluke cave-in on the Bullion Lode revealed a thick ledge of gold.

      Simultaneously, in 1875, Henry M. Yerington and Robert N. Graves organized the Syndicate Mining Company and purchased most of the Empire Company’s abandoned property, including the 16-stamp mill, which had been idle for nine years. In the spring of 1876, a large work crew from Aurora reopened the mill, renamed it the Syndicate Mill, and began crushing the decade-old stockpile of ore from the original Empire mines.

      In the meantime, Peter Eshington and Louis Lockberg, owners of the recently caved-in Bullion Lode, were evaluating the exposed ledge. The assay reports were impressive. Within two weeks, the men hired a crew to develop the mine. The work was slow and grueling. They used a horse and whim, which hoisted up buckets of ore out of the mine shaft. A team of oxen was used to transport the valuable ore to the water-powered arrastras located in Rough Creek, 6 miles away. The hard work paid off, and in the first year, the mine produced $37,000. Their spirits were soon dashed when they discovered increasing gaps in the rich ledge. Eshington and Lockberg were convinced that it was pinching out. They decided to sell the mine before it became worthless. On September 9, 1876, a group of San Francisco mining investors purchased the Bullion Lode for $75,000.

      The new owners immediately hired William Irwin as the superintendent of the Bullion Lode. Within weeks, Irwin had a crew of men constructing an office and boardinghouse. A second crew worked diligently on improvements and replaced the slow horse and whim with a new steam-operated hoist. The hoist was efficient, delivering tons of ore from the mine to the surface. Soon there was a massive pile of rock waiting for transport to the arrastras, which were located too far away to be productive. It became evident that a solution was needed to expedite the process.

      In October 1876, Irwin entered into an agreement with the Syndicate Mill to process 1,000 tons from the Bullion Lode. It took three months for the mill to crush and extract the gold and silver. The return was an astounding $45,000. The news spread like wildfire, and by spring of

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