Bodie S.H.P. or Bust: #4- Ode to Both FOB/Brad and Bodie !

Sunday, May 25, 2008

#4- Ode to Both FOB/Brad and Bodie !

Here is a nice video recently made with
nice narration about it's history,
but there is also a very nice
section interviewing Brad Sturdivant
the Head Ranger in Bodie for
the last 20 years.... We owe him alot
for helping Preserve Bodie also.
He loves it SO much...that is why
he stayed there for so long to
help all of us have it to enjoy...
Thanks Brad......

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a very brief Bodie "Bio"

Bodie, California is the
ONLY remaining Actual
"ghost town" east of the
Sierra Nevada mountain
range in Mono County,

California, United States,
about 75 miles southeast
of Lake Tahoe. As
Bodie Historic District,

the U.S. Department of
the Interior recognizes
it as a National Historic
Landmark.

Bodie S.H.P. has been
administered by the
California State Parks
since becoming a
State Historic Park

in 1962, and she cordially
greets 250,000 worldwide
visitors yearly.

An original town from
the mid 1800's, Bodie
stands today in a state
of "arrested decay",

a "defintion AND duty"
to maintain it as such
by the State of California

has been so charged
when they took over
the town in 1962,

buying it from the
Cain family,to make it
a State Historic Park.

In 1859 William
(a.k.a. Waterman)

S. Bodey discovered gold
near what is now called
Bodie Bluff.

A mill was established in
1861 and the town began
to grow. It started with
about 20 miners and grew
to an estimated 10,000

people and 2,000 buildings
by 1880! By that time,
the town of Bodie

bustled with families,
robbers, miners, store
owners, gunfighters

(none good tho)
and prostitutes to
accommodate the taste
of any well-healed
pocket .

Let it NOT go unsaid tho,
that during times of the
numerous influenza's

that killed many like
epidemics, the ladies of
lesser means were the ones
that also cared for and

tended to many of the sick
at the risk of their own
lives. In fact there are
numerous books written
to document their livelihood

and their acts of heroism.

At one time there was
reported to be 65 saloons
in town. It was also rumored
that it was the completion

of the 2nd church that
"doomed" the town forever
to go Bust. Amongst the
saloons were numerous

brothels and
'houses of ill repute',

gambling halls and
opium dens,

as well as a Miner's Union,
town newspaper and the

"Annual Costume Ball"
held upstairs in the
I.O.O.F. (Oddfellows) Hall.

Bodie was also said to be
the 2-3rd town actually
in the WEST to have
electricity so as to power
the Stamp Mill.
The power lines were

made straight as back
then they did NOT know
that electricity could

go around corners... check
out the Straight Power
Lines, folks.

After electrifying Bodie
the electricians proceeded
down to So. Africa to bring
electricity to the mines
down there.

Much of the money for
Bodie came from
San Francisco and

the "shares of stock"
issued & bought on the
mines that were created
and whose veins were

worked until they ran dry.

Needless to say, that
there was entertainment
for every taste.

That fact continue to
this very day....
(esp. yearly on FOB DAY)
May you GO WEST

and Feast your eyes upon

one of the ONLY still
existing TRUE parts of
our Gold Rush History
while it is still standing
before Mother Nature
reclaims it...She definitely
has more time and does
not need the money of the

California State Budget....

she just needs YOU
to visit her,

photograph/video record
her, and Spread the Word
of her Existence, so she
will remain LOVED and
appreciated as the
True Gem of the West

she STILL is....