Bodie State Historic Park - California
Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States, about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe. It became a boom town in 1876 and following years, after the discovery of a profitable line of gold, and suddenly attracted several thousand residents. It is located 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8379 feet (2554 m).
maps Mother Lode - Boundary Map Boundary Map of the Mother Lode BLM Field Office area in California. Published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
brochures Bodie - Brochure Brochure of Bodie State Historic Park (SHP) in California. Published by California Department of Parks and Recreation.
Bodie - Brochure (español) Brochure (español) of Bodie State Historic Park (SHP) in California. Published by California Department of Parks and Recreation.
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodie,_California
Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States, about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe. It became a boom town in 1876 and following years, after the discovery of a profitable line of gold, and suddenly attracted several thousand residents. It is located 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8379 feet (2554 m).
Our Mission
Bodie
State Historic Park
The mission of California State Parks is
to provide for the health, inspiration and
education of the people of California by helping
to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological
diversity, protecting its most valued natural and
cultural resources, and creating opportunities
for high-quality outdoor recreation.
Bodie — a town
so lawless that in 1881
it was described as
“ . . . a sea of sin, lashed
by the tempests of
California State Parks supports equal access.
Prior to arrival, visitors with disabilities who
need assistance should contact the park at
(760) 647-6445. If you need this publication in an
alternate format, contact interp@parks.ca.gov.
CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS
P.O. Box 942896
Sacramento, CA 94296-0001
For information call: (800) 777-0369
(916) 653-6995, outside the U.S.
711, TTY relay service
www.parks.ca.gov
Bodie State Historic Park
Hwy. 270 / P.O. Box 515
Bridgeport, Ca 93517
(760) 647-6445
© 2005 California State Parks (Rev. 2016)
lust and passion.”
Quote by Reverend F. M. Warrington
S
pread across the landscape of a
high, remote valley in the Bodie Hills, the
historic gold mining town of Bodie — one of
the richest gold strikes in California — was
once known as the most lawless, wild, and
tough mining camp in the West. To walk the
streets of this ghost town and peer into sites
or the windows of the remaining homes and
businesses is to be transported back to the
days when Bodie was a thriving mining town.
Located northeast of Yosemite National
Park, Bodie is 13 miles east of Highway 395
on S.R. 270, seven miles south of Bridgeport.
The last three miles to the park are on a very
rough dirt road. At an elevation of 8,375 feet,
Bodie is subjected to high winds. Summer
can be warm with highs in the 80s. Winter is
unpredictable, with daytime temperatures
reaching into the 60s and by sundown
dropping below zero. Snowfall can average
between three and six feet on the flat ground,
with drifts up to 20 feet high.
PARK HISTORY
Native People
The Eastern Sierra Nevada region of Mono
County was home to the Northern Paiute and
Mono Lake Paiute Indian groups. These two
groups lived in loose family units. Primarily
hunter-gatherers, the Northern Paiutes
subsisted by gathering native plants, hunting
small game, and fishing in local streams. They
migrated seasonally, following food sources.
Although the Mono Lake Paiutes hunted
small animals and collected native plants
and seeds, their diet was more dependent
on Mono Lake, where they gathered alkali
fly larvae and brine shrimp. Basket weaving
was a common form of art among the Paiute
tribes. The baskets, tightly woven with
creative and artistic designs, were used for
food gathering, storage, and cooking.
The flood of miners drawn by the Bodie
gold discovery pushed the Native Americans
out of their traditional territory. By the early
twentieth century, only five percent of the
original area remained under the control of
the local tribes. Food supplies dwindled as
settlers clear-cut the forests for lumber and
firewood, killed or displaced local wildlife,
and destroyed meadow grasses by grazing
their livestock.
As their traditional way of life was affected,
some native people adapted by working in
the local towns. Paiute Indians worked at a
limekiln in the Mono Lake Basin, loading
the sacked lime onto flatcars for delivery
to Bodie, where it was used in milling and
cyanide processing of gold and silver ores.
They were also employed in service jobs and
as ranch hands.
Bodie’s Mining Era
As placer mining declined on the western
slopes of the Sierra, gold discoveries in the
high desert of the Eastern Sierra captured
the attention of thousands of gold seekers.
In 1859, W. S. Bodey and his party
stumbled upon a promising placer
“diggins.” They resolved to keep the find
secret. Bodey did not do so, attempted to
return, and perished in a blizzard that fall.
Later, the ore eventually extracted from the
Bodie Hills amounted to millions in gold
and silver.
Mining in Bodie was slow in the 1860s
and 1870s due to valuable strikes in
Aurora, Nevada and at the Comstock Mine
in Virginia City. From 1863 to 1877, only a
small handful of industrious miners and
prospectors worked the Bodie mines. In
the mid-1870s, the Bunker Hill Mine (later
renamed the Standard Mining Company)
made a rich strike of gold and silver ore.
Almost 10,000 tons of precious ore were
extracted from this mine, yielding close to
$15 million over 25 years.
miners and stamp mills to process the
ore were built, a need arose for a steady
supply of wood to power the mills
and to warm the houses, especially
during severe winters. Bodie’s
Chinese residents, many of whom
had come from Southern China as
contract laborers in 1878, used mule
trains to transport wood 20 miles
from the sawmills along the eastern
slope of the Sierra to Bodie.
By 1881 the Bodie and Benton
Railroad was transporting the
heavy loads of lumber from Mono
Mills more efficiently.
With a popula
Nuestra Misión
Parque Histórico Estatal
Bodie
La misión de California State Parks es proporcionar
apoyo para la salud, la inspiración y la educación
de los ciudadanos de California al ayudar a
preservar la extraordinaria diversidad biológica
del estado, proteger sus más valiosos recursos
naturales y culturales, y crear oportunidades para
la recreación al aire libre de alta calidad.
Bodie—un pueblo
tan anárquico que en
1881 se denominó como
“...un mar de pecados
azotado por las
California State Parks apoya la igualdad de
acceso. Antes de llegar, los visitantes con
discapacidades que necesiten asistencia
deben comunicarse con el parque llamando
al (760) 647-6445. Si necesita esta publicación
en un formato alternativo, comuníquese con
interp@parks.ca.gov.
CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS
P.O. Box 942896
Sacramento, CA 94296-0001
Para obtener más información, llame al:
(800) 777-0369 o (916) 653-6995, fuera de los
EE. UU. o 711, servicio de teléfono de texto.
www.parks.ca.gov
Bodie State Historic Park
Hwy. 270 / P.O. Box 515
Bridgeport, Ca 93517
(760) 647-6445
© 2005 California State Parks (Rev. 2016)
tempestades de la
lujuria y la pasión”.
Cita del Reverendo F. M. Warrington
E
xtendido a lo largo del paisaje de un
remoto y elevado valle en Bodie Hills, el
histórico pueblo minero de Bodie, uno de
los descubrimientos de oro más ricos de
California, fue alguna vez conocido por ser el
lugar minero más duro, salvaje y anárquico
del oeste. Recorrer las calles de este pueblo
fantasma y observar por las ventanas de las
casas, los negocios y los lugares que aún
quedan significa retroceder en el tiempo
a los días en que Bodie era un próspero
pueblo minero.
Ubicado en el noreste del Parque Nacional
Yosemite, Bodie se encuentra a 13 millas
al este de la autopista 395 sobre la Ruta
Estatal 270, siete millas al sur de Bridgeport.
Las últimas tres millas al parque se hacen
por una ruta de tierra muy rústica. A una
altura de 8,375 pies, Bodie está expuesto
a vientos fuertes. Los veranos son cálidos
con temperaturas máximas que rondan los
80 grados. El invierno es impredecible con
temperaturas diurnas que alcanzan los 60
grados y temperaturas nocturnas bajo cero.
El promedio de nieve es de entre tres y seis
pies sobre piso llano con ventisqueros de
hasta 20 pies de alto.
HISTORIA DEL PARQUE
Pueblos nativos
El este de la región de Sierra Nevada del
Condado de Mono fue el hogar de los grupos
de indios Paiutes del norte y del Lago
Mono. Ambos grupos vivían en unidades
familiares independientes. Principalmente,
eran cazadores y recolectores. Los Paiutes
del norte subsistían recolectando plantas
autóctonas, cazando animales pequeños
y pescando en los arroyos de la zona.
Migraban por estaciones siguiendo las
fuentes de alimento. Aunque los Paiutes del
Lago Mono cazaban animales pequeños y
recolectaban plantas y semillas autóctonas,
su dieta dependía más del Lago Mono,
de donde recolectaban larvas de mosca
alcalina y artemias. El tejido de canastos
era una actividad artística común entre
las tribus Paiutes. Los fuertes canastos,
tejidos con diseños creativos y artísticos, se
utilizaban para recolectar alimentos, para
almacenamiento y para cocinar.
La llegada de gran cantidad de mineros
a Bodie, debido al descubrimiento de oro,
provocó que los pueblos nativos de los
Estados Unidos fueran desterrados de su
territorio tradicional. Ya para principios
del siglo XX, solo un 5% del área original
permanecía bajo el control de las tribus
locales. Los suministros disminuían a
medida que los colonos talaban los bosques
en búsqueda de madera y leña, eliminaban
o desplazaban la vida silvestre y destruían
las praderas que utilizaban para darle de
pastar al ganado.
Como su estilo de vida tradicional se
vio afectado, algunos nativos se adaptaron
y comenzaron a trabajar en los pueblos
locales. Los indios Paiutes trabajaban en
las caleras de la cuenca del Lago Mono,
cargando la cal embolsada en vagones
plataforma para entregarlas en Bodie,
donde se utilizaba en el fresado y en
la cianuración del oro y la plata que se
encontraban en la mena. También se los
empleó en trabajos de servicio y como
peones de rancho.
Era de la minería en Bodie
A medida que la minería en los
depósitos aluviales disminuía en las
laderas occidentales de la Sierra, los
descubrimientos de oro en el desierto alto
de la Sierra del este captaban la atención
de miles de buscadores de oro.
En 1859, W. S. Bodey y su compañía
se encontraron con uno de los
descubrimientos de oro aluvial de mayor
riqueza. Decidieron mantener el secreto
del hallazgo. Bodey no lo hizo, intentó
regresar y murió en una nevasca en ese
otoño. Finalmente, la mena extraída de Bodie
Hills representaba millones en oro y plata.
Entre las décadas de los sesenta y
setenta del siglo XIX, la práctica de la
minería en Bodie era lenta debido a los
descubrimientos valiosos que se realizaban
en Aurora, Nevada y en la mina Comstock
de la ciudad de Virginia. Desde 1863 a
1877, solo un pequeño grupo de mineros
y explorador