Golden Gate Photo - Bodie Gallery
Fine Art Photography from Bodie State Historic Park in East-Central California.
"Good-bye, God, I’m going to Bodie" - Diary entry of a little girl whose family was leaving for the infamous town.
As the Gold Rush of the 1849 era along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada began to fade, more prospecting occurred to the east. This led to the discovery of the richest known U.S. silver deposit, the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada in 1857 or 1859 (from different accounts). This also led to a rush in the surrounding high desert areas, including Bodie. Bodie was named after Waterman S. Body (AKA Bodey) who discovered gold in the area in 1859. The name change to Bodie was a deliberate move by its citizens to assure proper pronunciation. By 1879, the population of Bodie was around 10,000! It was also a renowned den of vice, with frequent robberies, stage holdups, and gunfights. And of course there were the saloons, the red light district, and boot hill cemetery. The gold mining boom only last about 4 years, and Bodie started a gradual decline, punctuated by fires in 1892 and 1932. It eventually became a ghost town by the 1940s. Bodie was established as a State Historic Park in 1962 and the remaining 5 percent of its buildings are maintained in a state of "arrested decay".
Bodie lies to the east of the Sierra Nevada, in the Basin and Range geomorphic province. Gold and silver mineralization occur in quartz veins in Miocene andesites in the Bodie and Aurora (Nevada) mining districts.
It is probably appropriate here to note that it's places like Bodie, where short-term profits eventually gave way to the reality of an unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, that offer a peek into the future of similar and much larger situations we face today.
Dechambeau Hotel Saloon Print No. A02-30-6 |
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Reclaimed Car and Mine Print No. A02-30-11 . |
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Wheaton & Hollis Hotel Billiards Table Print No. A02-30-12 |
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Quinville House Print No. A02-30-9 |
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Water Bucket and Well Print No. A02-31-1 |
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