Bodie Catholic Church
Bodie Catholic Church was built by Rev. Father Cassin- was still standing in 1904- when he returned to marry two sisters.
June 3, 1904
PREIST TO GO ON PLEASANT MISSION
THE REV. FATHER CASSIN WILL OFFICIATE AT WEDDING IN BODIE
Will Visit His First Parish in the Mountains after the Lapse of Twenty Years and More
In the course of a few days the Rev. J. M. Cassin, of St Rose’s Catholic Church, will pay a visit to Bodie, Mono county, California. This will revive “the memory of the early days oh his ministry.”
It was his first experience in “Church Building.” The journey is a long one. It necessitates, “a twenty-four hour ride by train on the Southern Pacific, and the Virginia Truckee, Carson & Colorado Railroads.” Then, a whole night must be passed in the stage-coach.
Bodie is situated at an altitude of nearly 9,000 feet. The climate is severe and sometimes the snow falls ten months out of the year.
When Father Cassin went there in 1878 Bodie was wild and lawless Mining Camp. Murders were frequent occurrence. Pneumonia was prevalent and fatal accidents in the Mines caused many of deaths.
On one occasion, Father Cassin recalled Thursday, two miners went into a magazine containing two tons of giant powder.
In some manner, they caused an Explosion. When the smoke had cleared away, not the single trace of the miners was ever found. Father Cassin has a photograph of these two men, taken before the Explosion, of course. the Explosion caused some other deaths and much damage in the neighborhood.
While Priest at Bodie, Father Cassin had to parochially visit all the surrounding country for hundreds of miles and often spent a night in the Stage, when the “thermometer marked many degrees below zero.”
He built a Catholic Church in Bodie under great difficulties. He had to “collect Subscriptions from the Miners,” sometimes more than thousand feet under ground.
He recalls, some of the difficulties he had to contend with getting the Church built. He signed a contract with “a builder to erect a church.”
A few days after, the Builder shot a man, and was put in jail. Later, he was released, “on the plea of self defense,” and carried out his Contract of erecting the Church.
The doors and windows had to be ordered from a long distance. Before they reached Bodie, the doors and windows were destroyed in a Railroad accident, necessitating a long delay. The various articles of “Church furniture” were ordered from New York. A strike on the Railroads, caused them to be delayed for months on the way. The work of building the church was long and difficult. But the Bodie Catholic Church, has stood the storms of more than twenty year long Winters.
Father Cassin will in a few days renew old memories, “by officiating in it once again.” He has been invited to preform the Marriage ceremony for two young ladies whose parents he also married.
Father Cassin will take with him the gold watch he received fro Bodie two decades ago on which is inscribed, “To the Rev. J. M. Cassin as token of esteem from some friends, Bodie, Cal, Nov 8, 1883.”
After some years the high altitude and severe climate caused a throat and lung trouble which necessitated Father Cassin departure to a milder climate. But he pleased to visit again the scene of his former labors and hardships.
On his way to Bodie he will pay a visit to Virgina City, which he often visited from Bodie and where some of his Bodie friends now reside. He once descended into the Bonanza Mines to the depth of 2,400 feet.
Father Cassin will arrive in Bodie on June 8 and will return to Santa Rosa on June 18. During his absence the Rev. Father M.P. Golden will attend the parish at St. Rose Catholic Church.
Press Democrat, Number 130. 3 June 1904
-1910 -HYDROELECTRIC Substation
In back of the Wheaton & Luhrs building, still stands the HYDROELECTRIC Building - a substation for distribution of the Bodie’s electricity in 1910.
SALE AT AURORA MAY CREATE SUMMER BOOM
Los Angeles Herald - 25 March 1910
BODIE, March 24— The “property known as the Cain Consolidated Mining Company of Aurora” has been sold, and the price paid for it is $250,000, according to James E. Cain.
The purchasers of this property will “install Electric Power and machinery for the purpose of working it on a large scale.”
By the early summer Aurora will experience some of her old-time activity. The Southern Consolidated property in Bodie has gone through a little change, and “that ground will be given an opportunity to show what is contained in its ledges.”
The “Proposed Power Plant” will be built this summer, and operations start immediately. This plant will furnish power for Bodie and Aurora, and for the present will be continued to those two camps.
As to other Enterprises in which Mr. Cain has an interest, each and all will be taken up and advanced in turn. The connecting line of the “proposed Railroad” will be rushed to completion, so as to give Freight an opportunity to land on the ground at a closer terminal than the point now used in Nevada.
Judging from the information and the general topic of conversation, “the outlook for Mono county is good.”
The Water that has been flowing into Mono lake for years will be used and consumed by promoters in the advancement Commercial Possibilities.
Giant Powder Explosion- 6 Dead, July 12, 1879
Esmeralda Herald (Aurora), 7/12/1879:
Giant Power Explosion. The Giant Powder Magazine of the Standard Mine at Bodie Blows Up – Many Lives Lost – Buildings Shattered to Atoms – Adjoining Hoisting Works Blows to Fragments – A Scene of Wreck and Ruin.
On Thursday evening at about half-past seven o’lock a sound as of a heavy blast was heard by many people here, and in a few moments afterward a dense blue cloud was seen drifting over Mount Braly.
People who witnessed it pronounced, “it a huge whirlwind, though at the time scarcely a breath of air was stirring in the town.” The “whirlwind” had finally drifted off to the Northeast.
Nothing particular was “thought of the phenomenon,” until the Telegraph Operator here was informed, “that a terrible explosion of the Giant Powder Magazine at the old works of the Standard mine at Bodie.”
The Concussion was so great that it shook the whole Town like a severe Earthquake, breaking windows, bottles, looking-glasses, etc., and throwing doors open and shut.
The streets of Bodie were soon filled with an immense throng of people inquiring for the Cause. An immense ‘column of smoke” was seen ascending “hundreds of feet into the air” at the Standard Mine. This was followed by a General Alarm of Fire, from the whistles of the different Hoisting Works.
The Fire Department responded, and a rush was made for the hill by people on foot, on horseback and in wagons.
The Shock was distinctly felt in Bridgeport, twenty-four miles west, and immediately the citizens there, telegraphed to Bodie to learn the cause.
Upon investigation it was ascertained that the damage was very great, nearly all of the Boarding Houses, Dwellings and Cabins in the vicinity of the Explosion, having been torn to atoms.
Fifteen or twenty persons killed, while forty or fifty were wounded, more or less severely, some of them women and children.
The ‘List of Deaths is, at latest accounts, reduced to six, Frank Fiel, William O’Brien, Charles Malloy, Hugh McMillan, John McCarthy, and Thomas Flavin.
The number of the wounded will reach forty, a great many of them only trifling, but some in a dangerous condition.
Every attention is given to the Wounded Miners, who are quartered at different places on the hill and in Town.
Bodie wears a very quiet look, business being nearly suspended, and Flags at half-mast on all the Hoisting works.
Wood & Tin-siding!!
Blurred window reflection of Bodie, California.
The reflections in the old buildings in Bodie, reflect the same sight as 125 years ago.
The “wood and tin-siding” has weathered. Along side, the tumbleweed and odd “sage brush” has claimed their place also in the landscape of History significance. Above “treeline,” the elevation, and its frozen ground, doesn’t allow for a “growing season.”
Bodie in 1881, had a population of Miners’, who endured the same “seasons” in Bodie. The dirt roads were traveled by Freight-wagons in the same freezing cold dark Winter, and the same Summer-time unpredictable “mountain weather.”
Late Summer, with the snow-melted and slush and muddy roads, some what passable is the post card picture of Bodie that prevails.
The wood-sided buildings that survived the 1892 Fire and the 1932 Fire are a “testimony to time.”
The BODIE MINERS’ UNION- a Fraternal Brotherhood - defined Bodie, (Mono County) California, both economically and spiritually.
The graves in the Bodie Cemetery are also bordered by sage-brush. Most of the Miners’ are long been forgotten- yet their NAMES, DATE-of DEATH, give the “only meaning to the purpose of the Bodie Mining District.”
Bodie (Mono County) California
~~~~BODIE MINERS’ UNION and Bodie Morgue- “arrested decay”
Bodie (Mono County) California, today is a “Reflection in the Mirror”
This is Bodie, or rather what remains of Bodie, California. Designated a California State Historic Park in 1962. It is now preserved in a state of “arrested decay.” (This means the buildings’, roofs, windows and foundations are repaired and stabilized, not restored.)
During the 1877-1881, Bodie Mining District included 30 different Mines, and 9 Stamp Mills.
The July 29, 1892 FIRE destroyed most of the Business District. The Fire stated in a defective-flue in the Bakery of Mrs. J Perry. The estimated cost of the losses was $75,000. Bodie never rebuilt, or recovered from the damage.
Without mining, the “boom years” were over quickly in the remote Mono County location. The population dwindled in the 1900’s.- 698 citizens in 1910.
The population of Bodie is listed as 110 citizens in the 1920 Census. There were more graves in the Cemetery, than town-folks, calling Bodie their permeant residence in the 1920 Census. The Bodie Cemetery holds the “untold history of Mono County.”
Michael Cody- died July 24, 1905 -aged 55 years, 26 days.
Michael Cody- burial is known because of his three obituaries !!
The Bridgeport Chronicle Union, Reno Evening Gazette, Oakland Tribune and Walker Lake Tribune - all published obituaries for MICHAEL JOSEPH CODY- aged 55 years and 26 days- died July 24, 1905.
They note s Mr. Cody was a “Pioneer founding member of the BODIE MINERS’ UNION- and buried in the Bodie “hillside” Cemetery yet- today the Bodie Cemetery lacks a Headstone marking Michael Cody’s grave.
Over The Great Divide. M. J. Cody Obeys The Call.
Today, we write upon the page of Mono’s departed pioneers the name of one with a heart fully worthy, of the name of Michael Joseph Cody.
On the afternoon of the 13th, Mr. Cody was struck on the head by a rock, thrown from a blast, which resulted in a fractured skull.
Two operations were performed, but Meningitis proved the Victor.
Michael Cody , at the age of 55 years and 26 days, surrounded “by those he loved and blessed with all the Rites of that Church of which he was a devout member,” passed away at 7:30 P.M., July 24, 1905.
Born on the shore of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on the 28th day of June 1850, he early took the advice of Horace Greeley and “journeyed Westward to the Bonanza Camp, Virginia City” Hearing of the wonders of the famous Bodie, he soon arrived to make it his lifetime home.
A giant in stature, a man of strong personality, fearless for right in the years since 1876, when first he arrived in this county, his name has been linked with each and every forward movement.
In September 1881, he was married to Miss Kate Shaughnessy of Bodie. Six children were the fruits of this union and gathered at the bedside for the Last Farewell.
In 1877 he was one of the organizers of the Bodie Miners’ Union and retained his membership until about a year ago, when he became a member of the Bodie Labor Union of which organization. He was President at the time of his death.
Mr. Cody was always one of the leaders of the Democratic party in this section and as a reward was appointed, during the Cleveland administration, as Receiver for the Land Office then located in Bodie.
In 1888 he was elected Sheriff of Mono, which office he held for two terms. He was a Past Master of Bodie Lodge, No. 143 and A.O.U.W. and was buried under the auspices of that Order.
Mr. Cody leaves a wife, three daughters – Mrs. David V. Cain, Miss May Cody and little Katie – three sons – Edmund, Mervyn and Ralph and two brothers, one in Cripple Creek and the other in San Jose, and a nephew – Charles H. Miller of Bodie, who was constantly with him during his last hours.
The body was taken to Bodie early Tuesday morning and buried on Bodie’s hill-side the following day.
Personally we had known the deceased for over twenty years and knew him always as a Man. No greater praise can be said of any one than that. True to the principles of manhood and his God, true as a husband and father, steadfast as a friend. No weeping willow will droop above his grave, the green grass and the purling stream tempers not the dusty breeze but the redolent sage will shade the mound and the flitting lizard and chattering chipmunk will call in vain for their old companion. (also a poem not transcribed here/ss)
(Bridgeport Chronicle-Union, 7/28/1905)
*****
Reno Evening Gazette, 7/28/1905 (Friday): Death of M. J. Cody. Mike Cody, whose skull was fractured by a blast near Bridgeport several days ago, died Tuesday. He was well known in Bodie and vicinity, having served two years as sheriff of Mono county. He was a popular citizen of that section.
Oakland Tribune, 8/1/1905: Died. CODY – In Bridgeport, Mono county, Cal., July 24, Michael Joseph, dearly beloved husband of Catherine M. Cody, loving father of Edmund J., Mervyn J., May L., Katie and Ralph Cody, and Mrs. D. V. Cain, and brother James S. Cody of Cripple Creek, Colo., and Edward R. Cody, of Fresno, Cal., a native of Lake Geneva, Wis., aged 55 years and 26 days
Walker Lake Bulletin, 8/4/1905 (Friday): Mike Cody, former Sheriff of Mono county, died in Bodie last Tuesday from injuries received by the premature explosion of a blast.
Childbirth Complications
ANNIE C. FOUKE- died from “child-birth Complications!”- April 27, 1896- Aged 37 years.
In the rough and unforgiving mining town of Bodie, the “perils of childbirth” were all too common, starkly reflecting the harsh realities faced by the pregnant Women during that challenging era.
One particularly notable example is Julia Hayden Butler, who tragically died at the age 38 years on October 20, 1881, just days after giving birth, “leaving her husband, a new-born baby, two very little children. -” (Her first-born child-Three and half years old and her second born child-Eighteen Months,) behind to grapple with their profound loss.
Likewise, the headstone of Anna Christine Fouke,, who passed away at the age of 37 years, on April 27, 1896, shortly after the birth of her third baby daughter, tells a “heart-wrenching story of loss and hardship” that resonated deeply within the mining-town surrounding community.
The “un-named New-Born-daughter” was two days old when Annie Fouke died of “Child-bed Fever.” Her last wishes, “her newborn baby was to be given to her best friend, Lavina Kilpatrick.”
The day after Annie Fouke was laid to rest (April 29, 1896) in the Bodie Cemetery, her daughter was “Christened Genevieve Kilpatrick.” Three-days-old-Genivieve left Bodie with her adaptive parents, to reside in Bishop.
It was unknown to Genevieve Kilpatrick that she was adapted, until after her Mothers death. At college age, Genevieve was tasked with cleaning out her family home in Bishop.
She found in the attic, “a old trunk, in it were an infants dress, old photographs, a Sealed Envelop, which inside were official Adaption Papers- naming Annie Fouke as her “Birth Mother” and Richard R. Fouke as her “Birth Father.” After her “Attic Discovery”, she never spoke, or had a need to “reveal her “Birth-Mother,” or was curios about her “adaption circumstances.”
At 101 years of age-with her children in their 70’s- Genevieve Kilpatrick told them the “story of finding her “Adoption Papers.”
John S. McCracken -Aged 42 years! Died April 19, 1905
Back of JOHN S. McCRACKEN headstone- DIED- April 19, 1905 AGED 42 years.
120 years ago- April 19, 1905…. John S. McCracken died- age 42 years.
The back of John S. McCracken Headstone is also a detail …. telling a story of a miner, who was buried in the Bodie Cemetery.
The “carved Ivy’- symbolizing the “Eternity of Life.” The beauty of the detail- a remembrance of McCrackens life, which makes visitors stop and pause at its sight.
Not even knowing this is John S. McCracken’s grave, (by his Name or Death-Date,) the Surrounding Fence of also ornate quality- gives reverence and importance to this miners interment in the Bodie Miners’ Cemetery section of the Cemetery.
~~John S. McCracken marble headstone- “placed in this grave-plot, and its surrounding ornate wire fence by the UP-to DATE Manufacturing Company”….now has superseded his death by three times his lifespan.
~~~120 years later-the silent stone marker- Celebrates a Miner named John S. McCracken, who’s life was a short 42 years.
Social Status
Social Ladder of Respectability
Bodie was a 95 percent a “Male town”, a freezing cold, rough, high mountain and remote-Mining Camp. The Saloons were the domain of men.
Social gatherings revolved around the Miners’ Union Meeting Hall, and the male-membership. Dances made-up part of the “social fabric of Bodie”- and were an opportunity to include the married women living in Bodie.
That, left 5 percent of the total population Female. Yet again, the women-folk were divided into two steps on the “Social Ladder”- "Respected" and “Disrespected." The "Respected Ladies” were the Women-Folk, who conducted themselves and were married to a Miner, Rancher or Teamster. The single “seamstress” was on the social step on the ladder of an unmarried women, living near the slaughter-house or next to Chinatown.
A “proper lady” was married. The married Women did not enter Saloons, color their hair, or spend time with men other than their husbands.
Social status was “all about a scale of respectability.” In Bodie's bustling mining community during its peak in the late 1800s, the upper echelons of society comprised about 5% of the population, characterized by wealth amassed through successful mining ventures and strategic investments.
This elite class included mine owners, prominent merchants, and influential figures within the local government, who wielded considerable power and influence over the town's affairs.
While the majority of Bodie's inhabitants labored tirelessly in the mines or provided essential services, this very, small group enjoyed a lifestyle marked by homes, and the “ability to shape the social and economic landscape of the mining town.”
Their elevated status, afforded them not only material comforts, but also “a degree of separation” from the hardships faced by the working-class miners and their wives and children. It also, put constraints on the personal behavior of the few women living in Bodie.
It was very “isolating to live in Bodie.” With very few women living in the remote place, the freezing cold winters and impassable roads- made any kind of Friendship difficult. The women, who had “Sisters or Sister-in-Laws” were the most fortunate in the town. They had family, connection and concern.
Bodie Cemetery
ROSA MAY- “buried outside the Fence”
Family Plot Layout
The Bodie Cemetery showcases a variety of interment types reflective of Mining community’s diverse history.
Some traditional burials are marked by Headstones. Some graves were never “marked with a headstone” and remain “unmarked graves” ….These graves tell the story of those “without Family or Relatives, or a religious Brotherhood Fraternal Organization,” and have been forgotten and lost in location. Sage brush covered over- the ground is unrecognizable as Cemetery.
The “Family Plot Layout” is distinctly divided, with a fenced area designated as the "Proper Cemetery," housing the graves of the Miners, their families, and notable figures.
While the grounds “outside the fence” serve as the final Resting Place for Bodie’s marginalized individuals, such as Prostitutes, Gunmen, and Chinese immigrants. (Rosa May was buried “outside the fence.” Headstone marker being place years after her death.”
Grave offerings found throughout Bodie Cemetery, often include personal mementos like Flowers, Coins, and “small tokens left by distant relatives or one-time visitors.”
Illustrating the enduring connections to those buried in the Bodie Cemetery, and the respect paid to their memory amidst the rugged Mining backdrop, the Bodie Cemetery has remained for over 150 years in constant silent and in stillness.
Angel of Bodie- Evelyn Myers
ANGEL OF BODIE- Evelyn Myers- b.May 1, 1884, d. April 5, 1897 AGED 3 YEARS.
ANGEL OF BODIE- Eveyln Myers
Tablet Grave Markers, provide a simple, significant tribute, with a flat surfaces engraved with Name, Death-Date, and often a heartfelt message. This type of tombstone honor the memories of the Deceased- Father, Mother or Child, and reflect the personal connections that endured during their lifetimes. Also, the headstones reflect Bodie’s past mining history, and the diverse individuals who once called Bodie home.
The Eveyln Myers (b. 1 May 1884 d. 5 April 1897) Angel monument and the other Tablet Grave Markers are “Poignant Symbols of Remembrance” found in the Bodie Wards Cemetery.
Angel monuments, typically carved from stone, depict “heavenly figures,” that often represent Guardianship. The “Hope of an Eternal Life”, serving as a comforting presence for friends and family visiting the Grave of a loved one.
Beautifully sculptured Angel Monuments and Gravestones serve as soothing and comforting memorials, because “Angels are regarded as agents of God.” Families usually opt for an Angel Headstones, irrespective of their religious beliefs, in the hope that the “Angels will take care of their deceased loved ones.” Angel Headstones , also perfectly capture the sense of loss and sorrow.
Eveyln Myers died from “an accidental struck in the head with a pick-ax by a workman,” who was building a drainage ditch around the Myers home. Eveyln Myers born 1 May 1884, died 5 April 1897- AGED 3 YEARS.
Names, Dates & Age tell the Story.
NAMES, DATES & “Fraternal Brotherhoods”- Tell the Story in Stone- timeless.
Today, what remains of Bodie is quiet, silent.
Only by reading the Names, Dates & the occasional purposely place “fraternal organizational symbol” - can the silence be broken and a picture of remembering and understanding of the blasting, and constant 6 day a week -“loud and noise of Stamp Mill machinery.”
The 150 year old burials in the windswept- mostly snow covered hillside Bodie Cemetery tell actual stories with their , carved marble stone headmarkers
The graves were dug. Cold, frozen and below freezing wind chill-weather made some Interments impossible.
Winter burials were delayed for months, until the thaw made it even possible to think about braving the elements to conduct a Funeral.
Every tombstone was touched by the families of the deceased. The “stones tell of actual death dates” and the Name and Age of the Miner, Wife or Infant Child.
The stones have remained, for over a 150 years , and still stand and identify by name the person who lived and died in Bodie. REST IN PEACE
Scanavino Family Plot-1955
Scanavino Family fenced plot- Bodie Cemetery.
Reno Evening Gazette -22 April 1955
Joe Scanavino- Lifelong Resident Passes
Hawthorne, NV - Joe Scanavino, 57, lifelong resident of Mono County, died Tuesday at the Bridgeport Hospital.
Mr. Scanavino, who owned and lived at a ranch near Mono Lake, was well known throughout Mineral County, having served for many years as a power line patrolman for Mineral County Power System.
Joe was a brother of Mrs. Kate Dondero and Steve Scanavino of Hawthorne.
Born on the Farm- Ranch near Mono Lake, he has been a resident of both Bodie and Bridgeport as well as the Scanavino Ranch.
His wife preceded him in death several years ago. He is survived by a sixteen year old son, Jos Scanavino Jr., who attended school at San Rafael, CA.
Other immediate relatives include four sisters; Mrs. Dondero, Mrs. Mary Miller of Bridgeport, Mrs. Theresa Leavitt and Mrs. Idelle Bauers, both of Stockton, CA; three brothers, Mr. Scanavino, Superintendent of Mineral County Power in Hawthorne, Paul Scanavino of Leavining and Victor Scanavino of Stockton.
Funeral services were conducted in Bridgeport at 10 o'clock Friday morning, following which the body will be taken to Bodie for “Graveside services."
Gravesite Details Burial took place on 22 Apr 1955
LESTER L. BELL (1888-1950)
LESTER L. BELL- buried in Bell family plot- Wards Cemetery (Bodie Cemetery).
LESTER L. BELL (b. January 1888- d. July 5, 1950) Aged 63 years
DEATH TAKES LESTER BELL
Hawthorne (Nev), July 8 - Lester Bell, 63, died Wednesday morning at his home in Hawthorne.
Mr. Bell, who had made his home in “this community” since early this year, had been in failing health for several years.
Born in the famous “mining camp of Bodie,” Mr. Bell spent most of his life there, and was employed at several of the Mines as a Hoist Engineer.
During World War I, Bell moved to “the Coast,” and was employed by Bethlehem Steel.
A few months ago he and Mrs. Bell moved to Hawthorne to make their home, after his daughter and family had moved to Hawthorne to reside.
In addition to his widow, Mr. Bell is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Olive McCoy of Hawthorne and Mrs. Warren Lewis of Yerington, two sons, Robert Bell of Bodie, and Lester Bell jr. (Who is in Arizona on a construction job at the present time.)
Also two brothers, William Bell of Oakland, Calif., and Earl Bell of Bridgeport, Calif., a sister living on the East Coast, and several grandchildren.
(Reno Evening Gazette, 7/8/1950)
LESTER F. BELL (1920-1977)
LESTER F. BELL (1920-1977) Aged 57 years- Son of Lester L. Bell and Louise Bell.
LESTER F. BELL- (1920-1977)-Aged 57 years.——-Son of Lester L. Bell and Louise Bell
Reno Evening Gazette 6/24/1977, Friday
SON OF LESTER L. and LOUISE BELL
A funeral is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Ross Burke & Knoebel Mortuary for Lester Franklyn Bell, a former Reno resident.
Burial will be at 2:00pm on Sunday at the Bodie Cemetery, Bodie, California.
Bell, 57, of Tucson, Arizona died in Tucson. A native of Beaumont, California, he was born June 5, 1920 and raised in Bodie.
He worked at Isbell Construction 20 years in Reno and in Phoenix. He was a veteran of World War II.
Survivors are his wife of Tucson, sons Dr. L. James Bell of Oakland, Calif. and Ted Bell, of McCall Idaho; daughter leslie Hernandez of Reno, sisters Olive Alpers of Smith Valley and Arena Lewis of Yerington; brother Robert Bell of Hawthorne and six grandchildren.
Last “Watchman” of Bodie!
Clarence C. Birks- one of the last “caretakers” of Bodie.
Bodie, California- Ward Cemetery —- CLARENCE C. BIRKS (1897- 1961)
CLARENCE C. BIRKS, was born in 1897 in North Dakota and buried in the Bodie Cemetery in 1961- age 64 years.
1956- California Govenor Goodwin J. Knight, in 1956 signed an Appropriations Bill, passed by the California State Legislature authorizing the purchase of Bodie, California.
Between 1923- 1956, James Stuart Cain had purchased the Buildings and Property as, one by one, Bodietes had sold out and moved away.
Mr. Cain was the Sole Purchaser of the “abandoned properties,” and had aquaried each as they came up for Public Sale.
1958-CLARENCE C. BIRKS, hired by the Cain family, was one of the last “caretakers” of Bodie before it was officially a “California State Historic Park.”
His fenced grave in the Wards Cemetery——-
FATHER- CLARENCE C. BIRKS- 1897-1961- “WATCHMAN 1958-1961”
1964- on September 12, 1964, a formal Dedication Ceremony was held at Bodie, Mono County, to establish Bodie as an “official California historical Landmark——Bodie State Historic Park (Elevation 8375)
1880- discarded Wheel
Bodie, California- huge wheel- once used in the Mining operations in Bodie!
1880’s Bodie THEN- Bodie NOW- discarded old Wheel , once used in one of the several mining operations in Bodie-
The huge size of this one “part,” once used and an essential mechanism - puts the lengths the “Investors” went to extract ore out of the mines located so remote and risky. The industrial design, and engineering of the mining equipment was unique to each Stamp Mill.
Manufactured most likely in a foundry in San Francisco - then transported by wagon- the transportation alone was a risky endeavor.
Today, its story is one of “wonder” of its use and disuse and “finally the old wheels antiquation.”
1880-Covered I.O.O.F. Staircase
“Covered Staircase”- back of the I.O.O.F. Meeting Hall.
Backdoor “Covered Staircase” 1880-Bodie THEN- Bodie NOW—— 140 years later!!
The backside of the IOOF Meeting Hall tells it’s own unique Bodie Story-
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 279- used the upper floor or “second floor” of the HENRY WARD BUILDING.
The “first floor” was used by Henry Ward, who had built the the building in 1880 to house his “Undertaking & Furniture Business.”
The IOOF Meeting Hall entrance was a “covered staircase,” located at the back of the WARDS FURNITURE STORE.
The outdoor staircase was “enclosed and covered,” because of Bodie snow-levels. An “uncover staircase” would have collapsed under the weight of the snow, or be destroyed by rain or wind- storm-damage
The backdoor, “covered staircase” entrance was protected from “storm damage,” allowing usage of the Meeting Hall year round- no matter the disaster caused by the resulting snow-drift heights.
1912 Gregory Home-Bodie THEN Bodie NOW- Window Reflections
Bodie Window Reflections- of Gregory House!
1912-Bodie THEN- Gregory House - Green Street. Bodie NOW… Gregory House across the street from the Schoolhouse.
~~~ March 12, 1912….CATHERINE COOK GREGORY- Aged 58 years. - buried in the Bodie Wards Cemetery.~~~
Bodie, California- U. S. Federal Census - 995 citizens.
Catherine Gregory, Wife of Nathan Gregory, name appears on the 1900 U. S. Federal Census with four children.
Grave of Nathan Hall Gregory died April 26, 1926.
~~~~~NATHAN HALL GREGORY- (b. November 19, 1841) died April 9, 1926, aged 81 years. buried in Bodie Wards Cemetery.
Nathan Gregory operated a Cattle Ranch between Bodie and Aurora.
Life’s work well done. He Rests in Peace
Bodie Firehouse THEN-1932 Bodie NOW 95- Years Later!
Bodie THEN- Firehouse rebuilt in 1930’s by the California Conservation Corps.
~~~Bodie THEN- 1930 FIREHOUSE- Bodie NOW- Firehouse 95 years later….
Bodie, California 1930 U. S. Federal Census- 228 citizens.
The Firehouse in Bodie was “rebuilt” in the 1930’s by the California Conservation Corp.
Before the devastating 1932 FIRE- Volunteer Fire Companies had battled a number of “smaller Mining” Fires.
The Biggest and most devastating - being the July 25, 1892 North Main Street Fire. It started in a restaurant owned by Mrs. James Perry.
Efforts to fight the Fire were “delayed due to a “valve closed inadvertently.”
The flames consumed over 60 buildings in the “downtown Bodie.”
Lack of water, also plagued those who battled the June 23, 1932 FIRE. The poorly maintained screens at the reservoir led to rocks and debris clogging the pipes.
Approximately 40 buildings were destroyed, including the BANK OF BODIE, the POSTOFFICE, the Occidential Hotel, United States Hotel, the SAWDUST SALOON.
The STANDARD MILL had escaped the flames, along with the School, Miners’ Union Hall, the CRANE & EDWARDS STORE and the Hydro-electric building!!