Unique to “ONLY IN BODIE”

Engraved in stone… the unique “only in Bodie” Stories …. 

From the meticulously documented Burials and Headstone Inscriptions within the “Proper Cemetery” to the poignant tales of those laid to rest “outside the fence”— the stories of misfits, and the marginalized, which include Prostitutes, Gunman, and  Chinese laborers. This is not a CEMETERY; it is a Timeline…. a Timeline of the unique Bodie Miners Union, and the “isolated, remote township” the miners’ built in the frozen-ground location above treeline,  at the windswept 8400 ft elevation in Mono County, California.The Bodie Cemetery Timeline serves as a poignant record of the lives lost in the historic mining town of Bodie, California. Established in the late 19th century, the Bodie Cemetery initially catered to the community's burgeoning Miner population, documenting burials that reflect the harsh realities of mining life in the isolated 8,400ft mountain location.

As families and individuals succumbed to accidents, disease, and violence, gravestones began to appear on the hillside. Each grave-plot marking a unique story with inscriptions. Inscriptions that often revealed the emotional weight of infant or a young children’s brief existences. Women dying from “childbirth complications,” were the first burial in the “family plot.”

While many prominent Bodie citizens were interred within the fenced area of the Proper Cemetery, it is “Outside the Fence,” where the forgotten Souls of former Prostitutes, Gunmen, and Chinese immigrants were laid to rest.

The unmarked graves “Outside the Fence,” highlighting the diverse and often overlooked narratives that contributed to Bodie's town and mining history. The Timeline not only chronicles, the “dates and names” of the deceased, but also serves as a “solemn reminder” of the mining community's Legacy, and the transience of life in this once-thriving Mountain town and Mining District.