The romance of Bodie

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photo by Donald Kinney

Well, to put the proper slant on this story, I suppose I had better first explain that it would be a long, long time before indoor plumbing arrived in Bodie. But yes, today the rangers and park employees who live in some of the more intact houses at Bodie are now hooked up to a septic system--but I've got to ask, "where's the romance in that?".



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photo by Donald Kinney

And I'm sure this cool shack was straight and plumb when it was first built. Alas, how we all tend to bulge and tilt in strange and cruel ways with age.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This is the residence of James Stuart Cain who arrived in Bodie when he was 25, entered the lumber business and put barges on Mono Lake to transport timber to the Bodie mines. He expanded into wagon freighting and with Thomas Holt, leased the Bodie Railroad and Lumber Company. He and Joe Maguire leased a block of ground from the Standard Mine and Mill and took out $90,000 in gold in 90 days. Standard would not renew the lease, but Cain eventually acquired the company through court action and became the town's principal property owner. [source:  park brochure]

I mentioned Ella M. Cain, Mr. Cain's daughter in yesterday's post--the author of "The Story of Bodie". With the enclosed glass porch, the Cain residence reflected their wealth and importance in the community.



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photo by Donald Kinney

And while a few got rich, most who came to Bodie worked hard for very little. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Chinese immigrants, now mostly forgotten, who did most of the intensive labor. The Chinese lived on the north side of town but today, after a few major fires, not even a trace remains.

Bodie boasted dozens of drinking establishments and houses of ill-repute, but it was the Chinese who popularized the use of opium as a relief for the white miners. Thinking about it, with an abundance of whisky, wild women, and opium, it's rather amazing that anybody had time to mine for gold.

This neatly built brick building was Grandma Johnson's rooming house, which later must have decided to go "upscale" and changed it's name to Dechambeau Hotel. The building also served as Bodie's post-office.

Despite huffing-and-puffing in the thin air at 8300 feet, I felt it important that I make the trip to Bodie--it's on the long list of parks scheduled to be closed by the impoverished State of California. Good bye, Bodie, and thanks for the memories...



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