Ghost Towns of the Wild West~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS

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Bodie is a gold rush era ghost town east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Mono Lake California. In its heyday it was a wild west era boomtown with shoot outs, bar-room brawls, stage-coach robberies, and murders. Dust and mayhem in the old wild west!
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It had a jail, saloons, a red light district, and a morgue, everything you needed in the lawless frontier, just like all those western movies we’ve all watched.
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Bodie also had a Chinatown with an opium den and Taoist temple. I don’t remember Taoist temples in the old western movies, do you? I guess this doesn’t quite fit with the six-guns and society ethos of those movies.
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There was a Catholic and Methodist church, to counteract the lawless ways of the frontier, no doubt.
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Bodie was founded in 1859 and at its peak it had a population of almost 10,000 people and around 2000 buildings.
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It began to decline as a boomtown in the 1890’s, and became more of a family oriented frontier community.
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There was a doctor’s house, a town hall, a couple of hotels, a barber shop and a schoolhouse, and I would imagine much less murder, mayhem, and general excitement.
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By 1910 there were 688 people living in Bodie, and by 1915 people started referring to it as a ghost town even though it was inhabited by a few hangers-on until around 1942.

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Bodie is now designated as a protected state historical park and is maintained but not improved.

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We encountered several wild west ghost towns in the Eastern Sierra, some we found while hiking which were completely unexpected and quite a surprise. Each of them gives you the wonderfully eerie feeling of walking back in dusty time.
Cheers to you from the living ghosts of the old wild west~

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287 thoughts on “Ghost Towns of the Wild West~”

  10. Pingback: Ghost Towns of the Wild West~ | GrannyMoon's Morning Feast

  13. This is amazing and I first thought how they are still intact. You can just go dust them and start using them, but at last I came to know that they are protected property and are maintained.
    Shiva

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    1. I didn’t photograph the whole town and there used to be many more buildings. Chinatown and the red light district as just one example are completely gone. Most of the town is gone. What you are seeing in just a portion of what remains.

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  27. How exciting these photos are. I’m obsessed with all things Wild West. It almost reminded me of the tiny old mining town I visited up on a cliff in the mountains in Jerome, Arizona, this past winter. 🙂 Oh, and P.S. I found that photo I was telling you about an artist in Arizona who works in bronze sculptures, the Wolf. I’ll try and FB it to you. 🙂

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  29. When we visited Bodie I remember reading a quote from a little girl when her parents said they were moving to that den of iniquity: “Goodbye God. We’re mobile to Bodie!”

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    1. Yes, I read this somewhere too. I can imagine how she felt. She was moving from some city or something if I recall correctly….. I bet she ended up in love with the place and the nature around her!

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  30. Cindy, this was very interesting, especially on a personal level. I had a relative in the Canadian Goldrush James “Cariboo” Cameron, who was friends with Billy Barker. Barker was responsible for starting the first town in the area, Barkerville. It is probably our most famous ghost town, while my Great Great Great Uncle felt bad for all the men, women, and children who died in the rough conditions. He built Cameronton Cemetary close to Barkerville. There are some ironic stories about him and burying his wife. I think I promised someone I would write that up one day. Anyway, I just love looking at or visiting old towns and your pictures are awesome!

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    1. Wow. I looked up Barkerville. It is extensive and looks fascinating. What an incredible family history and wonderful you know so much about it! I had to look at a map to see where Barkerville is as we are heading to BC in under three weeks and I would visit if I could but it looks to be too far away from where we are going. We are going to Vancouver Island via Seattle to stay up the Knight Inlet and all over the island for about a month. We go back and back to BC and just keep finding more and more things we want to see. I just found out my family, the Barton’s settled all over Canada and Nova Scotia. No wonder I love Canada so much. I wanted to retire on The Sunshine Coast but my husband didn’t want to emigrate. I do hope you write the Barkerville story. I would love to read it!

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  36. A photo is the work of Nicolas Tritz, established in Iowa in 1850 as a blacksmith , he was specialized in famous pioneers sheeted wagons hitched , as manufacturer , repairer of the spoked wheels. In this family , thousands of American families in more than 20 states … Thank you for this. Your daily visits . Bravo for your bottom artitisque work … My compliments .

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    1. Very interesting. America has such a rich immigration history. My husband’s family emigrated from Germany to Iowa and many generations of Knokes lived in Iowa. The Bartons from the UK on my paternal side, settled all over Canada, and my maternal relatives from Bulgaria, Germany, and Poland settled in America. My mixed cultural identity mirrors that of most Americans, something to be proud of, something that makes American interesting.

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  38. When we planned our trip to the Eastern Sierra’s in June, Bodie was on my list. I remember going there as a child, when we camped at Toulomme Meadows. Fortunately, my sister-in-law is a big history buff, especially about ghost towns. We had a great day there. I just finished reading on of the books that I picked up in the museum/gift shop. Future visits will take us to Aurora, etc. I would also like to revisit the gold camps in the western foothills outside of Sacramento… so many future trips.
    Oscar

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    1. Yes we happened upon Bennetville, another abandoned old mining town on a hike by surprise. This is such incredibly beautiful country. I wish we could have been there when you were, but I’m glad you spent time here & cheers to you Oscar~

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  42. What a crazy thing to come upon old ghost towns while hiking! I enjoyed this visit to Bodie, Cindy. I am always intrigued by the history of northern California, centered around the gold rush; and your photos here were a fun adventure for me, thank you.

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    1. Of course the towns we stumbled on weren’t as big or as maintained as Bodie, but what was especially surprising was how remote and hidden away they were, way up in the 🗻 🗻!

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  44. I really liked peeking in the windows at the small town and its remains. The little sunny kitchen was pretty and I liked the idea of the doctor’s office and the town’s General Store! Those 10,000 people probably felt the “fever” of gold but then, lost their compass for life. Hope they found a small farm to take care of and raise a family. . . I can imagine a few different “happy endings for those folks.” Thanks, Cindy for your sweet visits and special comments! <3

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    1. You have a wonderful ability to put yourself in other places and people Robin. This is a creative and empathetic gift which makes you such a pleasure to have as a friend. Be well and I love your sensitivity~

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  45. Hi Cuz,
    Back from my NJ trip and found this waiting for me. I love carousing around ghost towns. Used to go visit them when I’d go fishing in Wyoming and Montana. These were little unprotected hidden spots way back in the mountains and there was still a lot of “memorabilia” still laying about in the buildings. They were always fun to explore. Looks like you had a good time. 🙂

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    1. They are still there and sometimes walking into the houses is so eerie because it feels like the people left a long time ago but might still be coming back! Hope you had a wonderful trip cuz and glad you stopped by~

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  47. I’m guessing the poor, indentured (and/or enslaved) Chinese workers found what respite they could in their temple, ’cause I can’t imagine there was any elsewhere in the West, at least until some small reforms began to combat the abusive conditions under which they lived, well into the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I’m rather amazed to learn that there *was* such a refuge. Nifty! And I’d love to see some of these ghost towns. Really beautiful, and I never tire of being in places haunted by their past and sensing myself immersed in the streams of history and its people. It was interesting on our Santa Fe trip this summer to go through a number of neo-ghost towns, places that thrived and faded along the old Route 66, in various mining towns, and over the rise and fall of various reservation communities, for example. Lots of towns in both TX and NM that were all but deserted in the middle of a work day, silent and artificial-looking and ineffably melancholy. Which desolation and ruination, as you’d know from my blog, I rather admire and fondly embrace, despite knowing the hardships it may represent. Ah, beautiful rust and rusticity! You took such eloquent shots of it all here!!
    xoxo,
    Kathryn

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    1. What a lovely and thoughtful comment. The discrimination against Chinese laborers in frontier towns, railroad enterprises, mining operations, etc., was hellacious. I was very surprised about the temple and the opium den. It spoke of a level of tolerance I did not know existed. We still need to learn about tolerance don’t we. Sometimes I wonder if we’re capable of learning (yes Donald I am talking to you). I too find abandoned properties, ranches and ghost towns quite moving, both in terms of the sense of the fleeting nature of human life and in terms of the lives these towns and structures left behind.

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