The Haunting of Bodie Ghost Town Frozen in Time

Frozen in time, the Bodie Ghost Town, once a big mining town in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the Gold Rush, now only sand, dust and ghost lives. It is also said to be cursed.

“Goodbye God! We are going to Bodie.”
Prayer from a little girl moving to Bodie

High in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, Bodie was once a bustling gold-mining town in the 1870s and ’80s Gold Rush, drawing thousands of hopeful prospectors with gold fever. As the gold dried up, the people left the town to die. Now there are only tumbleweeds, dust and ghosts left.

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Today, Bodie Ghost Town stands as a State Historic Park and has done so since 1962, preserved in a state of “arrested decay,” where the remnants of its vibrant past remain eerily untouched. Visitors wandering through the abandoned streets of over 150 buildings still standing as they did the day the people left, they can peek into homes with tables set for dinner and shops still stocked with supplies, as if the townsfolk might return at any moment.

History of Bodie Ghost Town

Founded after gold was discovered in the hills surrounding Mono Lake in 1859 by W.S. Bodey, the town rapidly grew, especially during the 1870s and ’80s, reaching a population of around 10,000 at its peak, becoming one of the most successful gold mining places in California.

Bodey searched the area for 10 years in the area and the mining camp he and his friends founded in 1859 soon grew into a prosperous town. The same year though, he was caught in a blizzard on his way to Monoville. The next spring his friends found him and named the town after him, although the painter did misspell his name on the sign and they never changed it.

The Gold Rush really kicked off in 1876 when the Standard Company discovered a large deposit of gold ore and people flocked to the place to get a piece of it.

undefined — **Brodie Ghost Town**: Bird’s Eye View photograph of Bodie, California in the 1890s when people still lived there. Looking east from the cemetery. // Source: William Thompson – Heritage Auction Gallery

Bodie became infamous for its lawlessness and rough reputation, filled with 65 saloons on the Main Street stretching for a mile down the road, brothels, and gambling halls in the red light districts on the northern end of town. As a true Wild West town it had a Wells Fargo Bank, several fire departments, a railroad and its own Chinatown with several hundreds of Chinese residents, a Taoist temple and plenty of Opium dens.

Life could be rough in the town with gunfights and murders as well as the harsh working conditions in the mines took many lives. The weather was harsh and the winters could take hundreds of lives in blizzards, exposures and other diseases.

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However, as the gold veins were exhausted and mining operations became less profitable, the population dwindled, and by the early 20th century, Bodie was in decline. After the second world war, they never resumed mining and only six people lived there at the time. The last residents left by the 1940s, and Bodie became a ghost town.

As mentioned, Bodie Ghost Town stands as a State Historic Park, preserved as a ghost town where everything is left, offering a glimpse into the past with its abandoned buildings. The term used to describe the stillness of the town, arrested decay, means the state park only intervenes to prevent the remaining buildings from collapsing and no more restoration will be done. Around 10 % of the original buildings are still standing, and perhaps soon, they too will only become a distant memory.

The Haunting of Bodie Ghost Town

Bodie’s ghostly atmosphere is more than just a preservation effort; it is a place steeped in supernatural lore. Many who visit the Bodie Ghost Town report ghost sightings, particularly of miners and townspeople from the town’s heyday. A woman in a white hood and black and white dress holds a basket in her hand and wanders the town at midnight. Around the mines a tall figure is said to hold a light as he enters the mines and walks them until dawn.

Phantom music sometimes drifts from the shuttered bars, evoking the rowdy nights when saloons were filled with the sounds of clinking glasses and laughter. There are also particular ghost said to haunt the houses mostly named after the families who lived there.

File:Bodie Storm (DBCondit).jpg — *Storm over Bodie Ghost Town: Dave Bradford Condit/ Flickr*

Ghost of the Last Residents of Bodie Ghost Town

But what happened to the last people living in Bodie? According to the legends, they are now haunting it. One of the men named Ed shot his wife dead, but then three other men came and killed the murderous husband, beating him up and leaving him to drown in a creek.

It is said the ghost of the murdered man came two months after his death back to haunt his killers, shaking his fist and trying to attack them. The three men soon died themselves, said to be from different strange diseases. One died from a huge cut on his face, the other died from a hemorrhage that made his head blow up like a balloon. The third walked off and died in a ravine.

The three men remaining in town thought it had to be because of the curse put on them by the man they murdered. Sometimes, people claim they still haunt the Bodie Ghost Town.

The Angel of the Bodie Cemetery

Many of the lawless people and prostitutes were not buried in the local cemetery, but in the Boothill Graveyard known as the Bodie Outcast Cemetery.

This is also where they buried the Chinese residents, often in unmarked graves. The idea was to be buried in the ground until the bones were clean so they could be sent back to their homeland and family. However this has not been the case for many of them, and the unrest people think must be over these graves are thought to be the paranormal reason to many of the strange things happening around the old Chinatown that are no longer standing.

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In the Bodie Cemetery though, you can find the grave marked with a child angel. This is the grave of Evelyn, now known as the Angel of Bodie, said to haunt the cemetery. She was a three year old child, the daughter of general shop owner Albert and Fanny Myers. She died when she was hit in the head with a miner’s pick by accident.

Bodie Angel II — **The Angel of Bodie:** The grave of Evelyn, said to haunt the cemetery. // Source: George Oates/Flickr

Now people claim to have heard giggles of a small girl in the cemetery, and they believe that it must be Evelyn, the Angel of Bodie. Parents that have brought their children also claim that they have started playing with a thing the only child sees.

The J.S Cain House

One of the haunted buildings in Bodie Ghost Town is the J.S Cain House. This used to be the home of a banker and businessman at the corner of Park and Green Streets. James S. Cain made his fortune from lumber and banking before finding gold. They were perhaps the riches in town and ended up owning most of the property in it.

Now the house built in 1879 is occupied by Park Rangers and their families. Strange things like doors and window opening by themselves happen from time to time. It is said to be haunted by a Chinese woman, appearing to children who visit the bedrooms on the second floor. This has made people think that she might have been a maid used to taking care of the children of the house.

Free Abandones House Ghost Town photo and picture

According to a park ranger staying there, he used to have friends and family with children come to stay with him. One day the children came downstairs and asked who the nice Chinese lady that read them a bedtime story was.

But it is not only children that have felt her presence. Although the ghost is said to be friendly with children, she seems to hate the adults and people talk about being pushed and having a suffocating feeling when staying there.

The wife of a ranger once talked about when she went to bed in the room and woke, feeling something sitting on top of her. She almost suffocated and had to fight her way out, falling to the floor. A ranger named Gary Walter also claimed to have had an encounter with her in the same room. He saw the door open and felt a heavy presence again, giving the same suffocating feeling.

What could the resentment come from though? Some say that there is more to the story, and the maid and nanny working in the house did not have a happy ending. It is said that she was fired when the wife, Martha Delilah Cain threw her out on the street on a cold winter night. The woman wandered off in the snowstorm and was never heard from again. It was also said that her reputation was ruined and the woman killed herself.

The Gregory House

The modest house in Bodie Ghost Town close to the stamp mill Is said to be haunted by the ghost of an old woman, sitting in a rocking chair as she is knitting an afghan. It is also said that at times, the rocking chair has seen rocking by itself.

File:Bodie September 2016 032.jpg — *The Gregory House: King of Hearts/Wikimedia*

It used to belong to Nathan Gregory and his son, Spence who were cattle ranchers. Spence was one of the last residents of the town, and a retired mining engineer.

It is also said that park rangers have seen something sitting down at the foot of a bed in one of the rooms, invisible, but leaving marks of leg and hands on the quilt. Could it be Spence Gregory himself haunting it?

The Dechambeau House

The Dechambeau Hotel was first a post office in 1879, but then it became a hotel before it turned into a bar and cafe, operating until the early 1930s as Bodies last businesses. It is said to be haunted by a female ghost said to be looking out from the upstairs window.

The building itself is named after the miner family Dechambeau, originally from Lonqueil, Quebec Province Canada. Could it be one of those still remaining inside?

File:Bodie September 2016 016 crop 1.jpg — *The Dechambeau House: King of Hearts/Wikimedia*

The Mendocini House

On Union Street there is the haunted Mendocini House, that was the house to an Italian family said to still have ghostly gatherings and dinners. It belonged to a man who drove freight trucks from Aurora and several generations of the family lived in the house. Annie Mendocini herself is said to be haunting the house and the smell of her Italian cooking sometimes comes from the window. Park rangers in Bodie Ghost Town claim to have smelled the scent of garlic as well as seen the steam from boiling water.

There are also reports about the sounds like there is a large gathering happening inside, as if they are holding a large meal. It is also said to be haunted by children and people claim to have heard their laughter.

File:Mendocini House in Bodie, California.jpeg — *The Mendocini House: Daniel Mayer/Wikimedia*

The Haunted Mines of Bodie

But what about the mines that drew the people to this deserted place in the first place? Over the years it is said many died working the mines right outside of Bodie Ghost Town.

It is said a miner who was killed in the Lent Shaft explosion is still haunting the mines. This came after the story from a park ranger who threw rocks down the shaft when the ghostly voice of the miner yelled back, “Hey you!” at him.

There is also a tale of a white mule who started to haunt the mines two weeks after it died when the mine was still in operation. The workers smelled mule droppings and appeared in front of the miners 500 feet below the ground, making many of them refuse to work there.

The Curse of Bodie

One of Bodie’s most chilling legends warns of a curse that befalls those who take anything from the town, even a simple rock and bad luck will follow those breaking the rules.

Every year there are around 200. 000 people visit the park, and some can’t help themselves and take things from Bodie Ghost Town. Even a whole piano was loaded on the truck before being returned after they heard about the curse. Tales abound of visitors who, after pocketing a memento, experience a string of misfortunes—health issues, accidents, and unexplained bad luck. Desperate to rid themselves of the curse, they often return the stolen items to Bodie, hoping to appease the restless spirits.

The rangers receive letters and packages from the visitors that regret that they stole and believe themselves to be haunted by the curse. Even things like purchased things at the gift shop are sometimes returned. The letters are often anonymous and handwritten, telling the town that they are very sorry and for the spirit to forgive them.

“You can have these godforsaken rocks back. I’ve never had so much rotten luck in my life. Please forgive me for ever testing the curse of Bodie.”
– From a letter to Bodie, 2004

Is the curse said to linger in Bodie Ghost Town real though? As with more than one park, there is a curse put on parks where the rangers get frustrated with visitors taking bits and pieces with them. In an attempt to stop people, it is said the Californian Department of Parks and Recreation started the rumor. Perhaps they didn’t realize how big it would get, but it surely did deter people from stealing, or at least giving it back when they think they are cursed.

Although the curse of Bodie Ghost Town is said to have been made as a cautionary tale from a well meaning ranger, it seems to have brought more work than worth. Now people are said to have started stealing, just to see if the curse works or not before sending the items back. Every time an item is returned, they have to file a police report for it, and most often, they can’t put it back as they have no idea where it came from, now only sitting in storage or on display. This is why they have stopped talking about the curse all together.