Taking a July, 2010 photographic walk through Bodie, the California ghost town of the 1880's that is now a California State Park, presently under "arrested decay" due to lack of state funds to improve the site. This book is a nice affordable and concise book on the unique history of a town created by the discovery of gold, with an explanation of what many say was the "wildest camp in the west." All it needed was a good Sheriff to make it famous on a televison screen today. It is said that a man was killed there almost every day. So much for law and order in those years. As the mines petered out, with the tough winters at over 8,375 feet elevation had to be braved, the town has a history that once had almost 10,000 residents, and 2,000 buildings at it's height. Today it is a popular day trip just south of Bridgeport off Highway 395, just east of Yosemite National Park. It is 13 miles off Hwy 395, the last 3 miles unpaved. The town's namesake, William S. Bodey didn't make it through his first winter there, having got caught out in the snow in a place known to have 3-6 feet of snow, and 20 foot high windblown snowdrifts. The park is open only in the summer.



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