California's official Gold Rush ghost town lives again in this vivid account. The Bodie Mining District was established in 1860 after the discovery of gold deposits in the area. The boom ended just twenty years later, and the town began its long, slow decline, surviving into the twentieth century as a small town supported by a few small but steady mines. Mining ended with World War II. What remained of the town became a state park in 1964. In "Bodie's Gold," author Marguerite Sprague uncovers the original sources for information whenever possible, from the first mining claims to interviews with Bodieites alive today. Sprague has traced several popular Bodie legends back to their original sources, leading to revisions of beloved myths, more details about some others, and a few interesting new stories. Enhanced with numerous historic photographs and quotations from newspapers of that period, as well as by the reminiscences of former residents, "Bodie's Gold" offers a fascinating account of life in a Gold Rush boomtown.
- ISBN10 087417628X
- ISBN13 9780874176285
- Publish Date 3 August 2005 (first published 1 April 2003)
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Out of Print 23 May 2011
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Nevada Press
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback
- Pages 264
- Language English