Bodie: The Town That Belongs to Ghosts

“In 1880, Bodie and Los Angeles had nearly the same number of people. Today, almost four million people live in Los Angeles—and no one lives in Bodie.” A once prosperous but crime-ridden California mining town, Bodie was abandoned by 1932. This lively look into the rise and fall of a very wild part of the Wild West is full of exciting anecdotes about life—and perhaps afterlife—in Bodie. Readers will be fascinated to learn about the exploits of outlaw Mike “Man Eater” McGowan, for example, and how Jell-O contributed to a town-destroying fire. Captioned illustrations and photographs of past and present Bodie feature prominently. The main text includes primary source excerpts, while text boxes highlight important and unusual facts, such as how a vigilante group, the Bodie 601s, may have gotten their name. Back matter consists of a “Bodie: Then and Now” spread, a glossary, bibliography, suggestions for further reading, publisher’s link to digital resources, and an index.