Nevada Lore Series: The Curse of Bodie

Bodie has long been a ghost town tourist destination, and though it might reside in California, we in Northern Nevada still claim its lore as our own, since we are familiar with all things that are spooky, cursed, and rich in Old West history. Bodie encompasses all of these traits, but what has also put it on the map, is the fabled Bodie Curse.

In 1849, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in the Western Sierra foothills, causing a gold rush frenzy, and people poured in from across the world to the area to seek their fortune. Overnight, ragged and starving prospectors could become the richest men and women in the world.

A decade later, a group of prospectors made a new discovery in the Eastern Sierra foothills. It was toward the end of the season, and the harsh winter would soon arrive. The group agreed to keep the gold a secret until spring.

However, one of the prospectors, W.S. Bodey, arrived early with a half-Cherokee Native American man named “Black” Taylor by his side.

The pair went to Monoville for supplies, and on their return were caught in a terrible blizzard, in which Bodey died.
Camp Bodey, named for the fallen prospector, was soon changed to “Bodie” after a sign painter misspelled the name and everyone decided they liked it better with the new spelling.

At first, Bodie was ignored by the majority of prospectors, but in 1876 a bizarre cave-in brought to light a massive gold deposit. The Standard Consolidated Mining Company (not to be confused with the Bodie Consolidated Mining Company, which was founded in 1988) provided a grand amount in lumber and machinery.

Bodie grew overnight into a boomtown, with saloons, boarding houses, eateries, even an ill fortuned opera house.

According to an account written of Bodie in 1925 by a Mr. Smith, there was also an influx of gamblers, prostitutes, and “bad men,” violent criminal types who engaged in robbery, gun-fighting, and heavy drinking.

Apparently a common phrase at the time was the “bad man from Bodie” in describing an ne’er-do-well character.
While people were making it rich, Bodie was known more for its lawlessness.

In addition, during the winter of 1878, hundreds of people died from exposure and disease, and several mines encountered terrible accidents that left many dead.

At its peak, there were about 10,000 people living in Bodie and overall it is estimated to have produced between 95 and 100 million dollars in total gold production.

Similarly to Virginia City, several fires over a period of years devastated the town, and like all boomtowns, it began its decline towards ghostly death. Prohibition was the last nail in Bodies coffin, and by the 1950s Bodie was officially a ghost town.

In 1962, Bodie became a State Historic Park, as most of the 168 structures still had belongings left inside, since it is said that people who left could only take what they could carry. However, some people think something much more sinister occurred to cause an entire town to pack up and move and leave their precious belongings behind at the drop of a hat.

There are many well known specters that haunt the town of Bodie, including a Chinese woman who was the maid of the J.S. Cain House on the corner of Green and Park. Many park rangers and their family members have reported seeing and feeling the woman while in the house.

A ghostly woman is known to haunt the second story of the Dechambeau House, and tricky child spirits can be heard playing near the Mendocini House.

One of the most well known is “The Angel of Bodie,” a little girl named Evelyn Myers, daughter to Albert and Fannie Meyers, who died in 1897. Some say she was killed after accidentally being hit in the head by a miner’s pick. Her grave can still be found in the Bodie cemetery, with a white marble child angel on top.

While some of these ghost-town ghosts may seem to be non threatening, even friendly, they all have a common purpose in the abandoned desert monument. They protect the town, and it’s possessions, from pilferers and thieves.

The Curse of Bodie is a simple one: If you steal from the town, bad luck will follow you wherever you go until the stolen items are returned.

To this day, rangers still receive unmarked boxes containing nails, glass bottles, and other tokens swiped from the park at least once a week, all year long, with some accompanying letters apologizing for the thievery, begging to have their luck restored by the spooky spirit guardians.

One unlucky, naive thief returned their stolen souvenirs in 1992 with a letter stating:
“Life since then has been a steady downward slide. It’s possible that all the unpleasant events of the past nine months are a coincidence, but just in case the Bodie curse is real I am returning the nail.”

Another letter from 1994, beginning “Dear Bodie Spirits,” reads:
I am SORRY! One year ago around the 4th of July I was visiting the Ghost Town. I had been there many times before but had always followed the regulations about collecting. This trip was different, I collected some items here and there and brought them home. I was a visitor again this year, and while I was in the museum I read the letters of others who had collected things and had “bad luck.” I started to think about the car accident, the lost [sic] of my job, my continuing illness and other bad things that have “haunted” me for the past year since my visit and violation. I am generally not superstitious but . . . Please find enclosed the collectibles I “just couldn't live without,” and ask the spirits to see my regret.
Signed, one with a very guilty conscience.

In an episode of the show Beyond Bizarre, a German man said his uncle had removed a small bottle from Bodie, and two days later had a car accident on the Autobahn.

The next day his son, the man’s cousin, took the bottle to school to show classmates and on the way home had a bicycle accident. The man said, “Yes, I do believe in the curse of Bodie.”

In 2004, a letter was sent reading: ”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."

A shoe pilferer apologized and returned a stolen piece of footwear after decades of terrible luck. He said, ”Please find enclosed one weatherbeaten old shoe. The shoe was removed from Bodie during the month of August 1978... My trail of misfortune is so long and depressing it can't be listed here."

A tiny child bandit returned a piece of stolen property with a note reading, “Sorry I took the glass pieces. I thought they are pretty. My fish died the day after.”

Unfortunately, according to park rangers, when someone takes an item from Bodie and returns it, it has to be treated like stolen property and is filed in a storage facility as opposed to being put “back,” since no one knows where the nail or shoe or literal grand piano was taken (yes, someone stole and returned a grand piano after being cursed by the ghostly guards).

The easiest way to avoid the curse? Don’t take anything from the town.

Taking anything, regardless of a curse, is strictly prohibited. The reason we have these wonderful historic monuments is because they were left untouched for so long. As long as they remain untouched, they will remain monuments.

Taking things just for the fun of it also destroys the magic of seeing an entire town stuck in time.

And, as a plus, if you keep your hands to yourself, you're less likely to be cured!

Most importantly, you should see this historic old west landmark for yourself.

The park is open during summer hours 9am-6pm (April 15th to October 31st), and winter hours 9am to 4pm (November 1st to April 14th)

The prices are as follows:

Ages 17+: $8 per person
16 to 4: $5
3 and under are free
Dogs may accompany visitors into the town site, but dogs must be on a leash at all times.

For the Bodie Events Calendar, click here.

— The Nevada Lore Series focuses on the legends of Nevada and the surrounding areas that help build our culture, from ancient Washoe stories, to Old West ghostly visions, to modern day urban legends.

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