Bodie, Washington

Infobox Settlement
name = Bodie, Washington
settlement_type = Ghost town
nickname =
motto =

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pushpin_label_position = none
pushpin_map_caption = Location of Bodie in Washington
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Washington
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Okanogan

government_footnotes =
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established_title = Settled
established_date = 1888

population_as_of =
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timezone = Pacific (PST)
utc_offset = -8
timezone_DST = PDT
utc_offset_DST = -7
elevation_footnotes = GR|3
elevation_m =
elevation_ft = 2592
latd = 48 |latm = 49 |lats = 58 |latNS = N
longd = 118 |longm = 53 |longs = 48 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = Zip code
postal_code = 98859
area_code = 509
blank_name = GNIS feature ID
blank_info = 1516745
website =
footnotes =

Bodie is a ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States.

Geography

Bodie is located at coord|48|49|58|N|118|53|48|W|region:US_type:city (48.832667, -118.896704),GR|3 approximately 15 miles by stagecoach heading north of Wauconda along Toroda Creek (County Road 9495) off US Highway 20. Bodie lies 2592 feet (790 m) above sea level.

History of the region

In 1886, prospectors Tommy Ryan [Not the well known fighter [Tommy Ryan] ] and Phil Creasor discovered a continuous mineralized ledge in the North of Okanogan County, and claimed the area as Eureka Gulch, which soon after became known as Republic. Republic, Washington’s rapid heyday boasted seven hotels, twenty saloons, nine general stores [cite book|last=Smith|first=Jerry|title=Bodie: "Boom Towns and Relic Hunters of Northeastern Washington"|publisher=Elfin Cove Press|year=2002] , and an undisclosed number of brothels. The quality of ore discovered spurred the existence of many nearby mines and townships, including the near neighbors of Waconda, Washington, and Bodie.

Bodie, Washington

Occupied in early 1888, two years after Ryan and Creasor discovered the lucrative area which became Republic’s Knob Hill Mine, high quality ore was extracted, milled and processed right in Bodie until the falling gold prices closed the township's mine and emptied its buildings in 1934. An estimated US$1.2 million in gold was recovered, and it’s said its creek still "runs color". This scenic area, and its related ghost towns, regularly attract historians, mining buffs, and photographers to its slanting buildings, rusty equipment and log cabins. The largest, most visible structure still vertical in Bodie is apparently a schoolhouse which doubled as a saloon, but local legend is hazy on the matter.

The Bodie Mine

48.830569 (Latitude) 118.89055 (Longitude) [taken from: INACTIVE AND ABANDONED MINE LANDS—Bodie Mine, Wauconda Mining District, Okanogan County, Washington, circular 106, p.8 "Location and Map Information" Bodie mine]
South of Bodie Washington on Toroda Road, is the 1897, five-patent Bodie Mining Company claim [Okanogan SW¼ sec. 34, T39N R31E; extending into NE¼NW¼ sec. 3, T38N R31E] , later owned by the Northern Gold Company and Toroda Mines Inc. Torado Road bisects the appealing remnants of this mining camp, whose apparent ghost town is often confused as Bodie Washington. The mine consists of an array of hard rock stopes and tunnels, penetrating a mineralized vein running the length of a ridge rising from Toroda Creek. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources did an in-depth report [cite book |last=Wolfe|first=Fritz |coauthors=Matthew Brookshier, Donald McKay Jr., David Norman |title=“INACTIVE AND ABANDONED MINE LANDS—Bodie Mine, Wauconda Mining District, Okanogan County, Washington” |publisher=Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources |id=information circular 106 |month=November|year=2007] [Department of Natural Resources, Geology Division, Inactive Mines Circular 106 [http://www.bodiemine.com/assets/bodiemine.pdf] ] on this mine, and other properties in the region. Mining operations ceased during World War II, as extraction of essential wartime metals took priority by Government Order L-208 of the War Production Board. A stock certificate signed by president L.S. Kurtz indicates the mine’s net worth to be US$1,500.000 in 1903. [Geomineral Corp. Website [http://www.geomineral.com] ] The Bodie Mine is currently held in quiescence by the Geomineral Corporation.

More Information

"On the Republic-Chesaw wagon road, twenty-four miles northwest of Republic, is Bodie camp, in Okanogan county, the principal property being the BODIE mine. Shipments made to the Granby smelter, Grand Forks, B. C., showed values of $500 per ton. The GOLDEN REWARD group of claims was operated by a company of Spokane men, the mine being under the management of R. E. WILLOUGHBY. An assay of $97 was obtained from an open cut." [Quote taken from historical compilation at: [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~waferry/mining.htm] ]

References

Bibliography

*Jerry Smith, “"Boom Towns and Relic Hunters of Northeastern Washington"” Publisher: The Elfin Cove Press, Bellevue, WA, 2002. 124 pages
*Fritz Wolfe, Matthew Brookshier, Donald McKay Jr. David Norman, “"INACTIVE AND ABANDONED MINE LANDS—Bodie Mine, Wauconda Mining District, Okanogan County, Washington"” Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources, Olympia, WA, Circular 106, November, 2007. 16 pages
*Garret Romaine, “"Mining the Internet: Republic, Washington"” (published on-line) www.ghosttownsusa.com/gpm406.doc 4 pages
*Wayne S. Moen and Marshall T. Hunting "HANDBOOK FOR GOLD PROSPECTORS IN WASHINGTON", State of Washington, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources, Information Circular No. 57, Feb 1986 Pages, 50, 51, 62
*The Dwight E. Woodbridge Report, Historical document [http://www.bodiemines.com/info2.html]

External links

* [http://www.ghosttownsusa.com/bodie.htm] Link to ghost towns USA
* [http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/wa/bodie.html Bodie, Washington] Link to Ghost towns, which confuses Bodie with Bodie mine.
* [http://www.dnr.wa.gov/ResearchScience/Topics/GeologyPublicationsLibrary/Pages/pubs.aspx] Geology Publications Library