Bodie ghost town: shadows of Far West on the Sierra Nevada

ORIGINAL POST FROM WWW.ITALIAPERDUTA.COM:

BODIE GHOST TOWN, OMBRE DEL FAR WEST NELLA SIERRA NEVADA

Often when talking about Ghost Towns the first image that comes to mind is that of an Old West village, a place now become a legend and a time, that of the gold rush, now become a myth. In the 19^th century more and more pioneers looking for fortune flooded the west of the United States, towards the frontier and towards unexplored lands where starting a new life was possible. Thus were the first deposits of gold and other precious metals discovered, and cities were built around the mines. Cardsharpers, cowboys, prostitutes, all overflowed these small towns in the middle of the desert, where soon rose saloons, playrooms, brothels and, yes, also some houses. With time, though, the mines ran out and these towns were abandoned as fast as they were built. Many ghost towns have been admirably restored and today have a great appeal, especially to the European visitor, who often knows about those years only from what they could see in Hollywood cinema. But to experience the prototypical Far West ghost town, Bodie is the way to go…

Lying in California, along the Sierra Nevada’s barren scope, Bodie can be dated back to 1859, when a certain W.S. Bodey found a nugget in a deserted zone over 2.500 metres of altitude. Soon a village was born from nothing. Its first winter was dire: the dead, the isolation and the difficult supplying drove many gold diggers to leave. Bodie, however, survived, and in 1879 it gave its inhabitants a very rich gold seam. In a few weeks the small town became the second most important city in California after San Francisco. It reached a population of 10.000 between adventurers, desperados, bandits, prostitutes and preachers…in 1880 there were as much as 65 saloons, countless brothels, a Chinese district and 4 cigar shops!

But Bodie certainly wasn’t an Eden… the miners were forced to work from 100 to 200 metres deep underground for 3 or 4 dollars a day. At the time, those who went to Bodie used to say "Goodbye, God, I'm going to Bodie". To counter its profane reputation, they decided to raise money for a Methodist Church, but no pastor ever wanted to come because the money came from brothels and opium bars. In Bodie everyday someone got killed, so much that the miners jokingly used to say "Well, have we got a man for breakfast this morning?"

In 100 years the mines of Bodie made 100 million dollars, until, in 1942, the War Production Board had the town abandoned. Only a dozen of “forgotten souls” kept living there, and 10 years later a fire set by a boy laid it to waste. 95% of Bodie burned, but a number of houses, now restored, a church, hotels, banks, the firefighters’ house, the funeral home, a school, a prison, the old mines and the lavatories (now the only available toilette for tourists!) survived. Luckily the renovation wasn’t overdone, and since then nothing has changed: it will really feel like being thrown back to the legendary Old West. Placed in a barren land, Bodie manages to be eerie and at the same time peaceful, immersed in the deepest silence, broken only by the occasional passing tourist. Most of the buildings are closed, and from the dirty windows some objects are visible as if frozen in time. In the houses in which it’s permitted to enter there’s crumbling wallpapers, dust, old gnawed armchairs, sinking floors, set tables, old Coca-Cola bottles and shop windows still dressed. The best-conserved building is the church, inside which is still kept an old organ. Everything is there but the townsmen, buried in the cemetery just out of town, often still wearing their boots.

Today Bodie and its surrounded are protected as a State Historic Park and taken care of by rangers. This writer visited Bodie 4 years ago and can confirm that the authentic ghost town charm and the feeling of breathing the air of the true Far West resides here, and is something that must be experienced.

TOURIST INFORMATION (map)

Bodie is along Route 270, 13 miles from Highway 395, near Bridgeport, north of Lee Vining towards Lake Tahoe. The final 5 kilometres to get there are on a dirt road, but easily practicable even without an off-road (taking precautions to avoid puncturing, because there are no services for miles around). In winter the road might be inaccessible due to the snow, so it’s best to go there between April and October. Be sure to have enough gas with you because there are no stations in the area. There are also no restaurants or fast foods, so bring along something to eat. Bodie can be visited in the summer period (May 15^th – October 31st) from 8am to 6pm and in the winter period (November 1^st – May 14^th) from 9am to 15pm. The price of admission is 7$ for adults and 5$ for kids. It’s also possible to partake in a guided tour by going to the Visitor Center in the city centre, inside an old building with a museum.

If heading to Lake Tahoe, one can stop for lodging in Bridgeport, a few miles north along route 270. If you’re instead going to the Yosemite Park and/or the Death Valley, Bodie can be reached within a day from both, even including a stop by the wonderful Mono Lake, one of the oldest lakes in North America with a saltiness level three times higher than the sea. The east entrance (Tioga Pass Entrance) of the magnificent Yosemite National Park is about thirty miles south of Bodie, and it takes about three hours by car to reach the centre of the valley passing through breathtaking landscapes. The incredible Death Valley National Park is a bit farther (about 5 hours by car), so it’s advisable to stop by LonePine, a small village deep in the wonderful Alabama Hills, where many Hollywood western movies were set. Here you may stay in the Dow Villa Motel, where John Wayne himself used to sleep.

For more information, visit the official website: Bodie State Historic Park.

For more pictures of Bodie, visit the gallery on our website and the video from the town’s official website.

Source: Routard.

Translation by Marco Salvadori

LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Models of the past

ORIGINAL POST: MINIATURE DEL PASSATO

Self taught ceramic and wood artist Paul Charron has been creating facade replicas of historic Western American architecture since 2003, inspired by his love of the west and the history of it's settlement. These are not doll house or model railroad pieces, but Paul's view of the intrinsic value held in a building's existence. Although painting and photography can capture the beauty of a building and it's environment, Paul feels that only three dimensional representation through fine detail can produce true realism. Through his patience and perseverance, Paul strives to attain the most detail he can with his mediums. His three building facade from Virginia City Nevada for example, has nearly 1000 hours of work involved. Although currently spending most of his spare time creating in his studio, he intends on gradually shifting his entire concentration to documenting the West's historic structures through his art. He is looking forward to sharing his passion and unwavering dedication to his chosen theme at history and art museums and western art galleries throughout the west.

The description of this awesome project in the hands of his own words:

"I create replicas of historic Western American building facades in approximately half scale. I concentrate on mid to late Nineteenth century buildings, because this was a time of so much activity in the West. I try to present the buildings as they may have appeared a century ago in a weathered and abandoned state, brought about by the death of a once vibrant community.

I have always been intrigued by Ghost Towns and the history of the American West. The fact that men and women with great determination and ingenuity settled such a vast region in such a short span of time is certainly a great accomplishment. I am inspired by the spirit of their endeavors every time I look at the remnants of the towns they built and left behind. There are few architectural masterpieces in these towns, but many simple, elegant, and well built monuments to this fascinating time in American history.

My art can be described as Realism, although I do take artistic license in rendering the colors and tones of the building facades, and portraying various architectural elements at different points of time in the building's life. No attempt is made to entice the viewer to look into the windows, the art is the building itself, and the spirit held within.

Working from my small home studio in Corvallis, Oregon, I first conduct research using information taken from site visits, historical photos, and Library of Congress Historic American Building Survey (HABS) diagrams. A great deal of time is taken to convert this information into templates and stabilizing supports for forming the building's shell, which is made with mid and high fire clay and/or wood. Clay shrinkage must be accounted for to achieve an approximate half inch scale. Doors, windows, and architectural details are created using various tight grained woods, metal, and glass. Color and texture is applied using fine mortar, aging solutions, powdered coloring dyes, earth tone chalks, and acrylic paints. Finished pieces can be hung or set on a pedestal or narrow shelf."

Some of the beautiful works of Paul Charron can be found in the image gallery on original post and in the facebook page dedicated : Bulding in the Past.

Troy Paiva's night visions

ORIGINAL POST: LE VISIONI NOTTURNE DI TROY PAIVA

Troy Paiva is a talented American contemporary artist who has been exploring since 1970 his homeland, particularly California, walking abandoned and forgotten places. In 1989 he started taking photographs of these places, drawing the outline of a hidden and often inaccessible America. His shots are taken with an unique light and exposure that transform every abandoned building or object into something different from both what it was and what it has become. Fascinated by moonlit nights, Paiva manages to immortalise time and silence, to create suggestive images that look as if they belonged to a parallel universe, decadent and enigmatic. Using very long exposure times, up to 8 minutes, a strobe flash and light filters, he manages to create those particular light effects which transform objects and shadows.
These incredible pictures portray car shells, ruined buildings, ghost towns, gas stations, abandoned planes, old trains, motels, disused military bases, ghost ships and anything that was forgotten by man, which thanks to his creations enter a new dimension of space-time thanks to his creations. At the centre of his works is the effect of human activities on the environment, often with devastating consequences. Ecological denunciation is the fundamental theme of his art, exposing the problem of disposal of waste like aeroplanes, cars and ships. In fact, batteries, plastics, oil and various chemical substances disperse in the environment, damaging local flora and fauna. Even gas station are an often underestimated source of pollution. Beneath each station are held 20.000 litres tanks, and any leak can pollute wide underground areas, and eventually even the groundwater. 

Paiva’s night photography was published in two monographs: “Lost America” (2003) and “Night Vision” (2008). These books contain all of the artist’s urban exploration and the eerie, mysterious atmosphere he manages to extract from the ruins of the modern world and the nightmares of industrial expansion. “Our society”, says the photographer, “seems to be living in something of a ‘golden age’ of abandon, everything is renewed too easily, at times for no reason, within the time of a few years things become obsolete and so we can’t but get rid of them, scattering every kind of ruins around the world.”

You can find more of Troy Paiva’s beautiful pictures at his website:

http://www.lostamerica.com/index.html

Other links:

http://www.focus.it/natura-e-ambiente/natura/i-dipinti-di-luce-di-troy-paiva1234_98412_C9.aspx

Image Gallery on ORIGINAL POST

(Translation by Marco Salvadori)