William S. Bodey Grave Marker
N 38° 12.656 W 119° 01.014
11S E 323420 N 4231142
One of the most visited spots in Bodie Ghost Town. The grave marker honors a man who never saw Bodie but is credited with discovering gold in the Bodie Hills. and who died in 1859 prior to the birth of the town named after him.
Waymark Code: WM4M27
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/04/2008
Views: 24
Incription: “THIS MARKER PLACED IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM S. BODEY, DISCOVERER OF THE BODIE MINES, WHO LIES BURIED ON THIS HILLSIDE.
“LET HIM REPOSE IN PEACE AMONG THESE EVERLASTING HILLS”
ERECTED BY SNOWSHOE THOMPSON CHAPTER ECV OCTOBER 5, 1957”
Erected 1957 by E Clampus Vitus.
"Bodie's burying ground, incidentally, is one of the most visited spots in the town—but its tallest and most impressive tombstone honors a man who never saw Bodie, probably never even heard of the camp, and is buried some 3000 miles away. Originally the stone was intended forWilliam S. Bodey, who, in the summer of 1859, made the first discovery of placer gold in this area. That same winter Bodey froze to death in a blizzard. When his body was located the following spring he was buried where death had overtaken him, and the boom town that sprang up as a result of his discovery was named in his honor—with corrupted spelling. Some years later, in a burst of civic pride, it was decided that Bodey's bones should be removed from their lonely resting spot to a place of honor in the city cemetery; and in November, 1879—the 20th anniversary of Bodey's death — the removal was performed with the Bodie Brass Band providing suitable music, and local luminaries making speeches. A sizable purse was raised to pay for a monument, and a sculptor was commissioned to chisel a tall shaft topped by an urn. But, before the inscription was cut
word reached Bodie of the assassination of President Garfield. By this time the fervor for honoring the camp's discoverer had begun to wane a bit—and inasmuch as Garfield had been a good Mason and the Masonic lodge was then one of the strongest organizations
in the town, it came about that Bill Bodey's granite shaft was dedicated to a martyred president. Eighty years of buffeting by wind and weather has taken its toll but, with care, thecrumbling inscription still may be deciphered:
To the Memory of
James A. Garfield
Prs. of U.S.
Died Sept. 19, 1881.
Erected January, 1882.
No one, presumably, knows the exact location of Bill Bodey's grave, but so that his name might not be forgotten, two years ago the Snowshoe Thompson Chapter of E. Clampus
Vitus installed in the cemetery a large granite boulder bearing a bronze plate with the inscription: "This marker placed in memory of William S. Bodey, discoverer of the Bodie mines who lies buried on this hillside. Let him reposein peace amid these everlasting hills."" - Desert Magazine / October, 1960
The marker is in Bodie, California, in Mono County and can be reached from Cemetery Road near Bypass Road. The gravestone and accompanying marker are uphill and to the right, not far from the cemetery entrance.
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