Bodie Ghosts From the Gold Rush Curse Anyone Who Take From Them

It’s hard to believe that the old mining town of Bodie, California is still standing at all–but then again, that makes its history even more eerie. Since around 1859, the city has remained largely untouched. In each slowly deteriorating building, the original fixtures, utensils and  residents’ belongings lay exactly where they were left; covered in dust and grime, as if the entire town abruptly got up and left, never to return again.

The Real Bodie Died Shortly After Settling the City

Bodie began as a mining camp back in 1859 by a group of prospectors, led by a man named W.S. Bodey (the spelling of the town changed many times over the years). Unfortunately, Bodie perished in a snowstorm only a year later, never getting to see the rise of the city of his namesake.

Thanks to the discovery of gold-bearing ore in 1876, people flocked to the town in droves. By 1879, the population was between 5000-7000 people. As the years went by, however, the town’s population slowly dwindled as the prospectors were called to other states for the chance to “get rich quick” at other mining sites. By the 1940s, the last remaining resident left the town.

The State of California Takes Ownership of Bodie

The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961,^[4]and in 1962 it became Bodie State Historic Park, which thousands of people visit every year.

Though the rise and fall of Bodie was swift, it wasn’t without incidence. There were countless rumors of sex, intrigue, and even one tale of a scorned housemaid who committed suicide after she was found to have an affair with her married employer. The mysterious and intriguing stories of the past residents are said to fuel the ghostly experiences that visitors have today.

But the Ghosts Never Left

In one chilling account, the wife of a park ranger said:

“I was lying in bed with my husband in the lower bedroom and I felt a pressure on me, as though someone was on top of me. I began fighting. I fought so hard I ended up on the floor. It really frightened me. Another ranger who had lived there, Gary Walters, had the same experience, in the same room, except that he also saw the door open and felt a presence and a kind of suffocation.”

There is also rumored to be a curse that the ghosts of Bodie cast on anyone who visits and takes what isn’t theirs. Because everything in the town remains just as is was more than half a century ago, many find it temping to take momentos home with them when they leave; a piece of cutlery from a kitchen table, a poker chip from a decrepit game room, or even small pebbles from the walkway.

They Curse Countless Visitors Every Year

No matter how large or small the object(s) is, the ghosts of Bodie are there to protect the town, and strike down on anyone who tries to take from it. It’s been said that anyone who does take something is cursed with bad luck and misfortune until the objects are returned.

According to park rangers, every year they receive objects in the mail taken from Bodie. Sometimes these objects are received with anonymous letters of apology to both the town and its guardian spirits.

Still don’t believe us? Learn more about Bodie’s eerie history in the short video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEWv7oGUJmQ