Bodie: "The Mines Are Looking Well...": The History of the Bodie Mining District, Mono County, California [Paperback]

Michael H. Piatt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

Based on three decades of research, this book tells the story of mining in the former boomtown of Bodie, California. Woven throughout are accounts of gambled fortunes, engineering marvels, and vigilante uprisings. Tracing Bodie's history from the discovery of gold in 1877 to the departure of its last residents in the 1940s, the book includes maps and scores of never-before-published photos.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A native of California, Michael H. Piatt first visited the ghost town of Bodie in 1968. This initial visit has influenced his research, writing and way of life for more than three decades. In 1969 and 1970 he served as a Park Aide at Bodie State Historic Park. In 1981 he set aside his career as a civil engineer to study traditional blacksmithing in New Mexico. From 1982 to 1994 he worked at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachussetts, demonstrating the craft of fashioning tools and hardware in the manner of early American blacksmiths. The author of articles on western mining and transportation, he lives in central Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: North Bay Books; First edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972520007
• ISBN-13: 978-0972520003
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive book on Bodie!, January 4, 2004

By 

Robert L. Pilatos "HighSierraBob" (Cypress, California United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bodie: "The Mines Are Looking Well...": The History of the Bodie Mining District, Mono County, California (Paperback)

Bodie: "The Mines Are Looking Well . . ." is the first comprehensive, serious history of the famous old California ghost town. The author, Michael Piatt, spending two years of his life directly involved with Bodie as a California State Park Aide, leads the reader through a century of gold mining history beginning in 1859. The book, like no other, provides comprehensive details on the mining activity that took place in Bodie! Lavish photo captions, fascinating sidebars, and extensive endnotes are as interesting as the text. The book also contains many photos never before seen in print. Anyone interested in learning about Bodie and its principle industry should begin with this book. An amazing historical compilation of what took place in one of California's Old West ghost towns.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb history of the Bodie mining district, September 22, 2009

By 

Wayne Bengston (Cordelia, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bodie: "The Mines Are Looking Well...": The History of the Bodie Mining District, Mono County, California (Paperback)

I've been to Bodie 4 times in the past year, once on a "scouting trip" of the area, two more times with family that had come to visit, and then finally, a day where I stayed to talk to rangers and do a tour of the stamp mill.

I really love Bodie, and wanted to learn more about it.

The author of "Bodie, The mines are looking well" did a great job of researching the industry that built the town, and leaves one with a realization that we are truly blessed to still have Bodie to visit.

This book concentrates on the mines, and one is left wanting to learn more of the lives townspeople and of the miners. That said, the book is still great, and left me with a great knowlege of the mines themselves.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive History of Bodie and 19th Century Western Mining, February 7, 2008

By 

Frederick Martin - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bodie: "The Mines Are Looking Well...": The History of the Bodie Mining District, Mono County, California (Paperback)

Reader's intertested in Bodie's whole history have been ovewhelmed by books claiming to tell its "true" story. The difficult part is knowing which ones are closest to the truth. Two carefully researched books are essential. This is one of them. Piatt's attention to detail and years of research allowed him to tell Bodie's story from beginning to end. This is Bodie's definitive history from which all other books will be judged. Piatt's writing has the ability to describe with ease the complex technical and financial aspects of mining. He also does not neglect the social history of the town and writes about it's entire 100+ year history.
His style is frank and matter o' fact, as one would expect from an engineer, yet once one starts to delve into the facts about Bodie, it's own story is facinating and truly an amaizing tale worth reading.

The other important work on Bodie is Roger D. McGrath's Gunfighters, Highwaymen,& Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier, which corrects many of America's Wild West shoot-'em-up myths by studying actual crime in two western boomtowns: Aurora, Nevada, during the early 1860's and BODIE, California, around 1880.
Both Piatt and McGrath relied on Contemporary Records, making their books historically accurate as possible and bringing many little-known
facts to light.