WITS END - JO LEE Magazine

L’OCCHIO / THE EYE
By
Ray Scotty Morris
San Francisco – California
Ray Scotty Morris is not only an internationally renowned photojournalist and
successful society photographer in San Francisco, but his career has enriched the
lives of many on a wide scale. He's been taking pictures for close to fifty years
and as a news photographer he won 29 photo awards in just ten years – local,
state and national, including best news picture of the year.
Scotty has received a Certificate of Commendation from the U.S. Senate along
with the distinct honor of being written into the 107th U.S. Congressional
Record.
Bodie is situated on the east side of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, near Bridgeport, California.
It is considered the best preserved ghost town of the old west.
Bodie is a photographer’s dream with 180 buildings in good
condition. In 1879 at the peak of its existence, Bodie had a
population of about 10,000 with approximately 2000
buildings. By 1948, it had become a ghost town.
It was famous for its 65 saloons, 15 brothels, opium dens and
gambling halls. A newspaper in 1879 quoted a little girl who
is said to have included in her evening prayer: "Goodbye
God we are going to Bodie."
Whiskey was 10 cents a shot and the main street was a mile
long. The town averaged one killing a day. The winter
weather was brutal, some snowfalls were over one story high
with temperatures falling to 40 degrees below zero.
The town was named after the miner, Waterman S. Body, who
discovered gold in the nearby mountains in 1859. The name
was changed to Bodie by a sign painter who just misspelled
the name Body.
The Reverend F.M. Warrington saw the town as a "sea of sin
lashed by tempests of lust and passion."
In 1878 the Bodie Mining Company shares shot up from 50
cents to 54 dollars a share. One hundred million dollars in
gold was estimated to have been taken from around the hills.
One of the most famous residents was Harvey Boone, a direct
descendent of the famous American Daniel Boone. Harvey
ran the Boone store and warehouse.
When the gold ran out, Bodie slowly became a ghost town.
In 1962, Bodie was made a California State Park and is open
year round.
64 JO LEE SUMMER 2007