Bodie’s Wood Famine: An Explosive Situation

Bodie may have been rich in gold but lacked other resources, including lumber. Carson City’s mills were expected to fill only two-thirds of Bodie’s lumber orders.    

William Cross, better known as Buffalo Bill, was a local character in the Mono Basin. He was well-heeled and educated but chose to survive off the land. 

Buffalo Bill was rugged, standing 6 feet tall, with pale grey eyes, a short white beard, and hair below his shoulders. He always wore a leather jacket and carried a large knife and revolver on his hip. All his earthly possessions were slung over his back in a huge bag. 

Bill was a loner; he never rode with others, joined them for meals, or even visited saloons. He had a variety of shelters, including one inside a tufa lined with shelves and supplies. 

 In the winter of 1878, Bill traveled to Bodie to purchase supplies. Caught in a snowstorm that dropped over 7 feet of the white stuff, he was stranded at Bodie.

Feeling bad for Bill, residents gave him wood, patched up an abandoned cabin, and set him up with a wood stove. 

Over the winter incarceration, Bill soon depleted his wood supply. At night, he would stealthily steal wood from his neighbor’s piles. His evening escapades became so frequent that when a dog barked, residents commented that it must be Bill stealing wood again. 

Before too long, the neighbors were tired of Bill’s nocturnal escapades. A father with five children to keep warm warned Bill to stay away, but he was soon back at it. The Bodie residents decided they would do anything short of murder to prevent the loss of their precious firewood.  

One man devised a plan. He took a piece of round firewood and gouged out the center. He stuffed in the void with a ¼ stick of dynamite, then filled the end with shavings to cover his handiwork. He placed the stick on his woodpile, in a spot where Bill was likely to swipe it.

Nothing happened until the 4th night. At 4 am, an explosion rocked Bodie. Dressed in their nightclothes, people ran out of their houses with candles and lanterns to investigate the incident. The Buffalo Bill’s cabin roof was blown off, and the walls caved in. His stove was blown to pieces and scattered in the snow. Frantically, Bill ran around in only his long johns, saying someone had blown up his cabin.  

Neighbors helped Bill locate his possessions and took him in for the night. Later, at a town meeting, Bodie residents discussed what to do about their wayward visitor. They let him live at the livery stable, doing chores for his board. In Spring, Buffalo Bill wisely left Bodie and lived in an old stagecoach house in Mono Basin on Wilson Creek.  

The newspaper reported

Bang. There has been a rise in wood. A man living in the south end of town took a stick of wood lying handy on a neighbor’s pile. It burnt very well until the giant powder cartridge in the end of the wood went off. The stove and a section of the roof went with it. The wicked neighbor laughed in his sleep. 

Historical marker at Mono Mills

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References

• Calhoun, Margaret. Pioneers of Mono Basin. Artemisia Press, 1984.
• La Braque, Lily Mathieu. Man from Mono. Lily Mathieu La Braque, 1984.
• Wedertz, Frank S. Mono Diggins: Historical Sketches of Old Bridgeport Big Meadows and Vicinity. Chalfant Press, 1978.
• Historic Photo credit: Bodie State Park, Mono Basin Historical Society and public domain.

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