Bodie was named after Waterman S. Body (also known as William S. Bodey), who discovered gold here in 1859. The town of Bodie became famous with the decline of mining along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. Prospectors¹ crossing the eastern slope in 1859 to search for gold, discovered what was to be the Comstock Lode at Virginia City and started a wild rush to the surrounding high desert country.