STORY OF OLD WEST GOLD-MINING TOWN SHOWING TONIGHT.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer VALENCIA - Instructor Kevin Anthony's documentary film that explores the gold-mining ghost town ghost town, term for any once flourishing American community that has been abandoned, generally for economic reasons. While most of the towns have little or no population, they often contain old buildings, which may serve as tourist attractions. of Bodie, Calif., will be shown today at College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. . ``The Last Ghost Town,'' to be presented at 5 p.m. in Room l-105, chronicles one of the most famous of the gold mining boomtowns of the Old West. It originally aired on PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, in 1984 and features music by Bruce Hornsby. ``I originally went in to do a story about the 'bad men' of Bodie, but I came out of the research with a much deeper sense of the society - the miners, the women, the people who actually lived there,'' Anthony said in a recent interview. ``There's no doubt that it was a pretty wild town. But it was also populated pop·u·late tr.v. pop·u·lat·ed, pop·u·lat·ing, pop·u·lates 1. To supply with inhabitants, as by colonization; people. 2. with some amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. and fascinating people.'' At its height in the Gold Rush era of the late 1800s, Bodie boasted a population as high as 12,000 - mostly miners seeking fortune, but many others catering to or preying on them. Mining continued through the 1930s, but the population gradually declined as the supply of gold was depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d . Only five residents remained by 1961, and the state assumed control of the town, located about an hour's drive north of Mammoth Lakes. ``It was quite a colorful place, which had fueled so many myths flying around about this town,'' said Anthony, who heads up the college's Hotel and Restaurant Management Program. ``I went into Bodie in search of the truth.'' The presentation, which will include a talk by Anthony, is part of the college's Scholarly Presentation Program, which allows faculty members to share their passions with the college and the community. |
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