# Old Castle Whiskey



## Toma777

This may not be my best bottle, but it's my all time favorite, because it was found by my father and I at the May Lundy mines in the Eastern Sierra mountains around 1968, when I was about 8 or 9 years old.















It was quite an adventure at that age to be backpacking with my family in the high mountains of California. Bottle hunting was more of my father's activity, and I joined him because I was too young to climb the mountains, and explore the mines on the sides of the high cliffs. It was something my "mountain goat" older brothers did. The old mines were filled with other antiques that my brothers collected, like lanterns, square nails, etc. Back in 1968 antiques were everywhere for the picking, especially in places like Bodie, where you could camp right inside the old ghost town.

Because May Lundy was so rocky, finding intact bottles was tricky, and we had to dig under old bushes to find them. I also found a small purple Kellogg's bottle in a sandier location.


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## hemihampton

That's a nice Bottle & gotta be very Sentimental. I've done lots of research of the area over the Years & always wanted to look around/Dig in that area. Which I assume is not as easy to do now compared to 1960's. LEON.


P.S. Welcome to the site.


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## Toma777

Thanks. 

The fun is in the journey finding little treasures, whether in a junk store, online, or ghost towns.


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## willong

That's a sweet bottle--digging partner I had for awhile about 50 years ago found one here in WA; I could not trade him out of it!--but an even sweeter memory.

Moreover, you've answered a question I had for years: what Bodie was like before it became a highly regulated state park. Thanks!

About a decade before your find I was just a kid and would pester my folks to go explore a ghost town that we could see off to the east as we would drive through the Owens Valley on the way up to Twin Lakes or other camping spots near Bridgeport. The answer was always negative--they wanted to get through the hot dusty desert up to the cooler high country. I still like to imagine what we could have found in the dumps, for the sagebrush flats between the town and Highway 395 glistened with sun reflections off innumerable bits of glass that shared the scrub with abandoned antique cars. I don't know the name of the place, but it was near the lake bed. On a Google Earth search a few years ago, all I could find was the faint outline of a street grid, no buildings or abandoned cars. Farther north, we used to wonder what the story was behind the incongruous Asian-style stone building that sat derelict on the west side of the highway--it was years later that I finally learned it was the gatehouse for the Manzanar internment camp during WW2.


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## Toma777

As a kid I made that drive many times with my family. It really brings back the memories. I use to go up to the Twin Lakes area all the time with my father for fishing. We really liked the June Lake loop.

I explored all kinds of ghost towns in those mountains. The White Mountains had some hidden ghost towns in them.

The last time I was in that area (2002) was with a girlfriend I met in Mexico (Canadian), and we hiked up into Panamint City outside of Death Valley. It was fun exploring the old mines with flashlights.





Panamint City in 1875.


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## hemihampton

I had a Friend who's Parents used to own a Resort on Saddlebag Lake I think it was Called. The Highest Elevation Lake in the Sierra Nevada's. Always wanted to go there & Mono Lake & Bodie. LEON.


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## Toma777

Long distance electricity was invented because of Bodie. They needed to run their stamping mills to extract the gold out of the quartz, and so they experimented by running electric lines from the Mono Mills (I believe) hydro plant to Bodie. I believe it was something like a 26 mile run of electric lines, which had never been done before.

I visited Bodie many times over the years, and the last time I was there I sneaked into the private land area, and peaked into some of the old houses.

There was a Clint Eastwood filmed next to Mono Lake.


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## hemihampton

Yes, I'm very Familiar with the Clint Eastwood Movie done there. It's the one where they Painted the Town Red, Town of Lago, High Plains Drifter was the name. The Rock Band Cinderella filmed a Video in Bodie & Mono Lake. LEON.


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## Toma777

Another mining camp find, a slightly purple spice jar with a square nail in it's cork.

The spice doesn't have any oder, so I don't know what it is.


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## hemihampton

I just DUG a couple of those Today. Left them behind in the Dump. LEON.


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## Toma777

Old spice just isn't worth saving.


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## UncleBruce

A brisk slap in the face... sure did sting after a shave.


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## Wildcat wrangler

Toma777 said:


> This may not be my best bottle, but it's my all time favorite, because it was found by my father and I at the May Lundy mines in the Eastern Sierra mountains around 1968, when I was about 8 or 9 years old.
> 
> View attachment 225566
> View attachment 225567
> View attachment 225568
> View attachment 225569
> 
> It was quite an adventure at that age to be backpacking with my family in the high mountains of California. Bottle hunting was more of my father's activity, and I joined him because I was too young to climb the mountains, and explore the mines on the sides of the high cliffs. It was something my "mountain goat" older brothers did. The old mines were filled with other antiques that my brothers collected, like lanterns, square nails, etc. Back in 1968 antiques were everywhere for the picking, especially in places like Bodie, where you could camp right inside the old ghost town.
> 
> Because May Lundy was so rocky, finding intact bottles was tricky, and we had to dig under old bushes to find them. I also found a small purple Kellogg's bottle in a sandier location.



U camped in bodie?! That would scare me, and not very much does! Very nice bottle, there. When was the last time u went to Bodie? It’s been a couple years for me, but a lot had changed- they had freakin tours with rides around the area. And a lot of buildings had fallen to the ground, or were showing their “arrested decay” from my previous time there, the year before. I have to go back, soon! That place is an absolute trip.


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## Wildcat wrangler

Toma777 said:


> Long distance electricity was invented because of Bodie. They needed to run their stamping mills to extract the gold out of the quartz, and so they experimented by running electric lines from the Mono Mills (I believe) hydro plant to Bodie. I believe it was something like a 26 mile run of electric lines, which had never been done before.
> 
> I visited Bodie many times over the years, and the last time I was there I sneaked into the private land area, and peaked into some of the old houses.
> 
> There was a Clint Eastwood filmed next to Mono Lake.







Now u can peak into all the houses- such a trip. The undertakers house, Lottie the town prostitutes house with George Washington’s pix up in her bedroom. I’ve been there 3 times and still have not seen it all- am planning another trip there, this summer. I can’t imagine how it was when it wasn’t a state park! I love your story, but couldn’t imagine camping at Bodie? The first trip, I took a square nail home- big mistake. I wouldn’t take anything out of that place- after a hellish year, & by then, I had heard of the Bodie curse- I couldn’t take that stupid nail back and leave it back at the Tracy house. Immediately this huge wind came up and and leave whole house was just screaming so loud, and it only got louder as I walked away... it was so creepy! I have it on video, someplace? Also there were bones all over the floor of the Tracy house. Did u say you got bottles from there? I saw incredible bottles there, but after that year and hearing other people’s stories, and seeing the Cole house just streaking so loud, I dust my shoes off when leaving that place!  I can’t wait to go back!












































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## Toma777

The last time I was in Bodie was in 2002. It was around 1993 that I snuck into the private land area, still owned by descendants of the original owners.

The private land area, looking from the cemetery, is right of the big mine buildings, up on the saddle, and over the saddle. I parked somewhere outside of Bodie on the other side of the saddle and walked in. Then I walked into Bodie afterwards, and nobody seemed to care I was in the private land area.

I've had friends that say they lived past lives in Bodie, so for fun I told myself I would dream of a past life there if it were true, and that night, while camping near Bodie, I had a long lucid dream about a life in Bodie, which ended where I was buried alive in a mine cave-in. Like you said, creepy, but a lot of fun. What's funny is in the dream I recognized my sister in my dream as being one of my girlfriends in real life.


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## hemihampton

I always wanted to visit Bodie. I did buy a DVD disc of Bodie off of ebay a few Years ago. Interesting. To bad more then half the Town burned down many Years ago if I remember right. LEON.


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## Toma777

OMG! $2,300 for one of those Bodie bottles!









						Pearson Bros. Bodie Soda Bottle CA - Bodie,Mono County - c1880-1887 - 2012aug - Saloon
					

Pearson Bros. Bodie Soda Bottle CA - Bodie,Mono County - c1880-1887 - 2012aug - Saloon - Holabird-Kagin Americana




					www.icollector.com
				




*Mark Twain In California’s High Sierra – From Mining To Story Telling*

*"Prior to Samuel Clemens’ fame, he was a journalist whose journeys lead him to the mining town known as Bodie."*









						Mark Twain In California's High Sierra - From Mining To Story Telling
					

Mark Twain in California created Sam Clemens' moniker. Read about where he gained fame as an author to his famous quotes about Lake Tahoe & much more!




					californiahighsierra.com


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## willong

Toma777 said:


> OMG! $2,300 for one of those Bodie bottles!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Pearson Bros. Bodie Soda Bottle CA - Bodie,Mono County - c1880-1887 - 2012aug - Saloon
> 
> 
> Pearson Bros. Bodie Soda Bottle CA - Bodie,Mono County - c1880-1887 - 2012aug - Saloon - Holabird-Kagin Americana
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.icollector.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Mark Twain In California’s High Sierra – From Mining To Story Telling*
> 
> *"Prior to Samuel Clemens’ fame, he was a journalist whose journeys lead him to the mining town known as Bodie."*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mark Twain In California's High Sierra - From Mining To Story Telling
> 
> 
> Mark Twain in California created Sam Clemens' moniker. Read about where he gained fame as an author to his famous quotes about Lake Tahoe & much more!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> californiahighsierra.com


Mark Twain wrote an account, reputedly of his own experience, of traveling across Lake Tahoe to camp. (It's been awhile since I read it, but I think the purpose was either to stake mining claims or homesteads.) He said that the campfire got away from the group and started a massive forest fire, which he described in some detail. According to Twain, the party decamped in a rush and never admitted (prior to his writing obviously) their responsibility. Ever since reading the account, I've been intrigued with the notion--not that I'll have enough years and ambition to do so--of either confirming or debunking the story. Are there 160-year-old fire scars over a large area in the country described, or contemporaneous newspaper accounts, etc?

Mark Twain also described a sailing trip on Mono Lake.


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## Toma777

Thank you for the additional information about Mark Twain. I've driven around Lake Tahoe, but never explored that area.


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## willong

willong said:


> Mark Twain wrote an account, reputedly of his own experience, of traveling across Lake Tahoe to camp. (It's been awhile since I read it, but I think the purpose was either to stake mining claims or homesteads.) He said that the campfire got away from the group and started a massive forest fire, which he described in some detail. According to Twain, the party decamped in a rush and never admitted (prior to his writing obviously) their responsibility. Ever since reading the account, I've been intrigued with the notion--not that I'll have enough years and ambition to do so--of either confirming or debunking the story. Are there 160-year-old fire scars over a large area in the country described, or contemporaneous newspaper accounts, etc?
> 
> Mark Twain also described a sailing trip on Mono Lake.


Found a couple websites with the fire tale. I had forgotten that it was part of "Roughing It" a book I have read entirely once and revisit portions of on occasion. Perhaps that is where the Mono Lake account resides as well. Here's a link with partial fire account: https://wildfiretoday.com/2010/09/18/mark-twain-started-a-fire-at-lake-tahoe/

There seems to be some acceptance of Twain's fire as fact, even if liberally embellished.


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## willong

Almost twenty years ago, The Hallmark Channel aired a mini-series production of "Roughing It" that I remember enjoying immensely. I just searched to find if it is available for watching online.

Indeed it is! Here is a link to Part 1: 




I highly recommend it to fans of history and humor. Despite liberal literary license that Mark Twain employed in his story telling, it is worth remembering the the young Sam Clemens actually made the journey he recounts.


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## Toma777

Thanks for sharing the Mark Twain stuff. I'm on a long wait list for my next library hotspot, so it will be some time until I can watch it. My neighbors let me tap into their wifi, but it's a slow connection because of the distance.


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## nhpharm

Toma777 said:


> As a kid I made that drive many times with my family. It really brings back the memories. I use to go up to the Twin Lakes area all the time with my father for fishing. We really liked the June Lake loop.
> 
> I explored all kinds of ghost towns in those mountains. The White Mountains had some hidden ghost towns in them.
> 
> The last time I was in that area (2002) was with a girlfriend I met in Mexico (Canadian), and we hiked up into Panamint City outside of Death Valley. It was fun exploring the old mines with flashlights.
> 
> View attachment 225573
> 
> Panamint City in 1875.


I went up to Panamint City a few years ago with my sister and mom.  It's a rough hike these days but we really enjoyed ourselves and had the place to ourselves.  It's incredible looking down that valley at all the rockwork and imagining a town there...and there was glass everywhere.


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## Toma777

In 2002 we talked to the the man living at the base of the canyon going up to Panamint City, and he said the road had washed out a few years before, and jeeps could drive up to Panamint City on the road. He was living there with his elderly father, and he said he could never leave his place unattended because it would be looted. 

In Panamint City we stayed in one of the old cabins, which had beds and a few things in the cupboards for visitors.

It was a rough hike for us also, and the valley was filled with grape vines. There was something in the creek water we were able to eat, although we probably shouldn't have because of all the mercury they used in gold mining. 

We also went to an old ghost town above Bodie someplace, but I don't remember the name now. We were there in the late Fall, and it was so cold up around 10,000 feet elevation, we nearly froze to death at night. We actually burned cow pies to stay warm. My 5 gallon water bottle froze solid through and through.


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## nhpharm

The BLM banned Jeeps from going up there several years ago and the house at the base of the canyon was burned flat more recently I believe.  Since the Jeeps don't go up there any more, the vegetation has really taken off in the canyon and it is a bit of a bushwack to get up there.  We really enjoyed it though...the cabins are still up there and somewhat maintained for camping and there is clean water up there too.  Here is a post from when I went up there:






						Panamint City California
					

I went for a little jaunt with my sister and my mother to Panamint City, California this past week.  Not the easiest place to get to (pretty much a full day hike to get out there) but a fascinating place for sure.  Lots of open mine shafts and tunnels, lots of ruins, lots of beautiful minerals...



					www.antique-bottles.net


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## willong

Toma777 said:


> There was something in the creek water we were able to eat, although we probably shouldn't have because of all the mercury they used in gold mining.


Okay, you've piqued my curiosity (it's not difficult to do). What did you eat: crayfish, watercress, fish or?


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## UncleBruce

willong said:


> Okay, you've piqued my curiosity (it's not difficult to do). What did you eat: crayfish, watercress, fish or?


Inquiring minds want to know this!!!!


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## Toma777

You got it with the second guess, watercress.


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## Wildcat wrangler

willong said:


> Found a couple websites with the fire tale. I had forgotten that it was part of "Roughing It" a book I have read entirely once and revisit portions of on occasion. Perhaps that is where the Mono Lake account resides as well. Here's a link with partial fire account: https://wildfiretoday.com/2010/09/18/mark-twain-started-a-fire-at-lake-tahoe/
> 
> There seems to be some acceptance of Twain's fire as fact, even if liberally embellished.



Yes, it did burn. Its weird-the last few times I went there, (I have to come from Reno, from regional cat shows) every time there is some kind of fire raging-but all there is is sage brush! Not like here, where we still have some trees that didn’t burn up, in the last 3 years. It just doesn’t seem like fire would be a thing, with nothing to burn, but most of the town burned at 1 point. Virginia city is just about as cool to go thru, too... with crazy history- and it’s fun. Every weekend they have different events in the middle of town- camel races, underwear races? Outhouse races....


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## Wildcat wrangler

Toma777 said:


> The last time I was in Bodie was in 2002. It was around 1993 that I snuck into the private land area, still owned by descendants of the original owners.
> 
> The private land area, looking from the cemetery, is right of the big mine buildings, up on the saddle, and over the saddle. I parked somewhere outside of Bodie on the other side of the saddle and walked in. Then I walked into Bodie afterwards, and nobody seemed to care I was in the private land area.
> 
> I've had friends that say they lived past lives in Bodie, so for fun I told myself I would dream of a past life there if it were true, and that night, while camping near Bodie, I had a long lucid dream about a life in Bodie, which ended where I was buried alive in a mine cave-in. Like you said, creepy, but a lot of fun. What's funny is in the dream I recognized my sister in my dream as being one of my girlfriends in real life.
> 
> View attachment 225649



Is that an unmarked grave in the Masonic white peoples cemetery? Missing 1 knob? If so, that would be Lotties gravesite. She had a sense of humor, it seems- being the town hoe, she was not invited to a big Masquerade party- she dressed up, all disguised, and went to the party, anyway. She had a great time, that night, socializing with all the ladies of the town, who Despised her… They were pissed when they found out who they were socializing with that night! When she died they snuck her into the white portion of the cemetery and buried her there instead of on the next hill with the criminals and Indians and that token Chinese guy... It’s unmarked because they said that it would have been dug up for some morbid souvenirs, if her name was on it. I’m sure that they didn’t put her name on it to begin with!
	

	
	
		
		

		
			






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