John Wayne, probably the most iconic western movie star in history, visited Bodie around 1970, for a TV special called “Swing Out, Sweet Land” (renamed for DVD to “John Wayne’s Tribute to America.”) It’s wonderful to know that an American icon like John Wayne, known for his love of the old west, made a visit to Bodie. The photos below appear to be production stills taken during the shoot, as the quality of the images is far better than the video.

It may be interesting to note that the production added several signs to the original Bodie buildings, likely to make it look a bit more like it would have in its heyday. While California State Parks began operating Bodie in 1962, and this was filmed in about 1970, it’s extremely unlikely that State Parks would allow anyone (even John Wayne) to ‘make modifications’ to the buildings today. What a wonderful find this is!