Out of Bodie — Roderic Schmidt

Adam O'Kee is the half-Cherokee son of a prosperous brothel owner from the gold rush town of Bodie, California. Young and strong-willed, Adam is forced to grow up quickly after the unexpected death of his beloved mother. Left without family, Adam flees the little town to begin his life anew at the tender age of eight. Mathilda Jamison and her family are on their way to California when they are left stranded with their covered wagon on the vast plains east of the Sierra-Nevada. With few supplies left and the danger of predators emerging from the prairie, Mathilda and her family are rescued by Adam, who falls in love with the sensitive and intelligent young woman. Struggling to fight discrimination and the oppression of social order, Adam and Mattie seek out a better life for themselves, first in the Sierras then on a ranch in the central valley town of Modesto. Set from the beginning of the California Gold Rush in the1860's to the 1880's, Out of Bodie is a tender love story retold in the 1950's by a now aging Mattie to her great-grandson, Little Adam O'Kee. Author Bio: Roderic Schmidt is a college English teacher at Allan Hancock College in California. He has enjoyed writing for nearly 30 years and plans to publish more of his novels and short stories in the near future. The inspiration for Out of Bodie came from actual events told to him by his grandmother. Mr. Schmidt currently lives in Lompoc, California.