Oatman, Arizona
- Jul 22, 2015
- 5 min read
By the mid 1850's trade between prospectors, trappers, travelers and even Indians was becoming more common. Small mining and hunting camps are where many of these trades took place. In 1855, about 15 miles east of the Colorado River a young woman would find her freedom from years of captivity on one of those trades. As a young girl new to the desert after heading west from Illinois Olive Oatman was taken by Indians. She was captured by the Apache and was a slave. She was traded to Yavapai and then Mojave. She was enslaved and abused by the first tribes but the Mojave treated her well and even gave her a chin tattoo identifying her as Mojave tribe. She spent years in captivity and the small tent camp where she was released is today the town that bears her name... Oatman, Arizona. The 1860's saw gold mining claims appearing more and more. By the turn of the century Oatman was a full swing mining town. In 1915, one claim produced over $10 million ($850,000,000 at today's prices) and Oatman's gold rush began. The next decade would be the best Oatman ever had. Fires swept the town in 1920 but the economy quickly rebuilt. However, by 1925 major mining companies were gone.
Lucky for Oatman the town's survival would not depend on the mining of gold or precious metals. The town sat right on Route 66 and travelers would sustain Oatman well into the 1950's. However, I-40 eventually connected Kingman and Needles much more efficiently and by 1960 Oatman was a shell of a town... all but abandoned. As the Colorado River area grew and eventually Laughlin boomed Oatman began to be described as a little "gem of the desert". A nostalgic day trip for families and road trippers as the surrounding towns like Kingman, Lake Havasu, Needles and Bullhead City all saw major growth.
Today Oatman is a bonafide tourist trap complete with a haunted hotel, burro chow and gunfights in the streets. Every 4th of July they have contests to cook eggs on the sidewalk and the streets are lined with tourists year round.
As the mining era came to a close miners released their burros into the desert hills surrounding Oatman. These burros are protected by law and the U.S. Department of Interior, so instead of dying off they have maintained a constant presence in Oatman. They have co-existed with Route 66 travelers of yesteryear and tourists of today so well that most Oatman stores carry "burro chow" to hand feed them as they roam the streets. The burros can usually be scolded or pushed away but some are quite aggressive...and they might want your flatbread or kettle corn instead of burro chow.
On one trip to Oatman a riding buddy and I watched 3 grandkids and a mom place their belongings on grandma's lap. Grandma was in a chair under the shade waiting for a gunfight show. They put food in her lap... she was screaming before they got across the street. It took both of us to get the burros off of her.
What would a trip to an old west town be without a good old fashioned gunfight. The Oatman Outlaws are a not for profit group of players that make sure there is a gunfight in the streets...everyday...2 on weekends at 11:30am & 1:30pm. The gunfights are free and filled with action, comedy and even the burros stroll through the show, especially if they spot food on the other side of the street. The gunfighters have been entertaining the streets of Oatman for over 30 years. They don't charge the town or the tourists for their entertaining skits. They simply "pass their hat" at the end of the show... and even that money is all given to charity.
The Drulin Inn was built in 1902 and was Oatman's largest hotel with eight rooms. It was the only building to survive Oatman's devastating fires of 1920 and was renamed the Oatman Hotel after repairs. Not only was it a favorite spot for locals, miners and travelers but also for elite and entertainers. It was a favorite spot of Clark Gable's. Gable would visit the Oatman Hotel for relaxing getaways and would join the poker games with the miners. When he married Carole Lombard in 1939 they honeymooned in Oatman and stayed at the Oatman Hotel. They returned their often, always staying in the same suite until she died in a plane crash in 1942.
Clark and Carole are two of the several spirits said to haunt the hotel. Staff and visitors have claimed to hear the famous couple chatting and laughing in their suite. "Oatie" is the spirit of a Scotish/Irish miner who drank himself to death upon hearing the news his family will not be joining him in America. He was found behind the hotel. He had been dead a couple days and was buried nearby. William Flour was "Oatie's" given name. A chamber maid is said to also remain in the Oatman Hotel. She is often referred to as the sleeping spirit and her impression has been seen in bed mattresses or dust impressions left as she sneaks a catnap in various parts of the hotel. All ghostly reports have been non-threatening and both staff and visitors report activity seems to be strongest in Clarke's suite or the saloon.
This is me outside the Oatman hotel in 2001. 305 lbs and a cig in my right hand. This was the biggest I got in my life.
Oatman is no different than any other inch of the desert. It's beauty is equaled by danger. The roads into Oatman from Laughlin or Havasu are both curvy, wide open to nowhere roads that speed freaks and tourists both love. The diversity of tourists in a town for everyone creates a combination of travelers both exceeding recommended speeds and some going dangerously slow as they take in the sights. The road behind the hills of Oatman is Route 66 and what's left of the nation's former super highway is a smooth black curvy line through the desert. It is a haven for crotch rockets, cafe bikes, or liter bikes (whichever ya' choose to call them), many end up in the same situation as this poor fella. He suffered a few broken bones and his bike was totaled. Lisa gave him a ride to the hospital in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
A friend that I rode to and around Oatman with many times (pictured above) called the Oatman Highway his church... he tried to go every Sunday and got close to meeting God every time he went.
Oatman boasts its association with historic US Hwy 66 and rightfully so. Route 66 is a known and beloved symbol to car, bike and engine lovers of all kinds. Car shows, bike rallies and poker runs are common in the Oatman hills. You never know what you'll see up there. This fella was from Germany and riding his bike around the U.S.
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