Oatman, Arizona
Oatman is truly a fascinating place basically out in the middle of nowhere. It is authentic old western town with burros roaming the streets and gunfights staged on weekends. The burros are tame and can be hand fed.
There are some places that just grab hold of me and wont let go. Oatman, Arizona is one of them right along with Highway 261, Valley of the Gods, and Monument Valley. We found Oatman the year we planned a Route 66 Trip. It was two years before we got back there. I think about Oatman all the time and I know I will visit it over and over again.
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Oatman began over 100 years ago as a mining tent camp. In 1915, two miners struck a $10 million gold find, and within a year, the town's population grew to more than 3,500.
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| Olive Oatman |
The name Oatman was chosen in honor of Olive Oatman, a young Illinois girl who was captured and enslaved by Indians, probably from the Tolkepayas tribe, during her pioneer family's massacre while on their journey westward in 1851.
She was later sold or traded to the Mohave people, who adopted her and tattooed her face in the custom of the tribe. She was released in 1856 at Fort Yuma.
Oatman was served by a narrow gauge rail line between 1903 and 1905 that ran 17 miles to the Colorado river near Needles, California.
Both the population and mining booms were short-lived. In 1921, a fire burned down many of the smaller shacks in town, and three years later, the main mining company shut down operations for good.
Oatman survived by catering to travelers on Route 66, but in the 1960s, when Route 66 became what is now Interstate 40, Oatman almost died. With the revival of Route 66, Oatman once again is a very popular tourist stop. Oatman is basically all about the donkeys!
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