OATMAN ~ February 11, 2007

Oatman is an authentic western town of the style that is often copied by movie studios – a row of buildings on each side of a main street lined with wooden sidewalks. The town was named in honor of Olive Oatman, a girl who was kidnapped by Apaches after they massacred her family. The Apaches sold her to the Mojave tribe, where Olive lived for several years until she was rescued in 1857 near the site of the town. In its heyday from the early 1900’s to the 1940’s, Oatman was the largest producer of gold in Arizona, and once was home to thousands of residents. In 1930 the town boasted two banks, seven hotels, ten stores, and twenty saloons.


Route 66 had been built in the 1920’s, and after the mines closed down the town hung on, catering to the many travelers on the road. At first those old Ford Model A’s and Model T’s had to make the treacherous climb up Sitgreaves Pass and down several hairpin curves to Oatman. But in 1952, Route 66 was shifted to an easier more southerly route which bypassed Oatman and went through Yucca so cars could avoid the steep, narrow mountain road. Then when Route 66 was replaced with the I-40 interstate, Oatman suffered a final devastating blow. Today it supports only about 100 people year-round. Oatman is now a tourist town with gift shops and restaurants, since the historic Route 66 has became a popular destination for travelers from all over the world.


For years we’ve heard about the wild burros roaming the streets of Oatman but we didn’t see any when we were there! Apparently they had been there recently, though, because we had to watch where we were walking so we didn’t step in anything. In the afternoon there are supposed to be shootouts between costumed gunfighters in the middle of the main street, but we were there first thing in the morning so we didn’t see them either. Even so, it was well worth the visit to this photogenic old town and we got to go inside the “haunted” Oatman Hotel.