A HAUNTED HOTEL AND A MYSTERIOUS CAR ~ February 11, 2007

The Oatman Hotel is listed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings. It has 10 rooms and is the only two-story adobe building in Mohave County. The Gable/Lombard Honeymoon Suite has been refurbished to the period when Clark Gable and Carol Lombard stayed there. The legendary Hollywood couple often returned to the place where they spent their wedding night in 1939. It is said that guests and staff can sometimes still hear the pair whispering and laughing in that room.

The ghost of “Oatie,” an Irish miner, is also said to haunt one of the guest rooms. One time a professional photographer took a picture of the empty room, and a ghostly figure appeared in the developed print. We were able to peek inside those two rooms, but most of the others were closed. The rooms were small, the bathrooms were down the hall, the furnishings were antique, and the floor was creaky, but we didn’t sense anything spooky. Quite the opposite, it seemed pleasant and I kept thinking how the place must have been pretty lovely and lively in its former life.



Although we didn’t see any ghosts, a strange thing happened to us while we were in Oatman. There was an old car – an Edsel I think – painted primer gray with whitewall tires and a historic vehicle plate. That car seemed to appear and re-appear everywhere we were. We were joking amongst ourselves saying that it must be the phantom car of Oatman or something. The driver always stayed inside the vehicle and all I could see was a shadowy figure dressed in black. Later on at home when I was telling my mom that story, she suggested the possibility that he may have been stalking us. So that got me to wondering, and gave me a creepy feeling when I started thinking about it.


Since we had camped in the area overnight, we arrived in Oatman way early in the morning before the shops were open, so it was kind of neat that we had the place all to ourselves before the tourist crowd arrived. We walked up and down Main Street, then visited the hotel. The first time we saw this unusual car, it was parked off to the side at the top of the street. Then when we were standing in front of the hotel, I asked Rich if he could walk down the street a ways to take a picture. The minute Rich walked away, that car started up, made a u-turn, and pulled up right next to our three boys. I was standing on the other side of a big post so I still didn’t see the driver. Rich had snapped a quick picture and came running back so he wasn’t gone very long and we walked away.



Soon after that, we got in our car and left Oatman, but we decided to stop at a gold mine on the outskirts of town. Oatman is located on a desolate mountainous part of old Route 66, and after leaving town the road starts winding up the mountainside. When I looked back to see Oatman one more time, I noticed that the old car was also leaving town in the same direction that we were going. Well, we decided to stop at a gold mine on the outskirts of Oatman, and when we were stopped at the gold mine I saw that car going up the mountain road past us. So it should have been long gone by the time we got out of the one hour gold mine tour, right? Well, after the tour we got back on the road, continued on up the mountain, came around a corner, and there it was! It was parked up at the top of the hill above the mine, as if waiting and watching for someone (us?) to come by.

Now that was uncannily reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s “Duel” thriller starring Dennis Weaver. In that movie, a mysterious truck with an unseen driver kept following him and trying to run him off the road, which was in a desert canyon country just like this. I kept watching for that car the rest of the day expecting it to turn up again somewhere, but once we left the Oatman area I never saw it anymore. It did show up in one of the photos that we took, though! Hmm, I think that scenario would make for a good imaginative story starter.

Bu the way, the road from Oatman to Kingman is steep and narrow with several sharp hairpin curves, not suitable for vehicles over forty feet in length. The road to Oatman from Topock is not nearly as steep and doesn’t seem like it would be as dangerous, although we saw more roadside crosses between Topock-Oatman than we did on the Oatman-Kingman road. Please drive carefully!


http://www.oatmangoldroad.com - Oatman-Gold Road Chamber of Commerce

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.

SWANSEA TO BILL WILLIAMS ~ February 10, 2007

We like to visit ghost towns to learn about Arizona’s history and get a glimpse of what life might have been like in past times. Unfortunately, other people apparently go there just to take advantage of the remote site and have a good time. There were a bunch of RV’s parked on one side with dune buggies riding around on the mine tailings. On the other side was a caravan of RV’s arranged in a circle around the site’s public restroom as if to claim it for their own personal use. I don’t think that’s very nice because the restroom is intended for the use of all visitors, not just them. And who would want to park so close to a stinky outhouse in the first place? The sound of dune buggies and ATV’s gets kind of annoying when you’re trying to immerse yourself in the history of a place. Here we are traveling to the middle of nowhere to get away from civilization, while other people are bringing civilization along with them wherever they go! In a quest to find peace and quiet, we drove through the town and continued on a jeep trail which was supposed to lead to the Bill Williams River (named for an Arizona mountain man who used to live in the area) and the remains of a pumping plant that brought water through a pipeline to the townsite.

This area off the beaten path is accessible by a high clearance four-wheel drive vehicle. You will find yourself literally driving along sandy and gravelly wash bottoms through a dramatic canyon. Route-finding is fairly easy but this jeep trail is not recommended for inexperienced drivers. We’ve been four-wheeling since our Bronco II days in the early 1980’s and this was one of the tougher roads we’ve been on. It has a combination of rough rutted dirt surfaces, steep rocky places, deep sand and gravel, narrow sections with drop-offs, and tight clearance. Wash crossings may have mud and water if it’s rained recently. Certain sections may cause traction problems. Flash flooding is possible in places, and even in winter we got hot and were glad to take a dip in the river, so this trip is definitely not recommended during rainy seasons or in the heat of summer.

A friendly old guy and his dog were coming back up from the river on an ATV and the guy seemed amused to see us going down there in our big SUV. Although he left the area, he doubled back later, perhaps to check and see if we were able to make it out okay. The river and both sides of the canyon are part of the Swansea Wilderness, which is closed to motor vehicles. You will have to park at the boundary sign and walk to the river (approx. 100 yards). The pumping plant was located on the east side of the canyon where it joins the river. Supposedly if you climb up the cliff you will be able to see the old remains (the ATV guy said it’s basically just a concrete slab), but we were having too much fun picnicking at the river so we didn’t bother doing that. The river was running nicely when we were there and it was safe for even the littlest child to wade in, but the water must rage through the narrow rocky canyon dangerously at flood times. In the distance we could hear the braying of wild burros, descendants of those brought by long ago miners. When the mines were shut down, the burros were set free to roam the hills. We saw some burro trails but never did see the actual animals.

After we came back from the river, we drove around the Swansea townsite once more before leaving the area. We had stopped to look at a ruin that just happened to be next to a four-wheel drive road that went down to the old railroad grade, but we had had enough four-wheeling for one day so we were going to turn around. But before we had a chance to, some guy who was sitting nearby in a lawn chair next to a trailer came running over with a beer in one hand and told us that we shouldn’t go that way because “you won’t get down there without a four wheel drive.” My husband graciously thanked him and told him that we did have a four-wheel drive vehicle but we weren’t planning on going that way anyway. Hmpfh! If only that guy knew where we had just come from! What do we look like, yuppies?

We didn’t get the Ford Expedition XLT with off-road package for driving around town, that’s for sure! We’ve always been a 4X4 family, having progressed from a Bronco II to a Ford Explorer and finally an Expedition as our family has grown. The Ford Expedition is a great vehicle, by the way, if you’re looking for a large go-anywhere vehicle that is comfortable, kid-friendly and rugged. The 4x4 Off-Road Package provides skid plates for the underside of the vehicle. It also includes black tubular steel step bars, fog lamps, special shocks, and all-terrain tires. It's too bad that SUVs are falling out of favor these days due to soaring gas prices, because some of us really do need the extra room, off-road capability, and heavyweight towing capacity that a full-sized truck-based SUV has to offer. Whether you live on a rural homestead or if you are planning a cross-country expedition – or if for any other reason you may need a large vehicle that has room for lots of people and their stuff, as well as good off-road ability and heavyweight towing capacity – the Ford Expedition is hard to beat!

SWANSEA, AZ ~ February 10, 2007

Swansea is an abandoned copper mine and ghost town in the Buckskin Mountain area of LaPaz County. It’s a unique, large and interesting site that can be accessed without 4-wheel drive. Bring plenty of food and water because the mountainous desert area surrounding Swansea is in the middle of nowhere with no services or signs of civilization, and cell phones don’t work there either. Even though its location is remote with limited access, the place is no secret and it’s a popular destination. The best time to go is in winter when the weather is mild. Elevation: 1,280 ft.

The road to Swansea starts in Bouse, AZ at the Camp Bouse memorial on Hwy. 72. We turned right on Main Street, went past an assay museum, and turned left on Rayder Ave. which turned into Swansea Rd. Just outside Bouse there is a fork in the road at which point you will want to bear left. After that there are three main landmarks. You will cross the Central Arizona Project (CAP) Canal, then you will come to a point called Midway that has an interpretive kiosk. Midway used to be a water stop on the railroad line that connected Bouse and Swansea. From there you will veer left, and after that you will come to a four-way stop sign. Turn right to get to Swansea. Just before arriving in Swansea, if you use your imagination you will see a dark brown mountain shaped like a gorilla’s head, which we called Gorilla Peak. Drive around the back of that mountain and you will soon see the ghost town. The curvy mountain road going down to Swansea is a little narrow and scary, but several RVs had made it down there.

Originally a 21-mile buckboard ride from Bouse, Swansea was the headquarters for the Clara Consolidated Gold and Copper Mining company. The town was named after Swansea in South Wales, UK where the original stakeholder George Mitchell came from, and where most of its copper was shipped. The Swansea site covers an extensive area. There are a number of buildings still standing, mine shafts, a main street, a railroad station, and ruins of the smelter. The mine was active periodically from 1908 to 1949. It produced 27,000,000 pounds of copper. The ore was shipped by railroad to the Colorado River, transferred onto river steamers headed to the Gulf of California, then by freighters around Cape Horn to Swansea, Wales.

Swansea's post office was established on March 25, 1909 and was discontinued on June 28, 1924. During its heyday, Swansea’s population grew to a total of 750 residents, mostly men. It was not as large as Jerome, Oatman or Bisbee. Swansea had an electric light company, auto dealer, lumber company, two cemeteries, a saloon, moving picture house, general store, insurance agent, justice of the peace, “Swansea Times” newspaper, railroad station, Mitchell’s two-story residence, and of course the mine and smelter. Swansea’s population declined when copper prices dropped after WWI. In 1929, the American Smelting and Refining Company rebuilt much of the town. However, due to the Great Depression the mine was closed and Swansea became a ghost town in 1937, although periodic mining did continue until 1949.

Imagine our surprise when we came around the mountain and got our first glimpse of Swansea. Instead of dilapidated shacks, we observed sunlight reflecting off shiny metal roofs! As we drove closer, we saw that the rafters were built of fresh lumber. Hmm, was this a ghost town or a construction site? Both I guess, because the row of old miner’s shacks are in the process of being restored. The roofs had caved in over the years, and without any protection from the elements, the adobe and stucco walls would start wearing away. The old wooden floor boards are also being replaced. We got to see one shack that was pretty well remodeled, but also got to see some that still had the original wood floors and ceiling timbers remaining. I’m glad to see that these old structures are being preserved for future generations to explore. I wonder how the miner’s shacks managed to last as long as they did? Because all that’s left of the other structures are cement foundations or ruins. How can the brick walls of a smelter fall down anyway? And there’s nothing left of the two town cemeteries either because the graves have all been dug up. What’s the deal with that? Don’t people have any respect for the past, not even for the dead?

The Swansea site is much larger than it first appears once you learn about the area. The Bureau of Land Management provides brochures that enable visitors to understand and appreciate the site. There is an information kiosk with a brochure holder where you first enter into Swansea, but it was empty when we arrived. You may be able to get a brochure in advance at the BLM Field Office in Lake Havasu City. We found and printed out an informative brochure and map of Swansea online:
http://personal.riverusers.com/~fw/AGT/swansea.htm.

You can view some more beautiful photos of Swansea here:
http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/swansea.htm

Swansea/Oatman/Route 66 ~ February 9-11, 2007

Traditionally we like to take a Valentine’s Day trip, and since Valentine’s Day was on a Wednesday this year we decided to go on the weekend before. We’d been wanting to visit Oatman and the ghost town of Swansea for a long time, and ever since getting the Pixar “Cars” movie for Christmas, we’ve been interested in Route 66. So this was going to be our ghost town/Route 66 trip. While it may seem like ghost towns and Valentine’s Day don’t really go together, we did visit the honeymoon suite of Cary Grant and Carol Lombard, plus we got to drive through the town of Valentine, AZ!