Oatman's population increased 114% between 2000 and 2010, an awesome growth percentage. Less awesome than it appears at first blush, though, since only 63 people lived there in 2000. Population peaked at 3500 in 1915-17 during the gold rush but then rapidly declined.
Nowadays, Oatman is a tourist attraction with staged gunfights, not-so-wild burros wandering the streets, funky tourist shops, one old hotel and a couple restaurants. We did a day trip to Oatman a few days ago, along with my son Tod and his wife Char, who were in LHC for a 4-day visit.
Gunfight at high noon on main street, which is actually part of Historic Route 66.
Choose your ride: Polaris Slingshot reverse tricycle, SUV, burro or motorcycle.
There were about 20 burros in town. The shops sell condensed hay cubes to tourists, who feed them to the burros. There are thousands of wild burros in western Arizona, descendants of those that escaped or were let loose in the gold rush days.
The town is named after Olive Oatman, a white woman who was captured by Indians, aka Native Americans, and was later rescued (or was released or escaped, history is unclear). Her chin was tattooed in the same manner as the character, Eva, in the TV series Hell on Wheels.
Tod and Char at the Oatman Hotel restaurant. The walls and ceilings are covered with real paper currency, mostly ones, an estimated $100,000 worth. The money is probably worth more than the 8-room hotel itself.
Clark Gable and Carole Lombard honeymooned in this hotel, and Clark returned several times to gamble with the local miners. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn how much I lose. I like the game and I like hanging with real men for a change.
