Oatman, AZ

Oatman was an old gold mining town named for Olive Oatman, a young girl who was kidnapped by the Yavapai Indians and was forced to work as a slave. She later was sold to the Mojave Indians, who adopted her and had her face tattooed in the Mojave tradition. She was released in 1855 near current Oatman.

Oatman now is a tourist destination. It is near the casinos in Laughlin, NV. It's also a big biker destination.

The 1902 Oatman Hotel has the only air conditioning for miles around, and you will be glad to get there in the summer months. The food in there is good.

The Oatman Hotel is where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard went when they eloped in Kingman, AZ. Gable reportedly loved the area and liked to go up there to play poker with the miners. Depending on the state of repair of the Hotel, you can sometimes view the room where Gable and Lombard stayed. But you can't check in. The Hotel no longer rents rooms.

Wild burros roam the streets and can be fed by hand. They are the descendants of the pack mules of the old time miners.

There are lots of cheesy tourist attractions, including a staged cowboy shoot out in the middle of the street. The street is closed to traffic while it's going on. You might as well shut it down and have a beer at the Oatman Hotel Bar.