Oatman is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in the Black Mountains of

Mohave County Mohave County occupies the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 counties in the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is th ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, United States, at an elevation of . In 1915, it began as a small mining camp when two prospectors struck (equivalent to $ in ) in gold, though the vicinity had already been settled for several years. Oatman's population grew to more than 3,500 in one year. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 102.

History

The name Oatman was chosen in honor of

Olive Oatman Olive Ann Oatman (September 7, 1837March 21, 1903) was a White American woman who was enslaved and later released by Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the Mojave Desert region when she was a teenager. She later lectured ...

, a young

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

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 Mohave or Mojave (Mojave language, Mojave: 'Aha Makhav) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people indigenous to the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert. The Fort Mojave Indian Reservation includes territory within the bo ...

, who adopted her and tattooed her face in the custom of the tribe. She was released in 1856 at

Fort Yuma Fort Yuma was a fort in California located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was established in 1848. It served as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861. The fort was retired from ...

. In 1863,

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...

John Thomas Moss discovered gold in the Black Mountains and staked several claims, one named the Moss after himself and another after Olive Oatman, whose story was well known. For the next half-century, mining waxed and waned in the remote district until new technology, reduced transportation costs, and new gold discoveries brought prosperity to Oatman in the early 20th century. The opening of the Tom Reed mine, followed by the discovery of a rich ore body in the nearby United Eastern Mining Company's property in 1915, brought one of the desert's last gold rushes. The boom of 1915–1917 gave Oatman all the characters and characteristics of any gold rush

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...

. For about one decade, the mines of Oatman were among the largest gold producers in the American West. USGS Oatman 1921 rfl01262

In 1921, a fire burned down many of Oatman's smaller buildings, but spared the Oatman Hotel built in 1902. It remains the oldest two-story adobe structure in Mohave County and is a Mohave County historical landmark. One of the hotel's major attractions is a room designated as the suite where

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

and

Carole Lombard Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard ...

supposedly spent their honeymoon after their 1939 wedding in

Kingman, Arizona Kingman is a city in and the county seat of Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named after Lewis Kingman, an engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The population was 32,693 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hi ...

. In actuality, Gable and Lombard returned directly to Los Angeles after their wedding for a press conference the next morning and did not take a honeymoon until much later in

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

. In 1924, the town's main employer, United Eastern Mines, permanently shut down its operations after producing (equivalent to $ in ) worth of gold at the government-controlled market value of $20 per ounce. The district had produced (equivalent to $ in ) in gold by 1941, when the remainder of the town's gold mining operations were ordered shut down by the government as part of the country's war effort, because other metals were needed. Oatman was fortunate it was located on busy

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

and catered to travelers driving between Kingman, Arizona, and

Needles, California Needles is a city in San Bernardino County, in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California. Situated on the western banks of the Colorado River, Needles is located near the California border with Arizona and Nevada. The city is accessible v ...

. Yet even that advantage was short-lived, because the town was completely bypassed in 1953 when a new route was built between Kingman and Needles. By the 1960s, Oatman was all but abandoned. The town survives as a nostalgic Route 66 stop with a

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

feel down to the wooden sidewalks, staged shootouts, and wild burros wandering the streets. The federal government rounds up areawide wild burros using helicopters and said, "Oatman is a very particular case because that town's basically all about burros."

Demographics

References

External links

Oatman and Gold Road Chamber of Commerce – Information and events

Oatman
at Western Mining History {{authority control Census-designated places in Mohave County, Arizona Census-designated places in Arizona Mining communities in Arizona U.S. Route 66 in Arizona History of Mohave County, Arizona Ghost towns in Arizona

History

Demographics

See also

References

Further reading

External links