Oatman is a superb tourist trap/history stop with an interesting history and lots of fun for families, history buffs, and those that wish to oggle a bit of the odd.
The town came alive when gold was discovered in 1915, thriving until the war effort in 1941 shut down the gold mining in favor of more needed mining, like iron. But it never died! Route 66 brought traffic through the town, and the center of activity was the Oatman Hotel, where the Clark Gable and Carol Lombard honeymoon suite is one of the hotel's major attractions.
In the Oatman Hotel, there is an estimated $90,000 in one dollar bills on the walls. The gold miners, who earned about $4 a day, would tack a dollar on the wall with their name on it, so that they could use it if thirst struck them before payday. Kind of like the first pre-paid debit card!
Wild burros roam the town and can be hand-fed carrots and "burro chow," available in practically every store in town. Though normally gentle, the burros are in fact wild and signs posted throughout Oatman advise visitors to exercise caution. The burros are descended from pack animals turned loose by early prospectors.
Anyone that visits the Bullhead City/Laughlin area will usually have at east one fun day in Oatman!
These are the "wilder" of the wild burros. They avoid town
and people, and are as skittish as wild deer.
