LIKE JEROME WAS TO COPPER THE TOWN OF OATMAN WAS TO GOLD.  MORE GOLD WAS MINED FROM THE OATMAN AREA MINES THAN IN ANY OTHER AREA OF ARIZONA.  THE LAST ACTIVITY FOR GOLD WAS AS RECENT AS THE 1990’S AND THEN THE MINES WERE CLOSED DUE TO THE LOW PRICE OF GOLD.  HEY! THAR IS GOLD STILL IN THEM THAR HILLS!  OVER $35 MILLION DOLLARS  OF GOLD WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BLACK HILLS IN THE 1920’S AND ’30’S AND USING THE MEASURE OF ‘UNSKILLED WAGE’ COMPARISON THIS WOULD BE OVER ONE AND A QUARTER BILLION DOLLARS.  IT WAS A LOT OF MONEY THAT IS FOR SURE! AS WITH ANY OTHER BOOM TOWN DURING A GOLD RUSH THE POPULATION EXPLODED TO THREE AND HALF THOUSAND SOULS IN SEARCH OF QUICK WEALTH AND BY SOME ACCOUNTS THE POPULATION SWELLED TO WELL OVER 20 THOUSAND.  WELL THOSE DAYS ARE GONE NOW BUT OATMAN ISN’T..THE LAST TIME I WAS THRU THERE IS WAS A PRETTY LIVELY PLACE!  OATMAN TODAY GIVES US A GOOD IDEA OF WHAT OLD WESTERN MINING TOWNS LOOKED LIKE BACK THEN.  WITH OVER A HALF A MILLION VISITORS EACH YEAR OATMAN DRAWS VISITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.  BOARDED SIDEWALKS LINE THE STORE FRONTS WHILE WILD BURROS ROAM THE MAIN STREET LOOKING FOR TREATS FROM THE WANDERING TOURISTS.  THESE BURROS ARE DESCENDANTS OF THE BURROS USED BY MINERS IN THE LATE 1800’S.  ALTHOUGH LIKE MANY EARLY TOWNS DEVASTATED BY FIRE THE OATMAN HOTEL  WAS UNTOUCHED AND REMAINS THE OLDEST ADOBE STRUCTURE IN MOHAVE COUNTY TODAY.  THE HOTEL IS ALSO FAMOUS FOR THE HONEYMOON SITE  FOR CLARK GABLE AND CAROL LOMBARD WHO WERE MARRIED IN KINGMAN, ARIZONA.  OATMAN WAS A FAVORITE ‘GETAWAY’ FOR GABLE AND HE REGULARLY SAT IN ON POKER GAMES WITH THE LOCAL MINERS.  TODAY, THEIR HONEYMOON SUITE IS A MAIN ATTRACTION IN OATMAN.  OATMAN WAS ALSO USED AS A LOCATION FOR THE MOVIE ‘HOW THE WEST WAS WON’.  OATMAN IS ALSO PART OF ARIZONA’S HISTORIC ROUTE 66.  ALL MAJOR ROADS INTO OATMAN ARE PAVED BUT ONE NEEDS TO BE CAUTIOUS ON NEGOTIATING THE TURNS THROUGH SITGRAVES PASS.  IF YOU ARE TRAVELING FROM KINGMAN ON ROUTE 66 TAKE SOME TIME TO STOP AT ‘COOL SPRINGS’.  JUST A COUPLE OF MILES EAST OF TOWN YOU CAN TAKE A ONE HOUR UNDERGROUND GOLD MINE TOUR OF THE GOLD ROAD GOLD MINE. DON’T FORGET YOUR CAMERA AS THERE ARE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES TO GET THAT ONE GREAT SHOT.  THE ‘PLACES TO STOP’ MENU TO THE RIGHT LISTS TRAVEL INFORMATION AND ATTRACTIONS.  I HAVE ADDED LINKS BELOW TO SOME OF MY FAVORITE ARIZONA WEBSITES FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE OATMAN AREA AND ROUTE 66. RR