Oatman is located about 15 miles east of the Colorado River on old route 66 (Oatman Road).
History:
Ben Taddock is credited with the first discovery of gold in the Oatman area. Gold had been discovered at the Moss Mine and at the Goldroad Mine. Ben Taddock, a Mohave Indian, saw gold littering the ground 3 miles below the Goldroad mine, and the rush was on.
The town that sprang up around the mines was called Vivian after the Vivian Mining Company bought the then owners, Judge E. M. Ross and Col. Thomas Eqing out. Within the first 3 years of operation, between 1904 and 1907, the mine produced over $3,000,000 worth of gold. The Tom Reed is known to have produced over $13,000,000 worth of gold between 1907 and 1933. The town of Vivian continued to grow adding 2 banks and 10 stores.
The discovery of the rich Tom Reed claim and the Oatman Claim caused the town to boom even larger. By 1908, the official name of the town had been changed to Oatman. Some people say it was renamed for Olive Oatman, a young girl that was captured and help hostage by Apache Indians after they raided the family's wagon. Olive's parents were killed in the raid but her and her sister were taken by the Indians. Her sister died in captivity but Olive was rescued some 5 years later. Her brother had survived the raid and kept trying to track her whereabouts down.
Oatman has survived into the present century. Some of the mines are still being worked and a small population continues to live in the old buildings of the town. The town caters to the tourist trade nowadays with several shops and restaurants to visit. One of the more interesting aspects of life in Oatman today is the visiting burros.
The burros come into town every morning to get fed by the locals and anyone else that has something interesting to eat. They are wild burros that are descendants from the burros used by prospectors of long ago and live their lives in the surrounding mountains. Many times while hiking in the area, we have come upon one of the old herds. They "hee-haw" and keep a careful watch and will wander away if they feel threatened. One of the problems with them is that they foul every spring that they find in the mountains. Keep that in mind if you decide to hike in the area and come upon one of the many springs found here.
REFERENCES: Arizona Place Names, by Byrd H. Granger and Ghost Towns of Arizona, by James E. and Barbara H. Sherman and The History of Mohave County to 1912, by Dan W. Messersmith and Desert Magazine May, 1975 pages 30-31.