Climb the twisting old road over the Black Mountains of western Arizona — the steep, hairpinned original alignment of Route 66 that terrified a generation of overheating jalopies — and you drop into Oatman, a gold-rush town that refused to fully die.
Oatman boomed in the 1910s on the strength of its mines, which pulled more than thirty-six million dollars in gold out of the mountains before the government shut the operations down for the war effort in 1942. At its peak the town held thousands of people, banks, hotels, and saloons. Then the gold ran out and, later, the interstate bypassed it entirely, and Oatman should by rights have become another empty desert ruin.
Two things saved it. The first was Route 66 nostalgia, which turned the weathered old main street into a destination. The second was the burros — descendants of pack animals the miners turned loose when the mines closed, which now wander the streets freely, nosing tourists for snacks and protected by federal law.
The town’s proudest legend is that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their wedding night at the Oatman Hotel in 1939, after marrying in nearby Kingman. Historians think they actually drove straight back to Los Angeles — but Oatman has never let the facts spoil a good story, and the honeymoon room draws visitors to this day.
Some towns survive on gold. This one survived on stubbornness and burros.
We are offering licences for ROUTE 66® Beer in specific territories. An invitation to others to become part of this story. To carry a piece of the road with them and to contribute to the story. We will share a percentage of royalties with Route 66 associations to keep the story alive.
The journey continues. This story is brought to you by ROUTE 66® BEER. Find us at ROUTE66BEER.COM
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