Route 66 - Oatman and the Wild Burro

Oatman, AZ is an interesting place, but today it is a tourist draw complete with fake gunfights in the street and very docile "wild" donkeys looking for a hand-out. It began as a gold mining town named Vivian because most of the residents worked for the Vivian Mining Company. A post office opened under that name in 1903, but the name was changed to Oatman in 1909 to honor a young girl, Olive Oatman, who had been rescued a few years after being taken captive by Mohave Indians in the area and sold into slavery. 

Boofle riding an Oatman "wild" burro.

Eventually, Oatman became Arizona's largest gold-producing district and for a while had over 2,000 residents. The town's business district had a theater, a lumber company, restaurants, saloons, general stores, service stations and hotels. Upon completion, the Oatman Hotel became the first adobe structure in the county. In 1938, Clark Gable and Carol Lombard got married in Kingman and spent the first night of their honeymoon in the Oatman Hotel.

The mines began to play out in the 1930's and the town began sliding to ghost-hood.  The last mine closed in 1942 and Route 66 was realigned and bypassed the town in 1952. By the mid-1950's, nearly all the stores were boarded up and abandoned. With its rustic scenery and buildings, several movies were filmed in and around Oatman in the 1950's and '60's includingHow the West Was Won and Edge of Eternity.

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Route 66 at the WigWam Motel

At the WigWam Hotel on Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ.

One of the most interesting and probably most photographed of the old Route 66 attractions is the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona. Opened in 1950 and fully renovated in 1988, it is one of only two wigwam motels still open on the Route (the other is in San Bernardino, CA).  Its slogan, "Sleep in a Wigwam"  enticed many a kid to harass mom and dad into spending the night.

The classic cars parked in front of each WigWam was a nice touch!

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Route 66 - Petrified Forest National Park

Entrance to the park

Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona actually consists of 2 separate areas, the Painted Desert region which contains the north entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park and the National Park itself, which lies to the south. A 28-mile park road provides overlooks and parking areas for access to trails and picnic areas. There is a very early dirt road version of Route 66 which cuts through a corner of the Painted Desert region, but you cannot drive it.

Park's Visitor Center

The story of the petrified remains of trees that are millions of years old started when logs in the area were washed into the low-lying swamp that used to cover this region. As volcanoes to the west spewed tons of ash into the area, the logs were buried in the sediment. Then, water passing over the buried logs caused the silica in the ash to dissolve into the logs which replaced the cell walls and crystallized into mineral quartz. Minerals rich in iron combined with the quartz to produce the brilliant colors we see today.

An early layout of Route 66 went through the park

A much better story though comes from the Indians. According to them, a goddess was tired and hungry as she walked through the area. She killed a rabbit and attempted to build a fire with the logs that were lying on the ground, but the logs were soaked and would not ignite. In her anger, the Goddess turned the logs to stone.

Plan to spend at least a couple of hours driving through the park, another hour or more for the visitor centers,  and then another 30 minutes or more driving west on Hwy 180 at the southern end of the park to return to I-40.

Painted Desert portion of the park

The park turned an old car grill into a wonderful piece of
functional art - a bench for taking a break!

A very old auto carcass along the old Route 66 thru the park

Just a few of the many, many petrified logs in the park

Check out the full write-up on our sister site - www.1Dustytrack.blogspot.com.