Still Getting Those Kicks

Founded in 1915 as a mining town to extract gold from the Black Mountains, Because Route 66 passed through it on the way to the California line, the town clung to life as a tourist attraction after the gold ran out. It was famed for its donkeys roaming the streets. After I-40 bypassed Oatman in the 1960s it went into a long decline, b ut in winter it is stilll open to tourists who care to make the turnoff.