You know you’ve reached a small town when the burros out number the people. Such is the story of the old gold mining town of Oatman, Arizona, where there are thousands of burros, and by last count, just 97 people that live here. How small a population you ask? Well town  historian Leanne Toohey has a simple way to measure that: “no Amazon truck comes up here,” she says.

   Courtesy: Mother Road Media

Yet each day, the towns population swells into the thousands, with tourists from around the world. They come to see the burros. For as long as anyone cam remember, the wild animals have poured into the town, and they have become a classic symbol of the old wild west days.

As Leanne tells it, like clockwork, the tourists come to see “the burros and the gunfights.”  The Oatman Outlaws put on frequent shows, and the visitors just can’t get enough of this old wild west experience.

In the early 20th century, this was one of the famous boom towns that sprang up all over the west. By some estimates nearly a billion dollars in gold was pulled from these mountains — you can still see many of the mines and walk through a mine shaft in town.  But during World War Two, they stopped the mining. The burros were left behind, and have lived the wild life ever since. They thrive in the desert environment. Actually you might say they over-thrive, if that’s even a word. The Bureau of Land Management is looking at thinning the herd by moving some to other areas. But, they are a big hit. As you drive to the town in Arizona’s Black Mountains, the burros will greet you right on the road — which can really slow traffic.

And you will be driving on a very historic road — the old Route 66, built in 1926 and came right through Oatman. It is still remembered a century after writer John Steinbeck called it “The Mother Road.” Through the 40’s and 50’s, this was the main highway link from Chicago to Los Angeles. In the post war years, with more and more people owning cars, this road trip became a right a passage.

Long ago the Route 66 was re-routed, and eventually outright replaced by freeways and jet travel. But much as the burros, the “Mother Road,” draws tourists in. The stretch of Kingman, Arizona to Oatman is legendary for all the twists and turns. But it gives you that authentic Old Route 66 feeling. It’s a town loaded with living history.