RV Travel: The Lost World
On the Dusty Trails of Arizona, Ghost Towns Give Glimpses of a Wild Western History
Image Caption: Photo Credit: Jim Brightly
Arizona grew up on a diet of gold, silver, and copper. Mining was the lifeblood of first the Territory, then the state. When the ore ran out, people moved on, leaving one dying boomtown for the next boomtown. And, of course, leaving a ghost town behind. They’re scattered all over the saguaro-covered Arizona hillsides. Some reinvented themselves—they became artist colonies, tourist destinations, or movie sets. To roam these places now is to understand the history of this desert land in a distinct way.
Photo Credit: Jim Brightly
Oatman
A quaint little town sitting astride “The Mother Road” like mailbags on a Pony Express stallion, Oatman has witnessed most of the Western migration to California as it flowed along Route 66. The 30-mile section of that old iconic highway here is only two lanes wide, twisty as a sidewinder, and very narrow.
Enjoy lunch and a cold beverage at the Oatman Hotel while you attempt to estimate the number of dollar bills stapled to its walls, ceilings, and supporting columns. (If you guessed $125,000, you’ll be pretty close.) Following lunch, you can feed treats to the many resident donkeys (or burros) wandering the town’s streets (they’re very tame), shop at the leather emporium, tour a former gold mine and visit the several souvenir shops.
Oatman, named for one of its founding families, is in the northwestern corner of the state, about 30 miles from Laughlin, Nevada. The mines surrounding Oatman were huge gold producers, with one large mine recently reopened because of increased gold prices. These days Oatman hosts tourists in town for the shoot-out reenactments in the middle of Route 66.
However, in 1939, Oatman hosted the wedding of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Seems that Gable and Lombard enjoyed vacationing in the tiny town far from the glittering spotlights of Hollywood but planned to get married in Kingman. Plans changed, however, when the entire population of the county seat showed up for their wedding. Clark and Carole abandoned their plans and escaped to Oatman.
Photo Credit: Jim Brightly
Tombstone
About as far away as you can get from Oatman while still in Arizona, Tombstone is in the southeast corner of the state. Known as the “Town Too Tough to Die”, even the town’s newspaper is aptly named: The Tombstone Epitaph. Tombstone’s chief law enforcement office is still called the town marshal.
This town wears its infamy with pride. Born in 1878 to support the several silver mineshafts in the surrounding hills, Tombstone, a rip-roaring boomtown for more years than most, quickly grew to over 10,000 souls. Since the days of classic Westerns, it’s been portrayed in countless movies and TV shows because of the infamous Gunfight at the OK Corral between the Clanton gang and the Earps, plus Wyatt’s friend, Doc Holiday. Big Nose Kate, Doc Holiday, Wyatt Earp, the Ringo Kid, and many other famous Western desperados and heroes trod these same streets and boardwalks. Tombstone has an aura, an attitude, an awesomeness all its own. As you stroll wide-eyed around town, you can’t help but feel the ghosts who once called this town home.
Drive its streets—except for Main Street; it’s off-limits to cars—ride through town in a stagecoach, walk its boardwalks, visit its many shops, quench your thirst in its saloons, stroll through Boot Hill (with its unique and poetic grave markers), and watch a daily reenactment of the Gunfight. One of Tombstone’s favorite treats is a hard sucker with an actual scorpion embedded in the candy.
Photo Credit: Jim Brightly
Mescal
Halfway between Tucson and Tombstone, you’ll definitely want to stop at Mescal—both a movie set and an actual ghost town. We found Mescal purely by accident late one night by following the GPS directions to what we thought would be the movie set known as Old Tucson. About six miles north of Interstate 10, Mescal was once a “satellite” set to Old Tucson, which is itself an entertaining glimpse of Hollywood’s take on the West.
Many iconic stars have walked its dusty streets, including Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Elam, and many more.
But time was taking its toll on the town, and it was nearing demolition. Thankfully, local ranchers acquired the property and didn’t allow this essential piece of Western history to become lost. Mescal is currently undergoing an upgrade. Plans are to rejuvenate the set into an authentic western frontier town and bring film production back to southern Arizona.
The Mescal Movie Set, home to over 80 Westerns, will be spotlighted to thousands of residents and tourists. In the future, it will engage in educational events, historical tours, and feature film production. Eventually, the set will feature public and private historic tours, host Western heritage educational events, and be available for weddings, special events, and photo shoots.
Jerome
My first impression of Jerome—sixty years ago—was that it must have been the inspiration for Billy DeBeck’s Snuffy Smith comic strip. The roadway follows a snake-like ridgeline with the front doors of the buildings and the houses on both sides of the road on the same grade as the street, but with their backdoors hanging over drops ranging from ten feet deep to over a hundred. Surrounded by RV parks, Jerome can be accessed by only two paved routes, and in both directions, SR89 is narrow, steep, and twisty. I highly recommend not using a large RV for your visit to Jerome. Use your towed or tow vehicle to really enjoy the road and the many treats of Jerome and to be able to find a parking place more easily.
Once you’ve parked and hit the sidewalks, two restaurants should be high on your “to do” list: Bobby D’s BBQ and Asylum: Bobby D’s for a huge, satisfying lunch, and Asylum for a lingering dinner with wine and a view clear to the red rocks of Sedona. The Grand Hotel, once a hospital for the insane, houses the Asylum restaurant (hence the name). Also, in the Grand Hotel are said to be several spirits of former residents.
