Desert Messenger

November 5, 2014 www.DesertMessenger.com 29 Every WEDNESDAY 8am-noon STARTING NOV. 5th thru March Desert Gardens Rock & Gem Show Grounds (east end) NEW! Quartzsite Farmers Market Quartzsite Quartzsite Seeking Farm Fresh Produce & Quality Ar� san Cra� s Vendors $15/day (No overnight camping) � Sell from your own tent, truck or tables � Required: Quartzsite Vendor Permit $50 (good for 6 mo.) AZ Sales Tax # (if not selling perishables) - La Paz Co. Health Permit if you are. � Call or Text Gail Roznoski at 920-492-9800, Email gailroxy@hotmail.com � Call or Text Jenny Mills at 719-649-1250, Email alsrvpark@aol.com Oatman after a young girl named Ol- ive Oatman was rescued from Apaches near the townsite. The population be- gan growing as the new mine was de- veloped. The Vivian mine produced over 3 million dollars in gold between 1904 and 1907, but by 1907 the vein was just about depleted. The new little mining town began to fall on hard times, and would have disappeared if anoth- er rich vein had not been discovered in 1909. Just as the Vivian Mine was about to close, the new Tom Reed Mine opened and Oatman's gold rush boom returned. Another $14 million in gold was discovered in 1915 by the United East- ern Mining Company. The mines of Oatman were among the largest gold producers in the west for the next de- cade, and Oatman enjoyed all the ame- nities of a booming gold town. In 1920, at the time Route 66 was be- ing built, Oatman was at its peak as a mining community. The road was sup- posed to go through Yucca, but because Oatman had more clout, the Route was built through Sitgreaves Pass and into Oatman, instead. In 1921, a fi re burned much of Oatman and then just three years later the largest mine closed. For- tunately for Oatman, the birth of Route 66 brought many travelers to the town. Oatman experienced a new boom as it began to cater to these travelers. The town was rebuilt after the fi re and continued to produce gold from the smaller mines. By 1930, Oatman had two banks, seven hotels, ten stores and twice as many saloons. More than 36 million dollars in gold had been pro- duced from the mines, new wealth was pouring in from tourist revenue, and there were nearly 20,000 people living there. Oatman con- tinued to be a mining and tourism hub until about 1941. Miners left to work mines in other parts of the country during the 1940's, Route 66 was rebuilt in the 1950's to bypass Sit- greaves Pass and hence Oatman, and in the 1970's Laughlin, Nevada began building up as a tourist mecca, leaving Oatman forgotten. Its population fell to about 60 people, until the mid 1990's when the Gold Road Mine reopened. Gold Road has closed and reopened several times since then, with the most recent time being in 2010. Gold Road is still open today, and Oatman is again enjoying life as a tourist destination. In addition to gold, Oatman is home to the beautiful gemstone Fire Agate from the Cuesta mines. Oh, and don't forget Oatman's famous wild burros, descen- dants of the old miners burros from the gold rush days, who wander, or rather own, the streets of Oatman. Oatman is just a short day trip away from Quartzsite. For information and maps to the Oatman Fire Agate site, visit RocksInMyHead. We have a nice selection of Oatman Fire Agate and Opal Hill Fire Agate, as well as books, maps, supplies, and more for all your rockhounding, gold prospecting, jew- elry making and lapidary adventures. We have rocks, fossils, minerals, gem- stones, gold, silver, copper, and me- teorites, and more. We are open from 10am to 5pm at A37 in Rice Ranch, Quartzsite, 605-376-8754, and at www. RocksInMyHead.com. OATMAN FROM PAGE 14 Q: How do you make a fi re with two sticks? A: Make sure one's a match!

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