Ghost Town Country

'Dear Geno,' a member writes. 'I read your story about the Laughlin river run. Never been to Laughlin, NV. but I do own a motorcycle and am giving serious consideration to making reservations for that run in April. Just one question: my wife and I aren't really into gambling. What else could we do in the Laughlin area to make the time pass. Thanks for the column. Edward W., Kansas City, KS.'

I lived in Laughlin and Bullhead City, AZ. for about a year in the 1990s and I can truthfully say I never had a dull moment.

One thing the area has going for it is the beauty of the Colorado River. The river winds through the desert country and mountain ranges and provides facilities for boating, fishing, swimming and sunbathing.

Then there are the ghost towns. The best known one is the community of Oatman, nestled in a protective mountain range that produces gold, silver, copper and turquoise.

Oatman is about 23 miles north of Bullhead City. It's a pleasant drive to get there. You will pass through scenic mountains where a lot of gold was mined in the 1800s and the early part of the 19th century. My friend Charlie Stoll, a retired tungsten miner, had a gold mine called the White Chief that produced gold on a paying basis.

He and his wife, Jane, lived about a mile from the three-block community that calls itself Oatman. They owned a spacious home, an airport and a small twin-engine plane a half mile from his house.

Charlie also owned a house that was once occupied by miners about a block from downtown Oatman. My family and I stayed at the ramshackle wooden frame home on weekends when I would drive from Phoenix to Oatman.

At night when the desert winds blew, the house would shake and rattle. It was pleasant lying there in the darkness beneath a huge Arizona moon, listening to the distant wailing of coyotes.

There were a couple of producing mines just outside Oatman that are still operating. Today Oatman is a tourist destination that draws people from Los Angeles and Phoenix who want to enjoy a taste of the old West.

They take photos of the wild burros that drift in from the nearby hills, shop in the old stores for antiques or souvenirs, and visit the Oatman Hotel where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their wedding night.

Down the highway from Bullhead City, which lies across the Colorado River from Laughlin, is an old motel that was used to film the movie, 'Baghdad Café,' in which Jack Palance appeared. This is a favorite film of mine. The plot isn't much -- a German woman tourist has a fight with her husband, he abandons her, she walks to the café-motel and for a while shares the lives of the tenants and owner.

Kingman, AZ. is another place worth visiting. Actors Andy Devine and Clayton Moore of Lone Ranger fame lived in Kingman. Devine, son of a miner, told me a hilarious story about his childhood.

A local merchant grew tired of a stray tomcat and offered to pay Andy and his brother .50 cents if they got rid of it. Andy knew where his father kept some dynamite and secured a half stick of the powerful explosive.

He tied it to the tail of the cat, lit the fuze, and held his ears.

The cat dashed across the street with the fuze burning, ran beneath the house of a local school teacher, and then raced into the street. The resultant blast blew a six-inch hole in the pavement.

Devine told me the crime remained unsolved for years. He also admitted that I was the first person he had ever shared the story with.

Edward and his wife will enjoy Oatman and so will you if you visit the place. As for me, when I get there, I will settle for a cup of fresh coffee at Fast Fannie's Place and relax while the spirits of the old West hover over the ghost town country.