Oatman, Arizona. An old gold mining town situated along Route 66 just across the California border. A town that should have died - would have died - if it were anyplace other than the Black Mountains in Arizona. Oatman survives due to the dedication of its 300 inhabitants and the visitors that stop to savor the past.
We stumbled upon Oatman on a hot September day in 1997. I was continuing my bicycle trip along Route 66 and for some unknown reason had decided that while it was too hot to ride in California, that crossing the Colorado River would somehow cool things down. Wrong! It was as hot in the Arizona desert as it was in the California desert. It WAS hot, very hot.
The ride from Topock to Oatman was beautiful but torture. I was starting to suffer from heat exhaustion. We needed to take a break from riding until it cooled off. So we stopped in Oatman, not knowing what to expect.
Now for those of you who have been to Oatman, you know that it's motto is The Town that Refused to Die!. After I-40 opened and bypassed Oatman and the gold mines had closed, there wasn't any business base left - except for the wild burros that live in the Black mountains. So Oatman has survived on tourism and burros!
Our visit started off innocently enough. We looked in a gift shop and bought a drink to recover from the morning's ride. I browsed through the books and trinkets. I wandered around a little looking for someplace to eat. As I was paying for my purchase, the owner asked if I was going to participate in the International Burro Biscuit Tossing Contest. It was taking place at noon, just a few minutes away.
I'm always game for those unique events that life places in your path. Why not? We wandered down the main street to the sign-in and entered the contest not knowing what to expect. The contestants were allowed to select their biscuits out of a bucket of gold-painted, dried burro biscuits. I searched for heavy ones.
Armed with our biscuits, we watched as first the boys and then the girls took their turns. The boys managed some very impressive throws (and a few that missed the mark completely and bounced off a car or roof). The skill level was varied, which is to be expected in such an unusual event.
Finally, it was my turn. I was tense as I surveyed the course (the middle of Route 66 through Oatman) and I waited for a bit of breeze to pick up from behind me. Now! I threw that biscuit as hard as I could. Good trajectory, good acceleration. About 90 feet. OK, but I think I can do better. Another toss and a small improvement. On my final try, I choked and had a dismall score. This is much harder than it looks. :) Lucky for me they scored the best of the three tosses.
I'm always amazed how adults like to get kids to participate in events that they refuse to try themselves. And so the burro biscuit tossing went. Parents eagerly signed up their children but when the kids pleaded with their parents to try, the adults refused. So we joined in and got some of the parents to give it a whirl. It wasn't a skill that most of us can claim to have developed - you just throw the biscuit the best you can and hope. Some of the kids were quite good, some of the biscuits got away and hit cars and unwary tourists, but it was all good fun.
This was truly an international event as my friend from Spain participated. We had 3 throws and we threw those biscuits as hard as we could. They don't weigh a lot, so they don't go too far. About 100 feet was good enough to capture first place in the women's field.
Not only was the event free to enter, but they gave out plaques to the first place winner in each division (boys, girls, men, women) *and* a nice prize. I won a black leather vest that was donated by one of the store owners. What a terrific surprise! My first place plaque (an old board with a gold painted burro biscuit attached) hangs proudly in my office at work, next to a picture of The 1997 Female Champs.
After our successful participating in the contest, we wandered around town looking for someplace to eat. We finally decided upon Cactus Joe's, mainly because of the huge saguaro cactus complete with hat and bandana mask but also because the menu advertised that they sold rattlesnake meat! It wasn't much cooler inside than it was outside but the fan did blow towards us and getting out of the sun was a nice change. I ordered jackalope stew. Jackalope? Come on, but I was told that it actually was made out of rabbit and antelope meat. It was good.
Since we were taking along break before we started riding again (several hours) we decided to sample one of the many beers they sold. I opted for Chili Beer, beer with a bite. There was a bite to it and while I wouldn't drink more than one it was worth trying. We did have a Rattlesnake Sampler, the meat does indeed taste a bit like chicken but with a fishy flavor. We were told that there are only 2 FDA meat inspectors in the country who can inspect rattlesnake meat. I admit I had never given it a lot of thought before.
After our unusual meal, we visited a few more shops and petted the wild burros who hung around town looking for tourists to feed them. One of the burros had her baby stolen just a day or so before. The townspeople knew all the burros by name and were very upset that someone had abducted the baby. The baby was never found, in spite of a large reward for its return.
Now that I have a title to defend, I had to return again in 1998. It worked out fairly well as I still had large sections of Route 66 to ride. So after more adventures along route 66, I returned to Oatman and once again hoisted the famed gold-painted biscuit to victory. This time I practiced a bit before showing up. It helped!
I had some stiff competition and was worried that I might not succeed. But I held out and managed another victory. This plaque hangs in my house and the prize was a very nice "Old Fashioned" photo of my friend and I dressed up in old time clothes courtesy of the lovely people at the Old Lady and the Miner. Stop in and get a picture of your family or friends as a souvenir.
We did stay to watch the famous shoot-out that is held twice a day on weekends. The locals really enjoy putting on the show as a fund raiser for a children's charity. They dress up in period clothes and have a good time *shooting* each other. It looks like good fun for the participants and is worth watching as a spectator.
I've already marked my calendar for next year. I'll keep returning to Oatman to defend my title. So if you happen to be in western Arizona around Labor Day, why not drop in and give the biscuit toss a go???
