Wild West Burros and Gunfights Oh My! (Pahrump, NV)

Yesterday was a travel day for us.  No fooling...okay, I had to get that in there for April Fools day.  I have to wonder who the first prankster and fool was to make such an impression to cause us to acknowledge a Fool's day.  Yea, I know.  I can Google it.

Anyway, we moved from Needles, CA to Pahrump, NV.  Before we left Needles, we went to Oatman, AZ.  A former gold mining town with shops and a couple of restaurants on Route 66 in the Black Mountains of Arizona.  A fun way to spend a quiet afternoon....hmmm....semi-quiet...well, you'll see what I mean as you scroll down.

We had a nice afternoon walking up and down the streets while eating ice cream from the Oatman Hotel and I took a few pictures along the way.

Old tractor parked near the street

Lots of wagon wheels

I thought the best part was the wild burros roaming around town looking for handouts.  The shops sell burro feed for a dollar.  The burros are descendants of the miner's burros turned loose when the mines closed down.  They are relatively tame, but I'm sure there have been some incidents since signs are posted to be careful around the burros.

This IS my good side

This is a photo of Olive Oatman - the town's namesake.  Inside the Oatman Hotel there is a photo and Olive's story.  I found her story to be very interesting and came home to do a little more research.  As usual, the stories vary so here's my summary of what I read:

Photo of Olive Oatman

During an Indian attack on their lone covered wagon, a young Olive and her sister were taken captive.  All of the Oatman family were killed except for one brother who survived a clubbing to his head.  Olive and her sister were later sold and adopted by the Mojave Indians.  Her sister died during their captive years.

Olive was traded back to U.S. soldiers when it was brought to their attention there was a white girl among the Mojaves.  She lived with her brother for several years while touring the country talking about the book written on her captivity.  Later, she married and lived the rest of her life in Texas.  Olive became the first tattooed white woman in America.

To me, it sounds like the "White" society had no problem accepting Olive despite her years in captivity and facial tattoos.  It is nice to know that our ancestors were more understanding than what Hollywood would have us believe.

We also watched a street show of the ol' West.....This is when the afternoon got a little noisy.  Some people jumped at the gun fire...okay, I jumped.  What can I say??  Anywaaaaay....

Old West Shoot Out Show

I was kneeling on the street while taking photos of the show.  I felt someone get close to me, but I didn't look up to see what they were doing.  Dan quietly said that I had a visitor and when I looked up......I saw the cutest burro trying to sniff my camera!  He left when he realized I had nothing to give him.

Pssst! Yo, got any apples?  Carrots?

A bunch of burros showed up after the first gun shot.  The warning shot must be like a dinner bell to them.  They know there will be the largest gathering of humans and food for them during the gunfight.  Oh, and none of them so much as flinched when the shots were fired.  Nerves of steel, I tell ya.

If the gun doesn't convince them to give money,
I'll help by convincing them with a kick, okay?

I thought this was a great ending to the show with all the burros and a stage coach showing up.  The stage coach stopped right next to us.  The driver asked us if anyone was killed and Dan answered "only one!".   Yup, great day!

Stage coach has arrived

On the Cutting Board

I think starting this project over was the best thing for me.  The applique work on this one is going so much faster.  I decided to pencil in the positions for each piece.  I made sure the markings were at least 1/8 of an inch inside the actual piece so all the pencil markings will be covered.  Because I marked the background ahead of time, I have saved a couple steps with a light box and trying to pin the piece in its proper spot.  

To me, this has been a lot less stressful.  With the light box, something was always slipping out of place which had me  pinning, re-pinning, re-checking, and re-positioning.  So my couple of steps could add up to a good 15 minutes of pinning and positioning before I was satisfied.

 My Uncle Sams are coming along....

Well, we are off to explore Pahrump, NV.  Catch you later!

Happy Quilting!