I made a little trip to Laughlin this weekend to see Lena Prima's show. It was just wonderful, but that's another story. I had such a fun, interesting, and educational time on the Haunted Vegas Tour that I decided to check out the Haunted Laughlin Tour.

As with the Vegas tour, this is not a Halloween prank with props and people in sheets that jump out and try to scare you. It is all historical documented facts that have an abnormal link to them. Some are abnormal sounds coming from places where nobody exists. Some are sightings of strange creatures. Some are energy fields that can be picked up with dowsing rods. Some are areas where orbs and plumes can be picked up in photographs. Some are sounds and sightings of human activity that come and go. This area is also very hot for UFO sightings and is the hottest area that does not have a nearby military installation. You don't have to believe in Hollywoods version of ghosts to enjoy the tour. OTOH, if you are totally against any form of supernatural activity and don't want to hear of it, you might be better off bypassing this tour.

The tour started off in a van in Laughlin near the casinos and we heard several reports of ghost sightings, including a couple of bikers that ride into towards Harrahs and disappear just as they get to the building. These ghost started appearing a couple of years after the River Run riots. There are many ghost sightings through the casinos, mostly believed to be associated with various suicides. There is a sound coming from the bridge late at night that sounds like a girl crying and it is believed to be the girlfriend of a Nellis AFB pilot that crashed in the desert and was killed. The girl was very upset and leaped from Davis Dam, was killed and washed downstream under the bridge and on down the river.

Up and down the river in that area, mostly on the Arizona side were a lot of Indians. They were not pleased with the white man making that area a home. There were numerous violent deaths and resulting ghost sightings. Bullhead City was once called Hardyville, because of a man named Hardy. The area was rich with gold, but the gold had to be processed, and the nearest processing facility was many miles down the river in Needles. Mr Hardy set up a store, built some riverboats to carry the gold downstream, and his town was formed. Their cemetery was at the top of a hill right next to highway 95. About 10 years ago, a big rain storm washed out the cemetery on the highway. It was a bad mess. Records were scarce from that time, the old wooden tombstones that didn't get washed away were difficult to read, and while many bones were recoverd, it was impossible to say who was who and what bones go with each other. They did manage to put 5 known people in their own graves again. The rest were put into several community graves. It is believed that because the remains are not in their proper place, that the area is active for ghost activity. The cemetary is still there, and we walked through it. The side of the hill has been supported with concrete and the wall has been painted to remember Hardyville.

There really is much more to the story. But this kind of lets you know that in addition to the ghost part, it is a very entertaining history lesson. There were equally interesting stories about Ft Mojave, which was set up to keep peace between the indians and white man, and Oatman. Oatman could be a tour all by itself. It is located on the historic Route 66, and was an old mining town. It's population grew to about 20,000 in it's prime, and is now a ghost town and tourist stop. And there are lots of ghost stories to tell about the place. First of all, it's a seemingly long dark drive to get there. We arrived about 9:00pm and it was dark and little bit spooky. We were met there by the Sheriff who told us some great stories.

We also heard about the Bullhead City Big Foot. There is a nice long interesting story about the Red Ghost and how it started and how it was solved. Our third stop was at a park across the river from the casinos. It was a hotbed for both dowsing rods and photographing orbs.

I had a great time. It was very educational, interesting, and had a little edge of fright in the night. The tour guide was very professional, and as we rode in the van, he talked through a headset over the van's radio speakers. The tour started at 7:00pm and ended about 10:30. I forgot the price, although I think it was $39. It was so interesting that I will have to do a little research and take it again some day. And I also want to do a sidetrip of my own to Oatman. I know that during the day, burros roam the streets looking for handouts, and they have fake western gunfights in the streets for the tourists. There is also a honeymood suite used by Clark Gable and Carol Lombard. There are plenty of gift shops too, although it really looked like a ghost town at 9 at night.

That sounds really interesting.

I keep telling myself I'm going to rent a jeep or some sort of 4x4 for a trip to Laughlin some time. As you're going up the hill from Laughlin headed back towards Vegas, there's a turn of to the right going up in the hills. I've heard there's loads of petroglyphs and other interesting things to see. I don't think it's an improved road.

When we were in Oatman, many of the shops sold carrots for you to feed the burrows. There were several when we were there and they just roam the streets freely. Is route 66 still in pretty poor condition going up there?

The only road I actually "noticed" to the right while going up the hill, had a sign that said Davis Dam. I'm know there are many turn offs on both sides, as well as some sites off of the Needles Highway.

I've never been to Oatman during the day. It seems like it might be very touristy and not my cup of tea. Now that I am armed with the life of Olive Oatman, some of the gold stories, some of the people who lived there, and the hauntings, I think that I could spend some time there without focusing on the gunfights and burros.

Route 66 probably hasn't changed much. It was dark and I wasn't in the front seat. It seemed like an old road. The road between 66 and Bullhead City has very soft shoulders according to the van driver who drove in the middle of the road most of the time. BTW, our driver is one of the few that lives in Oatman. He lives in an old converted Oatman Hospital.

I think it was Christmas Tree Pass that you were thinking of. I remember it now, and forgot it came out that close to Laughlin. It seemed like a tame gravel/dirt road from the highway.

Yep, that's it. Maybe it doesn't connect to the new highway you're on coming down the hill. I remember it from before that 4-lane was put in.

The road through Christmas Tree Pass does connect from 95 to the road down the hill to Laughlin or up the hill from Laughlin. It's a dirt road, sometimes a little rough, and we had no problems with our SUV. We did not put it into 4 wheel at all, and I think any regular car could make the drive. That road was named Christmas Tree Pass because travellers used to decorate all the evergreens along the road with Christmas decorations. The BLM or whatever agency that has jurisdiction over that road stopped that because it was "environmentally unsound", and injuring birds, and animals that were poking around that stuff. The road goes between steep canyon walls, and also through desert. We haven't seen people, wildlife, or other cars there the two times we have gone. We didn't see any petroglyphs, but we didn't get out of the car. It looks like it would be a neat place for a hike. I wouldn't go during any time that there might be flash floods, though. It is a neat ride.

Thanks Tater

I took a Buick Lesabre 'off-roading' once in Vegas. Sounds like it could handle this outing too although I'd probably feel better in something with a bit more ground clearance.

I would like to take this tour as I am enamored with all that kind of stuff. I even went to a UFO convention in Laughlin a couple of years ago! I didn't know that it was to be there while we were but it was and I went..A little over the line but interesting never the less. Oatman is a fun, touristy town. My Great, Great, Great, cousin was Olive Oatman and I still have a lot of her personal papers from when she lectured on tours. She lived after her release at my Great Grandparents home in Jackson County, Oregon for a long while. I had never heard of this tour but will try it next trip....Thanks for posting!

"after her release"????????

The story I heard...

The family was traveling west and got seperated from the rest of the wagon train. They continued west, and were ambushed by the Apache indians. The family was killed and the two girls were kidnapped. The brother was left for dead, but managed to survive and pursued the search for his sisters. The girls were treated poorly. They were bought by the Mojave tribe that treated them better, but one of the girls died. They tatooed Olive (and the sister?) with several facial stripes, per Mojave tradition. They were finally "released"...aka traded back to the white man for horses and food. Once Olive became civilized again, she married a wealthy man from back east, possibly Chicago, and they moved to Texas where he became a banker, and they lived out their lives there. There is a historical marker in Texas dedicated to Olive Oatman.

That's the story I heard. I'd be interested to hear what Irish has heard.

The most informative book to read is, "Captivity of the Oatman "Girls". I am sitting here holding an original(?) copy that is by R.B.Stratton and dated 1909. I will let anyone of you check the book out from another source. It does end stating that she was last living in Texas. My Great Grandfather, Harvey Oatman, made the trip to the Fort from Jackson County to take her to his home where she stayed for awhile to recuperate. This was in and about March of 1856. She did travel and lecture quite a lot after her release and after her stay in Southern Oregon. As I stated, I do have some of her lecture notes from her at that time..There are conflicting statements about several circumstances of her life...No one knows for sure all of the true story. There will be yet another book written about all this by a Margo Miffen whom has been in contact with me for well over a year...We shall see how much she has gathered and will write about... :)I believe the Oatman family left the wagon train to take a different route was the reason for the separation. Olive's Sister Mary died from poor health. Lorenzo did recover after his injuries and spent much time tracking down Olive...