Wild burros became famous for wandering among visitors in Oatman, Arizona, along historic Route 66.
Oatman was established as a mining settlement in the Black Mountains. Burros descended from animals used by miners and later lived as free-roaming animals around the town. Their presence became one of Oatman’s defining tourist features after the mining economy declined.
Historic Route 66 passes through Oatman on a winding former mountain-road alignment between Kingman and the Colorado River. The town’s preserved storefronts, staged western atmosphere, and burros make it one of Arizona’s most distinctive Route 66 stops.
The animals are commonly called wild burros, although “burro” is the Spanish word commonly used in the American Southwest for a donkey. They are not wild horses or native North American wildlife; they are descendants of domesticated donkeys.