Book Review: Ghosts of the Arizona Coast

 

Ghosts of the Arizona Coast by Paul R Taylor, Laughlin/Bullhead City Visitor, 1989.  I encountered the book at the Kingman library.

This is the most fascinating book about life on the Colorado River and places close to it.  When I read the title I thought it might be ghost stories and akin to the ocean front property in Arizona song.  But it was much better than that.  It is a history of the towns along the Colorado River.  This includes Kingman, Mineral Park, Chloride and Oatman.  It is mostly about the river communities and the river boats which thrived before the coming of the railroad.  River boating up and own the Colorado was no easy thing, but at one time supplies were delivered to many ports, including past current Hoover Dam.  This meant going through the Back Canyon rapids.  Big ring bolts were placed in the canyon wall, and with these the boats would literally pull themselves through the rapids.  

Many cities grew up along the river, and most are no longer there.  57 different communities have lined the river.  The river marked the division between Arizona and California.  However until 1866 legally, and 1871 in fact, Nevada did not extend this far south and Arizona reached to California.  Yuma was the first town as one travelled up the Colorado from Sea of Cortez.  

I enjoyed the story of how Kingman became the county seat of Mohave County,  There was quite a rialry between Mineral Park and Kingman.  Mineral Park was the fourth county seat following Mohave City, Hardyville and Cerbat.  It was quite the town, based on the mining industry.  When a new railroad town started to grow the editor of the newspaper Miner said it would never last.  However a special election was help and Kingman was approved as the county seat.  Mineral Park was not satisfied and appealed to the state legislature.  When they lost the appeal they were still slow in transferring the county seat.  Finally some citizens from Kingman, went at night to the courthouse in Mineral Park, broke in and took all the county records and transported them to Kingman.  Kingman continued to grow, and even the MIner moved from Mineral Park to Kingman.  

Another important contribution in this book is a listing of all the 57 river towns and a brief history of each.  Several cities are now under Lake Mead, including the two county seats of Pah Ute county, St Thomas and Callville--both Mormon towns along the river.  

The history of the Oatman family is also included, as well as a brief history of Oatman and how the town has survived after the mining rush.  Sara Oatman was kidnapped by Indians, and sold to the Mohave tribe until she was ransomed five years later.  Oatman did not exist at the time but the city was named for her.  

Another chapter of particular note was that of Fort Mohave, which was the least desirable of all army posts because of the excessive heat.