Friday, April 24, 2020

Here's a Story You Won't Forget!!

It's not often that I get to see something fabulous, something heartwarming that will put a smile on your face.  Almost all RV'ers at one time or another have been to Oatman Arizona.  It's a little almost ghost town with a few people still living there, along with most of the original buildings.

Oatman was named for a young girl from Indiana named Olive Oatman who was captured by an Indian tribe in 1851 as she and her family made their way across the mountains in a covered wagon.  She was later traded to a Mojave tribe who adopted her into their family.  Olive received the traditional tattoo of stripes down her chin.  She was released back to her family in 1856.

There was a lot more that happened over the years, but the last five days have seen more drama than the little town is used to.  You may have heard of the Oatman Burros.  They are a rag tag band of beauties left over from the mining days and roam wild around the town.  The locals love them like their children.

Tragedy struck the little town recently when Wyatt the burro was shot and killed.  Who does that??  To make matters worse, baby Tinkerbell disappeared five days ago.  Momma Annabelle stood at the fence where Tink was last seen and brayed at the top of her lungs for two days.
It happened I saw the post that she was missing on the first day.  Call the Sheriff I said!!  The response was "they don't care".  Call the State came with the same response, "they don't care either".  Come to find out, someone actually took a picture of a truck and horse trailer parked close to town where the burros were hanging out.

Call the BLM Horse and Burro Rescue Organization.  Those kids are government property and SOMEONE has to care!!  In the meantime, I got ahold of the picture with the license plate.  I called my detective friend and hit the internet to find the owner.    Here's Miss Annabelle waiting for her baby.
Twenty four hours later someone DID care, the thieves were located about four hours away and arrested for theft.  Details will be released when the investigation is complete.  Tinkerbell was loaded up and brought back to Oatman last night.  Here's part of the crew waiting for her return.  
And here she is!!!  Safe and sound back in Oatman after a long grueling ride.  One of the locals videoed the entire rescue return as it happened and I got screen shots.  Never has a stolen burro been returned to Oatman.  The town turned out in droves to welcome her home.
Here she is back with her Momma (the darker of the two).  Once reunited, the entire group of about ten took off up the hill to their 5:00 feeding spot.  I'm a happy camper!!!  Welcome home Tink!!
My trip so far was uneventful, except for my exclamation of WHAT?? a couple of times.  I'll show you pictures tomorrow.  It's going to be a LONG day of driving!




14 comments:

  1. We visited Oatman a few years ago and I loved that little town and spending time with the burro's! I glad this story has a happy ending. What is wrong with people?

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    1. It's a cool little place. I guess they thought they could just take whatever they wanted.

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  2. Even today there are those that try to make a quick buck. Wyatt was probably trying to save Tinkerbell when he was shot. There's a way to hang that type.
    Be Safe in your travels and Enjoy.

    It's about time.

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    1. Exactly!! Horse thieves were always hung, right?

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  3. I hope they can pin the shooting/death of that Burro on these punks who did it! How disgusting... Drive safe.

    We were awakened by a Tornado Warning for our city at 5 am this morning...never fun but turned out to be a non-event outside of loosing a bit of sleep.

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    1. Oh my gosh ... you scared me. I HATE those tornado warnings.

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  4. Tears of sadness for Wyatt. Tears of joy for Tink, her Mama and the town of Oatman. Thank you for caring and being proactive.

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    1. It's funny how a little bunch of burros left over from mining days can become such a part of the family.

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  5. Ha. Detective Nancy on the job. You're sure your name is Kissack and not Drew? That's a nice story indeed. Thanks.

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    1. It's all because I'm such a horse person ... well horse, burro, mule, animals in general! Except snakes ... I hate snakes!!

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  6. How sad that the burro was shot and killed and then the baby stolen. At least the little one was returned.
    Hope you travels are going smoothly and most importantly safely.

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    1. So far so good on the travels. No sleep of course, but otherwise it's been uneventful, which is good news.

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  7. Sounds like you deserve a 'Save the Burro' medal! I'm assuming you got the ball rolling. Kudos!
    I'm so sad about Wyatt and so pleased Tink is home with Mama. People like that should be locked up!
    When we were there, there were no burros in town. First time we've seen that and we wanted to show Keith how they wandered free. We were told it was because of all the lush grass out on the hills.

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    1. Sorry, all worked up about the burros I forgot to say safe travels today! xo

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