Two Guns

Two Guns is a ghost town along the east rim of Canyon Diablo in Arizona. Two Guns prospered as a tourist stop along U.S. Route 66.

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Two Guns is a ghost town along the east rim of Canyon Diablo in Arizona. Two Guns prospered as a tourist stop along U.S. Route 66.

History

Native artifacts discovered at Canyon Lodge (Two Guns) have been dated between 1050 and 1600. ¹

By the mid-19th century, as white settlers moved into the area, Two Guns became known as a favorable location for crossing Canyon Diablo—first by wagon and later by automobile. ²

In 1878, Canyon Lodge was the site of a mass killing of Apaches by their Navajo enemies. A group of Apaches had hidden in a cave to avoid capture, but were discovered. The Navajos set sagebrush fires at the cave entrance and shot anyone attempting to flee. The smoke suffocated 42 Apaches, who were then stripped of their possessions. The site became known as the “death cave.” ³

In 1880, before Two Guns was established, construction of the Santa Fe Railway was underway across northern Arizona. About three miles north of present-day Two Guns, work on a trestle to span Canyon Diablo delayed progress. A settlement for the largely male workforce, named Canyon Diablo after the nearby canyon, quickly developed a reputation for lawlessness as drifters, gamblers, and outlaws arrived. ⁴

In 1889, four men employed by the Hashknife Ranch robbed a train at Canyon Diablo. They escaped on horseback with $100,000 in currency, 2,500 silver dollars, $40,000 in gold coins, and various valuables. A posse led by Sheriff Buckey O’Neill captured them, but recovered less than $100. Years later, one of the robbers revealed that the stolen goods and their rifles were buried near the canyon rim at Canyon Lodge. Treasure hunters still search for the cache. ^{5 6}

20th Century Developments

The National Old Trails Highway—called the “Santa Fe Highway” in Arizona—was built in 1907, roughly following the railroad. ⁷ It crossed the dry riverbed of Canyon Diablo at Two Guns in a zig-zag route up and down each embankment.

In 1914, Arizona State Engineer Lamar Cobb selected and surveyed the Two Guns location to construct a bridge across Canyon Diablo. ⁷ Thomas Haddock of Williams was granted the bridge contract. He used concrete and reinforcing steel supplied by the state to erect the bridge. On March 17, 1915, the Canyon Diablo Bridge was completed at the crossing ⁷ and remained in use until bypassed with a two-lane structure in 1938. ^{7 8}

The first settler at Two Guns was Ed Randolph, who built a store next to the death cave. ⁸

In 1922, Earle and Louise Cundiff purchased 320 acres from Randolph for $1,000 and built a store, restaurant, and gasoline pumps. ⁸

In 1925, Harry “Two Gun” Miller leased property from the Cundiffs and began developing it as a tourist attraction. Calling himself “Chief Crazy Thunder,” Miller built a roadside zoo along the canyon rim, housing animals such as mountain lions, Gila monsters, coral snakes, birds, and a lynx. ^{2 8 9} He opened a restaurant and Indian gift shop, and cleared the death cave, selling Apache skulls as souvenirs. ⁹

Miller offered guided tours beginning at a Hopi-style house where piki bread was made and sold. Visitors followed a path to a soft drink stand at the canyon bottom, then toured the death cave, which Miller had outfitted with electric lights and staged cliff-dweller ruins. ⁹ He heavily advertised the site with roadside signs, naming it “Fort Two Guns” after silent film actor William S. “Two Guns” Hart, whom he claimed to have known. ^{8 9 11}

Although the Cundiffs applied for a post office under the name “Two Guns” in 1924, the application was denied, and the office was named “Canyon Lodge.” ⁹

In 1925, “Rimmy” Jim Giddings opened a gas station and café called Rimmy Jim’s. The route was redesignated U.S. Route 66 in 1926. ⁸ That year, a dispute between Miller and Earle Cundiff ended when Miller fatally shot the unarmed Cundiff. He was later acquitted. ⁹

Miller’s store interior burned in 1929, after which Louise Cundiff built her own tourist store. Miller left Arizona in 1930 after being mauled by two mountain lions and bitten by a poisonous gila dragon. A new bridge across Canyon Diablo opened in 1938, and U.S. Route 66 began to follow what is now Interstate 40 through Two Guns. ⁸ The same year, Louise, with her new husband Phillip Hersch, opened a new Two Guns Texaco service station along the new highway.

A modern service station was constructed in 1963, and in the late 1960s, the site expanded to include a motel, western-style tavern, reptile exhibit, and new zoo. A Shell station and KOA campground followed. ^{8 12} Much of the old Two Guns was abandoned by 1971.

Decline

The circa 1922 service station burned in 1971. ⁸ Today, ruins remain of the trading post, campground, cottages, zoo, and burned-out service station. ^{2 8} Canyon Diablo Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. ⁷

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Gallery

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Sources

1. Richardson, Gladwell. “Two Guns, Arizona – Early History.” HKH Inc.
2. Weiser, Kathy. “Two Guns – Death by Highway.” Legends of America, Apr. 2015.
3. Richardson, Gladwell. “Two Guns, Arizona – Death Cave.” HKH Inc.
4. Weiser, Kathy. “Canyon Diablo – Meaner Than Tombstone.” Legends of America, Apr. 2015.
5. Richardson, Gladwell. “Platinum.” HKH Inc.
6. Hinckley, Jim. The Illustrated Route 66 Historical Atlas. Voyageur Press, 2014, p. 186.
7. “Canyon Diablo Bridge.” National Park Service, 30 Sept. 1988.
8. “Two Guns.” Road Trip Journeys, 25 May 2016.
9. Richardson, Gladwell. “Two Guns Trading Post.” HKH Inc.
10. Hinckley, Jim. Ghost Towns of Route 66. Voyageur Press, 2011, pp. 114, 119.
11. Richardson, Gladwell. “Indian Miller.” HKH Inc.
12. Richardson, Gladwell. “Renaissance.” HKH Inc.