Some places carry their history lightly. Two Guns is not one of them.

Two Guns, Arizona, is a Route 66 ghost town in Coconino County, about 30 miles east of Flagstaff, located on the east rim of Canyon Diablo. Long before it had a name or a gas station or a zoo, this narrow crossing point over a deep desert canyon was already soaked in blood and legend.

Canyon Diablo

Canyon Diablo is a classic western canyon cutting across the Colorado Plateau, a tributary of the Little Colorado River — steep and deep, forming an intimidating barrier to travelers headed west. Its name — the Devil's Canyon — turns out to be well earned.

The Apache Death Cave

In 1878, the area became the site of a tragic event known as the Apache Death Cave, where Navajo warriors killed 42 Apaches hiding in a cave by setting fires at its entrance, suffocating or shooting those who tried to flee. It is believed that from this day, a curse was placed on this part of the land. Every owner and operator who followed seemed to prove the legend right.

Billy the Kid

During the winter of 1879–80, Billy the Kid and his outlaw gang hid in the ruins of a stone house and corral on the west rim of Canyon Diablo, across from where Two Guns would later be built.

The Birth of Two Guns

When white settlers began to populate the area, they recognized it as an ideal place to cross Canyon Diablo — first by wagon, then later by motor cars. The town of Two Guns was born when the National Old Trails Highway was constructed in 1907. By the late 1920s it had become a popular stop for travelers on what would become Route 66.

Harry "Two Guns" Miller

The man most responsible for Two Guns' bizarre peak years was Harry E. Miller. Miller acquired a lease from the land's owners, Earl and Louise Cundiff, in 1925 and set his sights on making the area a Route 66 tourist attraction. He renamed the town Two Guns after the silent movie actor William S. "Two Guns" Hart, claiming he had worked with the man.

Miller, who considered himself a member of the Apache tribe and claimed to be an Apache chief known by the name of Chief Crazy Thunder, built a zoo along the rim and north wall of the canyon. The cages were huge structures made of brick and chicken wire holding mountain lions, cougars, snakes, birds, and lynx. He opened a restaurant and an Indian souvenir store — selling Apache skulls and bones that he found inside the Death Cave. He also offered tours of the cave, where he had installed electric lights.

The curse, as the locals tell it, caught up with Miller. Miller reportedly got into a dispute with the Cundiffs over the extent of his lease and his rights to the land. That dispute ended in Miller shooting Earl Cundiff to death, which he was acquitted of despite Cundiff being unarmed. He soon left Two Guns and started anew in New Mexico.

The End of Two Guns

The alignment of the road changed in 1934 and a new service station was built, but personal tragedies stalked the folks who lived there — leading to the property being bought, sold, and abandoned several times into the 1960s. In the 1960s, a new service station, RV resort, and campground were built — and it looked like the curse of Two Guns might just be over. Interstate 40 was built with a dedicated exit ramp right to the campground. Things seemed to be going well, until a huge fire consumed virtually all of the town in 1971. That was the end of Two Guns, deserted ever since.

What You'll See Today

What remains is a hauntingly photogenic collection of ruins. The graffiti-covered shell of the gas station, the motel walls, the old pool deck, water tanks, and scattered stone foundations — plus the canyon itself, which is every bit as dramatic as the history suggests. The chicken-wire zoo cages built by Miller still stand in shambles along the canyon rim. The Canyon Diablo Bridge, built in 1915, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 30, 1988. The Apache Death Cave is accessible on foot from the site.

Go in the morning light if you can. The ruins photograph best early, and the canyon views are something most people don't expect from a roadside stop on I-40.

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