Two Guns

Overview

A roadside stop on the rim of Canyon Diablo

Two Guns sits on the east rim of Canyon Diablo, beside exit 230 on Interstate 40 between Winslow and Flagstaff. It was never much of a town. It grew up as a roadside business where the National Old Trails Road, and later Route 66, crossed the canyon: a trading post, a lodge, a gas station, cabins, a campground and a small zoo.

The road came first. It opened across northern Arizona in 1912, and from 1915 a concrete arch bridge carried it over the canyon. Earle and Louise Cundiff opened a store at the crossing in the early 1920s, and in 1925 the Canyon Lodge post office opened there. That year they leased ground to Harry E. Miller, a showman who called himself Chief Crazy Thunder and claimed to be Apache. He wasn't. Miller built a zoo with mountain lions and a Gila monster. In March 1926 he shot Earle Cundiff dead in a quarrel over the lease, and a Flagstaff jury acquitted him.

By 1927 the papers were calling the place Two Guns, after Miller's nickname. Miller left in 1930. Louise Cundiff kept the business going and opened a Texaco station on a newer Route 66 alignment in 1934. Two Guns was busiest in the 1940s. Then Interstate 40 took the traffic, a new gas station and store in the 1960s didn't last, and a fire in 1971 destroyed the main buildings. What stands today is mostly stone: the zoo pens, the shells of the later gas station and campground, and the old bridge.

Timeline

From trading post to ruins

1. Late 1850sEdward F. Beale surveys a wagon road along the 35th parallel, through the Canyon Diablo country.
2. 1878By legend, Navajo warriors trap and kill 42 Apache raiders in a cave in the canyon. See the legend section below.
3. 1880The railroad town of Canyon Diablo starts up about three miles north.
4. 1912The National Old Trails Road opens, carrying coast-to-coast car traffic across the canyon.
5. 1914Daniel B. Oldfield and his wife build a stone house and trading post beside the new road.
6. Mar 17, 1915A concrete arch bridge over Canyon Diablo opens to traffic. Legends of America dates it to 1917.
7. 1922–1924Earle and Louise Cundiff open a store and lodge at the crossing. Sources differ on the year.
8. 1925The Canyon Lodge post office opens. Harry E. Miller arrives and leases ground from the Cundiffs.
9. Mar 1926Miller shoots Earle Cundiff dead in a dispute over the lease. He is tried in Flagstaff that June and acquitted.
10. 1926US 66 is designated along the old trails road.
11. 1927Newspapers start calling the place Two Guns, after Miller's nickname.
12. 1929–1930Miller's store burns in the fall of 1929. He leaves for New Mexico in 1930.
13. 1934Louise Cundiff opens a Texaco station on a newer Route 66 alignment.
14. 1938A new bridge opens just to the north and the 1915 bridge closes.
15. 1940sTwo Guns is at its busiest as a roadside stop.
16. 1971Fire destroys the main buildings. Interstate 40 has already taken most of the traffic.
17. Sep 30, 1988The 1915 Canyon Diablo Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
18. Jan 2020The 232-acre property, listed at $3.715 million, goes under contract. We found no report of how the sale ended.
19. Apr 2026Photos show the zoo pens, the Mountain Lions sign and the gas station shell still standing.

Legend and record

The Apache Death Cave

The story most visitors hear at Two Guns is older than the road. As Legends of America and other Route 66 writers tell it, Apache raiders attacked a Navajo camp in 1878. Navajo warriors tracked them to a cave in Canyon Diablo, lit brush fires at the entrance and shot anyone who came out. The count usually given is 42 dead. Miller later showed the cave to tourists and, in the same telling, sold the bones as souvenirs.

We haven't found a record from the time that confirms the massacre, and none of the newspaper or National Register sources behind the Wikipedia article mention it. Treat it as legend. The same goes for the story that Billy the Kid's gang hid in stone ruins across the canyon in the winter of 1879–80, and for the curse that travel features still attach to the place.

The killing of Earle Cundiff is different. It is documented in 1926 newspaper reports of the shooting, the hearing and the trial.

What's left

Stone pens, a gas station and two bridges

Photos taken in April 2026 show the long stone walls of Miller's zoo, with the words Mountain Lions over the entrance and chicken wire rotting on wooden frames above the pens. South of the exit stands the graffiti-covered shell of a gas station. In 2020 Route 66 News listed the crumbling remains of the trading post, campground, cottages, zoo and service station. The 1915 bridge still spans the canyon beside the zoo. The ground is covered in broken glass, nails and loose rock, and the buildings are vandalized and unstable.

The historic maps below trace the site's life. The 1886 sheet shows nothing here but the Cañon Diablo station on the railroad to the north. By 1947 Two Guns is marked on US 66 where the highway crosses the canyon, with Canyon Diablo and Sunshine on the Santa Fe line beyond it. The 1968 Meteor Crater sheet labels only ruins along the canyon rim beside the new interchange.

• Zoo pens and Mountain Lions sign
• Gas station shell
• Trading post ruins
• Campground and cottage ruins
• Canyon Diablo Bridge (1915)
• Old Route 66 roadbed
• Death Cave entrance (by legend)

Historic maps

Two Guns on USGS maps, 1886–1982

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

18861:250,00019471:250,00019621:250,00019681:24,00019821:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Winslow is the closer city, and Flagstaff is about ten miles farther. Both routes are interstate almost the whole way and leave I-40 at exit 230, signed Two Guns. The last stretch to the ruins, south of the freeway, is rough and rocky dirt.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Two Guns in photos

Exit 230 and the zoo walls from I-40, 2026The Mountain Lions entrance to the zoo, 2026Harry E. Miller at his zoo, May 1929 (Cline Library, NAU)Stone animal pens against the hillside, 2026A pen framed with wood and chicken wire, 2026Stairs and pens inside the zoo, 2026Zoo cages, 2008The gas station south of the exit, 2026The entrance of the Death Cave, 2018The 1915 Canyon Diablo Bridge, 2008Canyon Diablo below the ruins, 2008Canyon Diablo and I-40 from the air, 2010The old road and ruins along the canyon rim, 2008

Visitor reports

Been to Two Guns?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Two Guns

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Arizona index.

• Canyon Diablo3.4 mi NW · Coconino
• Twin Arrows10.9 mi W · Coconino
• Tolchico19.1 mi N · Coconino
• Brigham City23.7 mi E · Navajo
• Bellemont42.0 mi W · Coconino
• Obed45.7 mi E · Navajo
• Cedar Springs47.2 mi NE · Navajo
• Zeniff55.1 mi SE · Navajo

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Two Guns": fact sheet fields (county, roads, legal description, climate, best time, remains).
2. Wikipedia, "Two Guns, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: Beale survey, Old Trails Road, Cundiffs, Miller, the 1926 shooting and trial, post office, naming, 1940s peak, 1960s station, 1971 fire, coordinates.
3. Wikipedia, "Canyon Diablo Bridge", retrieved October 2026: 1915 opening, 1938 replacement, National Register listing.
4. Legends of America, "Two Guns": Oldfield trading post, Canyon Diablo railroad town, date of the shooting, 1929 fire, 1934 Texaco station, the Death Cave and Billy the Kid stories, exit 230.
5. Gribblenation (June 2018): 1922 store, US 66 in 1926, the campground, condition of the ruins in 2018.
6. Route 66 News (January 2020): 232-acre site under contract after listing at $3.715 million; ruins on the property. Route 66 News (April 2019): vandalism.
7. Route 66 Travel Info (July 2025): exit 230, no services, stay out of the cave and unstable structures.
8. Campendium listing: private property, visit only with the owner's permission; newest review November 1, 2025, from a visitor who walked the ruins. Tripadvisor reviews, 2023 to October 2026: rough parking, ground hazards, private but unmarked, recent visits.
9. NewsChannel 10 (June 2026): the "cursed ghost town" framing in current travel coverage.
10. Coordinates: USGS GNIS (feature 24665). Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Status checked against the sources above on October 19, 2026.

Photo and map credits

• Exit 230 and the zoo walls from I-40, 2026: G. Edward Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
• The Mountain Lions entrance to the zoo, 2026: G. Edward Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
• Harry E. Miller at his zoo, May 1929 (Cline Library, NAU): Unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Stone animal pens against the hillside, 2026: G. Edward Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
• A pen framed with wood and chicken wire, 2026: G. Edward Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
• Stairs and pens inside the zoo, 2026: G. Edward Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
• Zoo cages, 2008: Marcin Wichary from San Francisco, U.S.A., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• The gas station south of the exit, 2026: G. Edward Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
• The entrance of the Death Cave, 2018: Marine 69-71, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• The 1915 Canyon Diablo Bridge, 2008: Marcin Wichary from San Francisco, U.S.A., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Canyon Diablo below the ruins, 2008: Marcin Wichary from San Francisco, U.S.A., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Canyon Diablo and I-40 from the air, 2010: Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, CA, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• The old road and ruins along the canyon rim, 2008: Marcin Wichary from San Francisco, U.S.A., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): San Francisco Mtns 1886, 1:250,000; Flagstaff 1947, 1:250,000; Flagstaff 1962, 1:250,000; Meteor Crater 1968, 1:24,000; Flagstaff 1982, 1:100,000.