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Two Guns, AZ, is one of the many cursed ghost towns scattered throughout the Southwest. It's a long-abandoned town, but tourists still stop to see its ruins along Old Route 66. Set on the rim of a canyon, the strange little town was the sight of a tragedy involving two Native American tribes.
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Quick, think of a three-word phrase that strikes fear in hearts and sends shivers down spines
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We've got one. Cursed Ghost Town. Two Guns is one such place in Arizona
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Perched on the rim of a canyon, the strange little town has been abandoned for years
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because it's allegedly the home of a terrible curse. Today, we're talking about the tragic and cursed history of Two Guns, Arizona
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Okay, it's time to hang up your spurs and gather around the campfire for a tale of weird history
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Today, Two Guns Arizona sits long abandoned. A dusty hunk of ruins off of old Route 66
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But the story of how it became a ghost town began back in 1878 at a place called the Apache Death Cave
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The story is every bit as intense as the name suggests. On that grim day nearly 150 years ago, a group of Apaches raided a Navajo encampment
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cutting nearly everyone down and looting their valuables. When the Navajo tribe realized what had happened, they sent a party to search for the Apaches
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Because you don't let something like that slide. The Apaches retaliated by invading another encampment nearby, but then seemingly disappeared shortly afterward
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In reality, the entire raiding party, including their horses, had hidden in an underground cavern to wait out their pursuers
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But that didn't go according to plan. Navajo scouts detected a gust of warm air from a campfire the Apaches had lit within the cavern
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The Navajo came up with a plan that was as efficient as it was grisly. They lit a fire in the cave's entrance
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As smoke filled the cavern, the Apaches slew their horses and used the carcasses to block the fire
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either to try and extinguish the flames or to block the smoke. Whatever the reason, the desperate act proved futile
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42 Apaches succumbed to suffocation as the Navajo listened to their death songs from outside
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Some people believe this was the inciting incident that cursed the land around two guns
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Well, yeah, that seems like a pretty good bet. Although people had been living in the general area for centuries
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Canyon Lodge didn't become an officially established American town until the early 19th century
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Canyon Diablo was a tricky obstacle for European settlers to the region
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which surrounded modern-day Winslow, Arizona. Early explorers estimated it was 100 feet deep, with steep sides making crossing difficult
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In the 1880s, settlers built a railroad bridge across the canyon, followed by an automobile bridge, a.k.a. the Canyon Diablo Bridge, in 1915
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Over the years, the area attracted more and more pioneers. And when Earl and Louise Cundiff moved to town in the 1920s
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they bought more than 300 acres of land and established a trading post As the tiny little outpost expanded into a popular tourist stop Canyon Lodge became two guns at around the same time as the National Trail Highway
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became Route 66 in 1926. The Canyon Diablo Bridge turned into a part of the original Route 66
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but was abandoned by the 1930s as the roadways changed. It remains intact to this day
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Funny story, Earl Cundiff applied for a post office for two guns in 1924
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but the U.S. government refused to issue one to a town with such an uncivilized name
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Seriously? Doesn't Hell, Michigan have a post office? Oh, wait, it actually doesn't
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Weird rule you've got there, USPS. Rather than give up mail service, the Cundiffs chose the town's old name of Canyon Lodge
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After the government granted the post office, Earl Cundiff became the first official postmaster of Canyon Lodge slash Two Guns
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The Cundiffs built a gas station and restaurant to serve the travelers passing through
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And with that roadside way station in place, Two Guns was on the map
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You know, as much as a basic gas and sip can be. Enter Harry Two Guns Miller, a veteran of the Spanish-American War
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Miller established a tourism business when the town was starting to become profitable as part of Route 66
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No one really knew this man's background or where he came from, but when he rolled into the small town during the 1920s
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he claimed he had Native American heritage and developed an Apache persona to impress customers
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He grew his hair out and wore it in braids, calling himself Chief Crazy Thunder
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The persona might have helped his business, but probably earned him a nice pile of side-eye
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from the area's actual Native American population. Most historians believe his Apache backstory
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was nothing more than an act. For instance, Miller sold authentic skulls
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allegedly belonging to his fellow tribe members, which is probably not something a person
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with a genuine Apache heritage would do, but does sound like something
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a morally flexible grifter would do. Regardless of the truth of his Apache heritage
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Miller was not a well-liked man by either the Native Americans or anybody else in town
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and his actions would lead to many disputes and at least one murder
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After the Death Cave incident, residents believed the land surrounding Two Guns became cursed
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But the town of Two Guns didn't start to run into trouble until after Miller arrived
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Consequently, many people thought his presence aggravated the curse, and not by overcharging for snacks at his gift shop
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Well, maybe not just that. Miller turned the modest trading post into a full-blown tourist trap
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including a gift shop, a zoo, we'll get to that, and regular tours of the death caverns. He built fake ruins, including an artificial Hopi house
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and even installed a soda stand inside the cave which he rebranded as the Mystery Cave In addition he collected some remains from the site and sold them as trinkets Remember when we said Miller sold human skulls as souvenirs Well those skulls belonged to the Apache raiding party
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that had perished in the caverns decades earlier. If two guns really was cursed by angry spirits
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this is exactly what you would do to piss them off. One of the first incidents of the curse allegedly occurred
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when a drifter couple stayed the night in two guns. They robbed Miller's store and took off with substantial merchandise
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Okay, that's less of a curse and more of Miller getting what he seemed to have deserved
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which, come to think of it, is kind of what a curse is. Man, maybe that place is cursed
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Over the next few decades, the curse would continue to rear its, well, cursed head
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For instance, Miller's Zoo. Told you we'd circle back to that. Miller's small roadside menagerie featured animals native to the southwest
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such as mountain lions, gila monsters, bobcats, and snakes. Miller soon learned that this might not have been the best idea
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His captured mountain lions attacked him twice and he suffered poisonous bites from the gila monster
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from which he took a long time to recover. Were those just the consequences of trying to be the early 20th century Tiger King
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or were they the results of the curse? Considering the legal trouble surrounding him at the time of the animal attacks
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it might have been the latter. What legal trouble? Well, Miller wanted to own two guns entirely
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And to do that, he had to get rid of his landlord, Earl Cundiff
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Miller had signed a 10-year lease for a plot of land and two guns, which Earl and Louise
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Cundiff owned. On this land, Miller planned to run his tourism business
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However, there were several points of contention regarding the agreement between Miller and
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Earl, which ultimately boiled down to Miller believing the terms of the contract were unfair
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The situation spiraled out of control and ended with Miller fatally shooting Cundiff on March 3
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1926. Surprisingly, Miller never stood trial for the slaying. However, Cundiff was still able to
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throw one last spectral middle finger from beyond the grave. The deceased landlord's tombstone
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clearly and unequivocally stated that Miller had shot him. Miller was furious when he heard about
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this, and he destroyed the tombstone in a fit of rage, which led to authorities convicting him of
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defacing a gravesite. The curse of two guns finally got the best of Harry Miller in 1929
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when a fire destroyed the town's trading post. Louise Cundiff, whose husband had been gunned
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down by Miller three years earlier, tried to prove to the government her ownership of the
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in order to receive compensation. However, Miller, in one final scumbag maneuver
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tried to claim he arrived on the land before the Cundiff's and that the land belonged to him
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Not only was this a pretty low thing to do to the widow of the man he whacked it was also an easy lie since there was substantial evidence proving that he was leasing land for the Cundiffs
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So even though she still had to pay $15,000 in legal fees, Louise Cundiff substantiated her
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right to her homestead, and Miller left town. The local highways changed locations several times
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first the National Trail Highway, then Route 66, to keep up with the flow of tourists
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as interstate travel became more and more common. Louise Cundiff, along with her new husband, rebuilt two guns entirely after Route 66's rerouting
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They presumably did not rebuild Miller Zoo. During the construction of Interstate I-40, workers even designated an off-ramp for two guns
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With recent renovations to the site and the promise of a fresh flow of tourists pouring
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in from the new interstate, the future seemed bright. However, the curse persisted. A fire
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wiped out the new complex before the off-ramp could be opened, and two guns has remained
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abandoned ever since. Well, almost. A man named Benjamin Dreher really thought he could turn
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things around for the hard-luck town. He bought two guns in the 1960s, rebuilt the facilities
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and established a new zoo with a reptile exhibit. What is it with zoos? Does the presence of
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dangerous animals enhance the experience of pumping gas? During Dreher's renovation, workers reportedly uncovered several unidentified graves, which suggests that the town may have been
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even more cursed than initially believed. As if to illustrate this point, a fire ripped through
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the brand new complex in 1971, just as two guns appeared set to make a comeback. Dreher washed
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his hands of the endeavor and abandoned the town. No permanent inhabitants have remained in the town
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since, though many tourists still stop by to view the crumbling stone houses, remnants of service
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buildings, and the Apache Death Cave, or Mystery Cave. Today, the remains of a gas station, the zoo
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and a KOA campsite still stand, along with an extensive collection of stone ruins. There is also
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a lot of graffiti throughout the area, though primarily contained to the newer buildings
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Most of the stone ruins remain untouched, probably because people don't want to mess
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with anything that might still carry the curse. And now, for the most surprising part of Two Guns' story
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In 2011, a rumor made its way around the internet, alleging that actor Russell Crowe had purchased Two Guns
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but supposedly had something to do with his interest in filming a remake of the 1973 film Westworld
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The TV reboot of Westworld notably debuted in 2016, but Crowe was not involved with the show
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and it did not film in Two Guns, Arizona. If the rumor was true
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Russell Crowe may have gotten what he wanted, but considering what happened to every one of the town's previous owners
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he might have dodged a big cursed bullet