Canyon Lodge Earl Marion Cundiff and his wife, Louise, established the Canyon Lodge on the rim of Canyon Diablo around 1924. They opened a post office at the Lodge in 1925. Cundiff was both acting postmaster and store proprietor. Lloyd Parks also ran a garage and restaurant at the Lodge. Cundiff, who was originally from Arkansas, had a long history of aggression and violence. There was even evidence that he had been placed in a sanitarium in the past, supposedly after receiving a head injury. The local sheriff testified that he was one of the county's biggest problems and the subject of more complaints than just about anyone else. Cundiff had been arrested multiple times for violent acts, and even Louise had been charged with assaulting Parks's wife.
"Indian" Miller Before he arrived at Canyon Diablo, Harry Edgar Miller, an entrepreneur whose entire family pretended to be
Native American, had worked in the early 1920s at the
Walnut Canyon National Monument. To generate authenticity for his business, he fabricated a backstory of being an
Apache to help sell products. In reality, Miller, his wife, and his daughter were all white, non-Natives. Miller himself was born in 1879 in Roswell, New Mexico, to a white father from Iowa and a white mother from Missouri, while his white wife was born on the East Coast. at his zoo (1929) At the national monument, Miller had built a
wikiup which he used to operate a store where he ran a small zoo and museum and sold his own art and poetry; he also published a magazine he called the
Moccasin. Miller was convincing in his own way; he gave lectures to tourists about indigenous practices, but he promoted
pseudoarchaeology that deviated from mainstream academic research. Miller himself was known by at least three names: "Two Guns", "Indian Miller", and "Chief Crazy Thunder", which he used to attract attention and promote his business. Miller moved on from Walnut Canyon and came to Canyon Diablo in early 1925.
The Coconino Sun announced that Miller had arrived with his family and set up shop in Canyon Lodge. The article describes Miller's new
roadside attraction for tourists traveling on the National Old Trails Road, a business featuring similar attractions to those he had run at Walnut Canyon: a new museum, a fake cliff dwelling, a souvenir store, and another zoo. Miller was successful with his business, but was at odds with Cundiff, with the two of them often getting into fights. In 1926, there was a final confrontation, with Cundiff ending up dead from a gunshot to the neck. Miller was accused of murdering him. In court, Miller's attorney successfully argued self-defense, presenting evidence that Cundiff had entered Miller's house, grabbed Miller's gun, and fired at him first. The unusual circumstances surrounding Cundiff's death, combined with evidence that Cundiff was widely known to law enforcement for his pattern of violent behavior, while Miller had a reputation as a peaceful person, led to Miller's acquittal. He left the area for New Mexico in 1930.
Two Guns The name "Two Guns" was first used as a moniker by Miller, with newspapers often referring to him with the nickname. In the late 1920s, the media began using the name to refer to the general geographic area where Miller operated his business. Two early examples include "Fort Two Guns" and "Two Guns", which appear to have replaced the use of Canyon Lodge in or around 1927. Both names appear on April 22 of that year. In those two examples, "Fort Two Guns" was used humorously by a writer to refer to Miller's location, while "Two Guns" was used separately in a legal context to refer to Miller's location within Canyon Diablo itself. In terms of name recognition, Two Guns came into its own when it received national currency in 1928. In that year, the area was used as a "desert outpost" for the
Trans-American Footrace, with that leg of the race beginning in Flagstaff. News stories about the race were carried by
United Press International and distributed across the country by wire service, with most stories referring to the Canyon Lodge area as "Two Guns Camp". By 1929, newspapers were calling the area "Two Guns, Arizona".
Decline The area fell into ruin in the late 20th century after the interstate was built. Many roadside attractions went out of business on Route 66 as the interstate made non-stop travel possible. Different business owners added newer attractions over the years, including a new gas station and store in the 1960s, but there was not enough business to sustain it. A fire destroyed the structures in 1971. Bob Thomas, a correspondent for
The Arizona Republic, noted the bizarre and troubled history of Two Guns, describing it as an "early tourist town" filled with fake Native American ruins, counterfeit artifacts, and captive animals, and beset by murder, arson, and failed businesses. Two Guns is often classified as a
ghost town, although Nick Gerlich, a marketing professor at
West Texas A&M University who specializes in the history of roadside attractions, notes that "Two Guns is a 'town' that never was one". ==Notes==