In a blog last week, I took you on a tour of Two Guns, Arizona, a relic of the glory days of historic Route 66.

Across the highway from Two Guns, and three miles up a gravel road, lies what is left of the ghost town of Canyon Diablo. You have probably never heard of this long ago Old West town, but at one time it was bigger than Flagstaff, and wilder than Tombstone or Dodge City. The term hellhole was a perfect description of Canyon Diablo.

The town sprang up out of nowhere about 1882, when construction of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad came to a sudden halt when it reached the edge of steep-sided Canyon Diablo.

It took months to order and have the materials sufficient to span the deep canyon sent from back east, and the railroad workers spent their time carousing in the ramshackle town that took its name from the neighboring canyon.

Anywhere there was a railroad payroll, saloonkeepers, gamblers, prostitutes, and outlaws were sure to follow, lured by the scent of easy money. Before long, over a dozen saloons, two dance halls, ten gambling dens, and four brothels lined both sides of the town’s one street, known as Hell Street.

Canyon Diablo’s saloons, gambling halls, and brothels were open and busy 24 hours a day. Before long, the population had swelled to over 2,000 people, bigger than Flagstaff, located 40 miles to the west. Twice weekly stagecoach service operated between Canyon Diablo and Flagstaff, and robbing the stagecoach was a popular pastime for the local outlaws. With no town marshal, the criminal element was free to do whatever it wanted, and shootouts and knifings were commonplace.

Finally the need for law enforcement was too great to overlook, and a marshal was hired. The job would require a courageous man, but courage alone was not enough. The town’s first lawman pinned on his badge at 3 p.m., and they buried him in Canyon Diablo’s fast-growing Boot Hill at 8 p.m. the same night! Five more brave, or foolhardy, men took on the job, and all five were promptly killed in the line of duty. The longest survived a month before they planted him too, in Boot Hill.

All told, 36 men would end up in Boot Hill, and all but one met violent deaths. Finally the U.S. Army had to come in and take over Canyon Diablo to quell the criminal activity there.

Canyon Diablo died just as quickly as it was born. Once the railroad bridge spanned the canyon, the workers moved on westward with the tracks, and the whores, thieves, and killers followed them. A few die hard hooligans lingered for a while, but things calmed down pretty fast.

For several years a German named Hermann Wolf operated a trading post at Canyon Diablo, and when Wolf died in 1899, he was the only man buried at Boot Hill who died peacefully.

Today there isn’t much left of Canyon Diablo except a stone wall of Herman Wolf’s trading post and a few small stone ruins quietly melting back into the high desert.

The only evidence of the infamous Boot Hill is Hermann Wolf’s lonely grave, surrounded by a falling down pipe fence. Local lore says that sometime after World War II, a relative of Wolf’s came from Germany and replaced his original wooden grave marker with the current headstone.

None of the other grave markers have survived, though there is a noticeable depression in the earth next to Wolf’s grave that could very well be a sunken gravesite.

Canyon Diablo is located three miles north of Interstate 40, Exit 230. From the north side of the highway, follow the paved roadway west a few hundred feet to where it curves to the right and turns to gravel, then continue north three miles to the railroad tracks. The tracks are blocked, but you can park your vehicle and walk about ½ mile west to the town’s ruins, which are on the north side of the tracks. Hermann Wolf’s grave is south of the railroad tracks, and about 1/8 mile west of the road you drive in on.

In good weather, the rough road is suitable for a high clearance vehicle, but a passenger car would have considerable difficulty. Be careful of rattlesnakes! Wear boots, and watch where you put your hands and feet. Please be respectful of the gravesite and ruins – take only pictures and leave only tracks.

Thought For The Day – All that truly matters in the end is that you loved and were loved.

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Did you know that U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Charles Sharp, 20, of Adairsville, Georgia, was killed July 2 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan? How about Army PFCs Justin Casillas, 19, of Dunnigan, California, or Aaron Fairbairn, 20, of Aberdeen, Washington, who lost their lives in combat at  Combat Outpost Zerok, Afghanistan? Or Navy Petty Officer Tony Michael Randolph, 22, of Henryetta, Oklahoma, who died July 6 in an improvised explosive device attack on his convoy in northern Afghanistan?

Did you know that Army Specialist Christopher Talbert, 24, of Galesburg, Illinois, and PFC Nicolas Gideon, 20, of Murrieta, California, and Captain Mark Garner, 30, from North Carolina, and 2nd Lieutenant Derwin Williams, 41, of Glenwood, Illinois, and Sergeant Brock Chavers, 25, of Bulloch, Georgia, Specialist Chester Hosford, 35, of Hastings, Minnesota, Specialist Issac Johnson, 24, of Columbus, Georgia, and Marine Sergeant Michael Roy, 25, of North Fort Myers, Florida, and Army Private Lucas Bregg, 19, of Wright City, Missouri, and Army Specialist Gregory Missman, 36, of Batavia, Ohio all died fighting for our country in the last few days?

Isn’t it sad that last week all of these fine young American servicemen lost their lives in freedom’s name, but all the news media could talk about was one wacked out notorious Hollywood freak who died? Doesn’t that make you really proud to be an American?

Okay, I’m back down off my soapbox, for now at least.

I have some very exciting news to share with you about our upcoming Ohio Gypsy Gathering rally September 28 to October 2. Our friends Joe and Vicki Kieva, two of the best known and respected RV authors and speakers in the world, are coming to the rally to put on a seminar or two!

There are a lot of us who scribble an article or two now and then, and some of my peers are very well known in their own right. But when Joe and Vicki take to a stage, it’s like show business meets the RV world. Their columns in the Good Sam Club’s Highways magazine, Woodall’s regional RV magazines, and KOA’s KOA Kompass internet newsletter, along with their featured speaker status at Life on Wheels and major RV shows nationwide have earned Joe and Vicki well deserved celebrity status. Besides which, they are two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet anywhere. To say we are thrilled to have them at our little rally is the understatement of the year.

Joe suggested their excellent Alaska, the Ultimate RV Adventure! seminar and having attended it, I know it will be a hit with our crowd. We have not worked out the details yet, but they may well be doing a second seminar, to be announced later. They will also be selling their excellent books and CDs, and visiting with folks about the RV lifestyle.

We’re going to be doing a couple of other new things at the rally, as well. We’re moving our vendors inside to keep them out of the weather, and the vendors will be doing their seminars in the same building they are selling from, which makes it easy for rally attendees to visit their booths and do some shopping after they speak.

It’s also been suggested we have a tailgate sale afternoon, where people can offer their no longer needed items for sale to the rally crowd. It will be a great opportunity to unload some stuff you’ve been carrying around too long, and maybe pick up a bargain or two at the same time.

If you haven’t registered for the rally yet, be sure to click the link below and get your name on the rally list.

Thought For The Day – Funny, I don’t remember being absent minded.

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally