Canyon Diablo, Arizona

Canyon Diablo, Arizona

Canyon Diablo is a ghost town on the Navajo Reservation in Coconino County, Arizona, United States on the edge of the arroyo Canyon Diablo.

The town which is about 12 miles northwest of Meteor Crater was the closest community to the crater when portions of the meteorite were removed. Consequently, the meteorite that struck the crater is officially called the "Canyon Diablo Meteorite." [ [http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/meteorites/impacts/crater.php METEOR CRATER: PROOF OF IMPACT - amnh.org - Retrieved September 19, 2008] ]

The town originated in 1880, due to the construction of a railroad bridge across the canyon. It quickly produced numerous saloons, brothels, dance halls, and gambling houses, all of which remained open 24 hours a day. No lawmen were employed by the community initially, so it quickly became a very dangerous place. Its population was mostly made up of railroad workers along with passing outlaws, gamblers, and prostitutes. The town was designed with two lines of buildings facing one another across the rock bed main street. The center street, however, was not named Main Street, but "Hell Street". It consisted of fourteen saloons, ten gambling houses, four brothels and two dance halls. Also located on this street were two eating counters, one grocery store, and one dry goods store. Scattered about in the vicinity of downtown were large numbers of tents, shotgun houses, and hastily thrown up shacks that served as local residences.

Within a short time the town boasted a population of 2,000 residents. A regular stagecoach route from Flagstaff to Canyon Diablo began running, and was often the victim of robberies. Within its first year, the town received its first marshal. He was sworn in at 3:00pm, and was being buried at 8:00pm that same night. Five more town marshals would follow, the longest lasting one month, and all were killed in the line of duty. A "Boot Hill" cemetery sprouted up at the end of town, which in less than a decade had 35 graves, all of whom had been killed by way of violent death. The 36th grave was that of railroad worker Herman Wolf, who died in 1899, the only one to have died a nonviolent death.

Upon completion of the railroad bridge, the town quickly died. By 1903, the only thing remaining in the town was a Navajo trading post. Later on in the 20th century, when Route 66 passed within sight of the town, another town called Two Guns sprang up at the old Canyon Diablo townsite, but it too was short-lived. What remains today are a few building foundations, the grave marker and grave of Herman Wolf, and the ruins of the trading post.

ee also

*Canyon Diablo (canyon)

References

External links

* [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/AZ-CanyonDiablo.html Canyon Diablo, Arizona, "Wilder than Tombstone"]
* [http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/canyondiablo.html Ghost Towns]
* [http://sfarchae.blogspot.com/2007/06/day-at-canyon-diablo-az.html Photo gallery]


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  • Canyon Diablo (meteorite) — Meteorite Name= Canyon Diablo Image caption= Canyon Diablo iron meteorite (IIIAB) 2,641 grams. Note colorful natural desert patina. Image width= Type= Iron Class= Group= IAB MG Structural classification= Coarse Octahedrite Composition= 7.1% Ni; 0 …   Wikipedia

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