March 8, 1946

February 1946. World War II is over and wartime production jobs were ending. During the war, Carl and Georgie worked a number of jobs in several places, finishing the war in Pocatello, Idaho. They elected to return to Iowa, where they both had family, but opted to make a grand tour of the west on the way. Georgie wrote a journal of the trip. The story starts here.

Left Flagstaff the next morning and drove to Winslow through Winona, Two Guns, Rimmy Jim’s, Leupp Corner, Joseph City and Holbrook to the Petrified Forest where we looked at all the points of interest. 

Fran and Georgie at the Petrified Forest.

Drove through Navajo, Chambers, Sanders, Houck, and Lupton. Somewhere along here we stopped at a curio shop we had seen advertised for miles. They had a few animals and when we looked around I noticed an old Indian sitting in a rocker in a corner. He had a hat and sun glasses on and Carl came over to me and said “Isn’t that a life-like dummy?” Just then the Indian moved his hand and started rocking. I almost died of embarrassment as I thought all along it was a live person and Carl was fooled for a minute when he started to rock. The place was owned by an ex-circus man who had to go to the southwest for his health and he had the Indian dummy for a gag. The also had a bucking bronc stuffed and you could have your picture taken on it. That guy had a terrific sense of humor.

Crossed into New Mexico and stopped for the night just before we got to Gallup. Had a cabin that was quite un-modern but we were fairly comfortable.

Walt’s Comments

So to be clear, Mom thought it was real, Dad thought it was fake but was confused when it moved, but it was actually fake, and rigged to move on command.

The flyer for Petrified Forest National Monument.

National Old Trails Highway

In the 1890’s, there was much discussion of getting paved roads from coast to coast.  Numerous different routes were proposed.   A 1902 meeting of several automobile clubs in Chicago proposed a northern route that went from New York City along the southern edge of the Great Lakes to Chicago to Omaha to Denver to Salt Lake City  to Sacramento.  This group formed the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Many other groups formed to advocate for their favorite proposed routes and also to improve the roads in the areas they lived in. They pushed for their own version of the route, wanting it to follow various old trails and stop in various towns.  One group that worked hard to help states choose routes and testified before congress were the Daughters of the American Revolution. They pushed for their local organizations to lobby for specific routes within each state.

The route eventually chosen followed six historic trails from Alexandria, Virginia, to Los Angeles.  Much wrangling took place over the specific sections of road – where they would pass, who would pay for what sections, and who was responsible for the upkeep. The trails were the Cumberland (also know as Braddock’s or Washington Road), the Boon Lick Road, the Santa Fe Trail, Kearney’s Road, and part of the Oregon Trail.

One thing which did come from all of this was the “posting” of roads. To help make travel easier, signposts were placed which identified the roads and various points along them.  Prior to this, roads often had names, but there were few markers to tell a person which road it was. 

Part of the National Old Trails Highway became Route 66 in 1926.  Back when Carl, Georgie, and Fran took this route through Two Guns, Arizona, there were many small, thriving towns that are nothing but ghost towns now.

Digging Deeper

The history of the National Old Trails Highway can be found in great detail on the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Website.

Two Guns had a fascinating history.