“Twin Arrows is a ghost town off of U.S. Route 66 in Arizona, located on historic Hopi & Navajo land.
I was on the road to Albuquerque Zine Fest last year with Shamon Cassette when we saw a giant arrow pointed out of the ground along our journey to New Mexico…
Our conversation fell apart as we turned our heads. Despite the beast of a wind along the highway and our industrial rock soundtrack blasting out of Shamon’s SPKY van, for a moment it felt like that arrow was looking back at us.
Without asking we started for the next exit and rolled up to an abandoned trading post, littered with anarchist & Indigenous graffiti.
In 1540 Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado was the first European to enter the area, leading a search for the mythical “Seven Cities of Cíbola,” a rumored network of wealthy New World cities. Instead he and his crew found the modest Zuni pueblo Hawikuh in classic adobe fashion.
After becoming part of a loosely governed México, in 1848 it ceded into U.S. territory after the Treaty of Guadalupe.
In the 1880’s a wagon route was established between Flagstaff and Winslow, with the Atlantic/Pacific Railroad being built alongside, forming into a leg of the National Old Trails road which soon became Route 66.
“Canyon Padre Trading Post” was established in the late 1940s, the store and diner earning slow profits until a rebrand to “Twin Arrows Trading Post,” inspired by the nearby city of Two Guns.
Two giant 25-foot arrows were installed on the property and, being so noticeable, motorists began dropping in after increasing familiarity with the landmark.
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When Interstate 40 was established to connect New Mexico and California on the southern side of Arizona, traffic was reduced significantly. The location was passed down until 1995, proving to be too close to Flagstaff for a successful highway stop. Since then the property, including its two giant water towers, has become a canvas for locally Indigenous & international graffiti artists/abandoned adventure enthusiasts.
