Exploring Apache Death Cave


There I am (above) walking the wooden plank toward the boulders you climb down to get into the Apache Death Cave. I showed up there on my Route 66 trek, exploring the ghost town of Two Guns, Arizona, when a sweet man named Jerry said, "hey, I can take you into the cave." 

The legend of the Apache Death Cave is that in the 1800s, the Apache raided a Navajo encampment. They stole things, killed people, and even took children and women who later were found dead.

The Navajo chased them down but the Apache thought they outsmarted them by hiding with their horses inside the cave. The Navajo found them and filled the entrance with wood and brush and burned it. 

The Apaches were so desperate, they slaughtered their horses on the fire to use their blood to put it out. Days later when the smoke settled, the barbecued horses filled the entrance and inside the asphyxiated Apaches lay on the cave floor.







The town of Two Guns, Arizona was built atop the Apache Death Cave at Diablo Canyon.



The town was filled with lawlessness, thievery, and shootings. They couldn't keep a sheriff for more than a few days. The town finally went defunct and it was blamed on the curse of being built over the Apache Death Cave.













Russell Crowe bought the town in 2011 and it's for sale now for $3,000,000 including the town and cave and 230 acres (LINK). 


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