A new batch of Anthony Reichardt films from the 1990s shows Two Guns, Arizona; a long stretch of Route 66 in the California desert to Oatman, Arizona; and Michael Wallis, author of the best-selling “Route 66: The Mother Road.”
Below is Wallis in 1993 during a meeting of the California Historic Route 66 Association at Griswold’s Inn in Claremont. Griswold’s now is a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.
Many things change over time. Wallis’ baritone voice remains the same. If you need to skip ahead, his speech begins around the 10-minute mark. You won’t hear his entire address, but you’ll hear enough.
The second video is a mishmash of 30 minutes of footage from 1993 as Reichardt and a pal cruise in a 1959 Cadillac from Orange, California, to Route 66 to Oatman, Arizona.
Finally, Reichardt and his friend in 1993 are given a tour of Two Guns by a knowledgeable fellow who calls himself Mike.
Apparently plans were afoot to improve the declining Two Guns area, but it never came to pass.
Dozens more videos of Route 66 from that era are on Reichardt’s YouTube channel. They come highly recommended for their historical value alone.