Roadside Marvels |
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HOW
SHOW LOW GOT ITS NAME
Show Low, Arizona Photographed by Gerald Thurman of Tempe, Arizona |
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Show Low had its beginning as a ranch of nearly 100,000 acres jointly owned by Marion Clark and Corydon Cooley, a U.S. army scout. According to legend, sometime around 1876, the partners decided that one of them should leave. They agreed to play cards to decide who would get the ranch. The game they played was believed to have been "seven up," and they played all night with neither of them achieving the winning hand. Finally, Clark is reputed to have said, "Show low, and you take the ranch." Cooley turned up the deuce of clubs and won the ranch, the cattle, all of the crops, and the buildings. The main street of the town is still called "Deuce of Clubs." Local political lore suggests that if the local election is ever tied, the winner will "draw low" for it. Show
Low Statue Photographed by Gerald
Thurman |