Friday, April 3, 2015

Places along the way - part 1

It is amazing the things you can find if you just stop when you see something interesting!

I had heard that the town of Show Low has an interesting story behind its naming (from presentation by Nick Russell at the Escapade), so I knew to go looking...



The plaque says:
In 1876, Corydon E. Cooley and Marion Clark, two ranchers who had both laid claim to, and eventually became partners in managing 100,000 acres of land at the northwest edge of the White Mountains determined that the land could not support two families. Neither man was willing to buy the other out.

To settle the matter, Cooley and Clark engaged in a friendly game of Seven Up. The game was played at the kitchen table of Cooley's two story home atop the hill directly south of this monument where a church now stands. As the game neared completion Cooley needed just one point to win. With nothing else to lose, Clark, holding a three, exclaimed, "Show low and you win the ranch." Cooley drew the Deuce of Clubs. He renamed the ranch Show Low and the main street became known as the Deuce of Clubs.

A statue commemorates the game and naming of the town - Dwayne is attempting to take one of Cooley's cards and win the ranch, I guess!



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