Showlow, one of the freak Arizona place names, applied to a creek and
district, as well as to a thrifty little settlement, lies about south of
Snowflake, twenty miles or more. The name antedates the Mormon
settlement. The valley jointly was held by C.E. Cooley and Marion Clark,
both devoted to the card game of "seven-up." At a critical period of one
of their games, when about all possible property had been wagered, Clark
exclaimed, "Show low and you take the ranch!" Cooley "showed low." This
same property later was sold by him to W.J. Flake, for $13,000.
The Showlow section embraces the mountain communities of Showlow,
Reidhead (Lone Pine), Pinedale, Linden, Juniper, Adair (which once had
unhappy designation as "Fools' Hollow"), Ellsworth, Lakeside (also known
as Fairview and Woodland), Pinetop and Cluff's Cienega. Cooley, in the
Cienega (Sp., marsh) is the site of a large sawmill and is the terminus
of a railroad from Holbrook. But the noted scout Cooley, lived elsewhere,
at Showlow and at Apache Springs.
The first Mormons to come to Showlow were Alfred Cluff and David E.
Adams, who were employed by Cooley in 1876. They were from Allen's Camp,
almost driven away by necessity. Others soon came, including Moses and
Orson Cluff, Edmund Ellsworth and Edson Whipple, a Salt Lake Pioneer.
There was gradual settlement of the communities above listed, generally
prior to 1880. While only one member of the faith was killed during the
Indian troubles of the eighties, log and stone forts were erected in
several of the villages for use in case of need.