About Weird and Wonderful Arizona

I was never sure whether Maggieknockater was a village or a criminal offence until I drove through it on the way to Craigellachie. Apparently it has nothing to do with a woman called Maggie; it means “plain of the hilly ridge” in Gaelic.

But it has always been my favourite weird Scottish place name. Of course there is Dull, Perthshire, which as many people know is twinned with Boring, Oregon. I remember scratching my head when I visited Twatt, on Orkney. And don’t get me started on Cockbridge.

It was no surprise to discover that Americans do bizarre place names on an almost industrial scale. Last week it was announced that a man who had changed his name by deed poll to Santa Claus was running for a place on the city council in North Pole, Alaska. He’ll no doubt be Councillor Claus.

At least North Pole is a fitting name for a town in the freezing wastes of Alaska. But why call a town in middle of the Arizona desert Santa Claus? Someone did early last century. The town used to issue special Christmas stamps and there was a café that sold a Dasher and Dancer omelette. Unlike the real Santa, this place died a death in the 1990s.

My favourite Arizona name is Show Low, a town that got its name from a poker game between two men who decided the place “wasn’t big enough for both of us”. One said to the other, “If you can show low, you win”. So he did..on both counts. The main street is called Deuce of Clubs Street in memory of the low card he turned up.

Not far from Show Low is the town of Snowflake. This has nothing to do with the climate; it was founded by two Mormon pioneers, Erastus Snow and William Flake.

The story of Tombstone, Arizona is well known. The town was the site of the Gunfight at the OK Corral and was named by a miner who began looking for ore in the area. He was told that “the only rock you’ll find out there will be your own tombstone”. In fact he discovered silver and made his fortune.

Happy Jack is a hamlet and popular campground near the centre of the state. It was so called because of a cheerful lumberman who lived nearby. Down near the Mexican border is the town of Why. Or should it be Why? It was built near a Y junction but state law insisted that all names must have at least three letters – so instead of Y it became Why.

One old Arizona ghost town sounds as though it was named by a drunken Scotsman on a Saturday night. Yes there was once a thriving community in this neck of the woods called Total Wreck. It had two hotels and five saloons to cater for only 35 occupied houses – so it might well have been aptly named.

Talking of appropriate names, Nothing, Arizona, is literally that. There was once a filling station and a convenience store but now there is just absolutely nothing in Nothing. As for Surprise, it is a major city with a population of more than 120,000. The founder, one Flora Mae Statler, said at the time that “she would be surprised if the town amounted to much”.

I have no idea of the origins of Monkey’s Eyebrow and Grasshopper Junction.  Carefree presumably promises a laid-back and relaxing life; and Bumblebee is named after a quick-witted gent who threw a rock at a beehive to distract an armed pursuer. The bees then attacked his assailant and he escaped.

It’s a weird and wonderful place out here in the Wild West. But I’m not sure any of these places comes close to Maggieknockater.