aghdad. Boneyard. Bootlegger Crossing. Bumble Bee. Carefree. Chloride. Floss. Goobertown. Goodyear. Many Farms. Nothing. Show Low. Strong. Surprise. Three Forks. Tuba City. Two Guns. Skull Valley. Why.

Then there is Horsethief Basin. Sore Finger Road. Gun Fury Road. Skunk Creek. Holy Moses Wash. Bloody Basin.

Check any Arizona road map and you are sure to find a mother load of colorful place names-both for townships and names for roads, creeks, trails and landmarks. Arizona's rich and often character-filled past is reflected in myriad stories by the names that have been left behind.

"They're names of a whimsical nature. It was almost as if the people didn't expect to be there very long," says Marshall Trimble, author of "Roadside History of Arizona," and an authority on state history.

Often, the legends and tales surrounding the nomenclature are as varied as the names themselves.

Why ask Why

John Brown tells the story of his winter home, Why, somewhat differently than others might. According to Brown, the town, located in southern Arizona, used to be called "the Y" because of the fork in the road where State Highways 85 and 86 meet about 130 miles west of Tucson. "People ended up settling here and we finally got enough for a post office," he says. "So, when they had to name the town, they changed it from the Y to Why. And that's why Why is Why."

Frank Gallant, in his book, "A Place Called Peculiar: Stories about Unusual American Place-Names," begs to differ. Settled mainly by snowbirds-people flocking to escape other states' cold winters-the town's name actually has a more humorous origin. According to Gallant, when friends and relatives came to see the new Arizona residents, "They got an awful lot of chuckles over the question 'Why would anyone move to a place like this?'"

Mr. Snow & Mr. Flake

Contrary to popular belief, Snowflake, AZ, located in Yavapai County, is not named after precipitation, although it has been known to snow there. Rather, the town was named after two early settlers, William J. Flake, who first settled in the area by order of the Mormon Church, and Erastus Snow, important historically as the man who was in charge of the Mormon colonization of Arizona.

As you might expect, most of the residents of Snowflake belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to this day.

With a name like Snowflake, however, it also seems more than fitting that the town is nestled near the White Mountains. Too bad Christmas (named for the day a local miner's claim had been validated) is located over in Gila County, near the Payson Metro Area.

Poker, Anyone?

Legend has it that the city of Show Low, the commercial and tourist hub of the White Mountains, was named after a famous marathon poker game between C.E. Cooley and Marion Clark, when they decided, in proper "Old West" fashion, that ‘this here town was not big enough' for the both of them.

The two men agreed to let a game of Seven-Up decide who was to move.

According to the story, Clark said, "If you can show low, you win." Cooley laid down the deuce of clubs (the lowest possible card) and replied, "Show low it is."

What would ordinarily be Show Low's main street is named "Deuce of Clubs" in remembrance.

Um, Bloody Basin?

Actually, the story behind it IS as bad as it sounds, though currently the trail that carries the name of Bloody Basin Rd., just north of Cave Creek (named for a creek that runs alongside an accessible cavern which is still visited today) is known more for its remote, beautiful scenery than for any exceptionally bloody skirmish.

On March 27, 1873, however, the area was the site of a bitter conflict between US army scouts and a group of Apache Indians. The scouts surrounded the Indians, members of a Tonto tribe, during the night. By dawn, they had either killed or captured all of the Apaches. The area is named for the harsh and bloody fighting that occurred there.

The US Military commanding officer of the campaign, General George Crook, assigned to Arizona after establishing himself as an Indian-fighter in both Idaho and Oregon. Arizona's General Crook Trail, which skirts the Mogollon rim, is one of many landmarks or locales that are named after him throughout the country.

Bagdad, USA

Baghdad has been in the news lately, of course. Both the war-torn city, Baghdad, located in the country of Iraq, AND the Arizona town Bagdad (spelled with no ‘H') home to 2,700 or so residents.

Located on the other side of Prescott, just off US Highway 93, Bagdad seems to revel in its unusual, now even notorious, name. The sports teams at the Bagdad High School are named the Sultans, their mascot a genie on a magic carpet.

Of course, there is a homier, yet perhaps no less exotic tale, of how Bagdad got its name. According to one story, a father and son were mining in the late 1800's. The son wanted something to store his ore, and turned to his father, saying, "Do you have a bag, dad?"

The town was never named for the original in Mesopotamia, well-known as the cradle of civilization, after all.

So Anderson Cooper, of CNN fame, was told when he visited the town a couple years ago, curious about what the residents of Bagdad, USA felt about the goings on in Baghdad, and blogging about it later. What he found is that a good many residents, members of the US Military, indeed now made their homes (at least temporarily) in the other Baghdad.

(See http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/10/so-thats-how-bag-dad-got-its-name.html for the story behind the story.)

Unfortunately for fans who thought otherwise, the quirky German movie, Bagdad Café (directed by Percy Adlon, and featuring a group of misfit desert rat characters) was not filmed in Bagdad, AZ, but in Bagdad, CA, a Mojave desert town that has all but disappeared. It's fun to watch, anyway-the landscapes are similar.