Showlow Valley Settlement

This was Apache country first, and it stayed close: Corydon Cooley, who settled the valley in 1870, was a scout married into the White Mountain Apache, tied by family to the people the Army was fighting. Mormon farming families followed after 1876, planting grain and raising a ward by 1884, and the place once called Cooley became Show Low. The old plaque credits a fort with protecting settlers from Indians. The fuller truth is a valley shared, contested, and renamed.

What the plaque says

In 1870 Corydon E. Cooley, a government scout and Marion Clark entered this valley and located ranches. Cooley built a log house on the hill. By 1876 many families came, including Alfred Cluff, David E. Adams, Thomas W. Adair, Heber Dalton and others. The settlement was called "Cooley", later changed to Showlow. Homes were built, acres planted to grain and people prospered. A post office was established in 1880 with Cooley as postmaster. A fort protected the people from Indians. Wm. Penrod built a shingle mill. In 1884 the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints organized a Ward with Hans Hansen as Bishop.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Show Low — steps away
  The Rim-country town a losing hand of cards named

More markers nearby

• Show Low and You Win the Ranch — steps away
• Jesse Nathaniel Smith — 18 mi
• The Snowflake Monument — 18 mi