The town of Show Low, Arizona was established in 1870 and incorporated in 1953. It is located in southern Navajo Country, 174 miles northeast of Phoenix, 193 miles north of Tucson, and about 35 miles north of Fort Apache. 

Corydon E. Cooley was a Native American scout in General Crook's campaigns, 1872 and 1873, during the Apache wars. C. E. Cooley lived with his two wives, Mollie and Cora , daughters of old Chief Pedro of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. 

In 1875 Cooley and Marion Clark, another resident, decided that the tiny settlement along the Mormon Creek was too small for both of them. One of them had to move out. It was agreed that they would play the card game Seven-up to decide which of them would have to go.  As the legend goes, they played all night. On the last hand, Cooley needed just one point to win. Clark turned his cards over and said, "If you can show low - you win." Cooley cut the deck, drew an unbeatable two of clubs and retorted, "Show low it is." And that was how the town was named.