Qualla: Zzyzx, California

Zzyzx, California: Introduction

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mike's Birds from Riverside, CA, US, CC BY-SA 2.0. Curtis Howe Springer wanted to be last. In 1944, he named his desert health resort Zzyzx — a word he invented — because he calculated it would appear at the end of every alphabetical list. He was right about that, and wrong about almost everything else. The health products he manufactured were fraudulent. The 12,000 acres of federal land he occupied without permission was never his to use. The mineral springs he promoted as miraculous were ordinary water. When the Bureau of Land Management finally evicted him in 1974, after three decades of unauthorized operation, Springer left behind a name that has proven far more durable than any of his claims.

Read more: Zzyzx, California on Qualla

Image: Mike's Birds from Riverside, CA, US | CC BY-SA 2.0

Zzyzx, California: The Fraudulent Spa

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Junkyardsparkle, CC0. Springer arrived in the Mojave in the 1940s with the ambition of a showman and the ethics of a patent medicine salesman — which, in many respects, is what he was. He obtained a mining claim that gave him access to the springs, then expanded his operation far beyond any legitimate...

Read more: Zzyzx, California on Qualla

Image: Junkyardsparkle | CC0

Zzyzx, California: California State University Takes Over

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wilson44691, Public domain. In 1976, California State University established the Desert Studies Center at the former spa site. Seven CSU campuses now participate in the consortium, using Zzyzx as a field station for desert research across biology, ecology, geology, and environmental science. Springer's cabi...

Read more: Zzyzx, California on Qualla

Image: Wilson44691 | Public domain

Zzyzx, California: What the Name Has Become

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit U.S. Census Bureau, Public domain. Reader's Digest declared Zzyzx the most difficult place name to pronounce in California. The correct pronunciation approximates ZY-zix, though visitors often work through several attempts before arriving there. Michael Connelly used the location in his 2004 thriller The Narrows. ...

Read more: Zzyzx, California on Qualla

Image: U.S. Census Bureau | Public domain

Zzyzx, California: The Desert That Remains

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0. The springs at Zzyzx still run. Lake Tuendae still holds water in a landscape that almost nowhere else does. The research center conducts work that Springer never contemplated — measuring climate change effects on desert ecosystems, tracking endangered species, training students ...

Read more: Zzyzx, California on Qualla

Image: Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0