Zzyzx

The story starts thousands of years ago, when the area was cooler and wetter. A massive lake called Lake Mojave covered the land. As the climate warmed, the water evaporated, leaving behind a mineral/salt crust in the dry Soda lake and Silver Lake basins.

In 1944, everything changed for Zzyzx. A man named Curtis Springer moved to the area and opened up a mining claim here that eventually turned him into a millionaire. Throughout the 1940s, he developed and operated Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Resort on his mining claim lands. The grounds consisted of a two-story castle, a dining hall, library, lecture room, pool house, goat farm, and rabbit rooms. Although Curtis Springer had left school after 9th grade, he referred to himself as a doctor. His radio show became extremely popular, being broadcast over 300 stations worldwide, and hundreds of visitors came out to visit his spa. Over the 30 years that he managed the resort, he shipped over 4 million packages all over the country, including Antediluvian Herb Tea, Nerve Cell Food, and Hollywood Pep Cocktail. The nearby town of Baker had to build a post office just to accommodate his mail.

By the late 1960s, things started to fall apart for Curtis Springer. Although many customers were very satisfied with his products, complaints started increasing. After all, a former employee described Doc Springer’s formula as 10% crust from Soda Lake and 90% Epsom salts. When truly sick people arrived at Zzyzx, they found that they were miles away from actual medical car He was also accused of tax evasion by the IRS, and the FDA accused him of false advertising. Finally, the Bureau of Land Management stepped in to dispute Mr. Springer’s mining claims on the land he operated on. After spending a couple months in jail for the worst of his charges, he lived out the rest of his life in Las Vegas.