The name Zzyzx was give to this area in 1944 by radio peacher, Curtis Howe Spinger, claiming it to be the last word in the English language. He established the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa about 5 miles or so off what is now Interstate 15 near Baker California. He used Zzyzx until 1974, when he was arrested by the US Marshals for misuse of the land as well as alleged violations of food and drug laws, and the land was relaimed by the government. Since 1976, the Bureau of Land Management has allowed California State University to manage the land in and around Zzyzx. A consortium of CSU campuses use it as their Desert Studies Center. Curtis Springer broadcasted daily a folksy, fundamentalist religious program from the radio station he built that asking listeners to send donations for miraculous cures, which were a mix of vegetable juices, shipped throughout the United States and abroad.
