The U.S. state of Arizona has more places with the word "Hell" in their names than any other state of the United States.[1] In 1994, the U.S. Geological Survey listed 60 such place names.[2] These include:
In comparison, Utah has only 46 such places, and California only 45.[1]
Marshall Trimble, Arizona historian, attributes this number of Hells to the climate and terrain of Arizona, with pioneers naming places "Hell" because of their harsh and unforgiving natures.[2] Tom Dollar and Jerry Sieve concur: "Judging from the many instances [of such names] work and travel during Arizona's settlement days must have been hellaciously difficult at times".[3]
Other hypotheses attribute some of the names to simple bawdy humour. Byrd Howell Granger, an Arizona folklorist, puts forward the Hell's Hole in Greenlee county as an example of this, stating that it was named such by local cattlemen, because "if cattle made their way in there, it was plain hell to get them out".[2]
Jim Griffith, of the Southwest Folklore Centre of the University of Arizona, observes that naming places "Hell" was also a form of braggadocio: if one could survive in "Hell", one must obviously be a person to be reckoned with.[2]
Arizona has been associated with Hell since the 19th century. In 1860, Senator Benjamin Wade observed of Arizona that "[i]t is just like Hell — all it lacks is water and good society".[4][5] One popular song, "Hell In Arizona", describes how the Devil was allotted Arizona, and populated it with several forms of unpleasant animals and plants.[2][6] The last verse reads:[6]
He fixed the heat at a hundred and 'leven,
And banished forever the moisture from heaven;
And remarked as he heard his furnaces roar
That the heat might reach five hundred more.