Sources
Where the facts come from
Every source cited across this site, in one list.
Court opinions are public records and free to read. Where a source has no stable public web page, we cite it in full without a link.
- AMA Bureau of Investigation, "Curtis Howe Springer: A Quack and His Nostrums," JAMA 105(11):900, Sept. 14, 1935. DOI: doi.org/10.1001/jama.1935.02760370056027
- Arthur J. Cramp. Wikipedia (Propaganda for Reform Department, 1906–1936; Fake File; Testimonial File; Nostrums and Quackery; radio; quotation): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_J._Cramp
- Aurora Tang, "Zzyzx: Revisiting Doc Springer's Boulevard of Dreams," The Mojave Project (2015): mojaveproject.org/dispatches-item/zzyzx-dr-springer/
- Cecilia Rasmussen, "Zzyzx: An Unlikely Home of Hucksterism and Miracle Cures," Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2002: www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-16-me-then16-story.html
- Charles Hillinger, "Zzyzx Rises Above Its Shady, Colorful Past," Los Angeles Times, Sept. 30, 1990: www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-30-vw-2058-story.html
- Col. Herbert M. Hart, "Soda Springs (Hancock's Redoubt)," via Digital-Desert / mojavedesert.net: mojavedesert.net/military/fort-soda.html
- Confirmation bias. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
- CSU Desert Studies Center (established 1976): www.fullerton.edu/dsc/
- CSU Desert Studies Center, "Visiting": www.fullerton.edu/dsc/visiting/
- Curtis Howe Springer. Wikipedia (birth and death dates; AMA "King of Quacks," 1969): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Howe_Springer
- Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Food,_Drug,_and_Cosmetic_Act
- Federal Trade Commission, "Common Health Scams": consumer.ftc.gov/articles/common-health-scams
- Find a Grave, memorial 234661546, Helen Springer (1920–2020), Riverside National Cemetery, Section 14, Site 497 (findagrave.com).
- General Mining Act of 1872. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mining_Act_of_1872
- Hoxsey Therapy. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoxsey_Therapy
- James Harvey Young, "Arthur Cramp: Quackery Foe," Pharmacy in History 37(4):176–182 (1995), PMID 11609047.
- John R. Brinkley. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Brinkley
- KFKB Broadcasting Association v. Federal Radio Commission, 47 F.2d 670 (D.C. Cir. 1931), as summarized in the Brinkley article above.
- Mojave National Preserve. Wikipedia (Kelso Dunes; Cima Dome; Kelso Depot): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_National_Preserve
- Mojave Road. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_Road
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, "Placebo Effect": www.nccih.nih.gov/health/placebo-effect
- National Park Service, "Lake Tuendae Nature Trail," Mojave National Preserve: www.nps.gov/moja/planyourvisit/lake-tuendae-nature-trail.htm
- National Park Service, "Mohave Tui Chub," Mojave National Preserve: www.nps.gov/moja/learn/nature/mojave-tui-chub.htm
- National Park Service, "Zzyzx," Mojave National Preserve: www.nps.gov/moja/learn/historyculture/zzyzx.htm
- Norman G. Baker. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_G._Baker
- Pope Brock, Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam (Crown, 2008). See it on Amazon (affiliate link).
- Regression toward the mean. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_toward_the_mean
- Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonopah_and_Tidewater_Railroad
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mohave Tui Chub 5-Year Review (listing history): ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc2392.pdf
- U.S. Geological Survey, "Evaluating Potential Refugia for the Endangered Mohave Tui Chub": www.usgs.gov/centers/nevada-water-science-center/science/evaluating-potential-refugia-endangered-mohave-tui-chub
- United States v. Springer, 478 F.2d 43, 46 n.2 (9th Cir. 1972): openjurist.org/478/f2d/43
- United States v. Springer, 491 F.2d 239 (9th Cir. Jan. 17, 1974; reh'g denied Feb. 26, 1974): openjurist.org/491/f2d/239
- World's Tallest Thermometer. Wikipedia (134 ft; Death Valley's 1913 record): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Tallest_Thermometer
- Zzyzx, California. Wikipedia (pronunciation; Borgmann 1967; Hammond 1973; Rand McNally 1976; U.S. Board on Geographic Names approval June 14, 1984, citing A. Ross Eckler, "Zzyzx," Word Ways 29:1, Feb. 1996): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zzyzx,_California
Further reading
CharlatanPope Brock's history of John R. Brinkley, the goat-gland doctor who pioneered radio quackery.The Confidence GameMaria Konnikova on the psychology of why we fall for con artists.Bad BloodJohn Carreyrou's account of Theranos, a modern health fraud built on charisma.Zzyzx: History of an OasisAnne Q. Duffield-Stoll's early history of the springs and Springer's resort.Weird CaliforniaA roadside guide to California's local legends and oddities, by Greg Bishop and co-authors.
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