Happy Jack was founded in 1947 as a logging camp. The community also contained a ranger station and post office.[1] By 1948, 300 people lived in the town, and at its peak, housed around 500 people.[2] The town was built by the Saginaw and Manistee Lumber company.[2]
The first logging camp closed approximately 30 years after it opened. The logging company requested Happy Jack be moved 13 miles, closer to Clints Well, starting around 1974.[4] The Happy Jack post office moved 15 miles down the road to a place known locally as Long Valley in 1983 and is also known as Happy Jack Too.[5] However, Long Valley does not appear on any maps.[1]
Etymology
The town was founded at a place called Onion Flat, and was originally called "Yellowjacket." However, three other Yellowjacket place names already existed, so a new name had to be chosen for the new community.[6]
Happy Jack may have been named for a cheerful local lumberman.[7] However, another newspaper report says the Coconino National Forest Supervisor Ronald Rotty named Happy Jack, after an area of Wyoming where a bandit named Happy Jack committed crimes.[1]
