The Devil wanted a place on earth
Sort of a summer home
A place to spend his vacation
Whenever he wanted to roam

So he picked out Death Valley
A place both wretched and rough
Here the climate was to his liking
And the cowboys were hardened and tough

He dried up the streams in the canyons
And ordered no rain to fall
He dried up the lakes in the valleys
Then baked and scorched it all

Then over his barren desert
He transplanted shrubs from Hell
The cactus, thistle, and prickly pear
The climate suited them well

Now, the home was much to his liking
But animal life, he had none
So he created crawling creatures
That all manking would shun

First he made the rattlesnake
With its forked poisonous tongue
Taught it to strike and rattle
And how to swallow its young

Then he made Scorpions and Lizards
And the ugly old Horned Toad
He placed spiders of every description
Under rocks by the side of the road

Then he ordered the sun to shine hotter
Hotter and hotter still
Until even the cactus wilted
And the old Horned Toad looked ill

Then he gazed on his earthly kingdom
As any creator would
He chuckled a little up his sleeve
And admitted that it was good

'Twas summer now and Satan lay
By a prickly pear to rest
The sweat rolled off his swarthy brow
So he took off his coat and vest

"By Golly," he finally panted
"I did my job too well
I'm going back where I came from
Death Valley is hotter than Hell"

- Author Unknown