One, that oil geologists named them for the crazy formations they found below the surface. Another is that the Indians thought they looked like mountains after any snow storm. Others say mirages appear on top of the hills during the summer. Fourteen miles east of Loco Hillis, Maljamar was a boomtown for its oil discovery in 1926. However, the post office wasn't established until 1943.
Oil still dominates the economy and the community but it is no longer a boomtown.
It does have the honor of having a transmitter for KENW- National Public Radio and its name is announced daily from that station. Lovington is 26 miles to the east.