Editing Tucumcari, New Mexico (section)

==History==
[[File:New Mexico - Silver City through Zuni Buttes - NARA - 68144891 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Tucumcari in 1929]]
In 1901, the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]] built a construction camp in the western portion of modern-day Quay County. Originally called Ragtown, the camp became known as "Six Shooter Siding", due to numerous gunfights. Its first formal name, Douglas, was used only for a short time.<ref name="name">{{cite web|title=Tucumcari|publisher=New Mexico Office of the State Historian|url=http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails_docs.php?fileID=391|access-date=2012-11-16|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415153024/http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails_docs.php?fileID=391|archive-date=2013-04-15}}</ref> After it grew into a permanent settlement, it was renamed Tucumcari in 1908. The name was taken from [[Tucumcari Mountain]], which is situated near the community.<ref>{{cite web|title=Photo Guide:T|publisher=Southwest Collection Library|url=http://www.swco.ttu.edu/Guide/Photo/Tph.htm|access-date=2008-09-18}}</ref> The origin of the mountain's name is uncertain; it may have been derived from the [[Comanche]] word ''tʉkamʉkarʉ'', which means "ambush".<ref>Lila Wistrand-Robinson & James Armagost. ''Comanche Dictionary and Grammar'', 2nd edition (2012, Summer Institute of Linguistics).</ref> A 1777 burial record mentions a Comanche woman and her child captured in a battle at Cuchuncari, which is believed to be an early version of the name Tucumcari.<ref name="name" /><ref>"Cuchuncari", however, is from Old Comanche ''kuhtsunkarɨ'' 'buffalo sitting'.</ref> A [[False etymology|folk etymology]] for the town name claims that a Comanche saw a [[brakeman]] carrying a lantern and exclaimed  "''tukaʔ manoori!'', carry the light!", which the brakeman heard as "''tukama'' carry".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gelo |first1=Daniel J. |title="Comanche Land and Ever Has Been ": A Native Geography of the Nineteenth-Century Comancheria |journal=The Southwestern Historical Quarterly |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |date=January 2000 |volume=103 |issue=3 |pages=273–307 |jstor=30239220}}</ref>

In December 1951, a water storage tank collapsed in the city. Four were killed and numerous buildings were destroyed.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Barnhart|first1=Charles E.|last2=May|first2=Marvin C.|last3=Wager-Smith|first3=D. R. W.|last4=Bailey|first4=Arthur P.|last5=Hill|first5=H. O.|last6=Greenberg|first6=S. A.|date=1952|title=The Tucumcari Tank Failure: New Mexico Society of Professional Engineers [with Discussion]|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41236514|journal=Journal (American Water Works Association)|volume=44|issue=5|pages=435–441|doi=10.1002/j.1551-8833.1952.tb15382.x|jstor=41236514|issn=0003-150X}}</ref>

In 2014, a series of suspicious fires destroyed abandoned buildings, including the Tucumcari Motel, Payless Motel, and a house in the 500 block of North Fourth Street. A former Tucumcari Police Department officer and several others were charged with arson.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://qcsunonline.com/2014/09/03/payless-motel-abandoned-house-destroyed-by-fire/ |title=Payless Inn, abandoned house destroyed by fire |access-date=2014-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021200341/http://qcsunonline.com/2014/09/03/payless-motel-abandoned-house-destroyed-by-fire/ |archive-date=2014-10-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.qcsunonline.com/2014/10/10/former-tucumcari-police-officer-target-of-state-police-investigation/ |title=Former Tucumcari police officer target of state police investigation |access-date=2014-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015044318/http://www.qcsunonline.com/2014/10/10/former-tucumcari-police-officer-target-of-state-police-investigation/ |archive-date=2014-10-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.qcsunonline.com/2014/09/09/fires-destroy-2-abandoned-tucumcari-motels/ |title=Fires destroy 2 abandoned Tucumcari motels |access-date=2014-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014160905/http://www.qcsunonline.com/2014/09/09/fires-destroy-2-abandoned-tucumcari-motels/ |archive-date=2014-10-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> {{out of date|date=April 2025}}

The town formerly hosted an [[air show]] each year. The show held on October 4, 2006, was canceled after one hour when a single-engine plane crashed, resulting in the pilot's death.<ref>[http://www.kvii.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=18603 Fatal accident at air show : News : KVII<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040317/http://www.kvii.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=18603 |date=2007-09-28 }}</ref>

===Former railroad transit point===
Tucumcari until the mid-twentieth century was a junction for transcontinental train service. The [[Rock Island Railroad]] ran pool train operations with the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]] (originally the [[El Paso and Northeastern Railway]]), with transfers at the station (for the Tucumcari-Los Angeles leg of the trip). The ''[[Choctaw Rocket]]'' (Memphis-Little Rock-Tucumcari-El Paso-Los Angeles) made the switch there (for the coach cars). The ''[[Golden State (train)|Golden State]]'' (Chicago-Kansas City-Topeka-Tucumcari-El Paso-Los Angeles) ran continuously through the town.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

===Cattle ranches===
* [[Bell Ranch]] - created from a land grant in 1824 and now one of the largest ranches in the United States
* [[T4 Cattle Company]] - founded in 1902 and continues to be a family run enterprise, one of the country's largest ranches