by Mike Magers

Tucumcari is the county seat of Quay County.  The landscape is dominated by Tucumcari Mountain, a natural feature on the east side of the town.  One might have assumed that the county name had an origin more related to the culture of the residents, but instead the county was named for a Pennsylvania senator by the name of Matthew Quay who supported statehood for New Mexico.  Because of the county’s odd layout, it borders seven other New Mexico counties in addition to Oldham County on the Texas border.

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by Mike Magers

The community of Monument was the first settlement to take hold in what now is Lea County.  It got its start when former cowboy named James Cook built a store.  Not surprisingly, the community’s first name was Cook’s Store.  Cook used to drive a buggy to Carlsbad and back to deliver the mail until around 1900 when Cook applied for and received permission to establish a U. S. post office in the name of Monument.  The area was fairly arid, as it is today and the village of Monument got its name from an old water source named Monument Springs which was the headquarters of one of the larger ranches in the area, the Hat Ranch.

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by Mike Magers

Fort Sumner is in De Baca County in the eastern central part of the state and is named for a military governor of the area prior to statehood, Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner.  Sumner was a Union Army general who lived from 1797 to 1863.  He joined the U. S. Army in 1819 and served continuously until he died.

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