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.

Read More »

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.

Read More »