Tucumcari

Tucumcari, city, seat (1903) of Quay county, eastern New Mexico, U.S., in the Canadian River valley. Lying along the important Goodnight-Loving cattle trail, it was established as a construction base for the El Paso and Rock Island Railroad in 1901. Tucumcari is named for a mountain (1,000 feet [305 metres] above the plains), 1 mile (1.6 km) south; the name probably derives from the Comanche word tukumukaru, “to lie in wait for someone approaching,” and...