Tucumcari is more tham just a waystation for those traveling across the United States. It represents the heart of America during difficult times.
The town of Tucumcari is located on the famous and well-traversed Route 66. Route 66 was a main thoroughfare before the big highways. It was the route folks traveled from one town to the next, stopping to savor the culture as the road cut through towns in a way that spoke of connections. In that fashion it reminded Americans of simple ways that bind a people over time. A central path across the country gave everyone that message of going home.
That was twenty years ago, a time of relative prosperity for the town. Motels multiplied to accommodate the many visitors that used Route 66, especially in traveling through south central regions of the country. One could marvel at the
rust-colored mountains and dream of stories of outlaws, badlands, adventure and pioneering ranchers.
Some of those wonderful sights remain,eternal as cut from nature's hand, but man too made his mark in the town of Tucumcari, a mark that faded as changes came, new highways allowed visitors to speed by, no longer stopping in large numbers for those respites once enjoyed. It was not a town to linger in for those on their way to bigger things.
Businesses began to close. Jobs disappeared. Homes people could not sell were abandoned. Motels decayed for want of care and people seeking comfort from their travels on the road.
Tucumcari did not die. It remains with its welcoming ways, its peaceful setting, surrounded by its desert beauty. Like the country it represents, the fragments of old country towns tell us what still remains that is good. Old timers still love the town. Some of the young will leave for better jobs, then find their way back home again to a place that still reminds us of that simple statement about one's seeking old roots when times of youthful adventures have passed.
