Tucumcari

As the high plains desert scenery whisks by the burning sun heats old rippled windows riders jerk and sway to the click, clack of tracks towards Tucumcari, Gateway To The West. Sounds of the Old Wild West stir the imagination the great robbery by Black Jack Ketchum in 1897 near Tucumcari, New Mexico, where he hid the gold long before the old whistle blew at the station. Clickity, clickity, clack, or was that horses’ hooves galloping alongside the old steam engine tracks? As desert dust kicks up, I see ghosts of riders cowboys catching up with guns out of holsters shouting to “Stop the train! Get the gold!” “Next stop, Tucumcari, New Mexico!”, shouts the conductor humble buildings huddle beneath the mountain arroyos yet the people are proud of their Southern Pacific heritage for a heartier and friendlier folk you’ll rarely find. 11/4/2021