Tucumcari Mountain

Tucumcari Mountain
Mesa Tucumcari viewed from the west.
Elevation	4,956 ft (1,511 m)
Location
Tucumcari Mountain Quay County, New Mexico, USA
Coordinates	35°08′04″N 103°41′55.5″W / 35.13444°N 103.69875°W / 35.13444; -103.69875Coordinates: 35°08′04″N 103°41′55.5″W / 35.13444°N 103.69875°W / 35.13444; -103.69875
Geology
Age of rock	Cretaceous
Climbing
Easiest route	drive (private land)

Tucumcari Mountain, once referred to as Tucumcari Peak or Mesa Tucumcari, is a mesa situated just outside of Tucumcari, New Mexico.^[1]

Pedro Vial mentioned the mountain in 1793, while opening a trail between Santa Fe and St. Louis. Captain Randolph B. Marcy led an expedition past it in 1849.^[2] The Swiss-American geologist Jules Marcou studied the geology of Tucumcari Mountain in 1853 and claimed that the Tucumcari strata were of Jurassic age.^[3] The Texas geologist, Robert T. Hill, visited "Mesa Tucumcari" in 1887 and again in 1891, and eventually concluded that the Tucumcari strata were much younger Cretaceous deposits, not Jurassic as suggested by Marcou.^[4][5] Also in 1891, William F. Cummins of the Geological Survey of Texas studied Tucumcari Mountain and his careful observations of the strata established beyond doubt the Cretaceous age of the Tucumcari beds.^[6]

The town of Tucumcari was founded in 1901 and takes its name—both in real life and in legend—from the mountain.^[7] Residents of the town of Tucumcari have painted a large white T on the mountain.

See also

Canadian River Caprock Escarpment Eastern New Mexico Llano Estacado

Lucianosaurus Mescalero Escarpment Pecos River Route 66

References

1. ^ Chronicles of Oklahoma
2. ^ New Mexico Tourism | Regions Mesalands Scenic Byway
3. ^ Marcou, Jules. 1858. Geology of North America. Zurich: Zürcher and Furrer, 121 pp.
4. ^ Hill, Robert T. 1892. On the occurrence of artesian and other underground waters in Texas, New Mexico, and Indian Territory, together with the geology and geography of those regions. Final Reports of the Artesian and Underflow Investigations of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 166 pp.
5. ^ Hill, Robert T. 1893. Tucumcari. Science 22(545):23-25.
6. ^ Cummins, W.F. 1892. Notes on the geology west of the plains: Tucumcari, New Mexico. In: Dumble, E.T. (ed), Third annual report of the Geological Survey of Texas 1891, pp. 201-210.
7. ^ Legend