Route 66 - Tucumcari, New Mexico

As with many other towns and cities we've reached so far, the real founder of Tucumcari, New Mexico, was the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, which built a construction camp in what is now the town in 1901. Initially called Ragtown, the camp's reputation for lawlessness quickly earned it the popular name of Six Shooter Siding, with the official name - Douglas - hardly used. By 1908, the settlement had settled a little, taking its second and permanent official name, Tucumcari, after a nearby mountain. Although it's unknown where the mountain got its name, it's very similar to the Comanche word for 'ambush'.

The town might be 'run down' according to tourist reviews, but the Dinosaur Museum is something of a hit. Opened to the public in 2000, the Mesalands Community College Dinosaur Museum has around 14,000 visitors each year from around the world. The exhibits are a mixture of fossil findings, bronze skeletons, replica dinosaurs and other animals, with the bronzes made onsite in the college's foundry.

Concentrating on the Mesozoic Period - the 'Age of Dinosaurs' - the museum prides itself on its children's activity area and that most exhibits are touchable. Pride of place - and sadly not touchable - is given to the Torvosaurus skeleton, a relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. This rare skeleton presented the small museum with a first; they were the only museum in the world with one on display.



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