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In
the
heart
of
western
New
Mexico,
just
26
miles
east
of
the
Arizona
border,
lies
Gallup,
New
Mexico,
home
to
a
diversity
of
customs,
traditions,
and
people.
When
the
Spanish
explorers
arrived
in
the
region
in
1540,
they
found
it
home
to
Navajo,
Acoma,
Hopi,
and
Zuni
Indians,
some
of
whom
had
migrated
to
the
area
centuries
before
from
Arizona’s
Canyon
de
Chelly.
Later,
as
railroad
construction
crawled
across
the
landscape,
many
railroad
workers,
including
Europeans,
Asians,
and
Mexicans,
stayed
in
Gallup
to
mine
coal
after
construction
moved
on.
Another
wave
of
immigration
brought
merchants
from
the
Middle
East
to
set
up
pawnshops
and
jewelry
stores.
All
these
people
contribute
to
the
unique
ethnic
flavor
of
the
area,
and
the
mix
of
languages
spoken
around
Gallup
includes
Croatian,
Slovenian,
Italian,
Spanish,
Arabic,
German
and
at
least
four
Native
American
languages.
The
town
of
Gallup
was
founded
in
1880
when
David
Gallup,
a
paymaster
for
the
Atlantic
and
Pacific
Railroad,
established
an
office
along
the
future
right-of-way
of
the
southern
transcontinental
route.
Railroad
workers
collected
their
pay
by
“going
to
Gallup,”
and
when
the
tracks
were
laid
through
the
area
in
1881,
the
new
settlement
was
named
after
the
paymaster.
Cultural
resources
-
Rex
Hotel
Museum
includes
collections
belonging
to
the
Gallup
Historical
Society.
-
Discover
Gallup
is
a
Chamber
of
Commerce
newspaper
distributed
twice
yearly.
-
Archives
are
available
at
the
Gallup
Independent
Newspaper,
through
church
and
cemetery
records,
and
at
the
Santa
Fe
Railroad
Depot,
a
multi-modal,
multicultural
complex
completed
in
1923
and
renovated
in
1995.
- Other
museums
include
the
Red
Rock
State
Park
Museum,
Storyteller
Museum,
and
the
Navajo
Code
Talker
Museum,
which
that
is
dedicated
to
World
War
II
heroes
who
devised
a
code
for
military
operations
that
was
never
broken.
-
Chaco
Canyon
National
Historical
Park,
90
miles
northeast
of
Gallup,
preserves
a
complex
community
that
was
abandoned
in
the
late
1100s.
Through
interpreting
remnants
of
trade
goods,
pottery,
turquoise,
and
jewelry,
researchers
believe
that
Chaco
was
the
religious
and
cultural
hub
of
a
trading
network
that
extended
south
into
Mexico
and
west
to
the
Pacific.
 Themes:
the
railroad,
mining,
trading
posts,
diversity,
and
Native
American
culture
In
many
ways,
these
themes
are
intertwined.
Merchandise
unloaded
from
the
railroad
was
taken
to
trading
posts.
In
turn,
wool
from
Navajo
sheep
was
brought
to
the
railroad
to
go
to
other
states
for
textiles.
The
Manuelito
statue,
recently
restored
by
the
Smithsonian,
was
a
landmark
for
many
Navajos,
who
reference
it
in
social
dance
songs.
Even
today
there
are
summer
dances
downtown
every
night
where
people
put
dollar
bills
under
a
rock
to
pay
the
dancers.
 The
arrival
of
Route
66
marked
the
beginning
of
the
end
of
the
railroad
as
the
dominant
mode
of
long-distance
travel,
but
Gallup
survived
the
transition
because
of
its
trade.
As
tourism
began
to
grow
through
use
of
the
family
car,
Gallup
provided
hotels
such
as
the
El
Rancho
and
set
up
shops
to
sell
goods
to
tourists.
In
November
of
1926,
interstate
highway
routes
connecting
the
entire
nation
were
mapped.
The
famous
Route
66,
“The
Mother
Road,”
started
in
Chicago
and
ended
in
Los
Angeles,
cutting
across
Tucumcari
to
Gallup
and
changing
New
Mexico
forever.
For
the
first
half
century,
the
economy
of
the
emerging
town
was
supported
by
coal
mining,
giving
Gallup,
for
a
time,
the
nickname
Carbon
City.
Within
five
miles
of
Gallup
were
most
of
the
area’s
57
mines.
Most
of
this
coal
was
shipped
via
railroad:
in
1929,
Gallup
shipped
the
highest
freight
volume
for
any
city
between
Kansas
City
and
Los
Angeles.
Shortly
afterward,
in
1933,
a
major
strike
hit
the
mines.
Today,
many
mines
are
covered
and
sealed,
but
a
local
map
shows
200
underground
mines
in
the
area.
Power
plants
in
Los
Angeles,
Phoenix,
and
other
points
from
the
Rio
Grande
to
the
Pacific
are
still
fueled
by
coal
mined
from
the
Pittsburgh-Midway
Open
Pit
Mine
near
Gallup.
 Gallup
today.
Contemporary
Gallup
is
a
colorful
mix
of
enterprises
with
over
100
trading
posts,
galleries,
and
shops
that
serve
a
blend
of
Native
American
and
Hispanic
culture.
Twenty
thousand
people
live
in
Gallup,
and
six
times
that
number
of
people
are
served
as
they
come
through
the
region.
Today
Gallup
exports
95%
of
the
handmade
crafts
of
the
nearby
Navajo,
Acoma,
Laguna,
and
Zuni
reservations.
The
city
is
the
hub
for
cultural
tours
in
the
Four
Corners
and
with
the
annual
Inter-Tribal
Indian
Ceremonial,
Gallup
is
the
ceremonial
capital
of
Native
America.
The
Atchison,
Topeka
and
Santa
Fe
Railroad
(now
the
Burlington
Northern),
Route
66,
and
I-40
all
bring
visitors
to
enjoy
the
varied
multicultural
aspects
of
this
town.
Attending
the
Community
Profile
meeting
held
at
the
library
of
the
University
of
New
Mexico–Gallup
branch
were
Sherry
Bourdage,
Thomas
Gasparish,
Martin
Link,
Frank
Morgan,
Sally
Noe,
and
Jack
Starkovich.
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Gallup,
New
Mexico:
The
ceremonial
capital
of
native
New
Mexico