Mesa Redonda is SE of Tucumcari, about halfway to the Caprock (immediately below). This route from Tucumcari onto the Caprock is much easier to negotiate than the one where the wind generators are located. Horses can make it and even wagons with enough draft animals. The highest point on this mesa is actually higher than the Caprock; some obviously hard rock is on it!

Quay (see below) is on the road to the highlands. But some enterprising entrepreneurs found the mesa a great base of operations for robbing and pillaging.

Tucumcari's reputation is reflected in a nickname of "six shooter siding" after the railroad began to bring people into the area. There wasn't any law enforcement and brigands had a field day. Blackjack Ketchum (The subject of the sign in the lower right corner of one picture.) was one of the leaders of the gangs. He eventually met justice by being beheaded by hanging ( a miscalculation on the hangman's part) in Clayton, NM.

This a very complex mesa with several tiers making for a lot of hiding places. Getting up and down off it seems a challenge but I am unable to get details since this is on private land.

Tucumcari Mountain rises about 900' to the SE above the city. The name is lost to history but two "explanations" have arisen. One sounds like a Chamber of Commerce version which is found on the City of Tucumcari's official website.

A more mundane explanation is that this is a corruption of the Comanche word "tukanukaru" meaning "to wait for something" since this was an actual lookout for years. 

These pictures are of what's left of Quay, NM. This is the "town" for which the county of Quay, NM is named. This county includes Tucumcari (the present county seat), Logan, and San Jon, to mention those places with a population over 10.

They are, from upper left, clockwise, the old Quay school (been in service recently enough to have handicapped parking on the right of the building), the old Quay station (the stone structure on the left is a stone water tank), and the old Quay store (now a private residence).