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BY TIM HAGAMAN The oldest business established in 1908 remaining on the Ozark Trail (1918) and Route 66 (1926) in New Mexico. GW Richardson first established his first 1908 Mercantile Store from Missouri at the Chicago, Rock Island Southern Pacific Cattle Shipping stop north of the existing store on Route 66. It was near the original townsite occupied by hard-working cowboys at the T 4 Ranch Headquarters. The existing 1928 Richardson Store Ruin gateway to the Llano Estacado, blankets the warm 4321elevation sandwiched between the Mesa Rica to the north of the Jose Pablo Montoya Mexican Land Grant, and Mesa de las Palomas to the south like a Serape. Just two hours west of Amarillo, Texas, is found a beautiful three-foot-thick sandstone 3500 square foot store with an open skylight residence, and five lodging rooms with blue skies lacking a roof. I was born in the same year that Interstate 40 began replacing Route 66 in Quay County during 1959. Construction was not finished until Gallup in 1980 at the Arizona state line. I spent eight years in Gallup along Route 66 thanks to former Gallup mayor AT Hannett (1918-1922) and later New Mexico governor from 1925-1927. An event plaque walking tour I authored in Historic Gallup states that AT Hannett designated the Old Trails Highway to Route 66, which led a straight alignment to Gallup. The Ozark Trail connected Saint Louis with East Las Vegas through Montoya in 1918 when wagon trails ruled. An Automobile Map Compiled for the Commercial Club of Las Vegas, New Mexico, for the benefit of Tourists, the Ozark Trail from Saint Louis to East Las Vegas, is a rare map found in the TT Hagaman Southwest Collection loaned to Museums and Libraries for public exhibiting. Mrs. Richardson managed the former Montoya Post Office located in the sandstone structure. Modern metal cluster mail boxes connect Montoya residents whom once shopped for ranching supplies. Local ranchers have asked me what my plans are for this less than 10 acre property. Masons built this as a store, residence, and lodging; I will preserve and restore it as it was built, with the exception of its original hipped roof, with a slightly pitched tin roof supported by vigas that were burned during wildfires in Mora and San Miguel Counties. The front façade does not exist so I will manufacture a thirty- foot wall in Las Vegas, New Mexico, at B Public Prefab, with a glass front door and pair of framed store windows with new tin roof overhanging, all shading the former gas station pump pedestals that still exist. A Gulf sign walked off after the store closed in 1978. My all-original 1978 Ford Mustang 11 with sales invoice sold in Springer, New Mexico, will be parked out front as if Billy the Kid left it while riding his mustang. He is buried in nearby Fort Sumner and rode what became the famous landmark Bell Ranch to Tascosa, Texas, before being captured by Jim East, Frank Stuart, and Pat Garrett in Stinking Springs, barricaded in a small stone house with their horses keeping them warm, a day’s mule ride south of Montoya. Everything that was made of frame will be removed, with the exception of existing doors and windows. Doors will be updated with electronic key entry for those seeking corporate housing at anytime of the day or night. Livestock pen housing will be provided as an option. An annual Montoya 4th of July Picnic will be scheduling annually to honor our cultural musicians of the past. The Montoya Cemetery is a living history example in our community. Not everyone can focus a vision through a ruin, but we must take ownership to save our historic properties that speak the past through their unique southwest architecture. Santa Fe’s own Kaisa Barthuli, Project Manager with the National Park Service Route 66 Office, reminded me of the Santa Domingo Trading Post that survived a fire because of adobe construction, and was preserved through an Economic Development Administration Matching Grant. Built by the Seligman Family in 1922 and visited by President John F. Kennedy, it retained its National Register of Historic Places status. We must have urgency to conduct planning for local incentives in historic preservation, economic development, creative industries, and food security to offer diversity in rural Main Street, New Mexico. Lastly, I wish to thank the many thousands of YouTubers traveling between Tucumcari and Santa Rosa who provide content on Route 66 through Montoya, Newkirk, and Cuervo. They have inspired this project on the Goodnight Loving Cattle Trail connecting Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana Territories from 1866-1875. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tim Hagaman is an actor, writer, and speaker, and has appeared on the History Channel. He has published articles and programs on Cartography, Economic Development, Historic Preservation, and Wild West History. He shares his TT Hagaman Southwest Collection with Museums and Libraries. [email protected]  The oldest business established in 1908 remaining on the Ozark Trail (1918) and Route 66 (1926) in
New Mexico. The Richardson Store: new sign (left), southwest elevation (center), and north store interior (right). |
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