Bob Wills in New Mexico

Mural honoring Bob Wills in Roy, New Mexico (Sixgun Siding)

(ilovenewmexicoblog.com) My daddy grew up in Porter, New Mexico, the youngest of ten children. He delights in telling what I think of as "baby of the family" stories (I have a number of my own. . .), about how the older brothers used to torture him by hiding behind the tank and jumping out to frighten him when he had to walk to the windmill after dark to turn the pump off, or how he sometimes had to stay in and help Granny Terry in the house because he was the baby.
Or how he had to be the designated driver of my Grandpa Terry's 1936 Ford sedan when his older brothers and the local boys wanted to go to Tucumcari to tomcat around during World War II. When he was eleven years old. Continued

Tommy McDonald

(Wikipedia) Thomas Franklin McDonald (July 26, 1934 – September 24, 2018) was an American football flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, and Cleveland Browns. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.
… He attended Roy High School in Roy, New Mexico, with an enrollment of around 150 students during his freshman year, where he played quarterback.
As a sophomore, he transferred to Highland High School in Albuquerque. As a senior, he averaged over 20 yards per carry in football and set the state scoring record with 157 points.
He also set the city scoring record in basketball, and won five gold medals in the state track meet (100, 220, low hurdles and 2 relays). Continued

The Dawson Branch

A tribute to "The Polly," in Mosquero, New Mexico. The Polly was a passenger car hitched to the end of coal drags on the Dawson Line. It was a slow way to get to Tucumcari, but people had an odd affection for the old car.

The Dawson Line (or Dawson Branch or Roy Branch or Dawson Railway), was a Southern Pacific Railroad line that went from Tucumcari, New Mexico to the coal mining town of Dawson, New Mexico.
The line was built by the El Paso & Northeastern Railroad System which later became The El Paso & Southwestern Railroad, before being absorbed by the Southern Pacific.
Traffic, being mostly coal trains, was slow-going, and train crews were known to pack their rifles and fishing rods with them for diversion at sidings. As slow as it was, it gave Dawsonites the opportunity to connect anywhere a train went in the United States.
The town of Dawson, its mines, and railroad were abandoned in the early 1950's.

Highland High alum McDonald, speedy Hall of Fame receiver, dies at 84

(AP) ... A native New Mexican, McDonald and his family moved from the small town of Roy to Albuquerque before his sophomore year in high school.

He developed into a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and track and field for the Hornets. Continued

Bob Wills in New Mexico

Mural honoring Bob Wills in Roy, New Mexico (Sixgun Siding)

(ilovenewmexicoblog.com) My daddy grew up in Porter, New Mexico, the youngest of ten children. He delights in telling what I think of as "baby of the family" stories (I have a number of my own. . .), about how the older brothers used to torture him by hiding behind the tank and jumping out to frighten him when he had to walk to the windmill after dark to turn the pump off, or how he sometimes had to stay in and help Granny Terry in the house because he was the baby.
Or how he had to be the designated driver of my Grandpa Terry's 1936 Ford sedan when his older brothers and the local boys wanted to go to Tucumcari to tomcat around during World War II. When he was eleven years old. Continued

Bob Wills

Tribute to Bob Wills in Roy, New Mexico (Sixgun Siding)

(TDbD) On this day in 1975, Texas swing musician James Robert (Bob) Wills died.
He was born in 1905, near Kosse, Limestone County, Texas. In 1913 his family moved to Hall County, where Wills learned to play the fiddle; in 1915 he played at his first dance.
He played for ranch dances in West Texas for the next fourteen years, and his life and career were greatly influenced by that environment. During that time he brought together two streams of American folk music to produce western swing. Continued

The Dawson Branch

A tribute to "The Polly," in Mosquero, New Mexico. The Polly was a passenger car hitched to the end of coal drags on the Dawson Line. It was a slow way to get to Tucumcari, but people had an odd affection for the old car.

The Dawson Line (or Dawson Branch or Roy Branch or Dawson Railway), was a Southern Pacific Railroad line that went from Tucumcari, New Mexico to the coal mining town of Dawson, New Mexico.
The line was built by the El Paso & Northeastern Railroad System which later became The El Paso & Southwestern Railroad, before being absorbed by the Southern Pacific.
Traffic, being mostly coal trains, was slow-going, and train crews were known to pack their rifles and fishing rods with them for diversion at sidings. As slow as it was, it gave Dawsonites the opportunity to travel anywhere a train went in the United States.
The town of Dawson, its mines, and railroad were abandoned in the early 1950's.