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Abe Peña's  "From the Past" newspaper column

All material used with the kind permission of the author, given to me personally.

"Get Your Kicks on Route 66


Published Friday, June 12, 2009 9:40 AM MDT

"Route 66” was the magical road that conjured adventure and excitement in the minds of most Americans.  Nostalgia for a ribbon of road cutting across plains, deserts, canyons, mesas, mountains, and an occasional rattlesnake, jackrabbit, or coyote in its path. The memory still lingers in the minds and hearts of those who traveled the magical route.

Another historic “trail” from a more distant past which also brings adventure to mind is 'The Santa Fe Trail.” Both routes played important roles in the development of New Mexico.

The Santa Fe Trail stretched from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe.  Oxcarts and wagons rolled and lumbered on it from 1821 to 1879. It saw gingham and silk come west to dress our pretty women, and it saw gold from the California gold rush go east to finance the Union forces during the Civil War.

Route 66 came from Chicago, on the shores of Lake Michigan, to Los Angeles on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.  It brought all manner of travelers across New Mexico from 1926 to 1976.  For 50 years, America traveled this ribbon of asphalt both east and west and moved the product of America to consumers across our great country.

Probably the saddest of times on Route 66 were the Oklahomans (Okies) abandoning their eroding farms during the infamous Dust Bowl of the 1930s and heading west. They traveled by car, by truck, and anything that rolled. They passed through Grants and the Land of Cíbola with a steaming radiator, a mattress on the roof, dust in their faces, and the spark of hope in their eyes.  They were following the magical road with the promise of a new life in California.

John Steinbeck, in his epic novel “The Grapes of Wrath,” captured the sorrow, the tears, the joys, and the indomitable spirit of our neighbors in their journey to the west.  Hollywood made Steinbeck's epic into an Academy-Award-winning movie by the same name starring Henry Fonda as Tom Joad and Jane Darwell as Ma.  She won an Oscar for her performance, and he won the hearts of Americans everywhere.

Today, the Grants area is blessed with about 65 miles of continuous Route 66 paralleling I-40 from Mesita Negra in the east to the Top-of-the-World in the west.  Our focus on tourism makes Grants a natural center for a Route 66 Museum to preserve, show, and display the colorful history of the route's 50 years of service across America, across New Mexico, and across the picturesque Land of Cíbola.

The program director of the New Mexico State Department of Tourism spoke to the chamber of commerce several years ago and suggested a museum which would be “a first in New Mexico commemorating the historic route.”  He pointed to the increasing traffic on I-40, which he termed “a virtual gold mine,” at that time estimated at 16,000 vehicles per day. Today, the traffic is closer to 22,000 per day, according to the Highway Department.

Grants is a natural gateway to Laguna and Acoma Pueblos, El Malpais National Monument, the Ice Caves, the Zuni Mountains, Inscription Rock, Zuni Pueblo, the Navajo Reservation, Chaco Canyon, and majestic Mount Taylor, known to the Navajos as the sacred Turquoise Mountain.

The chamber of commerce estimates that a tourist spends about $140 per day while in our area, and all those dollars translate into jobs and businesses to service an increasing number of tourists.  Grants and the Cíbola area are already benefiting from the publicity and the word of mouth generated by those that have known our hospitality and our scenic beauty.

For example, on President's weekend in February, some 500 quadrathletes, some with families, come from all over the country, and indeed around the world, and spend two or three days with us.  In the evaluation of the race, participants rate the friendly people of Grants and the help of dedicated volunteers as the most memorable part of the race. They keep coming back year after year and bringing others with them.

Another example is the Fire and Ice Bike Rally in mid-July. The rally keeps growing every year. It attracts several thousand motorcyclists, which, in economic terms, means more jobs for the Land of Cíbola.

Let's keep being great hosts like in the Route 66 Days; everyone wins."