Gallup, New Mexico

Gallup is a city in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 20,209 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of McKinley County. Gallup was founded in 1881 as a railhead for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The City was named after David Gallup, a paymaster for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. It is the most populous city between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona. Gallup is sometimes called the "Indian Capital of the World", for its location in the heart of Native American lands, and the presence of Navajo, Zuni, Hopi and other tribes. One-third of the city's population have Native American roots. Gallup's nickname references the huge impact of the Native American Cultures found in and around Gallup. However, the city is criticized in the novel Ceremony, authored by the Native American writer Leslie Silko, for the city's slums. Route 66 runs through Gallup, and the town's name is mentioned in the lyrics to the song, Route 66. In 2003, the U.S. and New Mexico Departments of Transportation renumbered US Highway 666, the city's other major highway, as Route 491, since the number "666" is associated with Satan and Devil worship, and thus it was considered offensive to some people. Some local Navajo felt that the renumbering would prevent the route from being "cursed. " It has close proximity to Native American reservations, and historic lack of economic development in addition to many mine closures in the last century. As a result of these mine closures, Gallup has a large socioeconomic poor population. The Historic El Rancho Hotel has hosted a numerous aray of movie stars, from John Wayne to former President Ronald Reagan to stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Kirk Douglas. Gallup was the setting as the center of activity in a 2006 Sci Fi Channel mini-series The Lost Room, starring Peter Krause. Akon filmed a music video in Gallup in 2005. In 1994, parts of the movie Natural Born Killers were filmed in in Gallup. The city has long opposed racial discrimination against its African-American residents, the majority of whom lived on the city's West side in the 1940s before the US Civil rights movement took place. During World War II, the city fought successfully to prevent 800 Japanese American residents from being placed in wartime internment. A sizable Palestinian community of about 600 persons can be found; they first arrived from Palestine in the 1970s, and are found in the Southwestern arts and jewelry industries.