Gallup

Gallup, city, seat (1901) of McKinley county, northwestern New Mexico, U.S., on the Puerco River, near the Arizona state line. Settled in 1880 as a Westward Overland Stagecoach stop, it became a construction headquarters for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad and was named for David L. Gallup, railroad paymaster. When railroad workers went to collect their pay, they said they were “going to Gallup,” and so the name remained. Gallup flourished with the discovery of coal and in 1895 became a railroad divisional terminal. Situated between the Navajo (north) and Zuni (south) Indian reservations (with many pre-Columbian ruins), it is the area headquarters of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Gallup is a service center for farms and ranches on the neighboring Navajo Indian reservation. A shipping point for cattle, wool, hides, and forest products, it has light industries with emphasis on Indian arts and crafts. Tourism is important, and the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial is held annually in August. A branch of the University of New Mexico is in the city. Inc. 1891. Pop. (2000) 20,209; (2010) 21,678.