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McKinley County
McKinley County sits in western New Mexico with its county seat in Gallup. For ten years prior to this county’s creation in 1889, citizens in western Bernallio and Valencia Counties had agitated for a new county, which they intended to call Summit County. But the popularity of President William McKinley, the twenty-fifth President of the United States, overrode the earlier sentiments. Gallup, the county seat, is known as the “Indian Capital of the United States.” This town was named after David Leeds Gallup, a railroad paymaster. The town is the site of the annual International Indian Ceremonial and also the Navajo Codetalker Museum. A petroleum refining plant, a lumber mill and a number of coal and uranium mines provide energy resources for McKinley’s population. The Navajo Reservation and Zuni Pueblo are both a part of McKinley County.
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