Lying is a funny business; it’ll always come back to haunt you. This past week some of the fine folks of Tucumcari, New Mexico -- a dusty little burg we drove through eight months ago -- have attempted to convince us of that truth. And they’ve been 100% successful. Last March, in “The Lost Temple of the Pennytitties,” Killing the Buddha reported on one of the petty blood libels that not only survive but prosper in America. It was a story about lies told in a small town, and a few of the residents are calling us liars for telling it.

Granted, we ourselves are not without sin. We did, by accident, misname the Tucumcari Rattlers -- pride of the desert gridiron! -- the Devils. We’re sorry. Let us correct ourselves: The team that lost was the Rattlers, not the Devils.

And yes, we did publish alongside our account of said high school football squad a photograph of a team that was not the Rattlers, nor even the fictitious Devils. In our defense, we thought they’d get the joke; it’s in the first paragraph of the article.

But they didn’t get the joke. Some of them didn’t even get the jab. Our little parable has apparently been big news in Tucumcari in the past few days, and we’ve been getting some hot email. Some of our favorite messages ever, in fact. So -- in penance for mistaking snakes for devils, and in defense of the truth of every other word of our story, we present Killing the Buddha’s epistolary production of Our Town -- a la Tucumcari, New Mexico. Of course, all letters represent only the views of their authors…

WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT

First of all the Tucumcari football team is not the Devils, they are the Tucumcari Rattlers.

I do not believe anything that you have said in this article and you people were wrong for turning [James Crocker’s] words around. And distorting the truth about what our town is all about.

-- QCDC

Apologies, QCDC. We didn't mean to say anything about what the town is all about, only what one individual told us it was about, as far as he was concerned. We didn’t believe him either.

NOW THERE’S A SLOGAN FOR THE TOURIST ASSOCIATION

Hello! As a former resident of Tucumcari, NM, I'd like to express my commendations for a well-written piece regarding your travels there. As for James Crocker, well -- every village has its idiot. And in Tucumcari, that dubious position is apparently taken. I'm sure I speak for many who thank you for not lending credence to his half-witted ramblings. In the meantime, I'll stay here in Amarillo, where we try to keep blood sacrifice at a minimum.

-- Jonathan Hale

Thanks, Jonathan. No blood sacrifice? Funny, we never figured Amarillo for a dry town.

HE’S NO RACIST; HE’LL TAKE ANYBODY’S MONEY

Why should a person believe that all the details of your story are correct when you publish a bogus photo of our high school football team and mis-label their name? Our team is the Rattlers, purple and gold colors, and our superintendent at the time led the fight all the way to the highest levels of state government to have the controversial game outcome changed. This photo, bearing the caption “State Champions” is no different than the t-shirts printed up by our local sports boosters proclaiming the same thing.

I personally know Mr. Crocker and know (by his own admission) that he likes to talk a lot. All the tales you've reported are well-known by long time members of this community, brown and white.

To infer that Mr. Crocker is racist displays your own half-hearted attempt to publish a story. Mr. Crocker has a Hispanic daughter in law with one son and a Hispanic grandchild from his daughter, both of whom he loves immensely. He recently hosted a foreign exchange student from Argentina for a year and developed a wonderful relationship with him. From a strictly business point of view, no one in this community with a 60-40 Hispanic to Anglo ratio would alienate the Hispanic people.

After reading a few of your other articles, I'm inclined to believe there are several racist people who write for you. To zero in on one man in a small, remote town in NM, seems strange considering you knew him no longer than 30 minutes. Hopefully, you'll be able to find something more constructive to do with your lives than trying to divide a small, rural community.

-- Precha

Thanks, Precha. But you give us too much credit -- Tucumcari seems a bit divided already, huh?

FOR EXAMPLE

I would like to start off by saying that I found your website to be intriguing and interesting. I myself have no interest in “killing the buddha,” but still, I was greatly educated and interested by some of your articles. Sadly, I found your website by being sent a page of it from a friend, who was outraged by an article you printed on Tucumcari, NM. Having grown up in Tucumcari and personally knowing the people who built and tend that shrine to the Virgin, I am appalled that Mr. LeDean [sic] would have the audacity to say such horrible things about it, and those who tend it. First, Mr. [Crocker] is not himself a model citizen, given to overcharging and poorly shooting pictures. His daughter was recently involved in a car wreck in which another girl, bright and shining and with a future so beautiful it was blinding ahead of her, was killed. His daughter was driving without a license and most definitely not paying attention to the road when the trucker hit them. [Disclaimer: All statements included herein or elsewhere on this site are the responsibility of their authors. –eds.]

Secondly, Mr. [Crocker] is not the reason that the Tucumcari RATTLERS are rumored to have won the championship. The Rattlers did, in fact, win the championship. A call by a referee overturned it, but the call should not have been made at all, as the clock was already out and there were streams of fans on the field when it was made! We lost the championship due to a bad call; Mr. [Crocker] and his poor photography had little or nothing to do with the fact that Tucumcari students and parents still claim the victory as our own!

Thirdly, there is no “mayor of the North Side.” The North side is a place notorious for crime and a place where the poorer people of Tucumcari often reside, however it is not only known for that. Mr. [Crocker] is obviously suffering from delusions of the very worst kind. There are no five-dollar hand-outs at the polls and certainly no beatings for those who do not vote for this mythical mayor.

Lastly, the legend of Tucumcari is not about an Indian woman's breast, it is a story of love and tragedy. A chief's father, Carrie, and a warrior, Tucum, were allegedly killed on Tucumcari Mountain. A suitor for Carrie's hand killed Tucum by stabbing him in the heart, and Carrie, who was watching, in turn killed him and then herself in the same way. The Chief, finding his daughter and his two best warriors dead, then plunged the same knife into his own heart, crying out “Tucum-Carrie.” That is how our town was allegedly named.

Please kindly remember that my letter is not to create poor press for your site; I already said it was good and I meant it. But perhaps you should not only study the religious facts around the stories that you print; perhaps you should study the false stories that the “Mr.
LeDeans” of this world will tell you! It is appalling to see such poor press and a bad name made of Tucumcari because of one stupid man with no talent for his job!

Sincerely,
Sonja Moralez,
Tucumcari, NM, Class of 2002

Sonja’s email came with a postscript that’s particularly apt, no matter how you look at this story:

“The Greatest Trick The Devil Ever Played Was Convincing The World He Didn’t Exist.” Keyser Soze, The Usual Suspects

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