A 1777 burial record mentions a Comanche woman and her child captured in a battle at Cuchuncari, which is believed to be an early version of the name Tucumcari.

[3] The mountain was a key landmark along trails used by prehistoric Puebloans and Plains Indians, as well as the later Comancheros.

The Comanche often used the mountain as a lookout, climbing up it to survey the landscape for animals to hunt.

[4] Pedro Vial referred to the mountain in 1793, while opening a trail between Santa Fe and St. Louis.

A cartoon version of this mountain appears in Cars with 'RS' (for Radiator Springs) substituted for Tucumcari's 'T'.