Death on The Double 6

Though small and isolated, Grants was placed in the media spotlight nationwide following a police-shooting tragedy on Friday, April 11, 1952. It began simply enough. State police officer Nash Garcia was parked on the shoulder of US Route 66 about twenty miles east of Grants. A pickup truck sped past him, recklessly passing cars. Garcia initiated pursuit never realizing that it was a trap or than an assassin was waiting just ahead. Nash Garcia would be the first member of the New Mexico State Police to be murdered in the line of duty.