Gail, Texas
(Borden COUNTY)

The Courthouse was built in 1939. It is a single-story, modernist building that is functional and well-shaded but not much else.

If you had heard of Gail, Texas, in Borden County, it was for one of two reasons. You are either a huge fan of pasteurized milk, or you love country music. It’s probably the second of those two things. The Coyote Store (actually “The Legendary Coyote Store”) is having a moment. In 2014 Becky Justice Ford bought the convenience store/restaurant from her grandmother Bertie Copeland. Bertie was locally famous for telling Bon Jovi he needed a haircut when the tour bus stopped for a pit stop. 

In any event, Becky and her sister took the unusual step of pouring their heart and soul into a convenience store that served a town of just over 200 people. Along with Friday night fish fries, the sisters began hosting concerts. Local acts at first, but it just kept growing. As the concerts grew, the sisters added real stages and more space for crowds. The sisters are social media savvy, and they have a great story to tell. Ultimately, the Josie Awards, which celebrates excellence in independent music, has twice named the Coyote Store the national music venue of the year.  

While there are big-time concerts, there are also smaller shows (check the Facebook page to stay up-to-date). The store is open regularly, and you can get a home-cooked meal there. From personal experience, Texas Ten can tell you it is worth the trip and to arrive hungry. 

Borden County is an active hunting locale. Deer, quail, dove, and some waterfowl are natural to the area. The large ranches also support exotics. You can lease land or private hunt through Miller Brothers Outfitters, Clearview Ranch, Hunt the West, Ox-Bow Ranch, or others. The JB Thomas Reservoir, at over 7,200 acres, is a decent-sized lake with decent fishing for bass and channel catfish. 

Texas Ten would love to return to watch a Friday Night’s Lights experience watching the Borden County Coyotes play in their beautiful stadium set against a dramatic natural backdrop featuring something larger than hills, although calling them mountains might be a stretch. The entire area is surprisingly beautiful. Gail sits at 2,500 feet of elevation and there are peaks much taller. The drive from Gail to nearby Post along FM 69 is one of the prettiest we have had in our 250,000 miles driving around Texas.  

The Borden County Courthouse serves as a reminder that the county seat and the county were named for Gail Borden, Jr., a remarkable man in Texas history. Most know the name today based on Borden Dairy, the company that grew out of Gail’s patented process for refrigerating milk. Borden founded the company bearing his name after leaving Texas to pursue a meat biscuit venture. Before he left the state, however, Borden was a leading figure and businessman in Galveston, one of the surveyors of Houston, the publisher of Texas’ first newspaper, and an important player in the revolution and the government of the new Republic. After his milk venture hit paydirt, he returned to Texas from the northeast to take advantage of the climate.  

Gail never made it to Borden County, although accounts of his life can be deceiving on that score. He died in Borden, Texas, which is a town named after him in Colorado County.

There is the Coyote Store and the Blue Paw Cafe, both serving traditional Texas comfort foods. What they are not serving is alcohol.  Borden County is one of four counties remaining in Texas that is completely dry, meaning any sale of alcohol is prohibited.

Texas Ten bought one of our favorite ball caps at the Coyote Store. That is about it.

There are no hotels of any type. If you are spending the night, you are at one of the ranches for a private hunt, in an RV, or sleeping under the stars, which are pretty spectacular.

There are substantial RV accommodations for such a small town. But those spots are in high demand on a concert weekend, so call ahead.  

The Gail RV Park  

The Gail Trail 

Lake JB Thomas has campsites but no hookups.

The concerts.  

Nope, but you can chase the dimpled ball in the surrounding counties.

Gail and Borden County are remote, but not quite as remote as it feels when you are there. Gail is at the intersection of SH 180 and FM 669, halfway between Snyder and Lamesa. The big city of Lubbock is an hour and ten minutes to the northwest. The closest interstates are I-20 to the south and I-27 to the west, but neither are particularly close. More broadly, Gail is three hours and 15 minutes northwest of the geographic center of the state in Brady, Texas.  

Flying close to Gail commercial means Lubbock, served by Southwest, American, or United, or Midland served by Southwest, United, American, and Delta. Lubbock is about an hour and ten minutes away, while Midland is an hour and a half. For smaller craft, Lamesa and Snyder each have municipal airports, each 30 minutes away.

The early inhabitants of this region were the Comanche, who hunted buffalo. This particular band of Comanches originated from a southern plains band of Shoshones named the Penateka, who had learned to ride horses from the early Spanish Conquistadores. This skill transformed the people from root and plant gatherers to successful hunters. Anglos were discouraged from settling here because this area was too far from the protection of the United States Army’s frontier posts and seemed too dry for farming and ranching. As a result, it remained Indian territory until well after the Civil War. When the area became settled, these natives raided ranches, stealing cattle and then selling them back at the trading posts they had set up nearby. Interestingly, the first brands were not registered in Borden County until 1891.  

The county was officially established in 1876 after divisions of Bosque County. The County Seat, Gail, and the County itself, Borden, are named after Gail Borden, the inventor, surveyor, newspaper publisher, and former head of the Texas Land Office. He is most closely associated with Borden’s Milk. It’s important to note that although the county is named after Gail Borden Jr., he did not live in Gail, After the Civil War, Gail Borden returned to Texas to the town of Borden, west of Houston. He lived there until he died in 1974.

By 1880, there were only thirty-five residents in Borden County. The early homes built by settlers were dugouts built into the ground with a sod roof due to the lack of timber and other building materials in this area. By 1890, more than 71,000 cattle, but only 222 settlers had been registered by the census.  The turn of the century and government grants for building state schools ushered in a growth in population in the area.  These new residents were primarily farmers who were unwelcomed by the established ranching gentry.   

The newcomers in this area favored growing cotton, which brought relative wealth to the residents until the Great Depression, when most farms declined. However, ranching remained steady throughout the Depression, and the ranchers experienced a boost when oil fields were discovered in 1949. Although production has slowed since 1991, over 340 million barrels have been removed, providing additional income to the ranchers. 

During World War II, Borden County’s population declined. Currently, the county has 631 residents within its 907 square miles. The median income is $80,625, and 39.4% of the residents hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. The population is composed of 91.2% white and 13.7% Hispanic individuals. Today, the area attracts hunters, fishermen, and trappers. Tourism also contributes to the local economy. 

Notable residents of Borden County include the first sheriff, Thomas Decater Love, famous for capturing the infamous outlaw Bill Cook, and the great-grandparents of music legend Janis Joplin. 

Primary Sources:  

Texas State Historical Society 

Census Bureau 

254 Texas Courthouses 

Profectus 

Facebook – Borden County 

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