1902-1904 Land Rushes
Gail, Borden County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Cowboys and settlers fought here in early days for right to claim lands placed in public domain in 1902 by Texas courts. To keep land they were using, ranchers sent their men, wearing blue ribbon armbands, to file claims at office of county clerk. Nesters, with red ribbons, rushed for same land. To avoid bloodshed, Sheriff W. K. Clark disarmed men. For 3 days prior to deadlines, the cowboys and nesters had knockdown, dragout fights at the filing window. Later, nesters starved out, because of drouths; land they took up reverted to grazing. (1970)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Texas courts threw open certain lands to public claim in 1902, the cowboys and nesters of Borden County raced one another to the county clerk's filing window. Ranchers sent hands wearing blue armbands to secure the range they already used; homesteaders wore red and rushed for the same acres. For three days before each deadline the two sides brawled bare-knuckled at the window, until Sheriff W.K. Clark disarmed everyone to head off bloodshed—and in the end, drought starved the nesters out.
Why it matters
These land rushes distilled the West's central conflict—open-range ranchers against fence-and-plow homesteaders—into a few frantic days at a courthouse window.
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Related people
- · W. K. Clark
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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