History
Bailey County Was XIT Ranch Territory Before Becoming Farm Country
Bailey County was named for an Alamo defender, spent its early years as part of the giant XIT Ranch, and became cotton and grain farmland after the railroad arrived in 1913.
The Texas Legislature created Bailey County from Bexar County in 1876. It was named for Peter James Bailey III, a Kentucky lawyer who came to Texas in January 1836 and died defending the Alamo on March 6, 1836. For many years the land sat nearly empty — the 1900 U.S. Census counted only four residents.
Most of the county became part of the XIT Ranch. In 1882 the Texas Legislature set aside three million acres across ten Panhandle counties to pay for building the state Capitol, and the Capitol Syndicate was formed to manage the land. The first cattle herds arrived on the ranch in 1885. At its peak the XIT ran more than 100,000 head of cattle across its vast holdings. The ranch began selling off its Bailey County land around 1901. Land developers brought Midwestern farmers to the area on special excursion trains, selling land for ten to twenty dollars an acre.
The Santa Fe Railroad reached the county in 1913. The town of Muleshoe — named for the nearby Muleshoe Ranch — grew up along the rail line. The county formally organized in 1919, with Muleshoe as the county seat. Cotton farming grew fast through the 1920s and 1930s. The county's population peaked near 9,000 in 1960. The TSHA Handbook of Texas has full entries on Bailey County, the XIT Ranch, and Muleshoe for anyone who wants to learn more.
Source to confirm: TSHA Handbook — Bailey County