Jal, NM

Jal is Lea County’s southeasternmost city, pressed up against the Texas line on New Mexico’s far eastern edge. The name comes from the JAL Ranch, the Cowden family’s huge open-range cattle operation that ran across much of today’s Lea County and into Texas. Oil and natural gas later changed the settlement’s scale and became the city’s long-running economic story. Jal is southeastern New Mexico with a ranching name, a state-line position, and an energy history written into the landscape.