Seaborn GRAY. It was because of none other than Pat Garrett that Nellie Gray Reily became a pioneer in Lincoln County. Pat Garrett and Nellie Gray's father, Seaborn GRAY, were first cousins. The Gray family lived in Grapevine, Texas having originally come from Alabama by way of Louisiana. In 1855 Seaborn Gray was suffering from tuberculosis. Pat Garrett had been out west and thought it was a good climate for him to come to. He persuaded Seaborn to come to New Mexico. It was good advice because  in a couple of years he was perfectly well. He lived to quite an old man.
The trip took about four months on the road from Texas to Little Creek. They drove 500 head of cattle and when they got to Ft. Sumner they had to lay over for ten days because the water in the Pecos was too high to ford. They had no drinking water, so the cowboys got an old barrel and dipped some water and got some prickly pears, beat them up and put them in the water to make it settle and be good enough to drink. The family went to Little Creek where Seaborn Gay filed on what is now the town site of Capitan. A Post Office naming the town Gray was established in 1894. Seaborn served as Postmaster until 11 October 1900 when the town was renamed Capitan. He also served as County School Superintendent and was a deputy sheriff.  Seaborn Gray and William Reily sold their land to W. H. Eddy for the  railroad into Capitan around 1907. Sources: WPA Interview 1935, newspaper clippings, History of Capitan. Contributed Barbara Branum

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