This isolated place along the Rio Grande is called the end of the road, but it might as well be the end of the world. The closest commercial airport is five hours away. Cellphones do not work. There is no municipal government, and the elected mayor has no powers or duties, which is fortunate, since the mayor is a goat.

Not a goat in figurative terms but a real goat, Clay Henry III. He is admittedly a symbolic figure, a mascot of sorts, a publicity tool. He does not involve himself with zoning or ribbon cuttings. He is not a strategic planner.

His claim to fame is that he drinks beer.

Yet anyone who doubts his standing here in Brewster County need only come in August to the county courthouse in Alpine, Tex., when a defendant is scheduled to be tried on state felony charges for grievously wounding Clay Henry in a knife attack. Clay Henry has healed, but the sheriff has preserved a piece of his anatomy as evidence. To put it indelicately, Clay Henry was castrated.

''It's serious business to anybody,'' said the Brewster County sheriff, Ronny Dodson, noting that the defendant could face jail time. ''Clay Henry is one of the icons in our community.'' Of the accused, the sheriff added, ''He thought it was a joke.'' In the southern part of the county, the sheriff noted, people do not think it was that funny.