The King Ranch is one of those places that makes Texans walk a little taller. It's a mythical place, larger than life.
The King Ranch was designated a Texas Family Land Heritage property in 1984. Source: Texas Dept. of Agriculture, Family Land Heritage program list (a downloadable Excel spreadsheet) (
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From wikipedia: (
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King Ranch, located in South Texas between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, is one of the largest ranches in the world. . . .The King Ranch is a 825,000 acre ranch, founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis, includes portions of six Texas counties, including most of Kleberg County and much of Kenedy County, with portions extending into Brooks, Jim Wells, Nueces, and Willacy Counties. The ranch does not consist of one single contiguous plot of land, but rather four large sections called divisions. The divisions are the Santa Gertrudis, the Laureles, the Encino and the Norias. Only two of the four divisions border each other, and that border is relatively short. The ranch was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961." [end]
Mama Blaster's favorite part of the King Ranch story happened in 1854. Capt. King and Gideon Lewis went to the tiny village of Cruijllas, Mexico to buy some Longhorn cattle. They realized when they got there why the cattle were for sale: The village was gripped by a terrible drought. The villagers had to sell the cattle before the cattle died of thirst.
King and Lewis bought every cow in town. Shortly after King had left, he realized that his purchasing all the cattle ensured that the people would starve. The cattle were all they had to eat, and the drought would keep them from farming. King turned back to Crujillas. He approached the residents with an offer: if they would leave their homes to work on the King ranch, he would provide them with food and homes, and he would pay them wages.
The villagers agreed to leave Crujillas and come with King. They became known as the Kinenos, "King's Men," the world-famous vaqueros of the King Ranch. Over six generations later, many King Ranch ranch hands and managers are directly descended from the original Kinenos.
Captain King met a young lawyer named Richard J. Kleberg in the early 1880s. He was so impressed with the young man's abilities that he hired him to amange the King Ranch's legal affairs. Soon Robert Kleberg and Capt. King's daughter Alice fell in love. They were married in 1886.
Richard and Alice King Kleberg had five children during their marriage. Two sons, Richard M. and Robert Kleberg, assumed control of the ranch when their father's health declined. Their descendants still run the ranch today.
The beautiful and historic King Ranch is open for tours that depart frequently from the Visitor Center at 2205 Texas Hwy 141, Kingsville, TX 78363.
A variety of King Ranch products are offered for sale at the Visitor Center. More ranch products are for sale at the King Ranch Saddle Shop at 201 E. Kleberg Ave., Kingsville, TX 78363 1-877-282-5777.
For more on the rich history of the King Ranch and the intertwined King and Kleberg families, visit (
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