The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-27
WOMAN owns 1T ALL
MRS. KINGS CATTLE RANCH TILE
GREATEST IN THE WORLD.
Twice a Year, Accompanied By Her
Superintendent, She Travels Over
Her Vast Empire to Inspect It.
(New York worldly

greatest
is owned by g woman-Mrs. Richard
King. She inherited it from her hus-
band, who was once a barefooted, pen
niless boy of Orange, N. j. He drifted
to Texas, met prosperity and compelled
success. His widow is there known as
the cattle queen of Texas. Sometimes
they call her empress. Her empire is
variously estimated at from one mil
lion to million and quarter acres.
Upon the more generous estimate it
is as large as Delaware and nearly
twice as large as Rhode Island.
1t would hold ten times over, all of
Greater New York, from these marshes
of Far Rockaway to Tottenville, S. L,
and to the Yonkers line.
1t is ruled in almost imperial fashion
by it's owner. AS her tract covers a
great part of two big Texas counties,
she is within it's borders practically the
civil law. She does not vote; she COM
mands her voters.
When Richard King ran away from
his home in Orange, he began life as a
Mississippi. river cabin boy. He be-
came pilot like Mark Twain, fought
Indians in the Seminole war; served on
quartermaster's vessel during the
Mexican war, and became captain of
Rio Grande steamer.
Captains don't usually turn into sue
cessful farmers, but King was an eX-
ception to all rules. Nueces and Cam
eron counties were then given over to
scalp-collecting red men and shiftless
greasers. He bought land for song,
and in 1852 began the Santa Gertrudes
ranch.
1t grew and it grew like a SNOWFALL;
land and cattle perpetuaily added to
it's borders. Thus he became one of
the first and easily the greatest of the
Texas cattle kings. He fought Indians
who came on raiding expeditions; he
fought Indians who tried to steal his
mavericks, and he fought stage robbers
who waylaid him when he came back
from New Orleans with the proceeds
of his increasing sales.
/ In 1885 Captain King died. He had
five children, little Eta being the
youngest and fayorite of her mother;
but, having no wish to see Santa Ger
trudes divided, he left all his property
absolutely to his wife.
Mrs. Henrietta M. King is a woman
of middle age and pleasing appearance.
She has two fine residences on her do
main, and one, the finest in all Texas,
in the town of Corpus Christi.
Seek her there and you will find
cultured woman of wealth, in no es-
sential different from her like in an
eastern city. To see her at her best, in
a position almost unique in America,
one must travel with her upon one of
her great tours of inspection
Twice every year Mrs. King takes a
look over her property; once in the
spring, when her cattle are rounded
up for branding, and in the late fall, to
see how the grass looks and how the
cattle will stand the winter. 1t is like
taking a far journey.
Mrs King combines pleasure with
business. Besides her superintendent,
she is always accompanied by invited
guests. The inspecting party travels
with a caravan of carriages for Mrs
King and an imposing retinue of cow
boys, guides and cooks. The cracking
of quirts and the neighing of horses
and lowing of cattle make the trip seem
like the emigration of patriarchal
tribe
Mrs King doesn't know how many
cattle she has-or how many acres, for
that matter. Her land has never been
surveyed or her cattle counted. About
fifteen years ago, the palmy days. near
ly quarter million cows, bulls, year
lings and calves roamed on prairies of
Santa Gertrudes; there are probably
not more than half that number at
present.
The yearly shipments from the ranch
are about 10000 head and the net pro-
ceeds from their sale range from $4,000
to 100000. Besides the cattle there are
10000 head of sheep and 1000 saddle
horses. Mrs. Kings ranch is divided
into about dozen districts-call them
counties, towns, baronies, what you
will Each has it's lord, and over all is
Mrs. Kings general manager.
In his own domain each boss is su-
preme. He seldom has orders to obey,
except at branding time, and when
shipping orders are sent. He employs
hands, rules the roundup, controls his
own village.
The village in each section is clus-
tered round the residence of the boss,
who is generally a married man of
mature years, with many years of eX-
perience, and around the school house
and the church built by Mrs. King.
The ranch houses are rough and I'M
painted, but roomy and comfortable,
and not destitute of luxuries. Around
them are barrack-like buildings for the
cowboys huts for Mexican laborers and
stables for the saddle horses.
About 1000 people, laborers and cooks,
work on the Santa Gertrudes ranch,
nearly 100 at each of the little villages.
The system of government is pater-
nal-perhaps maternal is the better
word. All the employees are furnished
with food, medical attention and lodg-
ing, and all the necessaries of life, ex-
cept clothing, and the horses, saddles
and brides used by the cowboys are
the property of Mrs. King.
1t is a benevolent despotism. There
realm. For any injustice there is the
right of direct appeal to the mistress
of the domain. And thus it is that all
orf,aes we'll wit the Santa CprtrI1dnc