The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1899-01-14
THE TEXAS CATTLE oUREN.
Mrs. Henrietta Kings Bovines Cannot
30 Counted---Her Ranch Il - Big -
tho State Of Delaware. ~

The greatest cattle ranch in the
world is owned by woman-Mrs.
Richard King. She inherited it from
her husband, who was once : bare
footed, penniless boy Of Orange.
N. ].
He drifted to Texas, met pros
perity and compelled success. His
widow is there known a. the Cattle
Queen of Texas. Sometimes they
call her Empress.
Her empire is variously estimated
at from / 600, 600 acres to 1 10000
acres. That seems strange in New
York city, where every man knows
to the square inch the size of his
plot, but the King ranch has never
been surveyed. Upon the more
generous estimate it is as large as
Delaware and nearly twice % large
as Rhode Island. ~ ffsS
It is far larger than Attica OF
classic fame, which reared the Par
thenon and beat the Persian armies
and made itself and the rest Of
classic fame, which reared the Par
thenon and beat the Persian armies
and made itself and the rest of
Greece famous. The house.of Mas
sau, which rules Germany, came
from smaller principalities.
It would hold, ten times over,
all of Greater New York, from the
marshes Of Far Rockaway to Tot
tenville, L. l., and to the Yonkers
line. q
It is ruled in almost imperial
fashion by its owner. AS her tract
covers a great part of two big Texan
counties she is within it's borders
practically the civil law. She does
not vote; she commands voters.
When Richard King ran away
from his home in Orange he began
life as Mississippi river cabin boy.
He become pilot, like Mark Twain,
fought Indians in the Seminole war,
served on quartermaster's vessel
during the Mexican war and be-
came captain of q Rio Grande
steamer. ,Lai sesaa
Captains don't usually turn into
successful farmers, but King was
an exception to all rules. Nueces
and Cameron 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 snow
ball, land and cattle perpetually
added to its borders. Thus he be-
came one of the first and easily the
greatest of the Texas cattle kings.
He fought Indians who came on
raiding expeditions, he fought Mex
leans who tried to steal his MAYER
icks and he fought stage-robbers
who waylaid him when he came
back from New Orleans with the
proceeds of his increasing sales.
Money in Captain Kings pocket
was as safe as ina bank. His rU-
volver and his gigantic strength
were as inviolable as a safe-deposit
vault. .sg.
In 1885 Captain King died. He
had FIVE children, but, having no
wish to see Santa Gertrudes divided,
left all his property to his wife.
The children must look to her.
With a good woman it is q good
plan.
Mrs. Henrietta M. King is a wo-
man of middle age and pleasing
appearance. She has two fine resi-.
dences on her domain, 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 essential different
from her like in an Eastern city.
To see her at her best, in 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. Resides her orcor