The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-08-04
QUEEN
Liberal. SPENDER
Wealthy Woman Pays Personal Attcn
ton to the Wants of People of
Her Town.

| Her Town.
KINGSVILLE, Tex, July 30.-Mrs
II. NJ. King, the wealthiest cattle
woman in the world, is deeply inter-
ested in making the town of Kings
vile model community. 1t was only
recently tnat she donated 100000
which is to be used towards the estab-
| lishment of an educational institution
here. Before the railroad was built
through her ranch of 1,2SO,000 acres
few years ago it was thirty miles
across the front yard of Mrs. Kings
ranch home to the nearest railroad
point. She gave the land to the rail-
road company for a town site, and
the new town has been established
| within three miles of her magnificent
country home.
Mrs. King keeps out of the public
eye as much as possible. She is a
woman of high moral conviction, and
it is stipulated in every deed to a lot
in the town of Kingsville that no
liquor shall be sold upon the prem
ises. When the town was laid out
and people began to settle here local
option was a novelty in this part of
Texas. 1t has proved a valuable re-
striction, however. and has caused the
citizenship and moral standard of the
town to be of the best type, it is
claimed
The town is the special pride ot
Mrs. King, and she has contributed to
its growth and advancement in many
respects. 1t is completely surrounded
by her broad acres, except where
homeseekers have come in and pur-
chased from her small tracts of land
| for farming purposes. Before this
town was established Mrs. King be-
slowed valuable favors upon Corpus
Christi. which was at that time the
nearest town to her ranch headquar-
tiers. She built at her own expense a
magnificent church edifice and donat-
ed it to the Presbyterian congregation
of Corpus Christi. 1t has been her
custom to make her home in that
place for part of each year.
SuccOrs the LOwly Mexicans.
Several thousand MeXicans are
kept constantly employed upon Mrs.
Kings ranch, and it is among this
population and their respective fam
lilies that she performs vast amount
of good for their uplifting She has
spent practically all of her life upon
the frontier, and perhaps no one has
a better understanding of the true
character of the lowly Mexican of this
border section than this remarkable
woman. In the early days when the
TOR n will
bands of cattle thieves and snug
glers; when the lives of herself and
husband were in constant danger at
the hands of the nomadic outlaws,
many We're the days and nights that
she spent alone in their little ranch
house many miles from the nearest
habitation.
Her husband made long trips up
the long cattle trail to Kansas and
was often called to remote parts of his
ranch and to distant towns, leaving
her to protect the home, assisted by
a few devoted Mexican servants In
the early COS. when the notorious
Mexican brigand, Cortina, was laying
desolate wide strip of ranch terri
tory in the lower Rio Grande valley,
being at the head of an army of more
than 500 men who were all of des-
lperate and heartless character, the
report reached the King ranch that
this horde of outlaws was preparing
to march against Corpus Christi. 1t
was said that the herds of cattle up
on the King ranch were to be the
special objects of the thefts of the
band upon the proposed incursion.
; Although Cortina and his men
spared not the lives of Americans who
came within their cfutches the news
of their proposed northern raid did
, not cause Mrs. King to display the
slightest fear She remained at the
t ranch and gave her husband what as
sistance she could in preparing for
; the expected attack Even in those
days Capt. Richard King was known
to the people of the border as man
who was fearless, and the fact that
he stood his ground and surrounded
= himself with a force of men who
could be depended upon to put up a
strong defense caused Cortina to re-
consider his plans and he never at
tempted his raid towards the north.
The willy old brigand did succeed,
) however, with his men in capturing
the town of Brownsville.
Widow a Fine Business Man"
Capt. King died a good many years
ago He did not live long enough to
see his vast acreage property double,
treble, and even quadruple in value in
the course of a few years. He locat-
ed his ranch here in the days when
the range was open and free. 1t was
not necessary for a cattleman to own
more than q few sections of land His