Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-14
GREAT TEXAS RANCH
Embraces 100000 Acres
Near Corpus Christi.
BELONGS TO AGED WOMAN
Widow of Noted Mississippi River
Steamboat Operator.
HERD NUMBERS $4,000 CATTLE
Contains 5000 Blooded Horses, and
Manager Says He Could Supply
Animals to Army.
HERD NUMBERS $4,000 CATTLE
By WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.

CuiCdSO tteCOtu-6eTdlu.
KINGSVILLE, Tex, April :, 10l1
In -1S45. when Gen. Zachary Taylor
came down here with an army of occu-
patton to resist the claims of Mexico to
the territory now known as Texas, Capt.
Richard King and Capt. Miffin Kennedy,
two Mississippi river steamboat men,
were sent in command of Transports and
during the war which followed and until
1S49 they were kept busy carrying SOL
|diers and supplies between New Orleans
and Brownsville. at the mouth of the
Rio Grande. which was the base of the
American army.
In the meantime these two enterprising
gentlemen bought steamers of their own
and operated them independently of the
army. There seems to have been plenty
of water in the Rio Grande at that time
and a great deal of traffic, for We know
that Capt. King had twenty-one steamers
carrying freight and passengers back
and forth and did an enormous business
with great profit.
Among other army officers down here
at that time was Robert E. Lee, then
lieutenant of dragons. who became init
friendship which lasted through their
lives. Lee had made the journey several
times between Corpus Christi and
Brownsville. and was Impressed with the
gestion Capt. King and Capt. Kennedy
made the trip between voyages. and from
their saddles they saw the fine grazing
land that lay idle and ownerless.
Purchase Large Tract.
The result of that ride was the pur-
chase In partnership of a large tract
stretching from the beach of the Gulf of
Mexico back into the interior. altogether
about 10000 acres, for which they paid
from 10 to 25 cents an acre. They bought
cattle in Mexico and drove them over the
Rio Grande, and in the early ffties both
King and Kennedy gave UP steambOating
and settled down upon what Is now the
Santa Gertrude ranch, in Neuces county,
three miles from the new town of Kings
VILE l might say in passing that Kings
vile is twenty-five miles inland. seventy
feet above sea level. on wide plateau,
with climate. as they say here, that is
"healthful to men and helpful to crops"
After he was settled on his ranch Capt.
daughter Of Rev. Mr.. Chamberlain, u
Presbyterian minister, formerly Of Yer
mont, who came down with the troops
during the Mexican war. and was the
Of the Rio Grande He settled at
Brownsville and spent his life there,
where he found a fruitful vineyard.
Shartly after the marriage Capt. King
and Capt. Kennedy dissolved partnership.
The latter established himself twenty
miles further south in Cameron county.
and there built up what is now the mouel
La PARA ranch, with about 100000 acres
of range. The new town of Sarita on the
gulf coast line is the railway station, and
the property is now owned and occupied
by John G. Kennedy, a son Of the original
owner. who has surrounded his beautiful
villa with pleasant village five miles
from the railroad. among orange and
plant, electric lights. telephones, church
and schOolhouse, and all the conven-
fences and luxuries of modern civiliza-
ton.
Raises Many Kinds Of Fruit.
Mr.. Kennedy goes in for horticulture and
is growing every kind Of fruit you can
think of, including five different varieties
of grape fruit, Ave of pineapples five of
persimmons and experimental trees from
Mexico. Japan. Egypt and other foreign
lands. His lemons took the first prize at
the st. Louis worlds fair in competition
with those Of California. He is now turn
ing his attention to the cultivation of
cotton and by irrigation has produced
more than two bales to the acre. which is
four times the average Of the cotton
South of the Kennedy place Is the splen-
did ranch Of Maj. John p. Armstrong,
who still sticks to cattle, but sooner or
later will be compelled to go to farming
because 1t is SO much more profitable and
the land Is becoming too valuable for
grazing.
Capt. King kept buying the ."adjoining
land" as long as he lived. until, at the
time of his death in 1885. he had the
largest ranch owned by an individual in
the. world. Since his death Robert j.
Kleberg, his son-in-law and manager OF
the st. Gertrude ranch, has continued to
buy every acre he could get hold of on
the boundaries of the estate. until now
st. Gertrude ranch embraces 2 tract of
I, $50 900 acres, after selling OF more than
1000 acres for agricultural develop
ment. This enormous estate Is of ir-
regular shape and extends from the city
Of Corpus Christi very near to Sarita
station on the gulf coast railroad, almost
seventy miles on both sides of the track.
1t has a coast line on the gulf of fifty
five, miles. 1t Is a drive of forty-six miles
from the front door Of Mrs. Kings resi-