This well, originating over feet below ground, provided enough water to support all of the region's livestock and agriculture. Along the way, the city of Kingsville was incorporated, following the vision of Henrietta King. During the first fifteen years of the twentieth century, King Ranch managed once again to thrive in the face of further droughts, wars with Mexican raiders, and Kleberg's failing health.
As Kleberg became weaker, he passed on responsibility for running the ranch to his sons, Bob and Dick Kleberg. Along the way, the ranch's selective breeding efforts intensified. They began crossbreeding Brahman bulls native to India with their own Shorthorn stock. The result was a new breed, which they dubbed "Santa Gertrudis. King Ranch began selling Santa Gertrudis bulls to other ranchers in the s, and in the United States Department of Agriculture recognized Santa Gertrudis as the first ever American-produced beef breed.
Henrietta King died in , at the age of King's death brought about a web of complications stemming from the division of her estate, high estate taxes, and various debts. The onset of the Depression, which caused beef prices to drop to the century's lowest levels, made matters even worse. Robert Kleberg died in , signaling a complete generational shift in the ranch's management. By that time, King Ranch had grown to well over a million acres in size and was home to 94, head of cattle and 4, horses and mules, the quality of which had become very high through selective breeding.
When Mrs. King's estate was finally untangled, Kleberg's widow, Alice, and her children consolidated as much of the ranch as possible by purchasing the properties of other heirs. In the Klebergs made King Ranch a corporation so that its future as a single entity would be more secure. To get the company back in the black, Kleberg turned to petroleum.
He negotiated a long-term lease for oil and gas rights on the entire ranch with Humble Oil and Refining Company, which later became Exxon. Meanwhile, brother Dick served the company from the outside as president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and, beginning in , as a seven-term member of the U. Beef was not the only thing King Ranch was able to breed successfully. Bob Kleberg, the driving force behind the program, also became interested in thoroughbred racing horses.
In he bought Kentucky Derby winner Bold Venture as a foundation sire for the ranch's thoroughbred breeding program. During the s and s, a number of innovations improved production and kept King Ranch at the cutting edge of the cattle industry.
These innovations included mechanized brush control methods, the identification of new and better grasses, and the development of better corrals for working cattle. Modern game management and preservation systems were also set up. In the s the company went international. By the company was sending livestock to outposts in Cuba and Australia in hopes of boosting production by introducing Santa Gertrudis genes into the mix.
The company eventually established a presence in Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela, where the techniques developed to clear mesquite brush in Texas could be used on South American rain forest.
Morocco and Spain soon followed as well. Dick Kleberg died in His son, Dick Jr. By the early s, King Ranch controlled about In Bob Kleberg died after managing the company's operations for more than half a century. The Kleberg family's choice to replace him as president and chief executive officer of the company was James H. In choosing Clement to lead King Ranch into the next generation, the family passed over Robert Shelton, a vice-president and King relative who had been raised by Bob Kleberg.
This snub, combined with legal haggling over oil payments to family members, led to Shelton's departure from the company a few years later. During the s, Clement began to feel that the company had become unwieldy, and he started selling off chunks of King Ranch's overseas real estate.
Sounds like a country-western song. When I grew tired, my husband would spread a Mexican blanket for me and I would take my siesta under the shade of a mesquite tree.
This rough-hewn honeymoon she so praised showed that she was made of the right stuff to help build a ranch out of inhospitable land and a brutal climate. King to be around because he could be bargained with. Henrietta faithfully reigned over the ranch for 70 years.
But her influence extended well beyond the King Ranch boundaries. It has been said that the work of a philanthropist is like that of an old person who plants trees. They plant even though they know they will never live to stand in their shade. Also, who lives on King Ranch? Today only one of the estimated two hundred lineal descendants of Richard and Henrietta King works and lives full-time on the ranch: year-old James Clement III, whose father, Dallas resident James H.
Briscoe Ranches - , acres. Waggoner Ranch - , acres. O'Connor Family Ranches - , acres. Hughes Ranch - , acres. Longfellow Ranch - , acres. Nunley Brothers - , acres. Kokernot Heirs 06 Ranch - , acres. As the home of 35, cattle and over Quarter Horses, King Ranch is one of the largest ranches in the world today. Who owns the largest ranch in the world? Media mogul Ted Turner owns more than 2 million acres of personal and ranch land across 18 ranches in seven U. What is the largest private ranch in the US?
WT Waggoner Estate Ranch. Who owns the largest ranch in the United States? These are the 10 biggest landowners in the United States John Malone. Malone is the largest landowner in the US, with 2. Ted Turner.
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