Richard King (July 10, 1824 – April 14, 1885) was a riverboat captain,

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

, entrepreneur, and most notably, the founder of the

King Ranch King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some it is larger than the area of the European country Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the racehorse Assault (horse), Assault, who won the United States Tri ...

South Texas South Texas is a geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of th ...

, which at the time of his death in 1885 encompassed over .

Early years

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on July 10, 1824 into a poor Irish family, King was indentured as an apprentice to a jeweler in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

at the age of 9. In 1835, he ran away from his indenture, stowing away on a ship bound for

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. Upon discovery, he was adopted into the crew and trained in navigation, becoming a

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

pilot by the age of sixteen. While serving in the end of the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

in 1842, he met

Mifflin Kenedy Mifflin Kenedy (June 8, 1818 – March 14, 1895) was an American businessman and rancher. He began his steamboating career on the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers. He then went to Texas and northern Mexico, where he helped get many steamboa ...

, who would later become his partner. From 1842 to 1847, King would operate steamboats on the Apalachicola and

Chattahoochee The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

rivers, in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Riverboating

During the Mexican-American War, King's friend and subsequent ranching and steam boating partner, Mifflin Kenedy, enlisted as ship master. Having run men and supplies to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

along the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

. Kenedy convinced King in 1846 to join the war effort along the Rio Grande, where King worked on the transport ''Colonel Cross'', ferrying army supplies between

Reynosa Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico which also holds the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAlle ...

, Camargo, and Matamoros. In 1850, following the war, King, Kenedy and two other partners formed the M. Kenedy and Company steamboat firm, renamed in 1866 to King, Kenedy and Company when the two other partners were bought out. This firm achieved "nearly monopolistic" control on the Rio Grande for most of the years between 1850 and 1874, when the partnership was dissolved.

American Civil War

In addition to selling cattle to the Confederacy for food, King was active in the Cotton Road trade route during the Civil War which sold Confederate cotton through Mexico. King profited from both cotton road caravans stopping in King Ranch for supplies, and from steamboats operating under Mexican registry transporting cotton to Mexico and returning to Texas with military supplies. An entry in James Marten's book ''Slaves and Rebels: The Peculiar Institution in Texas, 1861-1865'', confirms there were slaves on the King Ranch noting that "When Union troops invaded South Texas and tried to entice slaves away from the King Ranch, a Houston newspaper proudly reported, they "remained with their mistress ... proving true to the last." When the Union army invaded Texas to stop the Cotton Road trade, King participated in shifting the Cotton Road to Laredo. After the Battle of Brownsville, King Ranch was attacked by Union troops Christmastime 1863 by 80 men led by Captain James Speed. King was warned and fled the ranch house, leaving his family under the care of ranch hand Francisco Alvarado. When troops fired on the house, Alvarado was killed attempting to warn the soldiers that there were women and children inside. The troops searched the property for King, vandalized the house and took the ranch hands as prisoners. King continued to work the cotton trade throughout the war, and stayed in Matamoros, Mexico waiting to see if his request for amnesty from the President was approved. He acquired letters of amnesty and returned to Texas July 14, 1865.

Founding the King Ranch

As soon as King had arrived in Texas, he began speculating in land, beginning with lots in

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, Cameron County, located on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border, border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas ...

and

Cameron County, Texas Cameron County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 421,017. Its county seat is Brownsville. The county was founded in 1848 and is named for Captain Ewen Cameron, a soldier durin ...

, and continued investing the large profits from the riverboat firm. In 1852, King purchased a false title to the southern half of

Padre Island Padre Island is the largest of the Texas barrier islands and the world's longest barrier island. The island is located along Texas's southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico and is noted for its white sandy beaches. Meaning ''father'' in Spanish, ...

. That same year, he traveled overland from Brownsville to Corpus Christi, and became fascinated with the grasslands along Santa Gertrudis Creek in the "Nueces Strip" (the land between the

Nueces River The Nueces River ( ; , ) is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. ''Nu ...

and the Rio Grande). In 1853 and 1854 King began land acquisitions in the region of the creek, purchasing valid titles to two ranches of a combined , forming the nucleus of the

. He continued acquiring land until his death in 1885, when the ranch had .

Death

In 1885, in obvious poor health, King traveled to San Antonio to see his doctor. He died of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

on April 14, at the

Menger Hotel The Menger Hotel is an historic hotel located in downtown San Antonio, Texas, US, on the site of the Battle of the Alamo. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as a contributing building in the Alamo Plaza Historic Di ...

Legacy

The King Ranch continues to be a dominant economic force in the region. The town of

Kingsville, Texas Kingsville is a city in the South Texas, southern region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Kleberg County, Texas, Kleberg County. Located on the U.S. Route 77 in Texas, U.S. Route 77 corridor between Corpus Christi, Texas, Corpus C ...

is named for King. Corpus Christi has a high school named for King. In 1959, he was inducted into the

Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American W ...

of the

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and Native American art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Amer ...

Bibliography

* ''Captain King of Texas: The man who made the King Ranch'', Tom Lea, 1957, Atlantic Monthly Press. * ''Richard King: Texas Cattle Rancher'', William R. Sanford, Carl R. Green, 1997, Enslow Publishers. * "The Last Empire", William Broyles, ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

'', October 1980

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Richard 1824 births 1885 deaths People from Kingsville, Texas American people of Irish descent Irish-American history and culture in Texas Businesspeople from New York City Businesspeople from Texas Ranchers from Texas American people of the Seminole Wars American people of the Mexican–American War People of Texas in the American Civil War Deaths from stomach cancer in Texas 19th-century American businesspeople