Still privately owned by the descendants of riverboat man Captain Richard King, the ranch was started in the middle of the last century and is now comprised of nearly one million acres, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The Ranch lays claim to the foundation sire of the American Quarter Horse breed, Wimpy (they were not too good at picking names!) and to starting two new breeds of cattle – the Santa Gertrudis (we have all heard of) and the Santa Cruz (most popular today).
The Santa Gertrudis breed actually got to be too BIG, nearly 3000 lbs, and so they bred a slightly smaller one, the Santa Cruz (the most popular breed today).
The King Ranch also bred thoroughbred racing horses, including the 1943 foaling of triple crown winner, Assault, also known as the Club Footed Comet. He had many injuries, and actually had an impaired walk and trot, but his gallop was great. You can check Assault’s interesting story on Wikipedia.
Longhorn
In 1915, Captain King’s widow built a new 32,000 square foot home that still serves as a private 5 star hotel that the extended family can stay at when visiting. It is not open to the public.
In addition to Ranching, the King Ranch also has a farming division growing cotton in Texas, and one of the largest orange groves in Florida (75,000 acres); its most profitable business today is the private hunting operation. The latter was developed by one of the family who was especially interested in conservation. Sounds like a contradiction in terms, but a constant population of each species is maintained and no exotic species are introduced, therefore, the reasoning goes, the remaining animals and birds are healthier and have sufficient natural food.
Enough history!! Let it suffice to say that we now understand why living in Texas is indeed LIVING LARGE!
On the way home - tons of Grapefruit!
No comments:
Post a Comment