Alice, Texas
Alice is a city in and the county seat of Jim Wells County, United States, in the South Texas region of the state. The population was 19,104 at the 2010 census. Alice was established in 1888. First it was called "Bandana" "Kleberg", "Alice" after Alice Gertrudis King Kleberg, the daughter of Richard King, who established the King Ranch. Alice originated from the defunct community of 3 miles to the east. Around 1880 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway attempted to build a line through Collins, which had about 2,000 inhabitants; the townspeople were not amenable to selling their land to the railroad company. Bandana soon became a thriving cattle-shipping point, an application for a post office was made under the name "Kleberg" in honor of Robert Justus Kleberg, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto; the petition was denied because a town named Kleberg appeared on the post office list, so residents chose the name "Alice", in honor of Alice Gertrudis King Kleberg, Kleberg's wife and the daughter of Richard King.
The Alice post office opened for business in 1888. Within a few years the remaining residents of Collins moved to Alice, by a thriving community. Alice was known for its large cattle industry until the discovery of petroleum beneath and around the town in the 1940s, which caused a slight population boom. In 1948, an incident involving Lyndon B. Johnson's bid for the U. S. Senate took place at Alice's Precinct 13 where 202 ballots were cast in alphabetical order and all just at the close of polling in favor of Johnson. Johnson won the election against Coke Stevenson by 87 votes. Alice has long been recognized as "The Birthplace of Tejano" music, dating back to the mid-1940s when Armando Marroquin Sr. of Alice and partner Paco Betancourt of San Benito launched what was to be the first home-based recording company to record Tejano artists exclusively. Ideal Records, based in Alice, under the direction of Marroquin became the perfect vehicle for Tejano groups and artists to get their music to the public.
Marroquin, who owned and operated a jukebox company, ensured that Ideal recordings would be distributed throughout South Texas. The songs recorded, which were contributed by Tejano and Mexican composers, became popular through jukeboxes placed in restaurants, cantinas or any other establishment that would have them, the very scarce Spanish language radio programs. In addition to Ideal, Alice was the home of Freddie Records and Hacienda Records, who were dominant players in Tejano music in the 1970s and 1980s. Alice is the birthplace of two Nobel Prize winners. Robert F. Curl Jr. was honored with a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1996, James P. Allison won a Nobel for his work in medicine in 2018. Alice is located in central Jim Wells County at 27°45′02″N 98°04′14″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.6 square miles, of which 12.0 square miles are land and 0.58 square miles, or 4.66%, are water. Alice falls within the boundaries of South Texas as well as the Texas Coastal Bend region.
U. S. Route 281 passes just west of the city limits on a bypass; the highway leads south 37 miles to Falfurrias. Texas State Highway 44 passes through the center of town as Front Street and leads east 26 miles to Robstown and west 35 miles to Freer. Texas State Highway 359 joins SH 44 through the center of Alice but leads northeast 30 miles to Mathis and southwest 53 miles to Hebbronville; the nearest metropolitan areas are Corpus Christi, 45 miles to the east, Laredo, 98 miles to the west. Annual average temperature: 71.4 °F January average temperature: 55.1 °F July average temperature: 84.1 °F Average annual rainfall: 30.13 inches Wettest month: September Driest month: March Growing season: 289 days The last snowfall was during the 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm when up to 12 inches fell in the city. 115 °F was the highest temperature recorded in the city. 12 °F was the lowest temperature recorded in the city. Alice has little seismic activity, with only two small earthquakes happening in recent history—a 3.8 magnitude quake on March 24, 1997, a 4.0 magnitude quake on April 24, 2010.
The data below are from the Western Regional Climate Center, recorded over the period from 1893 to 2008. At the 2000 census, there were 19,010 people, 6,400 households and 4,915 families residing in the city; the population density was 1,597.4 per square mile. There were 6,998 housing units at an average density of 588.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 77.44% White, 0.86% African American, 0.53% Native American, 0.75% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 17.92% from other races, 2.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 78.05% of the population. There were 6,400 households of which 39.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.5% were married couples living together, 17.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 23.2% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.8% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.39. Age distribution was 30.3% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.0
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is applied to living organisms, most of the time to humans, it is a key geographical term. In simple terms population density refers to the number of people living in an area per kilometer square. Population density is population divided by total land water volume, as appropriate. Low densities may lead to further reduced fertility; this is called the Allee effect after the scientist. Examples of the causes in low population densities include: Increased problems with locating sexual mates Increased inbreeding For humans, population density is the number of people per unit of area quoted per square kilometer or square mile; this may be calculated for a county, country, another territory or the entire world. The world's population is around 7,500,000,000 and Earth's total area is 510,000,000 square kilometers. Therefore, the worldwide human population density is around 7,500,000,000 ÷ 510,000,000 = 14.7 per km2. If only the Earth's land area of 150,000,000 km2 is taken into account human population density is 50 per km2.
This includes all continental and island land area, including Antarctica. If Antarctica is excluded population density rises to over 55 people per km2. However, over half of the Earth's land mass consists of areas inhospitable to human habitation, such as deserts and high mountains, population tends to cluster around seaports and fresh-water sources. Thus, this number by itself does not give any helpful measurement of human population density. Several of the most densely populated territories in the world are city-states and dependencies; these territories have a small area and a high urbanization level, with an economically specialized city population drawing on rural resources outside the area, illustrating the difference between high population density and overpopulation The potential to maintain the agricultural aspects of deserts is limited as there is not enough precipitation to support a sustainable land. The population in these areas are low. Therefore, cities in the Middle East, such as Dubai, have been increasing in population and infrastructure growth at a fast pace.
Cities with high population densities are, by some, considered to be overpopulated, though this will depend on factors like quality of housing and infrastructure and access to resources. Most of the most densely populated cities are in Southeast Asia, though Cairo and Lagos in Africa fall into this category. City population and area are, however dependent on the definition of "urban area" used: densities are invariably higher for the central city area than when suburban settlements and the intervening rural areas are included, as in the areas of agglomeration or metropolitan area, the latter sometimes including neighboring cities. For instance, Milwaukee has a greater population density when just the inner city is measured, the surrounding suburbs excluded. In comparison, based on a world population of seven billion, the world's inhabitants, as a loose crowd taking up ten square feet per person, would occupy a space a little larger than Delaware's land area; the Gaza Strip has a population density of 5,046 pop/km.
Although arithmetic density is the most common way of measuring population density, several other methods have been developed to provide a more accurate measure of population density over a specific area. Arithmetic density: The total number of people / area of land Physiological density: The total population / area of arable land Agricultural density: The total rural population / area of arable land Residential density: The number of people living in an urban area / area of residential land Urban density: The number of people inhabiting an urban area / total area of urban land Ecological optimum: The density of population that can be supported by the natural resources Demography Human geography Idealized population Optimum population Population genetics Population health Population momentum Population pyramid Rural transport problem Small population size Distance sampling List of population concern organizations List of countries by population density List of cities by population density List of city districts by population density List of English districts by population density List of European cities proper by population density List of United States cities by population density List of islands by population density List of U.
S. states by population density List of Australian suburbs by population density Selected Current and Historic City, Ward & Neighborhood Density Duncan Smith / UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. "World Population Density". Exploratory map shows data from the Global Human Settlement Layer produced by the European Commission JRC and the CIESIN Columbia University
Brooks County, Texas
Brooks County is a county located in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 7,223, its county seat is Falfurrias. The county is named for a Texas Ranger and legislator; the county faces a range of challenges due to immigration issues. Though it lies about 80 miles north of the border, it is a main route for illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico; the open dry terrain and hot summer temperatures cause many immigrants to die annually, leading some to dub the area a "Death Valley" for migrants. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 944 square miles, of which 943 square miles is land and 0.3 square miles is water. U. S. Highway 281 Interstate 69C is under construction and will follow the current route of U. S. 281 in most places. State Highway 285 Farm to Market Road 755 Jim Wells County Kleberg County Kenedy County Hidalgo County Starr County Jim Hogg County Duval County As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 7,223 people living in the county.
89.6% were White, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 7.9% of some other race and 1.4% of two or more races. 91.2% were Hispanic or Latino. As of the census of 2000, there were 7,976 people, 2,711 households, 2,079 families residing in the county; the population density was 8 people per square mile. There were 3,203 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile; the racial makeup of the county was 75.84% White, 0.19% Black or African American, 0.46% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 21.58% from other races, 1.77% from two or more races. 91.57% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 2,711 households out of which 38.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.20% were married couples living together, 19.10% had a female householder with no husband present, 23.30% were non-families. 21.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.30% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.38. In the county, the population was spread out with 31.60% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 23.40% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 94.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $18,622, the median income for a family was $22,473. Males had a median income of $23,051 versus $16,103 for females; the per capita income for the county was $10,234. About 36.90% of families and 40.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 51.70% of those under age 18 and 30.40% of those age 65 or over. While the state of Texas has become a stronghold of the Republican Party in the 21st century, Brooks County rests in the oldest extant Democratic stronghold in the state, it has never voted for a Republican presidential candidate since its creation in 1911.
No Republican has received more than 35% of the vote in the county since Richard Nixon in his 1972 landslide, no Democrat since George McGovern that same year has received less than 65%. McGovern is one of only two Democrats, the other being Adlai Stevenson in 1956, to have received less than 60% of the vote in Brooks County since it first participated in presidential elections in 1912; the only instance of Brooks County having cast its votes for a Republican was in 2010, when Comptroller Susan Combs won it during her reelection, as no Democrat filed to run. Falfurrias Airport Road Addition Cantu Addition Encino Flowella Rachal Brooks County Courthouse List of museums in the Texas Gulf Coast National Register of Historic Places listings in Brooks County, Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Brooks County Brooks County in Handbook of Texas Online. Brooks County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members; as of the 2010 Census, each member represents about 167,637 people. There are no term limits, with the most senior member, Tom Craddick, having been elected in 1968; the House meets at the State Capitol in Austin. The Speaker of the House is highest-ranking member of the House; the Speaker's duties include maintaining order within the House, recognizing members during debate, ruling on procedural matters, appointing members to the various committees and sending bills for committee review. The Speaker pro tempore is a ceremonial position, but does, by long-standing tradition, preside over the House during its consideration of local and consent bills. Unlike other state legislatures, the House rules do not formally recognize majority or minority leaders; the unofficial leaders are the Republican Caucus Chairman and the Democratic House Leader, both of whom are elected by their respective caucuses.
†Representative was first elected in a special election. Eligio De La Garza, II, first Mexican-American to represent his region in the US House and the second Mexican-American from Texas to be elected to Congress. Ray Barnhart, Federal Highway Administrator Anita Lee Blair, first blind woman elected to a state legislature Jack Brooks, U. S. House of Representatives Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas Frank Kell Cahoon, Midland County oilman and representative from 1965 to 1969. S. Representative Tom DeLay, U. S. Representative and House Majority Leader John Nance Garner, U. S. Representative, Speaker of the House, Vice President of the United States O. H. "Ike" Harris, Dallas County representative from 1963–1965. Kay Bailey Hutchison, U. S. Senator Ray Hutchison, husband of Kay Bailey Hutchison Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr. father of President Lyndon B. Johnson Dan Kubiak, representative from Rockdale known for his support of public education Mickey Leland, U. S. House of Representatives, died in a plane crash.
Charles Henry Nimitz Born in Bremen. In 1852, built the Nimitz Hotel in Fredericksburg, which now houses the National Museum of the Pacific War. Grandfather of United States Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. Elected to the Texas Legislature 1890. Rick Perry, longest serving Governor of Texas, current U. S. Secretary of Energy. Colonel Alfred P. C. Petsch Lawyer, civic leader, philanthropist. Veteran of both World War I and World War II. Sam Rayburn, U. S. Representative and longest served Speaker of the House Coke R. Stevenson, Governor of Texas Sarah Weddington, attorney for "Jane Roe" for the 1973 Roe v. Wade case in the U. S. Supreme Court Ferdinand C. Weinert, coauthored bill to establish the Pasteur Institute of Texas, authored resolution for humane treatment of state convicts, coauthored the indeterminate sentence and parole law. Served as Texas Secretary of State Charles Wilson, U. S. House of Representatives, subject of the book and film Charlie Wilson's War The Speaker of the House of Representatives has duties as a presiding officer as well as administrative duties.
As a presiding officer, the Speaker must enforce and interpret the rules of the House, call House members to order, lay business in order before the House and receive propositions made by members, refer proposed legislation to a committee, preserve order and decorum, recognize people in the gallery and hold votes on questions, vote as a member of the House, decide on all questions to order, appoint the Speaker Pro Tempore and Temporary Chair, adjourn the House in the event of an emergency, postpone reconvening in the event of an emergency, sign all bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions. The administrative duties of the Speaker include having control over the Hall of the House, appointing chair, vice-chair, members to each standing committee, appointing all conference committees, directing committees to make interim studies; the Chief Clerk is the head of the Chief Clerk's Office which maintains a record of all authors who sign legislation and distributes membership information to current house members, forwards copies of legislation to house committee chairs.
The Chief Clerk is the primary custodian of all legal documents within House. Additional duties include keeping a record of all progress on a document, attesting all warrants and subpoenas, receiving and filing all documents received by the house, maintaining the electronic information and calendar for documents; when there is a considerable update of the electronic source website, the Chief Clerk is responsible for noticing House members via email. Agriculture and Livestock AppropriationsSubcommittee on Articles I, IV & V Subcommittee on Article II Subcommittee on Article III Subcommittee on Articles VI, VII & VIII Subcommittee on Budget Transparency & Reform Business & Industry Calendars Corrections County Affairs Criminal Jurisprudenc
United States
The United States of America known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U. S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D. C. and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico; the State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean; the U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The diverse geography and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century; the United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776; the war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties; the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.
By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power; the United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. S. Moon landing; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, it is a representative democracy.
The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, other international organizations. The United States is a developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for a quarter of global GDP; the U. S. economy is post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, worker productivity.
The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, is a leading political and scientific force internationally. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci; the first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq. to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort; the first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the'United States of America'".
The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be'The United States of America'". In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence; this draft of the document did not surface unti
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which had expanded slavery into U. S. territories. The party subscribed to classical liberalism and took ideological stands that were anti-slavery and pro-economic reform. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president in the history of the United States; the Party was dominant over the Democrats during the Third Party System and Fourth Party System. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party after being rejected by the GOP and ran unsuccessfully as a third-party presidential candidate calling for social reforms. After the 1912 election, many Roosevelt supporters left the Party, the Party underwent an ideological shift to the right; the liberal Republican element in the GOP was overwhelmed by a conservative surge begun by Barry Goldwater in 1964 that continued during the Reagan Era in the 1980s. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the party's core base shifted, with the Southern states becoming more reliably Republican in presidential politics and the Northeastern states becoming more reliably Democratic.
White voters identified with the Republican Party after the 1960s. Following the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, the Republican Party made opposition to abortion a key plank of its national party platform and grew its support among evangelicals. By 2000, the Republican Party was aligned with Christian conservatism; the Party's core support since the 1990s comes chiefly from the South, the Great Plains, the Mountain States and rural areas in the North. The 21st century Republican Party ideology is American conservatism, which contrasts with the Democrats' liberal platform and progressive wing; the GOP supports lower taxes, free market capitalism, a strong national defense, gun rights and restrictions on labor unions. The GOP was committed to protectionism and tariffs from its founding until the 1930s when it was based in the industrial Northeast and Midwest, but has grown more supportive of free trade since 1952. In addition to advocating for conservative economic policies, the Republican Party is conservative.
Founded in the Northern states in 1854 by abolitionists, modernizers, ex-Whigs and ex-Free Soilers, the Republican Party became the principal opposition to the dominant Democratic Party and the popular Know Nothing Party. The party grew out of opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and opened Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory to slavery and future admission as slave states; the Northern Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil. The first public meeting of the general anti-Nebraska movement, at which the name Republican was suggested for a new anti-slavery party, was held on March 20, 1854 in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin; the name was chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jefferson's Republican Party. The first official party convention was held on July 1854 in Jackson, Michigan. At the 1856 Republican National Convention, the party adopted a national platform emphasizing opposition to the expansion of slavery into U. S. territories. While Republican candidate John C.
Frémont lost the 1856 United States presidential election to James Buchanan, he did win 11 of the 16 northern states. The Republican Party first came to power in the elections of 1860 when it won control of both houses of Congress and its candidate, former congressman Abraham Lincoln, was elected President. In the election of 1864, it united with War Democrats to nominate Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket. Under Republican congressional leadership, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution—which banned slavery in the United States—passed the Senate in 1864 and the House in 1865; the party's success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s. Those who felt that Reconstruction had been accomplished, was continued to promote the large-scale corruption tolerated by President Ulysses S. Grant, ran Horace Greeley for the presidency; the Stalwart faction defended Grant and the spoils system, whereas the Half-Breeds pushed for reform of the civil service. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was passed in 1883.
The Republican Party supported hard money, high tariffs to promote economic growth, high wages and high profits, generous pensions for Union veterans, the annexation of Hawaii. The Republicans had strong support from pietistic Protestants, but they resisted demands for Prohibition; as the Northern postwar economy boomed with heavy and light industry, mines, fast-growing cities, prosperous agriculture, the Republicans took credit and promoted policies to sustain the fast growth. The GOP was dominant over the Democrats during the Third Party System. However, by 1890 the Republicans had agreed to the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Interstate Commerce Commission in response to complaints from owners of small businesses and farmers; the high McKinley Tariff of 1890 hurt the party and the Democrats swept to a landslide in the off-year elections defeating McKinley himself. The Democrats elected Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892; the election of William McKinley in 1896 was marked by a resurgence of Republican dominance that lasted until 1932.
McKinley promised that high tariffs would end the severe hardship caused by the Pa
King Ranch
King Ranch, located in South Texas between Corpus Christi and Brownsville near Kingsville, is the largest ranch in Texas. The King Ranch comprises 825,000 acres and was founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis, it includes portions of six Texas counties. The ranch does not consist of one single contiguous plot of land, but rather four large sections called divisions; the divisions are the Laureles, the Encino and the Norias. Only the first two of the four divisions border each other, that border is short; the ranch was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. Richard King was a river pilot, born in New York City to Irish immigrants, he was indentured to a jeweler at age 11, but ran to sea attaining a pilot's rating. In 1843, King first met his future business partner in the King Ranch, Mifflin Kenedy, captain of the steamboat Champion. Both served under General Zachary Taylor, operating steamboats from Brazos Santiago Harbor to Matamoros, on up river to Camargo, Tamaulipas, in support of the U.
S. invasion of Monterrey and Saltillo. After the Mexican War, King made a good living hauling merchandise on the Rio Grande, as far up river as Camargo, Rio Grande City. In the meantime, Kenedy was able to make money by carrying goods overland into Mexico. By March 1, 1850, Kenedy, Charles Stillman, founder of Brownsville, James O'Donnell entered into a business partnership to transport Stillman's goods from Brazos Santiago Harbor on the Gulf of Mexico and up the Rio Grande; the enterprise required two types of steamers — the Grampus and Comanche. During the American Civil War, the steamboat fleet was reflagged under the name of the Matamoros, Mexico citizen Francisco Iturria and the Mexican flag; as Mexico was a neutral country, the steamboats could not be stopped by Union blockaders, engaged in a lively commerce of transporting Texas cotton to many deep-water ships anchored offshore Matamoros, on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. Stillman sold his share of the enterprise after the Civil War.
King first saw the land that would become part of the King Ranch in April 1852 as he traveled north from Brownsville to attend the Lone Star Fair in Corpus Christi, a four-day trip by horseback. After a grueling ride, King caught sight of the Santa Gertrudis Creek, 124 miles from the Rio Grande, it was the first stream. The land, shaded by large mesquite trees, so impressed him, when he arrived at the fair, he and a friend, Texas Ranger Captain Gideon K. "Legs" Lewis and there to make it into a ranch. The King Ranch LK brand, still in use today, stands for partners King. King and Lewis established a cow camp on Santa Gertrudis Creek. During this time, Richard King purchased the Rincón de Santa Gertrudis grant, a 15,500 acres holding that encompassed present-day Kingsville, Texas, it was purchased from the heirs of Juan Mendiola of Camargo on July 25, 1853, for $300. King sold Lewis an undivided half-interest in the land for $2,000. At the same time, Lewis sold King undivided half-interest in the ranchos of Manuel Barrera and of Juan Villareal for the same sum, on November 14, 1853.
In 1854, King and Lewis purchased the de la Garza Santa Gertrudis grant from Praxides Uribe of Matamoros for $1,800, on the condition of a perfected title on May 20, 1854 to 53,000 acres. As the years passed, more land was added, growing to 1.2 million acres at its largest extent, until reaching its current total. In 1855, Lewis was killed by the husband of a woman with. On July 1, 1856, a court sale of Lewis' property was held. King had arranged for Maj W. W. Chapman to bid on the Rincón property, which Chapman acquired for $1,575. Chapman had been the quartermaster of Fort Brown in Brownsville, regulated the steamboat contracts to supply Fort Ringgold, up river in Rio Grande City. Chapman's heirs published the letters home from his wife in a new book named The News From Brownsville. King interested Captain James Walworth in acquiring the entire de la Garza grant, which Walworth completed on December 26, 1856, for $5,000 paid to Praxides Uribe. King thus retained operational control of the Ranch, with Walworth as a silent partner who held title to the land, who paid taxes on it.
King and Walworth's brand was registered June 1859 along with his earlier brands. When King and his partners began hiring people to staff the ranch, they hired a number of Mexican hands. In one notable case, King traveled to the village of Cruillas, Mexico in the early months of 1854 and purchased the village's entire cattle population, but shortly after leaving the village, King realized that, by solving the village's short-term problem, he created a longer-term one. King thus returned to Cruillas and offered the entrada of villagers the opportunity to work for him, in exchange for food and income. Many of the villagers relocated to Texas; as the ranch grew, its hands came to be called kineños, or "King's men". Over time, some original grantees returned to their land. King once said he "could not have kept on and held on if Andrés Canales had not been adjoining."Records show a Mexi
U.S. Highway 77
Interstate 69E is currently under construction and will follow the current route of U.S. 77 in most places.
State Highway 141
State Highway 285
Farm to Market Road 771
Park Road 22
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Kleberg County, Texas
