b'o u rh i s t o r yOpposite Page, Left to Right: The 1956 epic film Giant starred Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean and was based on the 1952 novel inspired by the story of the King Ranch; Richard M. Kleberg, who served seven terms in Congress. Above: Santa Gertrudis Ranch stables and carriage house, built in 1909. Right: The July 8, 1957, issue of LIFE Magazine, featuring The Fabulous King Ranch, promoted Tom Leas epic, two-volume history of the King Ranch to the world outside Texas.ter table, and on one rainy morning in 1899, a soaked vaquero rode to the maincreate lines that produced maximum house and called for Mr. Kleberg, We have water! The boss charged acrossbeef product and were most resistant the land to the site, where he stood and cried as water gushed from the firstto heat and disease. The same kind of artesian well on the Santa Gertrudis. Artesian wells push water to the surfacescience was applied to grass and feed under pressure from deep rock formations, and one well after another wasagriculture.drilled along the river that lay deep below the surface, over the ensuing years.At the turn of the 20th Century, the A drought-proof source of fresh water would change their ranching businesstick-borndiseaseknownasTexas forever, and just as importantly, would allow modern development to occur. Feverwasimposingadevastating The vision that Kleberg and Lott shared was one of civilization at the centereffect on the cattle industry. Kleberg of the frontier where the ranch was foundedand that meant a railroad andcalled in the U.S. Secretary of Agri-reliable water resources. Lott wasted no time in finding partners and inves- culture to study what he was finding tors, and in 1903, the Kleberg Town and Improvement Company was formedwith his cattle, which resulted in the with the purpose of developing a city on land donated by Henrietta King, threedevelopment of an effective vaccine, miles east of the ranch headquarters. The unofficial founding of Kingsville,aswellaspesticidesolutionsthat Texas, took place on July 4, 1904, the day the first locomotive of the St. Louis,would safely kill the ticks on his cat-Brownsville and Mexico Railwayknown as The Browniereached the newtle, and all cattle in the country. The Santa Gertrudis Ranch had become not town, having departed Robstown and destined for Brownsville. only the home of American cattle ranching, but also the birthplace of veteri-While the discovery of reliable water sources on the ranch would better sus- nary medicine in the livestock industry.tain the herds during periods of drought, like most of the first seven yearsBy the end of the 1910s, the town of Kingsville was booming, led by the suc-following Captain Kings death, the advent of rail transport and the end ofcess of the ranch and the busy railroad that ran from Houston to Corpus Chris-months-long cattle drives over a thousand miles would allow a wider range ofti, to Robstown, to Kingsville, then on to Brownsville, and from there across breeding options. The Longhorns were a hearty breed that could endure thethe Rio Grande to Matamoros, over the international rail bridge operated by long cattle drives, but fell short of other breeds that produced more beef ofKleberg in cooperation with the government of Mexico. The new Kingsville higher quality. The railroads allowed fatter cattle to move longer distances atCommercial Club was teeming with activity, a library and opera house were greater efficiencyand greater profitfor the ranchers. built, and in 1911, the City was incorporated with the election of a mayor and first town council. In 1913, Kleberg County was established with Kingsville Up-breeding efforts were initiated with the importation of Shorthorn cattleas its county seat. By 1920, Kingsvilles population was over 1,500, and soon, from England and Brahmans from India, which were bred with Texas Long- two magnanimous new additions would join the Santa Gertrudis: a calf named hornsactually a Spanish breed that made its way to Texas via MexicotoMonkey and a band of wildcatters who called themselves Humble.TheCoastalBend.com THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE87'