682 A HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



a commercial sense came into existence in the great 

 southwest. 



Capt. Richard King. While the military cam- 

 paign that carried the American flag to the City 

 of Mexico was in progress, a man who was destined 

 to exercise a far-reaching influence upon the indus- 

 trial development of our new frontier, was engaged 

 in transporting freights and army stores along the 

 west coast of the Gulf and up the navigable waters 

 of the region that constituted the base of our opera- 

 tions. This was Capt. Eichard King. Upon the 

 cessation of hostilities he decided to engage in busi- 

 ness ashore, and to this end acquired title to a large 

 tract of wild land lying near the coast between 'the 

 mouths of the Nueces and Eio Grande rivers. He 

 had conceived the idea that the production of horses 

 and cattle on a large scale in this territory could 

 soon be made a lucrative business, and the idea 

 proved the foundation of not only his own but also 

 of many other fortunes subsequently accumulated 

 as a result of extensive land and grazing operations. 



Santa Gertrudis. When Capt. King first rode 

 across the plain from Brownsville to Corpus Christi 

 it was one vast flowery meadow, lovely beyond com- 

 pare. There were then no thickets of mezquite or 

 other brush except the occasional bits along the 

 streams. Lter occupancy of the land and the keep- 

 ing out of fires caused the appearance of great 

 thickets of small trees and brush, largely of legum- 

 inous nature, such as the mezquite tree. Within 

 recent years the manager, Mr. Kleberg, has cleared 



