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Published: Wednesday, 26 February 2025 13:19
We are so glad you chose to spend your winter in South Texas – especially in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. We think Texas is the BIGGEST and the BEST – especially in the Rio Grande Valley way down South in the tip of Texas. One of the things that makes us famous is the 825,000-acre, historical King Ranch that is ranked as the most famous ranch in the world and is considered the birthplace of ranching in North America. The King Ranch produced a new breed of cattle, had a horse that won the Triple Crown and today boasts 35,000 head of cattle and over 200 quarter horses.
Those facts sound mighty big in my mind. But we cannot brag that the King Ranch is the biggest in the world. It isn't even the biggest in Texas. It seems that all the large ranches in the world were formed in the mid 1800's. They are ranked in order on the web with the largest in the world being the Anna Creek Station in South Australia with 5,851,000 acres. That is bigger than the acreage of lsrael and is larger than the state of Rhode Island. That makes 825 thousand acres look pretty small. The King Ranch is still the most famous.
If you have a computer and we happen to have a bad weather day, spend a little time looking up the facts and figures about the ten largest ranches in the world and the ten most famous ranches. You can even read about the founding of the King Ranch and a brief history of the life of Richard King who was orphaned and placed as an indentured servant in a jewelry store – a job he hated.
He became a stow away on a ship, eventually a ship captain who moved cotton through Mexico to offshore ships sailing for Europe.
He saw and took advantage of many opportunities to build an empire. Unfortunately, he died at a fairly young age after some difficult years leaving his widow with a heavy debt. Through the help of a son-in-law and finding oil on the ranch, the widow, Henrietta King, was able to hold on to all the land and brought the ranch out of debt. She was greatly admired by the cowboys who worked the ranch. At her death they paid their respects by mounting their horses and hats off and they circled her grave as a farewell salute.
Join us on one of the Go With Jo! Tours of the King Ranch or the King Ranch Farm Tour. You will admire the hard work and determination that built an empire...the historic King Ranch.