King Ranch

This is the old carriage house at the King Ranch, built when it was still known as the

Santa Gertrudis Ranch. The ranch was once 1.2 million acres, but is now 825,000 acres spread over several states and countries. It is still a family owned business.

These are some of the 450 horses on the ranch. The horses weren't originally raised to sell, but to work the cattle. They are also trained and compete as cutting horses. The farm also raised thoroughbreds and one of their horses, Assault, won the Triple Crown in the late 40's . Assault and five other favorite horses are buried at the ranch.

The Santa Gertrudis cattle at the ranch are micro-chipped, keeping their breeding records precise. The cattle are tagged and ear-notched as well as branded with the

Running W.

No one seems to know how the brand came about, but many different brands have been used on the ranch.
The Santa Gertrudis were developed on King Ranch by crossing Short Horns and Brahmas

(Pronounced Bray-ma)

This is a "bump gate", developed by the oil company who held leases on parts of the ranch for drilling. The oil workers didn't watch the gates well, so a self-closing gate was invented. You drive up and bump the gate open, drive through, and the gate swings shut. If you don't hit it hard enough the gate closes too quickly and scrapes the side of your vehicle. If you hit it too hard the gate swings too far and breaks out your tail lights.

This is one of the entrances to the family home. See the peacock at the top of the stairs? The birds were a favorite of Henrietta King, because they keep snakes away. Henrietta once started a program where she paid five cents for every rattle snake "rattle". She got such a big response that she dropped the price to three cents, and eventually bought 250,000 rattles before the program had to be dropped.

The window over the door was made by Tiffany.

A grander entry to the ranch home with more Tiffany stained glass. Tiffany also did the interior decorating for the home, but we weren't invited in. The house is no longer used as a home but more like a luxury hotel when family members visit the ranch.

And now for one last creature found on the ranch.........

Yessiree, that's a alligator.

He's a dandy one too. Our guide thinks he's 10 to 12 feet long, and he looked every bit of it!

There is a large pond on the property stocked with bass and cat fish, and the employees are allowed to fish there. They are extremely careful when the eggs hatch. Momma alligators are very protective.