THE ENVIRONMENT

Aerial view of the King mansion and Santa Gertrudis Ranch headquarters: Situated among manzanita scrub along Santa Gertrudis Creek, the mansion was the King’s fourth home. The first was a shack built of logs. This was followed by two wooden homes, the last of which burned to the ground. Henrietta King designed this palace of adobe and tile in 1915, saying she wanted no more fires.

Map of South Texas showing King, Kenedy and Armstrong properties: East-west railroad lines are marked as chains of black dots; north-south railroad lines parallel U.S. Highways 281 and 77. The railways, vital for getting ranch products to market, were begun by ranch founder Richard King and expanded by Henrietta King and Robert Kleberg, Sr.

Environmental zones occupied by the King, Kenedy and Armstrong properties: Dots indicate King Ranch properties; righthand slash, Kenedy property; lefthand slash, El Sauz Ranch; horizontal lines, Armstrong property; vertical lines, Santa Fe Ranch including the East property, the San Antonio Viejo subdivision.

Ranching activities deeply affect native flora. It did not take long for the “sea of grass” that originally graced Richard King’s property to turn into a “sea of brush.” Brush is the cattleman’s enemy because reduction in grass cover means that each acre will support fewer cattle. From a wildlife standpoint, however, brush encroachment increases habitat diversity and provides shelter and food for deer, quail, wild turkeys and many other species.

The King Ranch began actively fighting brush during the early 1900s, and beginning in 1951 Richard Kleberg, Jr., began root-plowing with a specially designed Twin D-8 Caterpillar, which could grub, plow and spread grass seed all at the same time. Ten years earlier, however, recognizing that range conservation is also of great value, Kleberg had hired a professional wildlife manager. Today, the goal is a balance with 65 percent of each pasture to be open grassland with 35 percent in brush. This ratio meets wildlife needs while providing adequate forage production for cattle. As to the grass itself, the King Ranch also undertook selective breeding to produce hardier, more productive strains that are still in use today.