Gric said:

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Another factor in the explosion of the deer population in south Texas was the eradication of the screw worm.

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Interesting.

Thanks

Im on the road this week and bookmarking for later.

Actually drove through Kingsville about two hours ago headed to the Valley(it's not a Valley)

There is a good book on the origins of the King up through the early 1990's or so called "Kings of Texas" by Don Graham that is a really good read. Starts with Richard King as an early steamboat captain on the Rio Grande and moves forward from there.

Kings of Texas

Does this book cover some of the darker history of the King Ranch? Ive heard about it but don't know much about it. Interested in learning more.

Having worked on the ranch at the Gas Plant for better part of a decade, you really learn a lot about the history of the ranch, the familes, and the area. I miss working out there.

lazuras_dc said:

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Does this book cover some of the darker history of the King Ranch? Ive heard about it but don't know much about it. Interested in learning more.

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Depends on what you call "darker history", but it does go into the dealings with the Chapmans and how Kleberg was the lawyer for both (unbeknowns to the Chapman widow) and how that affected the divesting of the assets after William Chapman died.* It's been 10 years since I've read the book, unfortunately that's the only "dark" history that I recall but I'm sure there is more in it than just that one subject.

*going off fuzzy memory on the details, so if a name is wrong or it was slightly different, not sorry

I do recall that the book mentions how the Kings are very, very, very protective of who has access to the ranch archives and what they will allow to be printed and what they won't as well. No doubt there is some nefarious history involved with how King acquired some of the land - that was back in the days right after Texas had won independence and there were a lot of old Mexico families that lost land in the process.

Yeah Im talking about deaths and people buried out there to acquire or even keep the land. All speculation on my part but would be interested to hear about

I don't remember it talking about deaths to acquire the land. More about the shady dealings with the deeds and Chapmans. I really enjoyed the book. I have little doubt that there were some deaths and or killings along the way.

Gric said:

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Another factor in the explosion of the deer population in south Texas was the eradication of the screw worm.

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Never thought of this but it makes a lot of sense- they are everywhere these days

fullback44 said:

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Gric said:

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Another factor in the explosion of the deer population in south Texas was the eradication of the screw worm.

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Never thought of this but it makes a lot of sense- they are everywhere these days

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They were also restocked in a lot of areas in the 1950s.

Yes it does. And it covers how many land titles were lost at sea on a boat traveling in the gulf for no reason. Great book. Crazy how things worked back then and what you could get away with.

Another great book is called Robert's Story. It covers the possible theory of thief and murder of Robert East by greedy lawyers. The east family was part of the king family until they wanted out.

Just finished. Pretty good podcast!

If anyone wants a great book/audio book I highly recommend Robert's Story. It's about the East ranch which Tio talked about.

yippee2 said:

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Another great book is called Robert's Story. It covers the possible theory of thief and murder of Robert East by greedy lawyers. The east family was part of the king family until they wanted out.

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Dang beat me to it!