Mary Dodson Wade
Illustrations by Bill Farnsworth
Hardcover
Henrietta Maria Morse Chamberlain King, lost her mother in 1835 and her father’s missionary work around Missouri and in Tennessee made for a lonely childhood. She became self-reliant and had strong, sometimes unconventional, ideas. She married riverboat captain and rancher Richard King on December 10, 1854. Henrietta and Richard King established their home on the Santa Gertrudis ranch, at first a mud and stick jacal. Under Henrietta King’s skillful supervision, with the help of her son-in-law, Robert Justus Kleberg, the King Ranch increased exponentially in size, reaching 1,173,000 acres by 1925. The cattle developed on the ranch were a boon to the Texas cattle industry because of their resistance to disease and heat. King also invested in improving towns, establishing churches and stabilizing the companies that would provide jobs for the region between Corpus Christi and Brownsville. Henrietta King: La Patrona epitomizes the acumen and tenacity of strong Texas woman—able to help her partner in his endeavors and just as able to take care of business by herself.
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