Richard King: Cattleman and Pioneer
When people think of Texas, one of the first images that come to mind are cattle and the cowboys that work them. Some of those cowboys amassed fortunes and assets that helped to write their names into the annals of history, but one of the great cattle barons achieved a status that is somewhat legendary. Richard King. Capt. King, as he was known during his steamboat days, soared from an indentured jewelry apprentice to the king of an empire. Forever immortalized through the town and ranch that bear his namesake, King lived up to his last name while establishing the King Ranch and, after his death, the town of Kingsville. The task of finding a Texan who hasn’t heard of the King Ranch or Kingsville would be difficult, but finding individuals who know the history of the man presents a far greater task.
Richard King was a naturalized Texan, born in the state of New York in 1824 (Cheeseman). He was not born into a wealthy family. His parents were poor Irish folk, doing their best to survive. For this reason, King’s parents contracted him to work for a jeweler in New York City. The jeweler abused King to the point where King slipped onto a ship heading south to escape a life of servitude to the abusive jeweler (KING RANCH). Heading south on the steamer, King could hardly fathom the decision he made as an 11 year old boy would alter his life forever.
King’s stowaway status soon came to an end, and he was employed as a crewmember on steamboats. Captains taught him to navigate the boats on rivers in Florida and Alabama, and his acute sense of learning gave way to him becoming a captain (KING RANCH). Capt. King plied the waters of Alabama until 1842. In that year he served aboard boa...
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...rted as a poor Irish apprentice, but he built an empire that still flourishes almost 130 years after his death.
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Texas has a total land area of 261,914 square miles- making it the second largest state in the United States. Combined with a diverse geography, Texas has one of the most varied climates of any state. As the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases year by year, causing an increase in the Earth’s average overall temperature, changes in our climate are inevitable. We will investigate how those changes will affect the life of the everyday Texan - from our water resources, to our cities and why they are important issues that need to be addressed by our society.
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