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151 1887–2011 by the strong belief that “those who possess power, property, or influence must hold it in trust for the use of their fellow man.”40 Alice died on July 31, 1944, and according to the Corpus Christi Caller, “Mrs. Kleberg was described by friends who knew her best as a woman of strong mind and character, but with gentleness of spirit and complete unselfishness. The hospitality of the King Ranch, under her direction[,] was traditional and no one in need was ever turned away empty-handed. ‘The coffee pot was always on.’”41 Robert and Alice’s children picked up the reins and provided leadership on the ranch, in South Texas, and even in Congress—all to ensure that the dynasty their father and mother and grandfather and grandmother had started would continue through the generations to come. The Empire Continues roberT’s soNs were worthy successors and had been trained well for their positions. When Robert developed palsy in 1916, his oldest son, Richard Mifflin (Dick) Kleberg, was recovering from a near fatal attack of appendicitis, so he decided to bring his youngest son, Robert Jr. (Bob), home from college to manage the ranch.42 Bob was tutored under his mentors Sam Ragland and Caesar Kleberg.43 His brother Dick recovered from his illness and went on to serve in Congress for seven terms, from 1931 to 1944.44 It was he who helped to get official recognition of the Santa Gertrudis cattle breed. Bob saw to the division of the ranch that had been held in trust under Henrietta’s will until 1926. It was a bitter and controversial division , but Bob went on to continue his father’s legacy.Under his leadership King Ranch established a number of firsts: first to bring to full development a breed of cattle, the Santa Gertrudis; first to experiment in phosphorus feeding; first to abandon the use of barbed wire and substitute smooth wire fastened to fence posts without staples; first to use the humane and efficient electric cattle prod; first to develop and use the tree-dozer and knife-rooter methods of clearing mesquite; and 152 Epilogue first to experiment with the propagation of wild game. He went on to develop one of the nation’s greatest game preserves and continued to develop range grass.45 One of the major factors underlying the ranch’s continued success was the oil lease signed with Humble Oil (later ExxonMobil) and later a gas lease that would eventually net the ranch millions of dollars . With this wealth, Bob expanded King Ranch to become a global agribusiness conglomerate operating in nine countries and consisting of fifteen million acres. He walked grasslands around the world and saw his prize Santa Gertrudis cattle grazing in knee-high grass.46 Another talent Bob possessed was his eye for horses. Bob bred and raced one of the few Triple Crown winners: Assault won the Triple Crown in 1946, with his jockey wearing the King Ranch Running W on his brown and white silks.47 After Bob’s death in 1974, family members managed the ranch corporation until outside management was brought in. By 2010, King Ranch had 825,000 acres in South Texas. Its worldwide properties have been sold, and the ranch has sought to diversify its interests. The family company now has 36,000 acres in Florida and is the leading citrus grower in America. It is also one of the nation’s ten biggest sugarcane producers and has huge cotton, sod, and milo farms. To quote Helen Kleberg Groves, Captain King’s great-granddaughter, “If Captain King sat down with us today, he’d say, ‘Well, how are things going?’ And we’d say, ‘They are going fine. We don’t have that many cattle or horses anymore. It is hard to make any money at ranching. We’ve got hunting leases and citrus groves and sod and cane farms.’ He would think we had lost our minds.”48 Be that as it may, the King Ranch dynasty that began under Captain King in 1853 and thrived under the management of Robert Kleberg and his descendants is still a viable institution. The heirs to the King legacy have continued to act on Robert’s belief that “those who possess power, property, or influence must hold it in trust for the use of their fellow man.”49 ...

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