RAMBLINGS from Weslaco, TX

17 Feb: The temp was 17 c at 6 AM when i got up so by 9:30 it should be well over 27 C or 28 C and i got a double header ball game. Oh well just something else to complain about. If it was cool i would be complaining also. I guess you can't satisfy those Seniors. ha ha. The up side is that the pool will be an inticing place so we will check it out for the 2nd or 3 rd time this year.

18 Feb: Today we did a trip to the King Ranch, which is a two hour drive north of here and is on the outskirts of the city called Kingsville. ( what a surprise ) I will not bore you with the details of King Ranch because you can Google it and get the correct story. However, a short story is required. Mr. King left home at 11 yrs old and later became a Riverboat captain on the Mississippi. During the civil war he joined General Lee's army as a Captain. During the War he had traveled thru this area of TX many times and notice that it was virgin land with an ample supply of water. After the war Gen Lee advised him to buy a tract of land in thid area and to start ranching which he did. The King Ranch has been downsized to 850,000 acres today. It has 50,000 cattle that roam the ranch and 350 horses and is still operated by cowboys. It also has a feedlot to finish the cattle they intend to sell. Last year the sold off 15,000 head of cattle.
When King started ranching he had to purchase some cattle so he had to get them in MX. While in MX he convinced an entire town to help move his cattle back to his ranch and to stay and live on the ranch forever. The people did so and some of those ancestors are still working on the ranch today. In fact one of the off-springs, now an 80 yrs old gentleman explained all about the different Brands and how they come about.
While on the tour we drummed up a conversation with a couple of MX heritage. They took the tour because his Grandfather ( now deceased ) grew up on the ranch and then worked on the Ranch and became the Operations Manage for many years. We went to the museum after the tour and he pointed out pictures of his grandfather which was very exciting him and his family.

Speaking of " Brands " anyone who has a Ford truck will note that the Ford King Ranch model is using King Ranch Brand with is the " Running w". Needless to say all the truck owned by the King Ranch are Fords. The city of Kingsville was actually part of the King Ranch. The King family, now called the Kelbergs ( by reason of marriage) have donated money to build public bldgs, museums etc. They also own the John Deere dealership but I won't bother to tell you what made of tractors are on the Ranch. ha ha.
Like I saidbefore; if you are interested just Google the King Ranch as it is most interesting.