Richard King (July 10, 1824 – April 14, 1885) was a riverboat captain, Confederate, entrepreneur, and most notably, the founder of the King Ranch in South Texas, which at the time of his death in 1885 encompassed over .

Early years

Born in New York City on July 10, 1824 into a poor Irish family, King was indentured as an apprentice to a jeweler in Manhattan at the age of 9.

Death

In 1885, in obvious poor health, King traveled to San Antonio to see his doctor. He died of stomach cancer on April 14, at the Menger Hotel.

Bibliography

  • Captain King of Texas: The man who made the King Ranch, Tom Lea, 1957, Atlantic Monthly Press. <!--a book, not a magazine article-->
  • Richard King: Texas Cattle Rancher, William R. Sanford, Carl R. Green, 1997, Enslow Publishers.
  • "The Last Empire", William Broyles, Texas Monthly, October 1980

References

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