King Ranch, located in south Texas, is one of the world's largest ranches. It was founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and occupies almost 825,000 acres (3,340 km²) in six counties of Texas, including most of Kenedy County. The ranch is larger than the state of Rhode Island. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
The ranch used animal husbandry to create the Santa Gertrudis , one of the first American breeds of beef cattle. King Ranch also raises quarter horses , cutting horses and thoroughbreds and produced the 1950 Kentucky Derby winner, Middleground. In addition, the King Ranch company also operates a local museum, maintains other property concerns and works with Texas A&M University to perform agricultural research and development.
In 1997, Ford Motor Company added a King Ranch edition to their F-series Super Duty truck line, complete with the King Ranch cattle brand logo.
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