History Of The Ford King Ranch

In 2015, Ford Motor Company, and King Ranch celebrate 15-years of working together.

History Of The King Ranch:

In 1853, steamboat-captain Richard King purchased a Mexican land grant which led to the very first registered breed of American cattle (Santa Gertrudis). King first saw the land that would become part of the enormous King Ranch in April 1852. He had traveled north from Brownsville to attend the Lone Star Fair in Corpus Christi, a four-day trip by horseback. After a grueling ride, King caught sight of the Santa Gertrudis Creek, 124 miles from the Rio Grande. It was the first stream he had seen on the Wild Horse Desert. The land so impressed him that when he arrived at the fair, he and a friend, Texas Ranger Captain Gideon K. “Legs” Lewis, agreed then and there to make it into a ranch.

The original 15,500 acres of land purchased was a Mexican land grant known as the Rincón de Santa Gertrudis. Over time the ranch grew to 1.2 million acres. Some land was even purchased with the cattle on it. Today, the ranch is 825,000 acres, but they’re not all connected.

Although the King Ranch sits on the edge of Kingsville, the town didn’t exist until after Richard Kings death. Kingsville, was established in 1904 when Robert Kleberg, Richard King’s son-in-law who succeeded King after his death in 1885, convinced the railroad to lay tracks through the ranch and make a stop.

The King Ranch Logo & Brandings:

While King Ranch is best known for its ‘Running W’ brand logo, it wasn’t the first and only brand used by the King Ranch. In fact, King Ranch didn’t start using the ‘Running W’ until the 1860s, and was officially registered on February 9th, 1869.

Due to all the cattle rustling, Richard King began to develop brands prior to the ‘Running W’. The first brand Richard King registered was one he designed himself that honored his wife Henrietta King. It was the HK connected (see below), and was registered on March 20, 1859. Months later King registered his own brand, although it’s believed he had already been using it. This brand, which he also designed himself, was the ‘Era Flecha’ or ‘R Arrow’ (see below) and was registered on June 27, 1859. On the same day, the ‘LK Connected’ brand (see below) was registered and used on cattle that Richard King and Gideon Lewis (King’s first partner) owned together.

‘LK Connected’ brand (1859) used on cattle that Richard King and Gideon Lewis owned together

In 1868, Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy (long time steamboating and ranch partner) decided to split up their holdings. Kenedy bought the Laureles Ranch and the splitting of the livestock required new branding. Kenedy chose a Laurel Leaf design, while Richard King chose the now famous ‘Running W’.

The meaning of the ‘Running W’ remains a mystery. Some have said that it represents one of the ranch’s many diamondback rattlesnakes, or the Santa Gertrudis Creek. Others are sure it signifies the sweeping horns of a Texas Longhorn bull. Regardless of its meaning, the ‘Running W’ brand is handsome and practical, designed to heal quickly, thwart rustlers, and grow with the animal that bears it – just as it has evolved with King Ranch through the generations. Today the ‘Running W’ appears on both prize-winning cattle, top quality leather goods, on Fords best trucks, and as an indisputable icon of the American ranching industry.

King Ranch And Ford:

The King Ranch, which sits near Kingsville, Texas, comprises 825,000 acres (more than 1,300 square miles). When you need to manage this much land and cattle, rugged trucks are a must. “King Ranch is built on the heritage, hard work and innovation of seven generations of King family descendants and employees, just like what Ford has built into its F-Series pickup trucks,” said King Ranch Chairman Jamey Clement. “It’s why we trust Ford as a genuine partner, and why we depend on a fleet of 260 Ford trucks to get the job done every day at King Ranch.” Actually, the King Ranch empire now has satellite locations in Florida, New Mexico and South Carolina, and run a fleet of “more than 350 Ford vehicles.”

Ford’s partnership with the ranch officially began in 1999, and Ford’s marketing department started leveraging the name on the 2001 King Ranch F-150 SuperCrew, then the most upscale model in the Ford F-150 lineup. It was also the industry’s first under-8,500-pound GVW full-size pickup truck with four full-size doors, and a full rear passenger compartment.

Designed to capture the ruggedness and bold attitude of this Texas holy land, the 2001 King Ranch F-150 came fully loaded along with dark brown saddle-grade Castaño leather on the seats — the seatback pockets even have flaps like saddlebags — and fancy carpeting on the floor.

Ford F-150 King Ranch

In 2003, Ford added King Ranch packages to its Super Duty lineup:

Ford Super Duty King Ranch

As well as the Expedition SUV in 2005:

Where Ford Sells The Most Trucks:

As you might guess, Ford sells over 16% of it’s trucks in Texas. They sell more in Texas than any other state. Of the King Ranch trucks, 40% of the sales are in Texas. With such a huge truck market in Texas, it makes sense that Ford would want to align itself with such an icon as the King Ranch in Texas.

2016 = 15-Years of King Ranch Ford Trucks:

The 2016 model year will mark 15-years of the Ford King Ranch trucks (2015 model years shown below):