The Magazine of the American Landowner is an essential guide for investors, landowners, and those interested in buying or selling land. The award-winning quarterly is known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, The Land Report 100.
Issue link: http://landreport.epubxp.com/i/656422
80 The LandReport | T E X A S 2 0 1 6 LANDREPORT.COM Horse Power! King Ranch ups its game yet again by acquiring The Boon from Alice Walton's Rocking W Ranch. I t's an overcast December morning, and that's a good thing in South Texas. The temperature is in the mid- 60s. It could be 20 degrees warmer, and I know for a fact it could be 40 degrees colder. I'm perched atop a wooden fence at a cow camp south of King Ranch headquarters. In the dirt below, a crew of cowboys is working more than 200 calves in the Ebanito pens. Most city folk would find Ebanito a tad remote. (The truth is, they would never find it, not on the ranch's 825,000-plus acres, and neither could I.) But Ebanito is a storied venue, a favorite of generations of King Ranch family members, and an ideal setting to watch top hands ply their craft. Te x t b y Henr y C happ ell O r i g i n a l P h o t o g r a p h y b y Wyman Meinzer Robert Silguero eases his horse, a stocky gelding named A Lil Bit O Flash, in and among the red calves (opposite page). A fifth-generation Kineño, Robert swings his riata like a gunslinger twirling a .45. His mount, a son of King Ranch stallion Marsala Red, is equally cool under pressure. The moment Flash senses the rope go taut, he quickly spins and proceeds directly toward the branding crew. Once the calf is in capable hands, Robert loops his rope and guides Flash back toward the huddle of red beeves.