King's Crown

Cattleman Robert Justus Kleberg Jr., boss of Texas' 920,000 acre King Ranch, is proudest of his development of the Santa Gertrudis breed,* the hardiest and heaviest all-grass-fed cattle in the U.S. (TIME, Dec. 15, 1947). Kleberg always kept most of his prize Santa Gertrudis bulls for the King Ranch, but other cattlemen sought them so avidly that each year he obligingly sold a few, at a standard price of $350. The waiting list grew so big that Bob Kleberg (rhymes with hay-burg) decided to try an experiment.

Last week, he held an auction at his Headquarters Ranch near Kingsville to see how much his bulls would actually bring in an open market. Up for sale went 29 of his best young Santa Gertrudis bulls. To Kleberg's surprise, some 500 ranchers from all over the Southwest swarmed into the flapping brown auction tent, braving a chill Texas "Norther." The bidding was even more surprising. The first bull went for $1,450, the next for $1,575; one fine bull brought the top price of $10,000. In all, the 29 bulls brought an average price of $3,411, for a thumping total of $98,919. That, said most of the cattlemen present, was a record--even for Texas.

* Evolved from crossing the English Shorthorn with India's hardy Brahman.

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