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National Geographic : 1925 Dec
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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Photograph by Clifton Adams AN ELECTRIC MILKING MACHINE IN USE AT ONE OF THE DAIRY BARNS OF THE SOLDIERS' HOME: WASHINGTON, D. C . and supplies along the Gulf coast and up the navigable streams, was so impressed by the grazing possibilities of the region between Brownsville and Corpus Christi, Texas, that he obtained a tract of some 50,000 acres lying between the Rio Grande and Nueces River, which he at once stocked with horses and Longhorn cattle. Upon this property in 1854 the head quarters of the once world-famous mil lion-acre Santa Gertrudis Ranch was established and our modern American ranching had its earliest important ex emplification. Cattle and horses of the common Mexi can types were purchased and roamed at will over the arid plain that had the brack ish waters of the Nueces River for its northern boundary. In the meantime the proprietor made an outlet for his cattle by slaughtering them for their hides and tallow, which products he hauled to Corpus Christi, the nearest port on the coast. The raising of cattle for their hides was so obviously a wasteful procedure that the attention of capitalists was drawn to the opportunity for profit afforded by such conditions. Before the outbreak of the Civil War two plants had been estab lished near Rockport, Texas, at a place called Fulton. One was occupied mainly in canning fish and green sea turtle, but added a desiccating department for mak ing beef extract. The other plant was the Coleman Fulton Packing Co., which packed beef in salt as pork is packed, but the main revenue was derived from corned beef. New York City capitalists, including "Commodore" Vanderbilt, are reputed to have had an interest in one or both of these concerns. Captain King was soon joined in ex tensive cattle-grazing operations by his old companion in the coastwise steamship trade, Captain Mifflin Kennedy, who also acquired large holdings. Together they made rapid progress in their enterprises. 628
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