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Richard King and Captain Mifflin Kenedy, Kenedy County, Texas

Kenedy County is located in the lower Gulf Coast region of Texas. There are no incorporated communities in Kenedy County but the Sarita community holds the courthouse on I-69/Hwy 77 at the northern county line. Most of the county belongs to one of seven ranches, with the King and Kenedy ranches being the largest and best known. The largest percentage of the population through the years have worked for one of these two families. Kenedy County is not traditionally known for being a good place to live. In 1920, the population was 1033 and has steadily declined to about 350 people in 2020.

"American settlement in the region was slow but increased after the Mexican War. New settlers were generally welcomed by the Mexican rancheros, and a number of the newcomers married into prominent local families. Ethnic relations began to change during the second half of the nineteenth century, however, when steadily growing numbers of Anglo- Americans began to settle in South Texas. Increasingly, Mexican landholding families found their titles in jeopardy in the courts or were subjected to violence. The so-called "skinning wars" of the early 1870s were indicative of mounting ethnic and racial tensions in the area. Because of rising prices for hides and the large number of mavericks, or free- ranging cattle, some ranchers went on skinning raids, killing the animals and taking their hides, a practice that often pitted Mexican and Anglo ranchers against each other. Tensions grew in 1875 after a group of Anglos attacked several ranches in the future Kenedy County in retaliation for raids made by Mexican ranchers. Vigilantes and outlaws from Corpus Christ raided the area, killing virtually all of the adult males on four ranches-La Atravesada, El Peñascal, Corral de Piedra, and El Mesquite-and burning the stores and buildings; many of the remaining Mexican rancheros were forced out. One vaquero who witnessed the raids later recalled that "there were many small ranches belonging to Mexicans, but the Americans came in and drove them out....after that they fenced the ranches...[including] some land that wasn't theirs."" [Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas]

Resources

On-Site

Being from Texas Biographies Cemeteries Census Records Churches History Local Information Lookups Military Records Photographs SSDI Surrounding Counties

Off-Site

Kenedy Archives Other TXGenWeb Counties Portal to Texas History Query Board

Communities

Armstrong
Norias
Rudolph
Sarita
Turcotte