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ROOM BLOCK>Hampton Inn, $99 + tax. CODE: Tropical Trail. (361) 592-9800.

EVENT SCHEDULE
MARCH 24, 2025 5 - 9 p.m.

Location: Kenedy Ranch Museum of South Texas (200 E. La Parra Ave., Sarita, TX 78385)
5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Monday night's event starts with Cocktail Hour in the Kenedy Ranch Museum catered by Ole' Swayback Mobile Event Co. and will feature regional spirits. Roam through the exhibits and the gift shop inside the beautifully restored Kenedy Pasture Company building. Constructed in 1927, the Spanish Revival style building served as headquarters for the La Parra (grapevine) Ranch. The museum shares the story of three generations of Kenedys, from ranching, steamboats, railroads, land development, oil and the Civil War. The Kenedy Ranch was established in 1882 by Mifflin Kenedy. Exhibits are divided into three rooms: the Adventure Room (the first 300 years of south Texas and Kenedy family history), Economic and Social Development Room and Faith and Devotion Room.

A very special book signing for “Women Across Time /Mujeres a Traves del Tiempo: Sixteen Influential South Texas Women”, will be part of the Cocktail Hour. The book is a collection of essays about 16 women including Petra Vela Kenedy (1823-1885). The author of the Kenedy essay, Homero S. Vera, will be on hand to sign copies of the book. Homero S. Vera is a noted South Texas historian and retired Chief Ranch Property Officer for the Kenedy Memorial Foundation Ranch/Museum Coordinator of the Kenedy Ranch Museum of South Texas in Sarita.

6:30 - 9:00 p.m. After Cocktail Hour, a sit down dinner will be offered in the Carriage House on the grounds of the Kenedy Pasture Company. Catered by RealTime BBQ & Catering (San Diego, Duval County), the meal will feature mouthwatering chicken and brisket with sides and banana pudding for dessert.

Matriarch Petra Vela de Kenedy (portrayed by living historian Deborah Moran) will mingle throughout the evening event and share her stories and tales. Petra (1825-1885) will be our guide through the Adventure Room, Economic & Social Development Room and Faith & Devotion Room and will give a presentation during dinner. Guaranteed to bring a new appreciation for south Texas history. Other presentations include Nancy Deviney (founding board member of Tropical Trail) and Homero Vera (former Tropical Trail board member, Tejano historian and former director of Kenedy Ranch Museum).

NOTE: Reservations for this event are required, and seating is very limited. Early bird registration ($125 per person before 1/25/25) includes this event. 3/24/25 only: $50.

MARCH 25, 2025 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (King Ranch Museum, 405 N. 6th St., Kingsville, TX 78363)
8:30 a.m. Meet at King Ranch Museum. For those arriving on the bus from the Rio Grande Valley, the bus will drop off at King Ranch Museum. Breakfast will be sponsored by Kingsville Visitor Center. Comfort stop.

8:30 - 9:15 a.m.: King Ranch Museum/Henrietta Memorial Center. Orientation including registraion, release form (King Ranch), bus assignments. Continental breakfast sponsored by Kingsville Visitor Center.

9:15 - 9:30 a.m. - Welcome to the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Tropical Trail!

• Emcee: Tara Putegnat, Tropical Trail Board Chair
• Welcome: Sam Fugate, Mayor of Kingsville
• Remarks by King Ranch Representative:
• Texas Historical Commission: Teresa Caldwell (Texas Heritage Trails Program State Coordinator)
• Henrietta Chamberlain King [1832-1925] (as portrayed by living historian Deborah Moran) will be available for photos an questions as she embodies the matriarch of the King Ranch from the early days of a mud and stick jacal to the providing education for generations of ranch hands to overseeing the growth of the ranch to over 1,000,000 acres by the time of her death.

9:30 - 10:30 a.m.: King Ranch Museum/Henrietta Memorial Center. Activities: self-guided tour of museum. Highlights: Toni Frissell's 1940s photographic essay of life on King Ranch, saddle collection, firearms, antique carriage and automobiles, "From Old Sorrel to the Present: The History of King Ranch Quarter Horses". Video: "History of King Ranch". Gift shop,

10:30- 10:45 a.m.: Bus A. Board your assigned bus for the short ride to the King Ranch.

10:45 - 11:00 a.m.: Bus B. Board your assigned bus for the short ride to the King Ranch.

10:45 - 12:45 a.m.: Buses A & B Historical Tour of King Ranch, customized for the 20th Anniversary of Tropical Trail.

12:30 - 12:45 p.m.: Bus A & B load up and arrive at Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Institute Center.
BIO: Caesar Kleberg (1873-1946), while not a name most associate with the famed King Ranch of Texas, Kleberg was a pioneer conservationist in a league with Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir. Known as “the Father of Wildlife Conservation in Texas,” Caesar Kleberg laid the foundation for a wildlife conservation program on King Ranch that would become his lasting legacy.

Born in Cuero TX and nephew of Henrietta M. King, Caesar Kleberg did not graduate from college but chose to devote his life to the great outdoors of south Texas. In 1912 he went to work for the Norias Division of King Ranch, located 60 miles south of Kingsville along today’s US Highway 77. Norias Division is one of four divisions of King Ranch and is known today for its wildlife habitat, nature tours and recreational hunting.

Caesar Kleberg, superintendent/foreman of the Norias Division, noticed early on the depletion of game on the Division and instigated a set of hunting rules that would lead to the bounty of wildlife in this area today.

No game taken around watering holes
Turkey only to be taken with a rifle, shot in the head or neck
Quail were not to be fired on at covey rise (when the birds catapult into the air with a thundering of wings)
Deer season ended when the rut (breeding season) began

In 1924 Kleberg released Nilgai antelope from southern Asia on King Ranch – the first release in the Western Hemisphere. In addition to his Norias Division duties, he went on to serve twenty years on the Texas Game and Fish and Oyster Commission (the forerunner of today’s Texas Parks and Wildlife Department).

Caesar Kleberg recognized the importance of creating positive relationships with national, as well as Texas, public figures. “Hotel Caesar,” Kleberg’s headquarters and his home, was located on the Norias Division and was a popular destination through the years for many personalities such as Lyndon Baines Johnson, Roy Rogers, Jack Dempsy and Will Rogers.

Kleberg passed away in 1946. His will created the Caesar Kleberg Foundation for Wildlife Conservation. His efforts to protect wildlife led to the establishment of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute in 1981. The institute is located on the campus of Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

The Texas Tropical Trail Region’s 20th Anniversary Celebration participants will enjoy an authentic Camp House lunch on Tuesday, March 25, at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Center in Kingsville, an 11,000 square foot facility built in 2005. The meal will be cooked outdoors near the Wildlife Center by Manuel Alvarez, King Ranch Kineno Cook. (Kineno = “King’s People” a group of expert cowboys and stockmen who work and live on King Ranch).

12:45 - 2:15 p.m.: Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Center - Lunch

• Emcee: Valerie Bates (Tropical Trail Chair-Emeritus)
• Comments: Margarita Araiza (founding board member of Tropical Trail)
• Henrietta Chamberlain King as portrayed by Deborah Moran, living historian

2:15 - 2:30 p.m.: Buses A & B, boarding. Destination: King Ranch Covered Arena

2:30 - 3:30 p.m.: King Ranch - Horse Demonstration

3:30 - 3:45 p.m.: Buses A & B will return to King Ranch Museum/Henrietta Memorial Center. Goodie bags. Comfort stop.

3:45 - 4:00 p.m. Farewell! Happy Tropical Trails! The Rio Grande Valley bus will depart from King Ranch Museum.

BOOK SIGNING (3/24/25)
Featured book: "Women Across Time/Mujeres a Traves del Tiempo: Sixteen Influential South Texas Women" To kick off the Tropical Trail’s 20th Anniversary Celebration, a Cocktail Hour/Book Signing and Dinner will be held at the Kenedy Ranch Museum in Sarita on March 24.

Copies of the book, “Women Across Time /Mujeres a Traves del Tiempo: Sixteen Influential South Texas Women”, will be on sale at the Kenedy Ranch Museum. The book is a collection of essays about 16 women including Petra Vela Kenedy (1823-1885). The author of the Kenedy essay, Homero S. Vera, will be on hand to sign copies of the book. Homero S. Vera is a noted South Texas historian and retired Chief Ranch Property Officer for the Kenedy Memorial Foundation Ranch/Museum Coordinator of the Kenedy Ranch Museum of South Texas in Sarita.

Petra Vela Kenedy was a Mexican rancher, philanthropist, and matriarch of one of the most influential families in South Texas during the 19th century. She was a wealthy widow with six children when she married Mifflin Kenedy, rancher, steamboat operator and investor, in 1852.

Sixteen South Texas women stand proudly in the public mural Mujeres a Través del Tiempo by Arnold Gonzáles Sr. housed on the campus of Texas A&M University–Kingsville.

Inspired by the mural, editor Susan L. Roberson assembled a collection featuring essays on the lives of the women who are depicted in the mural, women who live or lived in the South Texas region between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande, particularly Kleberg, Kenedy, and Nueces counties.

These women are pioneers; they are ranchers, educators, artists, politicians, and community activists; they are general and specific, known and unknown. Henrietta M. King (1832-1925), rancher and philanthropist, is also featured in this book. She was the wife of Richard King who founded King Ranch, the largest ranch in Texas. Henrietta will be featured on Tuesday, March 25.

NOTE: Reservations for this event are required, and seating is limited. Early bird registration is open until January 25. More details are available by contacting info@texastropicaltrail.com.

LIVING HISTORY (3/24-25)
When your family tree includes a Choctaw Indian Tribe Chief, you won Best Actress twice at your college alma mater, you are active in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and describe yourself as “super patriotic,” it is no wonder that you spend your spare time in character as Henrietta M. King, Petra Vela Kenedy, Clara Driscoll, Sacajawea’s mother, and others!

Deborah Moran, born in Oklahoma and currently residing in Andrews, Texas, embodies all of this! Attendees will be entertained, educated and inspired by Deborah's living history portrails of these important south Texas women.

Moran is a graduate of Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant OK as well as a retired English teacher. The historical characters she has portrayed also include Abigal Adams, Martha Washington, Clara Barton, Molly Goodnight, Dolley Madison and more. Deborah’s credits also include James Madison, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and John Phillip Sousa.

Deborah will be the Keynote Speaker in character as Petra Vela Kenedy at the 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Kenedy Ranch Museum in Sarita during the Cocktail Hour/Book Signing and Dinner on March 24.

She will be the Keynote Speaker in character as Henretta M. King at the 20th Anniversary Celebration during lunch at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Center in Kingsville on March 25.

NOTE: Reservations are required and seating is limited. Early bird registration is open until January 25. More details are available by contacting info@texastropicaltrail.com.

• The original application for Texas Tropical Trail Region to become a part of the Texas Heritage Trail Program was submitted to the Texas Historical Commission (THC) in April 2004.
• This application was created by members of the Texas Tropical Trail Region (TTTR) Planning Committee. The Kingsville CVB and Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce were key members of this Planning Committee.
• As stated in the application, the goals of this new non-profit organization were:
  a) Economic: Promote growth through tourism
  b) Social: get communities in the proposed 20-county Region to understand the importance of service and the need to provide visitors with enjoyable experiences that makes them want to return/share. To support mom and pop businesses and to create opportunities for visitors to learn through authentic experiences
  c) Educational: educate local leaders on the benefit of heritage tourism. To increase local awareness and interest in preserving our unique cultures, natural and historic assets. To get schools/students more involved (make history “cool”). To get local history and heritage included as part of local scholastic curriculums.
  
• To get all 20 counties involved, the Planning Committee conducted a massive campaign including news releases, personal presentations made to civic and local governmental agencies and public meetings. The first public meeting was held at the Alice Country Club in September 2003. Later meetings were held throughout the Region.
• As a result of these efforts, resolutions were passed by each County Judge to support this Region for 3 years. The financial commitments ranged from a total of $300 in counties with a population of less than 15,000 to $2,250 for counties with a population of over 100,000.
• A list of key contacts/names in each of the 20 counties was compiled by the Planning Committee. Six of these persons went on to serve on the TTTR board of directors throughout the years, including Homero Vera of the Kenedy Ranch Museum of South Texas in Sarita and Margarita Araiza of the Webb County Heritage Foundation in Laredo.
• By January 2005, names of potential board members for the first/founding board were in place.
• In February 2005, a public meeting was held in Sinton and board members were selected.
• In March 2005, the new board met in Laredo to elect officers.
  Joey Trevino, McAllen – Chair
  Bill Hellen, Hebbronville – Vice Chair
  Nancy Deviney, Lake Corpus Christi – Secretary
  Mauro Villarreal, Rio Grande City – Treasurer
  Fran Sharpe, Kingsville (deceased)
  Mark Creighton, Port Aransas
  Jan Cartwright, Rockport-Fulton
  Margarita Araiza, Laredo
  Homero Vera, Premont
  Jim McKone†, Edinburg
  Hildegardo Flores, Zapata
• The first Partner Event was held in May 2005 in Jim Hogg County on Bill Hellen’s ranch, La Mota. At the time, bus tours of La Mota were held on a regular basis. These Partner Events were open to the public and were held in conjunction with the monthly board of director meetings.

Tropical Trail anticipates that you may want to prepare for the 20th Anniversary Celebration with some background information. Here is a list of suggested reading to make the most of your historical Kenedy and Kleberg County adventure.

"Women in Texas", Ann Fears Crawford and Crystal Sasse Ragsdale, (Burnet, Texas: Eakin Press, 1982).

"The King Ranch", Tom Lea, (2 vols., Boston: Little, Brown, 1957).

"Worthy Mothers of Texas", Texas Mothers Committee, (Belton, Texas: Stillhouse Hollow, 1976).

"If You Love Me You Will Do My Will", Stephen G. Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth, (New York: Norton, 1990).

“Women Across Time /Mujeres a Traves del Tiempo: Sixteen Influential South Texas Women”, Susan L. Roberson, (Texas A&M University Press, 2022).

"Vaqueros in Blue & Grey", Jerry D. Thompson, (Texas A&M University Press, 2000).

Tropical Trail thanks the following sponsors for their support of our event! For information about a sponsorship, email info@texastropicaltrail.com.