More early Texas history................

[LousianaHorn]

Steamer "Bessie," which was owned by legendary King Ranch founder Captain Richard King, on the Rio Grande sometime around 1880. Appears to be loading or unloading supplies. An amazing historical photo!...........from the Traces of Texas website.

 

[Chop]

Supposedly Richard King and William Marsh Rice ventured together to trade cotton to Mexico during the Civil War, greatly increasing both of their fortunes.

I found this that touches on Rice's wartime activities a little bit.
https://exhibits.library.rice.edu/exhibits/show/founding/wartime
"Rice later claimed that the war had destroyed his businesses, but according to financial documents, he actually came out of the war even wealthier than before."

Funny how that worked...

 

[BevoJoe]

Texas Outlaws:
John Wesley Hardin 1853-1895

For a man named after a famous Methodist minister, John Wesley Hardin left a lot to be desired for living up to his name. The son of a preacher himself, Hardin was the second son of 10 children. Hardin first became a fugitive at the age of 15, after killing a man he had previously bested in a wrestling match. In the years that followed, Hardin was captured by the Texas state police and subsequently escaped. He created an alias, befriended Wild Bill Hickok and killed several more men, one of whom was shot for snoring (purportedly accidentally).

After Hardin served time in prison, he took the state bar exam and became a lawyer. He moved to El Paso where he eventually met his fate in the form of John Selman, who shot him in the back following an argument over the arrest of one of Hardin's friends.