WHAT DO YOU KNOW...about the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas? There are many large ranches in Texas. Arguably the most well-known is the King Ranch. Today it is more than Longhorns and their Santa Gertrudis brand of cattle. It is a corporation with many diverse holdings. Of the three enormous South Texas ranches to be established in the Wild Horse Desert, the Anderson Ranch was the first. In 1852, James H. Durst bought La Barreta, a deserted Mexican land grant. Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy bought their ranchland a year later in the same area. Durst died in 1858 and six years later his widow and two children moved to the more civilized town of Austin leaving the ranch with unscrupulous lawyers in charge. ______________________________________________________________________________ John B. Armstrong came from Tennessee to Austin, Texas. He met and married Mollie Durst, daughter of the late James Durst. Armstrong’s best man was Robert Kleberg, married to Alice King. This would be the first link in the Armstrong and Kleberg families’ life-long friendships. Kleberg descendants became managers and owners in the King Ranch founded by Richard King. ______________________________________________________________________________ John B. Armstrong worked for 21 years to obtain clear title to the ranchland that belonged to his wife’s family. Mrs. Durst filed a law suit in 1883, against the lawyers. Two years later to bolster her claim, she, John and Mollie and three Armstrong children, plus Mollie’s brother moved into the one room ranch house with no electricity, no roads, no neighbors and no railroad. ______________________________________________________________________________ In 1893, headquarters and a larger home were built. At that time there were more Armstrong children plus Grandfather Armstrong living on the ranch. Mrs. Durst had died. John’s wife Mollie, bitten by a rabid dog, had died. One son died of diphtheria and another died working cattle. Finally in 1904, the courts granted a clear title to what had become the Armstrong Ranch. ______________________________________________________________________________ John B. Armstrong died in 1913 leaving two sons, Charlie with his wife Lucie Tobin Carr and bachelor son Thomas who was a brilliant Harvard lawyer. Thomas Armstrong gave up a successful international career to become co-manager with Charlie. Both of them built ranch homes and Thomas married his childhood friend Henrietta Kleberg in 1949. (the second link in the two ranch families’ chain of friendship.) ______________________________________________________________________________ After World War II, Charlie’s son Tobin returned to the ranch and became the next in line to manage the ranch. His wife Ann Legendre was a Vassar classmate of Helenita Kleberg. (creating a third linking of the two ranch families). Together Tobin and Ann Armstrong raised five children on the ranch. Then the handsome and gifted couple became internationally known. ______________________________________________________________________________ They were friends with prominent Republican operatives. Ann was 1971 Republican National Committee Co-Chair and Ambassador to Great Britain. Polo playing Prince Phillip and Prince Charles visited the ranch, as did the Bushes, Cheneys, Kay Baily Hutchinson and the James Bakers. ______________________________________________________________________________ Tobin Armstrong had made vast improvements to the cattle and to life on the ranch which included electricity enabling Tobin to have ice for his bourbon. He was Gov. Bill Clements’ Appointments Secretary, and Ann was advisor to Ronald Reagan who gave her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. ______________________________________________________________________________ Tobin has protected the ranch from partition. Currently Sarita Anderson Hixon and two other descendants are managers. Family visitations are top priorities. Thanksgiving might include 50 from three generations of the Armstrong families and Christmas day is always spent with the Klebergs. Carole Sikes ______________________________________________________________________________ Ref. article by Saria Armstrong Hixon, Southwest Quarterly, Oct. 2019, published by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)