The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004 Page: 625

Book Reviews

behalf of the Chapman heirs to settle the matter. This dual representation,
judges Graham, was the '"J. R. (Ewing) moment in the history of the King Ranch"
(p. 184). Thereafter, Kleberg and King Ranch were synonymous, since at the
Captain's death, in 1885, he became both ranch manager and the husband of
Alice, the youngest King daughter.
Progress under Kleberg included tick fever eradication, completion of today's
Main House (1915), and the founding of Kingsville (1904). In adding acreage
and contending with renewed guerrilla war attending the Mexican Revolution,
however, Kleberg provided considerable justification for the Tejano view that
the ranch stole land and abided Texas Ranger (or rinche) brutality. RobertJustus
(Bob) Kleberg Jr.-"in many respects a throwback to Captain King" (p. 20o6)-
succeeded his father and loomed nearly as large as his grandfather. He devel-
oped the Santa Gertrudis breed, tapped big oil on the ranch, raised fine
thoroughbred horses (like Triple Crown-winner Assault), and extended opera-
tions overseas. The last family member to serve as manager was Richard Mifflin
KlebergJr., or "Tio." His retirement, in 1998, coincided with another Chapman
suit. The charge: Captain King and attorney Kleberg had defrauded the Chap-
man heirs of their rightful proceeds from the Santa Gertrudis land. King Ranch
won the first round only to lose the appeal. The case then went before the State
Supreme Court (which, after the book appeared, refused to hear the case).
In cutting through the mystique and probing much deeper than Tom Lea's
adulatory history (1957), Graham treats evenhandedly, and with literary ease, a
multitude of prickly issues and individuals. This commendable objectivity, unfor-
tunately, may serve to keep a lock on the closely guarded sources.
Texas State Unzverszty-San Marcos James A. Wilson
Fort Sam: The Story of Fort Sam Houston, Texas. By Eldon Cagle Jr. (San Antonio:
Maverick Publishing Company, 2003. Pp. viii+iog. Foreword, acknowledg-
ments, illustrations, map, selected bibliography, index. ISBN 1-893271-24-2.
$26.95, cloth).
Eldon Cagle's informative and vividly illustrated history of Fort Sam Houston
begins with a foreword by retired post commander Lt. Gen. Tom Jaco. Jaco as-
serts that within the confines of Fort Sam "is contained the spirit of the Army."
The narrative offers evidence to support this assertion. Fort Sam Houston has
experienced most of the systemic and programmatic changes of the American
military.
The volume's twelve chapters provide a narrative of the fort's evolution from
frontier outpost to modern military training and reserve center. The text hits
the high points of Fort Sam's past without offering much in the way of interpre-
tive insight. Fort Sam Houston originated as a training post in 1846 but its status
as a permanent installation remained tenuous until Reconstruction. After much
wrangling within the Grant Administration, San Antonio's bid prevailed over
those of Austin and New Braunfels, and construction began on a permanent fort
in 1876.
Fort Sam Houston hosted military luminaries, technological development,
and of course, the occasional military oddity. Robert E. Lee, Dwight Eisenhower,

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