Businesswoman. She assumed ownership of her husbands estate in 1885, consisting chiefly of 500,000 acres of ranch land and $500,000 in debts. Under her skillful and personal supervision, the King Ranch was freed of debt and increased in size reaching a size of 825,000 acres spreading over 4 counties.

The following newspaper article was published in the Lincoln Journal Star, Lincoln, Nebraska, Aug 9, 1915:

"KING, MRS. HENRIETTA M. "Ranchman" Women Who Lead the Way – by Marie Dille
Surrounded in mystery and teeming with romance is the life of Mrs. Henrietta M. King, one of the richest women in America. Mrs. King has lived almost her entire life on a ranch in Kingsville, Tex., There her name is reverenced. To the rest of the world she is almost unknown.
Not less remarkable than Mrs. King herself is the house in which she lives. The mansion is said to be the finest farm house in America. It is built of concrete and marble in the form of a medieval castle. The entire building of more than one hundred rooms was planned by Mrs. King. The tapestries and rugs provided for this mansion recount allegorically the romantic history of Texas and the lives of the early cattle kings. The rugs and draperies were woven by the most skilled Austrian rug makers from designs furnished by Mrs. King.
The great estate of 1,280,000 acres, upon which the mammoth dwelling is established, is managed by the mistress herself. From 600 to 1,000 Mexican workmen are employed on the estate the year around. They are housed with their families in comfortable dwellings provided by the owner.
The breeding of live stock is the principal business of the ranch, and while the herds to be found there have grown far beyond calculation it is estimated that about 100,000 calves are branded each season.
The King estate is now conducted according to strictly modern methods. For more than 100 miles the ranch is bounded by the Gulf of Mexico. On all other sides it is fenced and put under cultivation. The breeds of live stock have been improved until many of the finest cattle in the country are to be found there.
Mrs. King seldom leaves her ranch. She devotes herself tot he management of her estate and to a vast circle of philanthropic endeavors. She maintains a great tract of valuable land for the founding and support of an industrial school for Mexican boys and girls. Besides this she personally ares for the poor in Kingsville. She has gone among the families of her employees administering tot hose in distress and studying in general until actual poverty is unknown in the city of which her home is the center of industry.
The home of Mrs. King has always boasted open hospitality. Many noted guests have been entertained at the mansion. There have never been less than twenty guest chambers and until the death of her husband many years ago these rooms were nearly always filled.
Mrs. King was born near Corpus Christi, Tex., in 1841. When very young she was married to Captain Richard King, a cattleman and a soldier. She went with him to live in a block house, constructed under this personal supervision. Her early life was spent in a constant fear of bandits and Indians.
At the death of her husband, Mrs. King began the management of the estate. Land values increased from a few cents to many dollars. In a short space of time she found herself mistress of an undreamed of fortune. Still she continued to live in the block house erected by her husband until its destruction by fire in 1911. It was then that Mrs. King had constructed the house in which she now lives and which has become the wonder spot of southern Texas."