This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue here on our American stories,

and our next story is about an American legend named Richard King.

King's legacy can be seen on every tailgate and door of Ford's upscale F-series trucks.

The logo reads King Ranch.

Here to tell the story of Richard King is Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Higherman, and Vigilantes.

A former U.S. Marine and former history professor at UCLA, Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Highman, and Vigilantes.

A former U.S. Marine and former history professor at UCLA, Dr. McGrath has appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries and is a regular contributor to our American stories.

Here's Roger McGrath.

The Gattel Kings of the Old West carved empires out of the wilderness.

They were larger than life characters, bold, daring, intelligent, courageous, tough.

They had great strength of character in iron wills.

No cattle king exhibited these characteristics more than Richard King.

Born in New York City to Irish immigrant parents in 1824,

Richard King is only three years old when his parents die,

and he is left in the care of an aunt.

At nine years old, he is apprenticed to a jeweler. The jeweler works him hard

six days a week. On his day off, the young boy walks down to the docks of Manhattan

and watches the ships come and go. He dreams of climbing aboard a ship and sailing off. At 12 years old, he does just that.

Here's William Yancey, historian at Texas A&M University, Kingsville.

He ran away to the docks in New York City, and he snuck on board an ocean-going ship called the Desdemona,

and he hit out in the hold of that ship

...