George Wilkins Kendall

In 1837, Kendall and Francis Lumsden established The New Orleans Picayune, which initially sold for the 6 1/4 cent Spanish coin.

[5][6] Kendall traveled to the Republic of Texas in 1841 and joined the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, which had been initiated by the republic's President Mirabeau B. Lamar in order to gain control over the Santa Fe Trail and to secure Texas claims to New Mexico.

The prisoners were marched 2,000 miles to Mexico City and confined in a leper colony, with Kendall suffering smallpox.

[8] Kendall posted detailed letters during his imprisonment, twenty-three of which were subsequently published in The Picayune over a period of a year.

In 1844, he published a 900-page book, Narrative of an Expedition Across the Great Southwestern Prairies, from Texas to Santa Fé, which sold 40,000 copies over eight years.

In 1846, Kendall enlisted in the Texas Rangers under Captain Benjamin McCulloch, which fought under General Zachary Taylor at the Rio Grande.

For the next three years, Kendall's sheep business endured disease, inclement weather and environmental hardships to finally begin showing a profit in 1856.

[4] Kendall submitted regular reports of the business to the New Orleans Picayune, promoting the industry and praising the Texas Hill Country for what he considered its ideal sheep ranching environment.

[15] George Wilkins Kendall died of pneumonia[16] in the Texas county that bore his name, on October 21, 1867, and is buried at the Boerne Cemetery.