9710 Individuals
in our Database | |  | | | | Emil Henry Heinrich Marks Sex: Male | | | |  | | Birth Date | 1881 | | Death Date | 1969 | | Father | August Texas Marks | Born: 1843 AUG 15 at sea near Galveston | Died: 1891 | | Mother | Elisabeth Schultz | Born: 1852 | Died: 1887 | | Emil Henry Heinrich Marks
Notes: | Emil Henry Marks, a rancher, was the son of Prussian immigrants, August Texas Marks (born as their ship arrived at Galveston) and Elizabeth Schultz. He was survived by his wife, Maud May Smith Marks. The Marks family ranch, LH 7, located at Barker, near Katy, held the original Texas Longhorn herd and is a Texas landmark. In 1952, Emil Henry Marks also started the annual Salt Grass Trial Ride that kicks off the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo every February.
| | Notes: | He married Maud May Smith and they had four children. He was a rancher and raised cattle for sale and help save the Texas Longhorn. He was one of the founding members of the Salt Grass Trail Ride Association. Although he didn have a long term education, he was a really smart man (according to his grandson, Rusty Marks).
| | Notes: | Although he didn have a long term education, he was a really smart man (according to his grandson, Rusty Marks).
| | Notes: | When one thinks of Houston, Texas, one does not immediately think of ranches and cattle. Most people think of the city that is home to one of the world’s busiest ports and a major petrochemical hub of the United States. However, there was a time when livestock was king and the cattle industry was the lifeblood of the city. Today, areas that are home to parks, universities and museums were once pastures where thousands of head of cattle roamed and grazed. Neighborhoods like Montrose and tony River Oaks were once the sites of bustling cattle sales packed with buyers and sellers doing their part to get beeves to market. The LH7 Ranch was part of this chapter in the story of the city of Houston. The LH7 Ranch is not one of the oldest ranches in the state, but is has played an important role in the Texas cattle industry. The ranch was established in 1907 by Emil Henry Marks who was the descendant of Prussian immigrants who arrived in Texas in 1843. In fact, Emil’s father, AT Marks, was born as the family’s ship arrived at Galveston. Emil Marks (most people called him “EH”) was born on October 26, 1881 in Addicks, Texas and was the youngest of five children. Emil’s parents died when he was ten years old and he went to work as a cowboy for an uncle who owned a ranch near Pattison, Texas on the Brazos River. Over the years, EH worked for a number of ranches in East and Southeast Texas until he decided to strike out on his own. In 1898, EH took the first step toward realizing his dream when he registered the LH7 brand in Harris County. EH Married Maud May Smith and started his own ranch in 1907. The LH7 Ranch started with a modest 63-acre plot of land located east of Addicks, Texas. In 1917, EH moved his ranch to a section of prairie near Barker, Texas. The following year, the US entered World War I and manpower was in short supply and many area ranches helped one another during branding the spring branding. In an effort to thank his neighbors for their help, EH organized a riding and roping contest to provide some entertainment. This simple act was the seed for an annual ranch rodeo that became a local attraction for three decades. Marks also left his mark on the business of cattle breeding in Texas when he became among the first cattlemen to cross Brahman bulls with longhorn cattle. The cross-breed proved to be a good fit for the Texas Gulf Coast region because it was resistant to heat and parasites. The LH7 Ranch became an important supplier of the Brahmin-longhorn mix and supplied breeding stock to ranches from Texas to Florida. While Marks was crossing longhorns with Brahmins, he was also working to preserve the longhorn and prevent the breed from becoming extinct. His efforts to preserve the breed began in 1923 when he started a program to select the best specimens from ranches all over east Texas and concentrate them at the LH7. Marks’ handiwork led to the creation of two cattle operations – one operation with 6,670 head of crossbred cattle on a 36,000-acre ranch and another operation with 500 pure Texas longhorns. These efforts led to Marks becoming one of the “Seven Families of Longhorn Cattle.” The fruits of EH Marks’ relentless effort did not last long as the Great Depression and World War II exacted a heavy toll. During the Depression, Marks and Houston oilman WA Paddock parted company and the dissolution of their partnership left EH with little more than his longhorn herd and 1,000 acres. During World War II, the US Army Corps of Engineers claimed 450 acres of Marks’ ranch for use as a flood-control reservoir to protect vital war industries from flood damage. The land claimed for the Addicks-Barker reservoir included the LH7 rodeo grounds. Marks was not the type of man who allowed these losses to dampen his spirit. In 1952, Marks participated in the first Salt Grass Trail Ride which started one of Houston’s best known traditions. Marks and other pioneer cattlemen in the parade formed a link between the city’s past and it’s present. This trail ride is remembered each year as the kick-off event for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Marks dearly loved the cattle business and the ranching lifestyle and continued to work cattle on horseback well into his eighties. EH Marks ceased to ride on his beloved coastal prairie on September 15, 1969. Upon his death, the remnants of the LH7 passed to his daughter, Maudeen Marks, who continued to maintain her father’s legacy – a herd of longhorns surrounded by an ever growing metropolis. Now, the buildings that once served as the nerve center of a thriving, vibrant ranch are rotting and slowly crumbling. The land, at the urging of Marks’ grandchildren, is no longer listed by the Texas Historical Commission as an agricultural landmark and developers have claimed the last piece of the LH7 for residential and commercial use. There are markers and a memorial at the site to commemorate the LH7s contributions to the cattle industry in Texas.
| |  | | Birth Date | 1887 | | Death Date | 1970 | | Father | Fred Henry Smith | Born: 1856 | Died: 1942 | | Mother | | Born: | | | Maud May Smith GA GA Notes: | She was my husbands grandmother; she died before I married a Marks but I knew all four of her children and all of her grandchildren. Her grandchildren called her GaGa Maud was born in 1887. She was the daughter of Fred Smith and Martha Clark. She passed away in 1970. | | Individual Notes: | | | More Notes: | | | Individual Notes: | | | |
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