Further south, Richard King continued to actively consolidate the King Ranch in the late-1870s, usually through violent and coercive tactics directed against his Tejano ranchero neighbors. In 1878, one newspaper commentator complained that King's neighbors "mysteriously vanish whilst his territory extends over entire countries." King, however, did not work alone. As his wealth grew, so did his political influence, and the territorial consolidation of Texas ranch land was made possible through the Texas Rangers. The Rangers in this period took violent measures against Tejano ranch owners to scare them into selling their land. In fact, the Rangers were known popularly in the late-1870s as "los riches de la Kineña", an allusion to the belief they acted as King's private security force.