He entered country fair drawing competitions; a sign he drew for a hotel bootblack earned him only 25 cents, but it was seen by a traveling salesman who learned it had been drawn by the son of one of his customers. The salesman arranged an interview for King with a Minneapolis newspaper editor. King began earning $7 a week at the "Minneapolis Times", and during his four years there, he doubled his salary while creating drawings and doing retouching. He also worked as a courtroom sketch artist. On March 17, 1905, he gave a chalk talk at a Minneapolis St. Patrick's Day celebration.