It actually started, slowly, further back. I don't think old man Rhoden was wealthy at all. His wife divorced him when he was in prison or was just getting out (the obit lists her as his wife but she was not. They'd been divorced for years.). So, I'm not sure how that all played out w/finances. I do think there was a split in the family over it all. Some sided w/the mother and others sided w/the father. I have no link, it's just the way it "feels" from reading all of this for nearly two months now. KR was a very good mechanic, and CR1 apparently was pretty good too, DR had a steady job at the nursing home, and then, I think they got to winning some money at derbies, fixing and selling cars, and along came the idea for the mj, and the chickens (we are not sure they were fighting them but could have been selling them, which is legal). Then, I think they may have gotten into another idea and that's when things went haywire. At least that's one of my theories. All of this money could be put into the bank from everything except the mj.
Thank you that explains why the children inherited the land and not the mother.