Paniolo
When Captain Vancouver gifted cattle to Hawaiian King Kamehameha he had suggested that the king place a taboo on the cattle for a few years. A taboo was a royal proclamation reminding all Hawaiians that the cattle were the property of the royal family and anyone caught in violation of the taboo would most likely suffer death. After more than twenty years the cattle had multiplied and were wreaking havoc on the island, something had to be done.
In walks John Palmer Parker requesting permission that he be allowed to stay on the island. Parker had done this three years earlier and had worked at the salt ponds for a while but then he had sailed with a ship on a round trip to China. So this was the second time Parker had asked to stay and the King had to be convinced that he meant it this time. In Parkers favor was he owned one of the few muskets on the island and better still, he knew how to use it. Kamehameha recognized the value of such a skilled person and had just the job for him.
With the help of a few Hawaiian’s, Parker was soon hunting, trapping, butchering and processing beef for the King. The cattle that were tame enough and in better condition were kept. But the truly wild ones and the ones in poor condition were disposed of. Nothing was wasted and this became quite the process employing many Hawaiians. It was also very adventitious for the Alii, Hawaiian Royalty. The exporting of salted beef for the restocking of supplies on merchant ships plus the valued leather hides became a very prosperous business for the Alii.
Kamehameha rewarded Parker by giving him a few acres to build a home for his wife, granddaughter to the King, and his family. Plus the King awarded Parker with the privilege of cattle ownership. Soon Parker had a large herd and bountiful gardens.
The early years of cattleman on the island were dangerous. Parker and his Hawaiian herders had the hard task of going into the dense green underbrush to flush the cattle out into the open where they could be roped or corralled. By 1930 King Kamehameha III had noticed the skilled vaqueros during a trip to the mainland, so he recruited a few and brought them back to the island to teach the Hawaiians the finer arts of horse and cattle. The Hawaiians were quick pupils, even teaching the vaqueros the art of swimming the live cattle out to the ships.
There wasn’t a pier to run the cattle out to ships and the only bay with water calm enough was too shallow. To account for the saline ocean, special saddles of very little leather were used to rope a steer and drag it out into the ocean. Then it swam to a nearby long boat where its head was tied alongside and out of the water. In this way a dozen head were floated out to and hoisted onto the ship using a specially prepared harness.
The combining of the Hawaiian and vaquero skills evolved into a new breed of cowboy. Paniolo was the Hawaiian breakdown on the word Espanola. To be a Paniolo meant great skill and immense pride. The twitch of a horse’s ear usually gave a fraction of a seconds notice that a steer was breaking out of the brush and the Paniolo were expert in singing a coiled rope over the steers head before he could cause damage or disappear in the brush again.
1847 was the year that Kamehameha III authorized a huge land grant to John Parker and the Parker Ranch was born, one of the oldest ranches in the USA. There are many cattle ranches now on all the Hawaiian Islands, however Paniolo and Parker Ranch in Waimea, Big Island is where it all began.
Check back often because I have more stories to tell and will be posting here regularly.
Start discussion »