Waimea's Paniola Cowboys

Thanks to James over at Weekend Reflections-

Parker Ranch -(a great link here), in Waimea on Hawaii’s Big Island, was founded in 1847. It is one of the oldest and most historic ranches in the United States. Encompassing thousands of acres across the island, Parker Ranch is also among the country’s largest cattle ranches. It surrounds the town of Waimea/Kamuela and spans thousands of acres between the great volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea towards the pacific

Way back in 1832, the first cowboys on the Big Island skirted the slopes of majestic Mauna Kea, but Hawaii's colorful far-far-west cowboy culture remains little known on the mainland. The American Southwest
is famous for its cowboys and Western folklore, yet the most western and southern state of the United States, Hawaii, boasts one of the oldest and least-known cowboy cultures in the nation. Hawaiian "paniolo" (cowboys) have played an integral part in Hawaiian civilization since the third decade of the 19th century.
Hawaii, also known as "the Big Island" of the Hawaiian Isles, is the birthplace of the paniolo and Hawaiian ranching, and was officially designated "Land of the Paniolo" in 1982.

Cows arrived on the island before horses or cowboys did, in 1793 when Captain George Vancouver, presented King Kamehameha I with 5 black longhorn cattle. The animals were in poor condition after the long sea voyage, and Kamehameha immediately put them under kapu (taboo, “hands off”), and freed them to range the island.
Horses arrived five years afterward in 1803. A few years later, in 1809, 19-year-old sailor John Palmer Parker, jumped ship to stay on the Big Island. He found favor with Kamehameha, and was in fact instrumental in assisting the king’s armies to conquer the Hawaiian Islands.
By 1832, Parker was desperate for help. He worked with King Kamehameha III to contract Mexican vaqueros, expert horsemen with plenty of cattle experience. They arrived with boots and saddles, a new language and a flamboyant new lifestyle for the island. Called “paniolo” (“Espanol”) by Hawaiians, the skilled cowboys trained local men to rope and ride a generation before their American counterparts in the Wild West. Their contributions to local culture included the guitar and ukulele, and a lifestyle of hard work, close-knit family ties and wonderful music that thrives to this day.
The beef business boomed and Parker Ranch was born. Over the next century it grew into one of the world’s largest privately-owned cattle ranches: 150,000 acres raising 30,000 head of prime Angus and Charolais beef cattle. (At its peak it spread over half a million acres.)
Please check out the following link (you may not of seen already) which I posted on

(Saddle Road-A Culmination)-

Look the happy tree- leaning over to see his reflection?

A link here- This is a hot Malasada (whats left)..of a Portuguese confection

This is the famous Tex Drive inn -(home of the hot malasada) below in Honokaa ..and "Ono Kine" is just one expression of divine indulgence! But no..you don't want to do this every day!

Think of a spur..

She gets a little impatient..