I spoke Monday at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s annual awards luncheon in Hilo, sharing several Big Island stories. I thought I’d write about them in “Rearview Mirror” as well.
HAWAII COWBOYS WERE FIRST
Hawaii had cowboys 14 years before they appeared on the mainland. Capt. George Vancouver left five head of cattle with Kamehameha the Great in 1793. After a while they numbered in the thousands, and Kamehameha asked John Parker to take charge of them.
That was the beginning of Parker Ranch, and I date it to about 1815.
In 1832 Kamehameha III invited “vaqueros” from Mexico to come to Hawaii and teach their cattle- and horse-handling techniques. They called themselves “espanoles.” Locals called them paniolo.
The cowboy tradition on American territory dates to 1846, 14 years after the first paniolo.
RODEO CHAMP IKUA PURDY
Waimea-born Ikua Purdy won the Frontier Days Rodeo Championship in Cheyenne, Wyo., in 1908. Over 30,000 spectators chuckled as Purdy, Jack Low and Archie Kaaua rode into the stadium with flowers in their hats.
But the crowd saw them perform well in steer roping against the best in the world. Their laughter turned to admiration as they cheered the island trio, which took first, third and sixth places.
HILO BOARDING SCHOOL
Hilo Boarding School, founded in 1836, was one of the earliest vocational schools in the U.S. and was the inspiration for Kamehameha Schools, as well as the Hampton Institute in Virginia and the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
In 1892, Hilo Boarding School brought electricity to the Big Island. It generated hydroelectric power, and some of it was used to produce the island’s first ice plant.
HAWAII’S BRIGADIER GENERALS
The first three Hawaii cadets to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point were all from Hilo. The three Lyman brothers — Clarence, Albert and Charles — were all grandsons of Hilo Boarding School founders David and Sarah Lyman.
Albert and Charles rose to be brigadier generals — the first from the islands — and the Hilo airport, formerly called General Lyman Field, was named for Albert.
LAW OF THE SPLINTERED PADDLE
What many say was the first law in the kingdom was issued by Kamehameha the Great and named for an incident on the Big Island.
It was called the Law of the Splintered Paddle and guaranteed commoners freedom to walk the paths of the kingdom without harassment from alii.
The story is that Kamehameha, when he was a young man, attacked fishermen at one of his favorite spots. The young chief’s foot got caught in a coral hole, and the fishermen retaliated by hitting him with a paddle until it splintered.
Years later, in 1797, the two were found and brought before the king. Most expected their execution. Instead, he apologized for attacking them and issued the Law of the Splintered Paddle.
The Honolulu Police Department says it is the concept on which it was founded and is part of the department’s badge design.
Some historians believe Kamehameha did not invent this law, but codified what had been said before by others.
ORIGINAL KAMEHAMEHA STATUE
The statue of Kamehameha in Kohala once stood in two distant foreign capitals. Can you name them?
Residents of Honolulu know the Kamehameha statue that stands in front of Aliiolani Hale on King Street. They might not know it is a duplicate.
The original bronze statue was made by Boston sculptor Thomas R. Gould and cast in Paris in 1880. For a short time it was exhibited there, and Parisians marveled at its beauty.
It was to be shipped around the tip of South America but sank on a reef near the Falkland Islands. Fishermen later found the wreck, salvaged the cargo and recovered the statue. It had a broken arm and spear. They set it in Port Stanley in the Falklands, where it stood for several months.
Capt. Jervis of a British ship bringing Portuguese immigrants to Hawaii from the Azores stopped at the Falkland Islands for supplies. He saw the statue standing on the main street and purchased it, bringing it to Honolulu in March 1882.
Using insurance proceeds, the sculptor had cast a second statue and sent it to Hawaii with another arm and spear. It arrived in January 1883. There wasn’t time to fix the original, so the duplicate was erected across the street from Iolani Palace.
The original, it was decided, would be sent to the Big Island. It was repaired and erected three months later, in Kapaau, Kohala, where Kamehameha was believed to have been born. Unlike the duplicate in Honolulu, it is painted in lifelike colors.
BIRTH OF THE LOCO MOCO
A local football team created the loco moco in 1949. The Lincoln Wreckers were sponsored by Lincoln Grill in Hilo.
Rudy Legaspi, who grew up in the area, told Wayne Subica (author of “Big Island Mom and Pops Before Wal-Marts & K-Marts”) that one team member was nicknamed “Crazy.”
“Crazy” asked the owners — Nancy and Richard Inouye — for something cheap, tasty, filling and different from a sandwich. The result was called loco moco. It had rice, a hamburger patty and gravy in a saimin bowl.
“Loco” is Spanish for crazy, and “moco” was added because it rhymed. It cost 25 cents and was not even listed on the menu.
Gloria Kobayashi, whose father, Richard Miyashiro, founded Cafe 100, believes May’s Fountain added the fried egg to the dish. Kobayashi thinks May Goya deserves the credit for the loco moco we know today.
Cafe 100 began serving the loco moco around 1962 and now has nearly 30 varieties on the menu. Richard Miyashiro named the cafe for his comrades in the 100th Infantry Battalion who didn’t survive the war.
KAMUELA VS. WAIMEA
What is the difference between Kamuela and Waimea? There is some confusion about what the area in paniolo country is called.
The geographic area technically is Waimea, but the U.S. Postal Service would not let Waimea use that name as there is already a Waimea post office on Kauai.
Anna Bond wrote about this in Beacon magazine and theorized it might also be named for Samuel Spencer, a bookkeeper and postmaster at Parker Ranch around 1903. Kamuela is Hawaiian for Samuel.
Kamuela was also the nickname of John Parker’s grandson, Samuel, and the post office could be named for either, or both Samuels.
So Kamuela is the postal designation. The town is officially Waimea. After that you’re on your own!
FOREIGN-HELD TERRITORY
One spot on the Big Island is not Hawaii or U.S. territory. Where is it and what country is sovereign?
It’s Capt. Cook’s Monument in Kona. Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay in 1779 and buried there. His grave is sovereign British territory. Trip Advisor says it’s the only foreign sovereign territory within the United States.
Former state Archivist Albert Taylor wrote that “the old obelisk monument, erected to the memory of Captain Cook about 1876, is on land deeded outright to the British Government by Princess Likelike, sister of King Kalakaua, so that is absolute British Territory.”
The land is managed by the British Consul General in Los Angeles.
MERRIE MONARCH FISH RELAYS?
Early Merrie Monarch festivals included beard-growing contests, bike races, beer drinking, horse races and fish relays. A 1966 newspaper article said David Kaula Jr. won the beard-growing contest. The Parker Ranch employee had an amazing facial resemblance to King Kalakaua.
Explorer Scout Post No. 23 of Hilo won the 4-mile fish relay through downtown Hilo in 23 minutes and 27 seconds. The boys ran with a live mullet rather than a baton.
The original 1964 Merrie Monarch Festival was designed to help Hilo recover from the 1960 tsunami. Hula, which was a small part of the early festivals, took over by 1971, and fish relays and beard-growing contests fell by the wayside.
BEGUN ON HAWAII ISLAND
Three noteworthy Oahu food companies trace their beginnings to Hilo. Robert Taira began his sweet-bread empire in Hilo. He moved King’s Bakery to Honolulu, and now it is called King’s Hawaiian and is based in Torrance, Calif.
Y. Hata is one of Hawaii’s largest food distributors. It is now on Sand Island Access Road but began in Hilo as Yoichi Hata store in 1913.
Tamashiro Market also began as a Hilo store. The 1946 tsunami wiped it out, and it moved to Oahu and focused on seafood.
There are many other stories to tell. I’ll share more another time when we’ll go holoholo again.
Bob Sigall, author of “The Companies We Keep” series of books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories of Hawaii people, places and companies. Contact him via email at sigall@yahoo.com.
