One hundred and six years ago Ikua Purdy did the remarkable — he roped, threw and tied a steer in what reports of the time described as a 56-second blur.
More amazing to onlookers in Wyoming was that he journeyed from the faraway ranch lands of Hawaii to win the event in the world’s foremost cowboy competition, Cheyenne’s Frontier Days.
By force of their performances, Purdy and the fellow Hawaiian competitors that had traveled with him by steamship and train, introduced a new word to their high plains brethren in 1908: "paniolo" — Hawaiian for "cowboy."
In tribute to the relationship that grew between Hawaii and Wyoming cowboys, the universities of the two states will renew competition for one of the more unique trophy game symbols in college football Saturday at Aloha Stadium, the Paniolo Trophy.
It is a 13-inch-high by 20-inch-long bronze maquette of the 16-foot by 27-foot statue of Purdy on horseback that stands by the Parker Ranch Shopping Center on his native Hawaii island.
But if the inspiration for the trophy between two of the nation’s most disparate conference opponents is little known, then the backstory of this particular piece of hardware is even more curious.
The original, a lariat-launching cowboy on horseback, was a mantel piece that became the first perpetual trophy in UH’s history. It was donated by a member of the Wyoming Paniolo Society, a group of Hawaii residents with roots in the Cowboy State, to mark UH joining Wyoming in the Western Athletic Conference in 1979.
The trophy went back and forth through the years, though Wyoming took possession for the last six years before bolting the WAC for the Mountain West following the 1998 season (the teams didn’t meet that year).
When UH was admitted to the MWC in 2012 and the call went out to dust it off for action again for the 2013 revival, it was unable to be located. "We seemed to remember that it had been damaged and was in a shop over there for repairs," said Kevin McKinney, Wyoming associate athletic director. But "we weren’t totally sure about that."
A search by UH didn’t fare any better.
Whereupon a concerned Wyoming alum emailed the Paniolo Preservation Society on Hawaii island and asked if they could help out.
When the society commissioned noted western artist Fred Fellows to create the larger than life statue of Purdy (1873-1945), the first Hawaiian in the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame, a decade ago, it put 100 maquettes for sale at $3,200 each to help fund the project.
Society president Dr. Billy Bergin came up with one of the few remaining ones, now valued at nearly $5,000, to serve as the present trophy. "We wanted it to represent the cowboys and cowgirls for both states," Bergin said.
Last year, with the new trophy to play for, Wyoming won 49-42 in Laramie. "We’re taking good care of it," McKinney said.
"Hopefully," Bergin said, "we’ll have it back on the UH side."
How fitting would it be if UH’s Keelan Ewaliko, a high school bull rider on Maui, helped keep the Paniolo Trophy here.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
