Parker Ranch is a working cattle ranch on the

Island of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of th ...

in the U.S. state of Hawaii, now run by a charitable trust.

History

The ranch was founded in 1847 and is one of the oldest ranches in the United States, pre-dating many mainland ranches in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and other southwestern states by more than 30 years. Spread across approximately of the island, Parker Ranch is among the nation's largest cattle ranches. A

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

on the ranch is called a ''

paniolo A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

'' (

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language o ...

pronunciation of es, link=no, Español), since the first cowboys were Spanish-speaking and came from Mexico. The Hawaiian language does not have the "s" sound. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, part of the ranch was used as a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

training base called

Camp Tarawa Camp Tarawa was a training camp located on Hawaiʻi Island constructed and used by the 2nd Marine Division during World War II. The grounds of the camp were situated between the volcanic peak of Mauna Kea and Kohala mountain. Marines were sen ...

. The

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

and Fifth Marine Divisions conducted training maneuvers there in preparation for the assault of

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. The founder of the ranch was John Palmer Parker who assisted

Kamehameha I Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. T ...

in ridding the island of feral bulls and was granted land on which he established the ranch. From 1899 to 1937 it was managed by Alfred Wellington Carter (1867–1949). The last owner of the ranch, the actor Richard Smart, died in 1992. Since then the Ranch has been governed by the Parker Ranch Foundation Trust. Two of the ranch's historic homes, Puuopelu and Mana Hale, are open for free self guided tours at 66-1304 Mamalahoa Highway about one mile outside of Waimea town. This is also the location of the Corporate Headquarters. The Parker Ranch Arena and a racetrack are located off the

Hawaii Belt Road The Hawaii Belt Road is a modern name for the Māmalahoa Highway and consists of Hawaii state Routes 11, 19, and 190 that encircle the Island of Hawaii. The southern section, between Hilo and Kailua-Kona is numbered as Route 11. The section betw ...

at coordinates . The Ranch holds its annual July 4 Rodeo and Horses races at this Historic location. The

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel is a hotel property on the Kohala Coast of the island of Hawaii. It sits at Kaunaoa Bay. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded the hotel an Honor Award in 1967 citing its "restrained detailing and fine spatia ...

, was developed and constructed by Laurance S. Rockefeller, on land purchased from Parker Ranch.

Paniolo Cattle Company

Following a successful

grass-fed beef There are different systems of feeding cattle in animal husbandry. For pastured animals, grass is usually the forage that composes the majority of their diet. Cattle reared in feedlots are fed hay supplemented with grain, soy and other ingredi ...

trial on Hawaii Island, Parker Ranch and

Ulupono Initiative Ulupono Initiative ( Ulupono) is a Hawai‘i-based organization that uses non-profit grants and conducts advocacy with the stated goals of more local food; increasing clean renewable energy; and reducing waste. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and ...

announced the launch of the Paniolo Cattle Company, a joint venture aimed at statewide local beef production in March 2014. Paniolo Cattle Company began with 1,400 head of cattle to be raised at Parker Ranch. This represented the largest commitment of grass-fed beef by a single ranch in the state and increased the supply of grass-fed steers to the market by nearly 35 percent. The Paniolo Cattle Company grass fed beef can be found in island Safeway stores.

2020

According to President and CEO Dutch Kuyper, due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic Parker Ranch canceled their annual 4 July rodeo in 2020. They donated 6,500 pounds of grass-fed, ground beef to needy Hawaiians in Waimea. The Food Basket food bank gives it away at various locations in their Ohana Drops.

Family tree

References

External links