Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

HK: You know clover has nodules in the root system and there’s a high nitrogen in it. They
enrich the soil. The white flower is the white clover.
KM: White clover.
HK: Yes. White Dutch Clover. What’s on this hill
KM: It’s just to the top of the hill, but it is a good overview for us to talk about the land here.
HK: Oh.
KM: When you were young you never came up here
HK: No. I never get on the hill up here.
KM: Rally was saying, the only bad thing about this hill was when they would come up, had
choke bees on top.
HK: Choke
KM: Yes, plenty bees.
HK: Oh, bees. Is that right. My gosh, that yellow fire weed is still here.
KM: Yes. It’s everywhere yes, it’s going to just be terrible.
HK: Here’s the orchard grass here.
KM: Oh, yes.
HK: You know that orchard grass they call ‘em “cock’s foot,” another name to it.
KM: Hmm.
HK: You look at the seed heads, it looks just like a cock’s foot.
KM: There’s a section we can get right here.
HK: Oh, my God what a view you got up here!
KM: That’s why I wanted to bring you up so we could look and talk a little bit. It’s glorious isn’t
it!
HK: Yes. Look at that. Wow! You know, I told one of the commercial photographers in
Waimea, if somebody can come up this way and take a panoramic view picture. Waimea,
I said, “Waimea is a beautiful country.”
KM: Oh, it is, beautiful!
HK: Gee, you know, I feel sad because all these houses are built. This was the heart of
Parker Ranch too. One of the… [pauses]
KM: Yes, one of the important lands.
HK: Yes. And you know how it happened
KM: No.
HK: Oh. Well, this was, I would say the year was somewhere around 1959, in the late ‘50s
you know. All the ranches you know, Haleakala Ranch, Parker Ranch, all the cattle
ranches were having difficult time meeting ends. They operate, financial difficulty, and
then here comes, Signal Oil, land speculating.
KM: Yes, yes.
HK:
Either they offered to get the option to buy this place or Parker Ranch offered them, I
don’t know which. Anyway, it was an option, a twelve year option. This was told to me by
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:484