Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

Sheep ranching operations between Humu‘ula and Kohala mountain lands:
KM: What did I hear, a nettle or something came in and mucked up the, was that the problem
with the wool or something like that Or was it just you know, waste time
RG: The story I got, was that when Carter bought out Humu‘ula, they had all the sheep up
there.
KM: Right, right.
RG: So, they took these and took ‘em all up there, all concentrated in one area.
KM: I see, at one place at Humu‘ula sheep station
RG: Yes.
KM: Okay.
PG: But there was, I remember you talking Rally, about the sheep when it went out of the
wool business, you said that the stuff was starting to get burrs in the wool.
RG: That is correct, but that was Humu‘ula, that was one of the reasons I talked Richard
Smart into giving up the sheep. Because the burrs, the tea grass, was coming in and the
burrs was getting in the wool. We had a wild dog problem too, and a wild pig problem,
eating the little lambs.
KM: ‘Auwë!
RG: And the mutton was coming in from the mainland and our mutton prices were going
down, so I’ll get rid of the sheep and raise more cattle. That’s what we did. We increased
a number of cattle that we had, got rid of the sheep and shearing sheep. Everybody
hated to go up and shear sheep. It’s a hard dirty job.
KM: Yes.
RG: So, give up. Monty Richards has sheep, but I understand he brings in Australians or
something, whenever they have shearing, those guys come in and it’s contract, and then
they go back to Australia.
KM: Wow, that’s amazing! The whole ranching process is so intensive.
PG: Yes, intensive.
KM: It’s intense, but it’s really changed, just what you said too now, pau
RG: Yes.
KM: You know when you lose, particularly your older cowboys, when they’re laid off or what.
That knowledge of the land and…
PG: It dies with it.
KM: Yes.
RG: Okay, if you don’t mind me talking a little bit more.
KM: Please do.
RG: All the cowboy horses used to run out in Pu‘u Ke‘eke‘e.
KM: Yes.
RG: That’s from where the Girl scout Camp is out to Pu‘uma‘u.
KM: Yes.
RG: From Pu‘u Lä‘au hill down to Big He‘ewai down here, that was all horse pasture.
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:87