Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

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Kawaihae Road.
Yes, Kawaihae Road. Did you hear anything about who made this stone wall
No.
I believe in going through, as we enter into Waiköloa out here. In the old Boundary
Commission records from the 1870s and 1880s, the testimony says that this wall—and I
think this is the wall that they’re describing—this wall was built by Kamehameha. You
don’t remember hearing about who might have made the wall
No. [looking at map] This is called Cactus Plot, but I never knew it as Cactus Plot. I
always knew it as Ëkoa Plot. But I’m not saying that, that is not correct. Because maybe
that was Cactus Plot, and later they put Ëkoa in.
This map is twenty years prior to your coming to the ranch also.
And there was no Ëkoa here. It wasn’t until late ‘30s and early ‘40s that A.W. Carter got
ëkoa seed from Kona and that was thrown all through this area here. Hoping that the
ëkoa would grow down here. I remember whenever we would get a southerly rain, the
first thing we would do, was go down and throw ëkoa seed all through here.
Whenever those rains would come, sort of the kona storms like that would come in. They
would try go out throw seeds and see if they could get a start up
Yes. Ëkoa was a real good fattening feed and there was a lot of it in Kona. A.W. had
nothing here, it was more or less barren land.
Barren Was there scattered pili at all, wiliwili or anything still yet, or was it pretty much
wide open if you recall
All wide open.
This was all cattle This makai Pu‘u Hïne‘i Paddock, like that
Was all cattle, down to the stone wall. They did not run any cattle below the stone wall
until years later when they had cattle down at Puakö. Then they would, in good weather,
they would let some come up in here. Originally, the cattle would not go below the stone
wall.
This stone wall marked the makai boundary of the primary ranching operations up
through the time you started As you recall
As my…yes when I was here. We used to drive this paddock for branding and whatnot.
We would start from Waimea early in the morning and come down, line up on the stone
wall and then you take the cattle up here.
Push mauka Where would you push them to
The stone corral.
The stone corral here, just, it’s right behind, is that by the
Right over here, Puhihale.
Puhi
Puhihale.
Puhihale Corral
Was from the Kona Road down to the stone wall, was all one paddock.
Wow!
Out as far as Pu‘u Hïne‘i.
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:12