Hawaii and the Paniolo

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I know at least one of our Pards, Singing Bear, is in Hawaii.  I came across Richard Slatta's book COWBOYS OF THE AMERICAS, ISBN 0-300-04529-8.

A quick look found the following at pages 23-24;

1793, Capt. George Vancouver, RN makes a gift of cattle to king Kamehameha I, and they receive royal protection for over 30 years.

1803, Richard J. Cleveland bring mustangs from Spanish California.

1820's.  Cattle are being hunted for tallow and hides.

1832, Kamehameha III brings vaqueros from California to teach ranching skills to Hawaiians.

Before the American cowboy period really begins there are 35,000 to 45,000 cattle in Hawaii, with ranches on all but two of the major islands. One third of the cattle are domestic, and one of the major ranches was begun by John Palmer Parker.

The guitar was likely a legacy of the Californian vaquero.

Here is a link provided by Mr. Google.

http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/pastExhibits/1999/backyard_aliens/b-results/x25-paniolotxt.html

And this from Wikpedia;

Hawaiian Paniolo

The Hawaiian cowboy, the paniolo, is also a direct descendant of the vaquero of California and Mexico. Experts in Hawaiian etymology believe "Paniolo" is a Hawaiianized pronunciation of español. (The Hawaiian language has no /s/ sound, and all syllables and words must end in a vowel.) Paniolo, like cowboys on the mainland of North America, learned their skills from Mexican vaqueros.

By the early 1800s, Capt. George Vancouver's gift of cattle to Pai`ea Kamehameha, monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, had multiplied astonishingly, and were wreaking havoc throughout the countryside. About 1812, John Parker, a sailor who had jumped ship and settled in the islands, received permission from Kamehameha to capture the wild cattle and develop a beef industry.

The Hawaiian style of ranching originally included capturing wild cattle by driving them into pits dug in the forest floor. Once tamed somewhat by hunger and thirst, they were hauled out up a steep ramp, and tied by their horns to the horns of a tame, older steer (or ox) that knew where the paddock with food and water was located. The industry grew slowly under the reign of Kamehameha's son Liholiho (Kamehameha II)

Later, Liholiho's brother, Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III), visited California, then still a part of Mexico. He was impressed with the skill of the Mexican vaqueros, and invited several to Hawai`i in 1832 to teach the Hawaiian people how to work cattle.

Even today, traditional paniolo dress, as well as certain styles of Hawaiian formal attire, reflect the Spanish heritage of the vaquero.[59] The traditional Hawaiian saddle, the noho lio,[60] and many other tools of the cowboy's trade have a distinctly Mexican/Spanish look and many Hawaiian ranching families still carry the names of the vaqueros who married Hawaiian women and made Hawai`i their home.

[Singing Bear]

Aw shoots, pard.  Sorry I never got back to you.  Things are going around in circles over here and it just got away from me.     Glad you found some info though.  All I knew about the paniolo was that he did come a fair bit before the existence of the American cowboy, as we know it, and all paniolos could/can dance a hula or two.    My wife bought me a book on the paniolo and I was thinking about using that as a reference for your question.  Again, my apologies. 

[Angel_Eyes]

Sir Charles, thats nothing but a pile of BS!!!

Everybody knows it's one of those automatic piano's that you play with foot-pedals!!!

UKshooter, (Who knows music when he see's it!)