Paniolo Preservation Society History

Established in 1998, Paniolo Preservation Society (PPS) works to increase public awareness of the historical, present-day and future significance of Hawaii’s ranching industry, with emphasis on the roles and traditions of the paniolo. A long-range goal of PPS is to establish a Ranching and Paniolo Cultural Center that will house artifacts and natural history representing the paniolo heritage, as well an archival center for historical documents, maps and photos.

The Society is a non-profit corporation under Hawaii State laws and is tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Service chapter 501-c-3.

PPS’ first major initiative was to engage the service of Fred Fellows, a well-known Western artist, to design and execute a larger-than-life bronze statue representing Ikua Purdy roping a wild steer. Purdy worked as a cowboy at Parker Ranch for a number of years before traveling to Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1908. There he won the American steer roping championship at the 12th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, startling American cowboys who had long regarded rodeo and roping as their own domain.  A studio-size copy of the statue is now at the Cheyenne Frontier days Old West Museum.

The Society, demonstrating its statewide commitment, next loaned $10,000 to a nascent Molokai Paniolo Heritage Center as startup funds. Molokai Ranch had donated land and a small building to the Center and they were actively seeking State funding to build a museum.

In 2006, PPS began efforts toward building the museum and archives. 2007 and 2008 were periods of enhanced public relations and PPS-sponsored events making the 100th anniversary of Ikua Purdy’s triumph at Cheyenne, the Waiomina Centennial Celebration, a sequence of 18 months of activities that culminated in a full week of events in August 2008.

In 2007, after several years of discussions and politicking, the Old West Museum in Cheyenne voted to induct Ikua Purdy into their Rodeo Hall of Fame. The Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) Rodeo also invited PPS too attend the 2007 Rodeo and to explore the notion of expanding the planned 2008 Centennial to Cheyenne.

Raymond Foat, an enterprising Waikoloa businessman, had established a ranch and barbecue tour event. During a visit to Cheyenne in 2006, he met the Mayor and extended a PPS offer to buy the steaks for their pre-Rodeo luncheon in 2007. By the time the July Rodeo rolled around, PPS had secured a sister city agreement between Cheyenne and Hawaii County. Vacationing County Council chairman Pete Hoffmann drove up to Cheyenne from his son’s home in Colorado Springs to present the Cheyenne Mayor, Jack Spiker, with a County sister city proclamation.

When a dozen PPS members arrived in Cheyenne July 2007, they were honored guests at the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce pre-Rodeo luncheon (remember, we bought the steaks!). They met with the Mayor and took home a framed sister city proclamation from Cheyenne to Hawaii County. Of greater strategic importance was a meeting with the Old West Museum. PPS had been communicating with the Museum on their ability to host an exhibit PPS would build and ship honoring the Hawaiian cowboy and Ikua Purdy. At the meeting, the Museum offered to build the exhibit themselves, with assistance in collecting artifacts, providing translations of Hawaiian newspapers, and publicity at the 2008 Rodeo, when the new exhibit would be opened for public presentation.

In 2008, PPS sent a dozen paniolo, including artisans, a saddle maker, musicians, and another dozen dancers, teachers, and crafters to the CFD Rodeo.

Also in 2008 was our production of the Great Waiomina Centennial Celebration.  The events for this began in 2007 with trail rides and a pa`u education workshop (pa`u is a female riding habit and a style of riding dressed in that style).  By 2008 we were rolling along with a February school show for the public, all about paniolo impact on history, biology, geology, music and dance.  Then a Father’s day trail ride, a children’s day at Anna Ranch with demonstrations by paniolo artisans.  The next day the trail ride was up in the Kohala Mountains again, another challenging and spectacular ride.  Then nearly two weeks of activities: a kickoff party; Old Hawaii on Horseback, a costume drama; an outdoor concert featuring two well-known stars; a formal dinner at famed Puuopelu, home of the late Richard Smart, last private owner of Parker Ranch; the Parker Ranch annual Labor Day rodeo; and a Celebrity Chef dinner.

A primary mission of PPS has always been education. Agriculture in general, and ranching in particular, has fallen far behind the State’s major economic engines – tourism and military. Hawaii, unique in the US as an island state, is utterly dependent on US mainland farm, ranch and dairy products, all shipped (at an increasing cost) by ship and airplane. The PPS determined that its educational program would emphasize the critical importance of self-sufficiency in agriculture and ranching by teaching the historical background of those industries. The values essential to successful ranching would be brought forward to today – dedication, good working habits, loyalty to the ranch, self-confidence, and community participation.