Parker Ranch

History of Parker Ranch

Parker Ranch is among the largest ranches in the United States, spreading approximately 150,000 acres across Hawaii’s Big Island. It is also one of the country’s oldest ranches, with more than 160 years of history.

The story begins in 1809, a single generation after Captain James Cook first encounters these tropic isles. A nineteen year old sailor named John Parker jumps ship and hides in a thicket as the ship that brought him to Hawaii drops below the horizon.

John Parker comes to the attention of the great King Kamehameha I, the monarch who fought to unite the islands in a single kingdom, and John is given important tasks by the king. John returns one more time to the sea for adventure in China during the War of 1812, but then returns to Hawaii to stay for good.

Having brought back with him a new, state-of-the-art American musket, John is given the privilege of being the first man allowed to shoot some of the thousands of maverick cattle that roam Hawaii’s remote plains and valleys. These rangy beasts are the legacy of British Captain George Vancouver, who presented Kamehameha with five head just 21 years earlier.

Due mostly to John’s efforts, salt beef eventually replaces the increasingly scarce sandalwood as the island’s chief export. As the need for beef increases, so does John’s fortune and influence. A year after he returned to Hawaii in 1815, he married Kipikane, the daughter of a high-ranking chief, who took the Christian name Rachel. Rachel Parker bears John a daughter and two sons, and the Parker dynasty begins, figuring prominently in the next two centuries of Hawaiian history.

As the Parker family fortune grows, the highlands of Waimea become a bustling center of trade. The family grows too and over the years, the Ranch ventures into areas outside cattle ranching. There are good times and bad times, philanthropy and mismanagement, lawsuits and family who die too young, but the Ranch remains. In 1887, events lead to a search for a good, strong manager. Alfred Wellington Carter, a respected Honolulu businessman and judge, becomes Parker Ranch’s champion, guiding its growth with a steady hand for nearly half a century.

Between 1942 and 1945, Waimea was home for 50,000 Marines from the Second and Fifth Marine Divisions and the V Amphibious Corps as they prepared for the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Parker Ranch played an integral part in hosting the Marines at what became known as Camp Tarawa. A monument to the Marines who trained here can be seen along the highway near the entrance to the Ranch Historic Homes attraction. For more information on this interesting chapter in Waimea’s history, visit the Waimea Gazette.

Gunplay? High drama? Romance and tragedy? It is all here in the history of Parker Ranch. It is a story of explorers, Hawaiian cowboys, kings and dignitaries, star-crossed lovers, and an heir who became a Broadway actor who established the Parker Ranch Foundation Trust that was created exclusively for health care, education and charitable purposes. At the Parker Ranch Store, several books are available that chronicle the Ranch’s fascinating history.

For more information on all that Parker Ranch has to offer, please call our Activities and Reservations center at call 808-885-7655 or toll free 1-877-885-7999.