Hawaiian Cowboy (Paniolo) Saddle
date: label: date made
content: ca.1940
notes: label: Description
content: The Hawaiian cowboy saddle is what many paniolos, or Hawaiian cowboys, used when they were riding their horses. The Hawaiian saddle was influenced and fashioned under the Spanish and Texan style saddles of the 1850s.
label: Description
content: This particular saddle was donated and used by a paniolo cowboy named Masatsu “Masa” Kawamoto from his ranch. He worked for the Parker Ranch and served during WW2 – his father was a foreman at the Parker Ranch. Masa has stated that he believes the fundamental difference between the Hawaiian style and the Western style is the Hawaiian style is bigger and has a better curve built into it. This saddle is made from leather and rawhide that covers the cantle or poe (the raised back part of the saddle), which is usually made out of wood.
label: Description
content: Parker Ranch was founded by John Parker, in 1847.
label: Description
content: In 1809, 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.
label: Description
content: John Parker comes to the attention of the great King Kamehameha I, the monarch who fought to unite the islands in a single kingdom. After he returns from a visit to China during the War of 1812, Parker returns with a new, state-of-the-art American musket, and 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 were the legacy of British Captain George Vancouver, who presented Kamehameha with five 21 years earlier.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: Parker Ranch, in Waimea on Hawaii’s Big Island, was founded in 1847. It is one of the oldest and most historic ranches in the United States. Encompassing across thousands of acres across the island, Parker Ranch is also among the country’s largest cattle ranches.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: In 1992, following the death of sixth generation Parker descendant Richard Smart, the ranch’s last owner, Parker Ranch, complete with Smart’s extensive art collection was left in a trust to support healthcare, education and charitable giving through named beneficiaries in the Waimea community. The Parker Ranch Foundation Trust beneficiaries include Parker School Trust Corporation, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Hawaii Community Foundation’s Richard Smart Fund and North Hawaii Community Hospital.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Hawaii
label: Associated Place
content: Philippines
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Asian Pacific American Business
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Masa Kawamoto
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2012.0205.01
label: accession number
content: 2012.0205
label: catalog number
content: 2012.0205.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: saddle
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: rawhide (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 33 in x 19 in x 29 in; 83.82 cm x 48.26 cm x 73.66 cm