Most people probably take the Valley Movie Site Tour to see the filming locations of Hollywood blockbusters or World War II sites, but I wanted to see the sole remaining "pet" longhorn on their ranch, which I so want to believe descends from Vancouver's 18th century stock (more on Vancouver below), but The Prairie Star says the ranch's Texas longhorns were "leftovers from a film". Cattle that can qualify as wild are rare, and Hawaiian Longhorns have a royal history. Kualoa Ranch's longhorn may not be wild - maybe it's actually Texan - but it's still a longhorn in Hawaii, on urban Oahu no less.
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| Stella, a longhorn at Kualoa Ranch. |
Longhorns in Hawaii
George Vancouver was on Cook's ship in 1778 when Cook found Hawaii. Vancouver later became a captain and made several voyages back to Hawaii. He is credited with bringing the very first cattle to Hawaii in February 1793. He transferred two at Kawaihae (West Hawaii Island), but both the cow and bull quickly died. He offloaded five cows (and also sheep) at Kealakekua (East Hawaii Island) a few days later, where he met Kamehameha I (who was wearing a linen gown gifted by Cook, feather cloak and helmet) and one cow later birthed a calf. Vancouver returned to Kealakekua in 1794 and imported two cows, two bull calves, and five sheep from California. All of these cattle were from New Albion, present-day British Columbia and California, and the California cattle were specifically from "Señor Quandra's rancho at Monterey". Records apparently describe the cattle as black in color, with no other colors mentioned.
These early cattle are thought to have been longhorns, seemingly because of the specificity of the color black and absence of other colors mentioned in available records alongside mainland longhorn history in the New Albion region. Both the Hawaiian and Texas Longhorns are thought to have descended from the same black Spanish Moorish cattle (the latter which can be traced back to the prehistoric European wild ox known as "Urus", perhaps better known as aurochs, which is extinct). Aurochs were once considered a different species from Bos indicus and Bos taurus, but now according to Wikipedia it is considered a different sub-species. I believe Bos taurus taurus is the sub-species that one will encounter most frequently, as I think it is what domesticated beef and dairy breeds are classified as.
Kamehameha I placed a ten year kapu on these cattle at the request of Vancouver, and brought in knowledgeable Mexicans and Southwestern Native Americans to tend the growing herd apparently under the direction of John Parker (of Parker Ranch). The cattle were nearly extinguished, presumably after the kapu was lifted, until a new five year kapu was enacted in 1840. In the 1850s, longhorns were introduced to Molokai (King Kamehameha V kept a longhorn herd there) and descendants of Vancouver's original cattle were introduced to Kauai. Wild cattle numbers increased through 1860 but thereafter appear to have declined such that few were left by the turn of the last century despite total cattle head (both wild and not) increasing well into the mid-1900s. Wild cattle as game appears to date back to the 1890s, but they appear to have become quite rare by the 1930s. Perhaps they were slowly replaced by more domesticated breeds like Hereford, Angus, and Shorthorn.
Wild cattle were considered a threat to native Hawaiian ecosystems. Pits to trap wild cattle were created in the 1900s. Scottish botanist Dr. David Douglas, namesake of the Douglas Fir, fell or was pushed into a remote pit on the Big Island. This spot is marked as Hawaiian Visitors Bureau Warrior Marker No. 91 on maps, with a bronze marker and Douglas Fir grove provided by the Burns Club, and called Kaluakauka ("doctor's pit") by locals.
The Bishop Museum apparently has a longhorn bull's horns that measure over 73 inches long. Known colors of Hawaiian Longhorns include red (dark red appeared to be dominant), black, white-faced, black and white, bluish and white, reddish and white, blue roan, black with yellow line on head and probably on back, roan, and white and tan.
Valley Movie Site Tour
You board a vintage bus at the visitor center and make a shallow loop around some of the Ranch's property, stopping along the way at various points of interest related to World War 2 and movie filming sites.
There are two bunkers in the hillside that were constructed in 1943. You have some time to take in the panoramic coastal view from the bunkers, then take a quick guided tour through the various WWII artifacts, film posters, and other movie props. There is not a whole lot of time spent in the bunkers, so you may leave disappointed if your main reason interest in the tour was war-related.
After the bunkers, you're back in the bus and off to see the filming locations of various movies. On your way back to the visitor center, you make a brief stop to see Stella, the Ranch's longhorn. It's pretty brief, and you don't get off the bus here.
The main emphasis of this tour is obviously on the movie sites, so if you are a huge fan of films based in Hawaii, you may be interested in this tour. The price is steep for locals, even with the kama'aina discount, but it's the only way to see the valleys that their property spans, and they may be the only one on Oahu with a longhorn. It looks like some of their other tours may take you deeper into the valley, or into other parts of it.
Other cattle breeds
Kualoa keeps cattle of other breeds for meat production: Angus, Hereford, possibly Shorthorn, and Charolais.
Farm-fresh foods
You can order their beef and shellfish on their website, or stop by the visitor center to see what's in stock. They also offer a lunch buffet of Hawaiian food that looks and smells absolutely delicious.
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| Charolais cattle at Kualoa Ranch. |
Kualoa Ranch in the past
Visiting the ranch and hearing about some of its history while on the movie tour made me wonder if there are any older photos of the ranch readily available. I found just one of the old sugar mill, the remnants of which still remain on their land:
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| Abandoned sugar mill ca. 1930s to 1950s. Photo credit: UH Manoa Hamilton Library. |
Sources:
(1) "The Hawaiian Longhorn Story" by Art Halloran (Petroglyph Press, 1972)
(2) "University of Hawaii Research Publication No. 5: A Survey of Livestock in Hawaii" by L. A. Henke (UH, 1929) (PDF).
(3) Prairie Star article linked above.
Note: Author Valerie Porter calls the Hawaiian Longhorn "Hawaiian Wild" and says Vancouver introduced "black New Albion" cattle at the same time that longhorn criollo were imported to Oahu from Mexico, these mixed, and the resulting cattle were crossed with the domesticated breeds listed above for beef export. CTAHR's RP-5 calls Vancouver's cattle longhorn and Halloran says New Albion was the region Vancouver's cattle came from. Halloran's information is primarily presented above, supplemented at times by CTAHR RP-5; I believe these are correct given Vancouver's record. Halloran was a FWS biologist and worked at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge for 15 years.