George Paul Cooke
Year Inducted: 2003
Molokai Ranch | Molokai
A grandson of missionaries Amos Starr and Juliette Montague Cooke, George P. Cooke started and ran Molokai Ranch until his retirement 37 years later. When he left, he took with him a reputation as an honest and fair businessman, and the respect of the Hawaiian cowboys with whom he worked from the saddle. With only the weather to rely on as a water source, he forged a cattle ranch that remains to this day.
Born in Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaii, George was educated at Yale University. He later married Sophie Boyd Judd, and they moved to Molokai, traveling eleven hours on the inter-island steamer with their infant daughter, dora. In only one year, George became Manager of the American Sugar Company there. He dedicated himself to the stewardship and improvement of the lands that were part of nearly 70,000 acres that had been passed from King Kamehameha V to Bernice Pauahi Bishop in 1897. He planted trees to improve the Molokai forest and watershed, and developed water sources, including a pipeline to the top of Maunaloa that reduced over-stocking in the pastures and improved the ranching operation.
George’s system of “ear-marking” that simplified the handling of stock, was published in the “Breeders Gazette” and “The Agriculturist & Forester” periodicals. He imported Hereford Bulls to achieve a hardier stock that could withstand the dry conditions.
A man who put the interests of the people above his own, George served Hawai`i as a Territoral Senator for 34 years. He worked with Prince Jonah Kuhio Kanaianaole and others to establish the Hawaiian Homes Commission in 1920. He lived out his days on his beloved Molokai Ranch, a life that spanned an era in Hawai`i from kingdom to statehood.