Gilbert Medeiros, Sr.
Year Inducted: 2003
Mccandless Ranch | Hawai'i
Kahuku Ranch | Hawai'i
Gilbert came from a family of cowboys. Raised in Kealakekua with his eight brothers and a sister, he followed his father and grandfather into the paniolo life. His father was a cowboy at Greenwell and McCandless Ranches, and his grandfather a cowboy and saddle maker at Greenwell Ranch. Being a paniolo came naturally to Gilbert. It was in his blood.
Ranch work was a means for survival and Gilbert grew up hunting for wild game and laboring to help feed his family. Ranch work was rough, tough and rugged, but Gilbert was never afraid of hard work. At age 16, he went to work for McCandless Ranch. He counts bringing home his first paycheck as one of the memorable events of his life.
Gilbert spent a lot of time up in the mountains of Komokawae, Kaunene, Kenapakai, Hapuu, Kahualoa, Puukinikini and Hale Pohaku. The mountains were full of wild pipi and the paniolo would stay in the mountains for a month at a time, rounding them up. They would rope them at night and tie them to the trees. Gilbert says, “Everything was so wild ...you were on your own.” The terrain was rugged, the horses strong. They say that McCandless Ranch at the time was 80% wild cattle, and as a cowboy, Gilbert’s job was, therefore, 80% catching wild cattle. Freddy Rice says, “He distinguished himself as the best.”
Gilbert signed up at Kahuku Ranch the same year Freddy became manager there. Some of the traits Freddy most admired about Gilbert were that he could do all the ranch jobs well, he never “rushed” the cattle, and “he was so honest, with the strong character of a man who could apologize when he was wrong, even when he may have been in the right…” Freddy says, “The best ranch hand, the best paniolo I have ever worked with, by a wide margin, is Gilbert Medeiros.”