John Wellington Peiper
Year Inducted: 2009
Parker Ranch | Hawai'i
Hawaiian Ranch Co. | Hawai'i
Yamagata Ranch | Hawai'i
John Wellington Peiper was born to Henry and Minnie Ho’oluhi Peiper in Waimea , Hawai’i in 1907 where his father was the head wagon master for Parker Ranch. John became a Parker Ranch cowboy at an early age and soon became known as one of the “young lions” of the cowboy crew. Johnny became an excellent roper and horseman as well as a good handler of livestock, herding sheep and both wild and tame cattle from the slopes of Mauna Kea to Kawaihae for shipment.
After a short stay in Honolulu , John and his wife Betsey Lindsey moved back to Parker Ranch and lived at Waiki’i where Betsey taught school and John worked on the ranch. John moved to Ka’u, around 1939 and went to work for C. Brewer’s and Co. ’s Ka’alu’alu Ranch and soon became cowboy foreman there. Later John became cowboy foreman for C. Brewer’s Hawaiian Ranch Co. that consisted of Ka’alu’alu Ranch, Kapapala Ranch and Keauhou Ranch. This combined the cowboy crew, of both Ka’alu’alu Ranch and Kapapala Ranch. John retired after 35 years of service with C. Brewer and Co.
He later worked with the Parker Ranch cowboys when Parker took over much of the former Hawaiian Ranch lands and then spent time as a “working consultant” for the Yamagata Ranch in Ka’u.
Johnny loved to rope wild cattle and sometimes would even spend some of his vacation time roping wild cattle on other ranches. John was a well respected cowboy and foreman by all who worked with him. After his funeral services in Wai’ohinu, led by Tom Lindsey, the cowboys remembered him by doing a spontaneous rendition of “Ka’ula Ili,” a special song composed by the Parker Ranch cowboys.