Robert Hind
Year Inducted: 2007
Pu`uwa`awa`a Ranch | Hawai'i
Hind Clarke Dairy | O'ahu
The sugar industry originally brought the Hind family to Kohala, where Robert was born. He started out as a livestock handler for the sugar mill, and ended up leaving a ranching legacy that remained in the Hind family for four generations.
In 1895 Robert Hind and his brother-in-law Eben Low purchased the lease on lands in North Kona held by Frank Spencer, and established Pu`uwa`awa`a Ranch. In 1904 Robert became the sole owner of the ranch. At its peak, the ranch ran 15,000 head of cattle on 127,000 acres of the most unforgiving land on all of the Big Island.
The Pu`uwa`awa`a paniolo were as tough as the country they worked in. Many of them hailed from Pu`uanahulu, a neighboring Hawaiian village. Like the cowboys, Robert was fluent in Hawaiian and it was the language spoken on the job at Pu`uwa`awa`a Ranch.
Robert improved the ranch stock by importing purebred Herefords. Originally the cattle running on Pu`uwa`awa`a were a mixed breed of rangy angus and wild renegades that had survived the harsh conditions of the area. The Pu`uwa`awa`a paniolo knew how to use the old cattle trails and allow the cattle to rest, water and find shade according to their needs. This was a key to successful ranching in the rough country.
The Pu`uwa`awa`a cattle shipped out of Kiholo Bay, where the paniolo would fish and swim. Robert was an avid fisherman himself.
Robert established Hind Clarke Dairy on O`ahu which was one of the first to offer certified milk and operated for many years at Aina Haina. He left 5 children, some of whom have kept on in the ranching industry and carried his legacy into the present day.