Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Volume XXXVI, Number 1, 30 April 1941 — Ulupalakua Ranch, Maui (As Told By Inez Ashdown) [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ulupalakua Ranch, Maui (As Told By Inez Ashdown)

Written by AUee Banham

There is a feelinjr. alwavs. of Mi.vstery and romanee at Ulupalukua, the largest ranch on Mnui. I'erhaps that is due to its remoteness, for it is far from towns, or jierhaps to the Uj<e of tiie olil ■houses and the

sh;u)i'd by trees lirouL r ht iroin t;ir Norfolk Islami anti Ans-n-nlia :ind fron> the »djacenī forests, in rhe lorifj-forfrotten pa?t. l'erhaps, too, the niystery comes from the "Raiir sod". a Janus-llke i»>age on a sqvmre pedestal, whieh \vas found by plowmen in the dim past and placed as a jruardian of tiie jrarden. Many are the Hawaiians whn have placed offerlnjrs of <lo\vers sit his shrine in tline of c"troujrht! Then. there is the Kln<r's cotta.c:e \vheiv r«»yaHy was housed while vis!tins: there: the lichen-covered \vhose jrre.it Iron doors are holted and whei~e onee the hodie« nf its owner and liis famll.v were laiu to rest: the tall chiinney and parts of the walls of the old STig-ar nilll, now almost overgrown with mosses and brni?h. Finally there are the many stories of rhe "old days" when "the Captain" carried a whip. by day and drove his workmen to ?reat efforts such as the rapid buildin{r of a punawai c*alled. because of the terific lahor, "Kjgtkrthuelo." j Ōt parties met at Mukena hy pa-; nīola wieh as many as a hundred saddle horses? to mouiU the guests fro,m naval ships, whalers, and ishmd ship.' s fn>ni IlonoUiUi, Aml the| Suaus» under the oUI douWe rows of, kukui trees where upwards of flve hundred piKipk l ate and drank, ilaneeel and sang, sonietinies with: a king sharing in the eelebratioii. Whispered too, are tales of "Ma-' kee's £host" retunilng whe» the ( tuaus<\leuui tfoors at , night on the anniversary of lii.-? | death, and he was heard ootuing past the stables, tlie old mill, into the garden atul finally the house īl- ■

self. How people could not sleep tor ihe .sound of footsteps and the bnnging of doors as the "ghost" unule his rounds, aiul how anyone ! sU'ejung in the "hflunted room" was "choked by a heavv wetght on the chest." The mnnv tales told by both haole i;nd Hawaiian, and later by Orientals, %vould send the shivers down a stout imek, or lill a romantlc wltli j long'.ng for the grand old days of i a glorious past. j Factually, t!ie plaee was first ; known as Honuaula and was leas- | ed bj" Kaniehameha 111, in 1841, to I M. ,T. Nowlein and S. D. Burrows. i Ih 1845 it was transferred to L. M. i Torbert with its growing eaiie, mill, ' and on. for a term of sis ' years nt $800.00 per year. At that t time it coniprised about 2,300 acres. i (ieorge W. Macy heeame a parti ner of Torbert; they quarreled and !Torbert bought Macy out. i Then eoiues a period of pilenee I whieh is broken when Torbert, finiaiieially set back, assigned the proI perty to A. P. Everett, and from j Everett the land passed to Makee. j Captain ilakee was master of the iwhaler "Maine" off Lahaina in 11843. He was attacked by an enjraged Chinese eook and taken Uisliore hy iuembers of the crew. He !remalned here, later went to Honolulu and went int<i tlie ship-chand-!ler bu«iness and sent for hls wife in Massachusetts. He was 31 years old and remained here to heieoiiie a distlnguished pioneer hutld- ' er. flrst in the whaling industry and later as a sugar planter and cattle-

I man. [ There was a conipany of James t & ilekēe, later M. Anton & OompaI ny, in "Honolulu. Their ship "Chā" | riot" was used for the Arotic run. j On. January 28 Oaplain Ma- ! kee purchased at aueīion Torbert's j plantation at Ulupalakua, Maul. I Makee was one of the first to im- ! port. on a largc srale. pureT>red Kto<'k. līe aiso went in for tsairyiiii; an(t hls "s\vwt butter" found u fiiu> tuat'kot. Tn ho began t)ie roliaMntatlon of Torbet*s eane nml tlie orop of lSm \vas marketefl in Honolulu. līe was born in Wohuni, "Mass".,' on Nov. 24, ISI2. and died Sept. 16. : 1579. llis heirs were Charles anil Parker X. Makee. Mrs. Z. C. Spald- ' ing, Mrs. M.L.W. Kitchen, Mrs. I>.j' Xooiuu\, Mr«. Georg«» TTertiort, \lrs. K, P. Tenn»n «ntl Mrs. F. T. TTnst-| ings, Ji That is what was leanKHl hy An- j i ,cus MaePliee, \V.vomlng cnttlenian. ] I

when he toot'the ma'nagement of Ulupaīakua in 1908, after he*hnd aeeompaniell Eben Parker Low to Ilonolulu to partlcipate ln the" "F!rst Wild West Show" iii the Terrtfory ih T>ece,mber ltto?. ' My ißQtUer and I lilm and we livēd āt īhupalakua in the old ranch house'. Later Dr. Raymond eame to th'e rancb anel' still later was joined by Mrs. Raymond and son Harvey, and Mrs. Raymond's daughter, Violet Makee. Mrs. Eaymond was a Dowsett and niarrted Charles Makee and Inherited lUupalakua. My fathei* remained at Vlupnhikua as nianager unlil 1010 when. while hunting pheasaht on a Sunday with Alika Dowsett, lie aeeidentally shot his left' ami. Alika' telephoned for I)r. Osaners and for father's friend, Louis yon Tempski. manager of Haleakala ranch at Makawao. X"ncle' von almost kllled his best cowboy on that twenty five mile raee to his bedside. Dr. Osmers anipūtated the hand there at the ranch and later nioved his patient to Malulani hosjfital in Wailuku to be uiider the <are of the good nursing Sisters wlio were llien at the hospltal. Dr. Rajmonti "that a onearmed man could not| nianage the ranch, so fouml finother nianager. L«ter, !n 1021 he beg;ge<l MnePhee to take over the ,management ag/tin and "puli the ranch out of the hole." i Mr. MaePhee loved ūlupalakua, and he went haek and wlth h!s old! paniola, Kinau, Hapakuka, and otli- ; ers, and the faniou& ehampion roper. Ikua Purdy of Hawaii, again brouglit in wild niountain cattte and built up a pure-bted herd. I eame home froiii Dana HaM school in Massachusetts iu tlie s!im-' mer of 1922 and was not tliere long' until I leamed that Dr. Rs\ymond

wished to sell the rartch to my fn;ther and retire to CdHforn{a. My tfather fett that he hnd not the ealpltal at that t?me to i,tnprove the I ranch i\s ho wtshod to do, and he !itiade a proposltion to Mr. Frank P. Baldwln. Mr. Baldwin the ranch, and the transfer was celehrated h'y an "old tinie iuau" oh New Years Day. under the old knkui trees of Cnptntri Makee's dnvs, When I?dward was prad«nted from eollope ht> eame to tho Raneh and worked wlth rii}* father and the cowhoys while he learned the runnlng of the plaoe and then

he took ov«r Oh? maba«euieDt aaā iay ftither moved to P«ia an«J Is aow maoager of Grove rauch for iir. Ll, A. Bald\via. v lo tho early dajs lt was kuowo a<! M Ros«e raneh w o? tbe beauttfu) roses aud the vrouderfu| terraoe<! garden* nia<Je "by aiso saw to it .the .eanlon reni;iīnetf as a!ways. and I now that Mr and Mrs. Edwar<l f«Hidwīn Uve there tliey, too» havo Ikoin th«4 iiiaee aueh Uit same sq tkat it u *u« a b*autjr ej>ot of M*ut One trttom»stltijr thlng in the oU !t»u»e ts the faot that the door p4««is «ie wKU seeues ol the, tar>dett aud of Haui. 31« «o I were <Joue a vlsltlng artist by tbe name o| StK»«r. He patoted a w«rii «•w the a!tkr of C&th<>Ue Uieni at ti*e rauch. *Wtey there aie few •iwil tfce is\t-wo an»l ** : .ar(> ,m- no lou^' ir n<\>vjis«ry Iv> sho r.>,-uU »ro Kuh\ tu »*Wf NHlile» **o<Jtns fejf taltofc «a Uio *rer* «m u«ti la 1«25 for %iri£uglu& *\U aMH, ffv*m th# mau*a io*iau4Sk . Paaiola stiU wow mih«f thau *a<l boots. thelr h*ts **» Uuhala mthor tbau *<*mh<s3N , 1 Bhipsiaf oaitk lvj lo isxnits ]i% «iUI mi tiu •* ot \kt j$M, li w*jr t«a *<xfem "Zj T situs at »W| 1 - f > » i cve« st the v>ld! to |«* *U* «fco£t% bg| l««s a»wfcjn* w camjSCl ; • ■ > l ha\f iH'urv%! ela* wat«r v« iim BataiSst au4 f *«• htm *»««_ tWC <** the T - *« ti»e 4fW»***«. tw* ? fej|W«*t3 aud'#ii*lc« aK>ut iW* \ :qL',Uu*. *;

Mrs. BanHam