Anna Ranch ... a part of Cattle Ranching on the Big Island

The year was 1793. Captain George Vancouver gifted King Kamehameha I with several head of (longhorn) cattle. King Kamehameha declared the cattle "kapu", preventing locals from hunting or killing cattle for some ten years.  The cattle, left untended and free to roam the island at-will became both destructive and dangerous -- tearing up gardens and other local crops and injuring or killing other animals and even people.  Cowboys, locally called "paniolo", were brought over from California to help Hawaiians learn to care for and manage the herds of cattle.  


Hawaiian land grants became a reality in 1848. The Lindsey family had staked a claim on the piece of property which soon became known as Lindsey Ranch. It was to this family that Anna Leialoha Lindsey Perry-Fiske was born in 1900. She grew up loving ranching -- grew up working side-by-side with her brothers and father on the ranch.  Anna's love for the ranch and the labors involved in maintaining it later led her to seek possession of the property her great-grandfather, grandfather, and father had ranched when her father died. The courts deeded the ranch to Anna rather than either of her brothers.  When Anna received the ranch it was in bankruptcy.  A large loan, one ranch hand, and Anna's hard work resulted in the ultimate success of the ranch which became known as Anna Ranch in 1941.


Anna was a working cowboy -- she mended fences, herded cattle, drove them to market, branded, etc. She was a skilled in all types of horse riding. Anna was a philanthropist -- supporting the Hawaii Preparatory Academy from the time of its opening in 1945, Easter Seals, and the Hawaii and American Heart Associations.  She raised more money for the American Heart Association than any other individual for many years. She made donations from her personal monies to help build the emergency room at the Waimea Hospital.

There is a lovely rolling creek and a "swimming hole" behind the barn and rental hall on the property.

The ranch house is a single wall construction house based on the traditional rectangle house. There were two or three additions to the home over the years (all completed prior to the 1940's.)

 

The gardens and grounds remain today as they appeared when Anna and her family lived on the ranch. The landscapers who currently work the property are the third generation to work the grounds.

 

Artifacts, the trappings of a lifetime, often help to tell the story of one's life. 

Anna Ranch is richly furnished with pieces -- large and small -- that help us know Anna and her family better. Hats and beautiful clothing, KOA wood furnishings passed down through generations, Chinese figurines, china, crystal, photographs ... each contributes to the telling of the tale of the Lindsey family and especially the making of Anna and her ranch.