Seven women grace the Paniolo Hall of Fame
With the Class of 2019 inductees, the Paniolo Hall of Fame (PHOF) now contains seven women, all of whom have distinguished themselves for remarkable achievements and commitment to the paniolo way of life. They are:
- 1999 – Kapua Heuer, Wall Ranch and Mahealani Ranch, Hawai‘i
- 2002 – Florence M. Schultz, Hawai‘i Cattle Producers Co-op, Hawai‘i Cattlemen’s Association, Hawai‘i
- 2003 – Barbara Kamilipua Nobriga, Mahealani Ranch, Hawai‘i
- 2009 – Anna Lindsey Perry-Fiske, Anna Ranch, Hawai‘i
- 2015 – Lani Cran Petrie, Mokulē‘ia Ranch, O‘ahu, Kapapala Ranch, Hawai‘i
- 2017 – Jaquelyn Pacheco, nee Benlehr, Pu‘u‘ō‘ō Ranch, SC Ranch, and Pu‘uohu Ranch, Hawai‘i
- 2019 – Harriet Haku Baldwin, Haleakalā Ranch, Maui
Six of these remarkable ladies hail from Hawai‘i Island. Two of them, Haku Baldwin and Florence Schultz, join their husbands (Manduke and Richard respectively) in the PHOF, and Haku’s son Peter is also an inductee.
2019 – Harriet Haku Baldwin, Haleakalā Ranch, Maui
Haku’s passion for horses led her to experience all facets of horse racing, polo, dressage, vaulting, breeding and training. She also established the Haku Baldwin Center for Therapeutic Riding on Maui.
Florence M. Schultz, Hawai‘i Cattle Producers Co-op, Hawai‘i Cattlemen’s Association, Hawai‘i
In the 1960’s, Florence earned a degree in Animal Science from the University of California-Davis, and went to work as probably the first female meat inspector, on Molokai. She was named Cattlewoman of the Year in 1983 by the federal land bank for her years of dedication to the Hawai‘i Cattle Producers Co-op and Hawai‘i Cattlemen’s Association.
Jaquelyn Pacheco, nee Benlehr, Pu‘u‘ō‘ō Ranch, SC Ranch, and Pu‘uohu Ranch, Hawai‘i
One of five daughters, Jaquelyn (Jackie) Pacheco was the only one who returned summer after summer to work on her family’s Pu‘u‘ō‘ō Ranch, and returned to stay after graduation in 1969, raising a family of her own. Jackie qualifies under all three Paniolo Hall of Fame categories: Founder, Ranch Manager, and Ranch Hand.
Barbara Kamilipua Nobriga, Mahealani Ranch, Hawai‘i
Fourth generation Kona Rancher Barbara Nobriga is one of the few wahine who can shoe her own horse. A lifelong conservationist, she was recognized as Rancher of the Year in 1999 by the Kona Soil and Water Conservation District.
Barbara joins her mother Kapua Heuer in the PHOF, who’s believed to be the only woman to swim cattle out to the boats in Kona for ho au pipi (shipping).
Kapua Heuer, Wall Ranch and Mahealani Ranch, Hawai‘i
From Kapua’s (KH) oral history interview with Anna Loomis (LH):
KH: Well it was exciting to drive cattle, and it was—if you’ve done it from the time you were a little fry like this, by the time you got in your teens, it wasn’t frightening to you. You knew you had to do well and not maka‘u trying to do it, and fall off your horse or something like that. No.
AL: Did you feel that because you were a woman that you had extra pressure to perform well?
KH: No, it never dawned on me. I knew I was a woman, but I did what the men did, and I could do it as well as they did it.
Lani Cran Petrie, Mokulē‘ia Ranch, O‘ahu, Kapapala Ranch, Hawai‘i
After Lani Cran Petrie finished her degree in Animal Nutrition at Washington State University, she returned to the family ranch, Kapapala with her husband. In the 1990’s, she organized the Hawaiʻi Cattle Producer’s Cooperative Transportation Division to assist ranchers transporting cattle to West Coast ports.
Anna Lindsey Perry-Fiske, Anna Ranch, Hawai‘i
Perhaps Hawai‘i’s best-known ranch woman, Anna Leialoha Lindsey Perry-Fiske, played an important, and colorful, role in Waimea history. A fifth-generation rancher, Anna took over management of the family property when her father died in 1939. She pulled the ranch out of near-bankruptcy, renaming it Anna Ranch, and turning it into a success story.
Over the years, Anna Ranch, became the venue for elaborate parties and pageants, such as the Old Hawaiʻi on Horseback exhibition for the American Heart Association. And, at Anna’s bequest, it is now open to the public as a historic site and living legacy of paniolo heritage.
Anna was an extremely accomplished horsewoman, skilled jockey, pāʻū rider, trainer, breeder and cowboy. “I never call myself a cowgirl, I’m a cowboy,” she says in her biography. “Doing a man’s work on the ranch, riding and lassoing and doing all the things a man does.”
Much more information about these amazing women can be found on the Paniolo Hall of Fame website, and at our Heritage Center in Pukalani Stables. Please come and visit!
