The first Baldwin on Maui, Rev. Dwight Baldwin was with the Fourth Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi; he arrived at Honolulu, June 7, 1831. Though not a cowboy, he set out on a mule to treat those in the far reaches of Maui. (Equitrekking)
On September 1, 1888, Haleakala Ranch was incorporated in the Kingdom of Hawaii during the reign of King David Kalakaua. Shortly following incorporation, Henry Perrine Baldwin, co-founder of Alexander & Baldwin, became a shareholder and was also elected as the Ranch’s president. (Haleakala Ranch)
As the Ranch moved into the 20th century, Harry Baldwin became the Ranch’s president and his brother Sam was manager. In 1925, the two consolidated ranch ownership.
Until the 1920s Haleakala Ranch extended to the summit, and cattle were driven up the steep slopes and into the crater to graze on the grass at Paliku, near the eastern crater wall. (Decker, Dartmouth)
In 1927 the Baldwin brothers agreed to a land exchange that would allow the Territory of Hawaii to acquire Haleakala Crater from the Ranch to create Haleakala National Park. (HR) In exchange, the ranch received land in lower Waialua and lower Kama‘ole on an acre-for-acre basis.
“Shipping cattle to market back in the 1930s also involved long rides, mostly in the dark early morning hours. Loading them from the wharf onto the Humu‘ula, the Hawaii Meat Company’s cattle boat, and especially getting the first ones started up the gangplank, presented a problem. … Once started, the rest of the group followed the tracks of those on board, and it didn’t take long to finish loading.”
“Following the end of World War II, the ranch purchased surplus equipment, including a bulldozer and four-wheel-drive trucks, from the military. From this time on, ranch cattle work became more mechanized, with less dependence on horses and the associated long rides.”
“The bulldozer made short work of clearing the lower lantana and panini land, including creation of a system of dirt roads helpful in maintaining pastures and water systems.” (Baldwin)
Samuel Baldwin was manager of Haleakala Ranch for most of his life and president for the last three years, before he died in 1950, his son, Richard, the third-generation member of the Baldwin family to run Haleakala Ranch, took over as president in 1968. (Advertiser)
Richard Hobron Baldwin was born on a koa table at the family home in Mānoa Valley, the oldest son of Samuel Alexander and Kathrine Baldwin, and grandson of Henry P. Baldwin.
“My first experience with ranch work, aside from riding mostly around the yard at the ranch house on my pony named Jack, was branding some calves, offspring of the milk cows at ranch headquarters.”
“This was about 1918 or 1919, and it was exciting when, with the help of a cowboy, my rope got on the neck of a calf. Nothing much happened because these dairy calves just stood there”.
“Aside from the milking herd, which I believe produced milk for all employees, most of the cattle were not too tame. My earliest recollections of cowboy work involved cattle drives in nearby pastures, the biggest event being rounding up half-wild cattle at Pi‘iholo.”
“Following this came branding drives at Olinda, then later drives higher on the mountain at ‘Ukulele, which served as a base camp, with four old houses and corrals for our horses.”
Baldwin married Harriet Barbara ‘Haku’ Damon in May 1936 (they shared the same birth day, August 21; Baldwin in 1911, she in 1913).
The consummate horsewoman, Haku was intimately involved in racing and training the ranch’s thoroughbreds, including many champions who won at the Maui Fair track. (Notes son Peter, the word haku means ‘boss’ in Hawaiian – she earned this nickname while she was growing up.)
“Besides being an aggressive sportsman – he was proficient in golf, tennis, polo, fishing and hunting – he was a winner. … On the ranching side, he was one of the best pasture men we ever had here. He taught me that we were not really raising cattle, we were raising grass, and cattle were the harvesting machines.” (Rice)
Early visitors to the ranch included writer Jack London, General George Patton and Olympic swimmer and surfing pioneer Duke Kahanamoku. (Siler) It’s the latter that leads to the nickname for Baldwin …
He acquired his nickname at an early age, recounts his son Peter. Richard was about three years old when legendary Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanamoku was gaining worldwide fame as an Olympic gold medalist and record holder.
As Richard dog-paddled across a swimming pool, an onlooker exclaimed, ‘There goes the man, Duke!’ The name ‘Manduke’ stuck, and all who knew him used it. “He was even listed as Manduke in the Maui phone book.” (Peter Baldwin, Harrison)
‘Cattleman of the Century’ is how the Hawai‘i Cattleman’s Association honored Manduke Baldwin in 1988. (Harrison) Consummate rancher, fisher, polo player, Manduke Baldwin died on Christmas Day 2002. He was 91. (Lots here from Anchval and Harrison.)
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