Daniel K. Inouye Highway

Sheep raising became economically important within the interior of Hawai'i during the second half of the nineteenth century. In the 1860s, the Waimea Grazing and Agricultural Company established a station for sheep at Humu'ula. By 1873 it had a house and wool barn. In 1883, the operation was incorporated as the Humu'ula Sheep Station Company. Later it was acquired by Parker Ranch.

How many sheep grazed these lands? In 1890, Japanese laborers built the network of prominent stone walls which still enclose the grassy area south of Maunakea. These stone walls were built to last, though some sections were covered by the 1935 lava flow. By the early 1900s, a herd of 23,000 sheep grazed these lands along with several hundred head of cattle and horses. Shearing was done over a six-weeks period every spring by ranch hands from Waimea, most of them part-Hawaiian.

Paniolo (Hawaiian cowboys) would drive the herd on horseback from these pastures to the port of Kawaihae for off-island shipping. After the conclusion of World War II, this roadway opened to vehicular traffic and truck transportation prove more efficient. By the 1960s, cattle had replaced most of the sheep, Today the land is owned by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

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