in 1793, cattle were brought by george vancouver as a tribute to king kamehameha i. by the early 19th century, they had escaped confinement and roamed the island freely, greatly damaging its ecosystem. in 1809 john palmer parker arrived and befriended kamehameha i, who put him in charge of cattle management on the island. with an additional land grant in 1845, parker established parker ranch on the northern slope of mauna kea, a large cattle ranch that is still in operation today. settlers to the island burned and cut down much of the native forest for sugarcane plantations and houses.