>>Hawaii is such a small state in area — ranked 43rd, just a hair larger than Massachusetts.

Hawai'i shows a surprisingly lot of Massachusetts influence. This is partially due to the whaling trade (many whaling ships would alternate between Nantucket and Lahaina) but more so to the adoption of the Christian faith by Hawai'ian royalty and missionaries on hand glad to relieve them of property. The churches there look a lot like New England churches (minus the window glazing) and much of the property on O'ahu is owned by the Bishop Family Trust - the Bishops having been some of those missionaries mentioned above. If you get to Honolulu, don't miss the Bishop Museum.

Also there's the Paniolo cowboys. All I can find indicates they were 'Portuguese', but given the whaling industry, I would suspect they were either from Southern Mass or Tierciera (an Azorean island with a tradition of large animal breeding and ranching - where the 'brave' bulls for the ring come from). Know anything about this?

FWIW/BTW I got to meet a couple of Paniolos at Kahua Ranch (on Big Island, supposed to be the largest ranch in the US) back in 88 or 89.