 Knudsen, or "Kanuka", originally arrived in Koloa where he managed Grove Farm, but later sought a warmer land and purchased the leases to Mana and Kekaha, where he became a successful sugarcane plantation owner.Knudsen settled in Waiawa, between Mana and Kekaha, immediately across the channel from Niʻihau Island.His son, Eric Alfred Knudsen, was born in Waiawa.