Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox (February 15, 1855 – October 23, 1903), nicknamed the Iron Duke of Hawaii, was a Native Hawaiian whose father was an American and whose mother was Hawaiian. A revolutionary soldier and politician, he led uprisings against both the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom under King Kalākaua and the Republic of Hawaii under Sanford Dole, what are now known as the Wilcox rebellions. He was later elected the first delegate to the United States Congress for the Territory of Hawaii. Early life Wilcox was born February 15, 1855, on the island of Maui. His father, Captain William Slocum Wilcox (1814–1910) was a native of Newport, Rhode Island. His mother was a native of Maui, named Kalua. She was the daughter of Makole and Haupa. Makole was the great grandson of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku. Wilcox's grandmother, Haupa, was descended from Umi-a-Liloa of Maui (not to be confused with the king of Hawaii Island) and Lonomakaihonua. He attended Haleakala Boarding School in the town of Makawao. Upon completion of his studies, Wilcox became a teacher at a Maui country school. In 1880, Wilcox was elected to the royal legislature in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. He represented the citizens of Wailuku and its neighboring Maui towns. Military career In 1881, King David Kalākaua selected Wilcox and two other part-Hawaiian young men to study at the Royal Military Academy at Turin in the Kingdom of Italy as a part of the Education of Hawaiian Youths Abroad program. By the time he completed his training in 1885, he achieved the rank of sublieutenant of artillery. Impressed with his military skills, Italian officials sent Wilcox to the Royal Application School for Engineer and Artillery Officers. Planned rebellion of 1888 In 1888, the Reform Party (which later became the Hawaii Republican Party) took power in the Hawaiian Kingdom. Through what was called the Bayonet Constitution, they removed most political authority from the monarch, and placed income and property requirements on voters limiting the electorate to only wealthy native Hawaiians, Americans, and Europeans. The Reform Party ended costly programs such as Wilcox's training in Italy. On August 29, 1887, Wilcox received his orders to return home. Returning to Hawaii in October with his wife Gina Sobrero, a baroness closely related to Italy's Colonna family, he began a short-lived career as a surveyor. He had now lost confidence that Kalākaua was strong enough to protect the