District commissioner George Cooper wrote to his boss, Donald McLean, that the payment was "the occasion of a great discussion, arising chiefly from an attempt by Te Moananui to take the money". Cooper made payment to the party for whom it was intended but noted "some dissatisfaction was exhibited by their relatives".
John Chambers purchased 1900 acres (768ha) of Te Mata block in 1857 and was granted a 14-year legal pastoral licence on January 1, 1858 for 5000 acres (2023ha) of land adjacent to Mokopeka. In 1862 he was given a Crown grant, which meant he was able to purchase this land.
Chambers added to his land and had freehold land of almost 18,000 acres (7284ha) by 1885, when his properties carried 35,000 sheep.
In 1886, John Chambers divided up his land and stock for his three sons, John, Bernard and Mason.
Te Mata block was progressively subdivided by the sons. The area of the site of the track on the Eastern slope of Te Mata Peak was subdivided into six lots in 1919, by surveyor, Guy Rochfort, of which this land became lot 2.
Bernard Chambers had sold in 1918 2853 acres (1155ha) of his Te Mata Station to meat baron William Richmond for around £100,000 ($11.6 million in 2018).
This made news all over New Zealand due to the size of the transaction (although a bargain in today's prices).
However, in 1920, John, Bernard and Mason Chambers bought back 242 acres (99ha) of this land from William Richmond on the Western side of the 399 metre high, Te Mata Peak. Their intention was to gift this land to the people of Hawke's Bay, which they did in 1927 to form Te Mata Park.
A road was completed to the top of Te Mata Peak around 1938 by men on work schemes, or sustenance men as they were called.
Trees were planted in the late 1930s by these workers and volunteers. Peak House, just below the summit, opened in 1967.
At the opening of Peak House, Te Mata Park chairman J.M. Chambers read a letter from a man who 40 years ago used to climb Te Mata Park and "knew every hill".
"This more than dispels any doubt in my mind," said Chambers, that "as long as there are young people who can really get the enjoyment from exploring the park as this man did, and as long as there are older people who can look back with pleasure on Te Mata, I think the object of putting the land in trust has been achieved."
Progressively, over many years numerous walking tracks have been built around Te Mata Park, and, in more recent times, mountain bike tracks.