I te tau 1840 ka kuhu pokanoa tētahi tamaiti Pākehā - ko Thomas Wilmor McKenzie tōna ingoa - ki tētahi whare i te hangaa e te iwi o te pā o Pipitea mo Tākuta George Evans. Heoi, ka kite a Te Rira Pōrutu i taua tamaiti rā, ka riri i te takahitanga o te tapu kei runga i te whare kāore anō kia oti te hanga. E mea ana te rangatira rā a Te Rira ki te patu i te tamaiti rā me tana mere pounamu a Horokiwi. Ka rere atu a Ruhia Pōrutu ka uwhi i tōna korowai ki runga i a Thomas hei whakaora i a ia. Ka pakeke a Thomas McKenzie, ka tū hei tangata whai mana ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Ka noho a ia hei hoa pūmau ki te whānau Pōrutu. I tōna matenga ka ūhia anōtia te korowai o Ruhia ki tōna kāwhena.