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April 17, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“Where Rail Meets Sail”

Actually, it’s where the river, railway and roadway intersect; but that’s getting a little ahead of the story.

The original inhabitants of the area were variously called The Cawalitz, Cow-a-lidsk, Cowalitsk, Cow-e-lis-kee, Cowelits, Cowlitch, Co-litsick, Kawelitsk, Cowalitsk, Kowlitz, Kowlitz; but the most common name is Cowlitz.

At the time of first contact with Europeans and Americans, there were as many as 6,000-members of the tribe who lived in cedar-plank longhouses in about 30-villages along the river and its tributaries.

In the Lewis and Clark journals, Lewis and Clark refer to the river as “Cath la haws Creek” (1805,) while Ordway calls the river “Calams” and Whitehouse calls the river “Calamus” (1806.)

The river is a 45-mile tributary of the Columbia River, in the state of Washington. It begins on the southwest slope of Mt. St. Helens and flows west-southwest and enters the Columbia River.

While steep in its upper reaches, at the lower 8-miles it is flat to moderate. At the mouth, there’s a town.  The town’s motto is “The Little Town with the Big Aloha Spirit.”

The town is named after the river; the river is named after a Hawaiian, John Kalama.

John Kalama was born in Kula, Maui in 1814; he left home at sixteen to seek employment. John joined a fur-trading vessel returning to the Northwest Coast of America.

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) records indicate Kalama started working there in 1837, and continued working for the firm until 1850.  He worked at several of the HBC posts, Nez Perces, Snake Party, Nisqually, Fort Vancouver and Cowlitz Farm.

HBC was a fur trading company that started in Canada in 1670; its first century of operation found HBC firmly focused in a few forts and posts around the shores of James and Hudson Bays, Central Canada.

Fast forward 150-years and HBC merged with North West Company, its competitor; the resulting enterprise now spanned the continent – all the way to the Pacific Northwest (modern-day Oregon, Washington and British Columbia) and the North (Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.)

Fur traders working for the HBC traveled an area of more than 700,000-square miles that stretched from Russian Alaska to Mexican California and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.

Ships sailed from London around Cape Horn around South America and then to forts and posts along the Pacific Coast via the Hawaiian Islands.  Trappers crossing overland faced a journey of 2,000-miles that took three months.

By 1824, HBC employed thirty-five Hawaiians west of the Rocky Mountains.  It is estimated that by 1844 between 300 and 400-Hawaiians were in HBC service in the Pacific Northwest, both in vessels and at posts.  By 1846, Hawaiians made up half of the Hudson’s Bay workforce.

Hawaiians worked as trappers, laborers, millers, sailors, gardeners and cooks; however, HBC employed more people at agriculture than any other activity.

The daily routine was work from sun up to sun down, with only Sundays off.  Kalama’s service record notes he was employed as a Middleman and Laborer.

Kalama met and married Mary Martin, one of five daughters of Indian Martin, chief of the Nisqually tribe in southern Puget Sound.  He and his wife lived at the mouth of the river which now bears his name, the Kalama River (Calama River is an old variant name.)

He hunted, fished and trapped for many years, and the area soon became recognized as his domain.  (The Kalama family also once owned land where Fort Lewis now stands.)

John and Mary had one son, Peter Kalama, born in 1860. When Peter was about seven years old, Mary died and Peter went to live with other members of the Nisqually tribe.   Peter graduated at the top of his class at Chemawa Indian School.  (Naughton)

John Kalama married a second time and had a daughter, but there are no other records of this second child. John died around 1870.  (KalamaCofC)

The town on the river was first settled in 1853 by Ezra Meeker and his family. One year later, Meeker moved to north Puyallup, Washington, but he sold his Donation Land Claim to a Mr. Davenport, who, with a few others, permanently settled in the area.

The present day City of Kalama was born in 1870 when the Northern Pacific Railway Company (NP) purchased 700-acres for the terminus of the new railroad and turned the first shovel of dirt.

The town was officially named in 1871 by General John Sprague, an agent for the Northern Pacific; Sprague adopted the same name as the Kalama River that runs through the area just to the north of town.  (KalamaCofC)

Near the present day location of the Kalama Marina, the Northern Pacific Railroad began construction of the first mainline rails in the northwestern United States on March 19, 1871; Northern Pacific established its headquarters in Kalama (the headquarters was later moved to Tacoma.)

This western rail would ultimately connect with work started on February 15, 1870 near Carlton, Minnesota, creating a transcontinental line across the northern portion of the United States.

Kalama was selected because Northern Pacific engineers determined it was down-river from winter river ice, the Columbia River channel depth was the same as at the river’s bar at Astoria, and it was close to Portland and the Willamette Valley.

Since the Columbia was the main ‘highway,’ this area became more closely tied economically with Portland and Astoria.  The first regularly scheduled trains between Kalama and Tacoma began January 5, 1874.

Kalama was entirely a Northern Pacific railroad creation. Northern Pacific built a dock, sawmill, car shop, roundhouse, turntable, hotels, hospital, stores and homes.

In just a few months into 1870, the working population exploded to approximately 3,500 and the town had added tents, saloons, a brewery, and a gambling hall. Soon the town had a motto: “Rail Meets Sail”.

The population of Kalama peaked at 5,000 people, but in early 1874, the railroad moved its headquarters to Tacoma, and by 1877, only 700 people remained in Kalama.

It’s now home to about 2,500 (in town and about 5,500 in the surrounding area.)  Kalama is also home to one of the tallest single-log totem poles in the world (140-feet tall,) carved by Chief Lelooska.

River and Railway: check … what about the Road?

Interstate 5 (I-5) runs through Kalama, with 3-exits serving the town and surrounding community (I-5 runs from Mexico to Canada.)

Its path follows an old Indian trail connecting the Pacific Northwest with California’s Central Valley.  By the 1820s, trappers from the Hudson’s Bay Company were the first non-Native Americans to use the route of today’s I-5.

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Kalama Business District. Note wooden sidewalks
Kalama in 1912, looking east from a raised wooden walkway on the waterfront
Kalama_1900s
Kalama_dock-Mountain Timber Co rail construction site, Kalama
Kalama_NorthPortMarineTerminalWithtenantSteelscape
Kalama-Commercial and Residential
Kalama_SteamerLoadingLogs-PortOfKalamaFerrydock
Kalama-dockWithTrucksShipLumber
Main Street of Kalama, Wash-Looking North
Northern Pacific Railroad survey crew, ca. 1890-93
NP-Rail
President William Howard Taft campaigning in Kalama
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Steam Ferry Tacoma at Kalama-(WSHS)-1885
Kalama_ParkandMarina
John_Kalama_Plaque

Filed Under: Economy, General, Place Names Tagged With: Columbia River, Hawaii, Hudson's Bay Company, I-5, Kalama, Mt St Helens, Northern Pacific Railway, Washington

March 17, 2020 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Kauikeaouli

Kauikeaouli appeared to be stillborn, but was revived.  He was the second son of Kamehameha I.   His birth site is at the head of Keauhou Bay (the Daughters of Hawaiʻi own and maintain the area.)

His exact birth date is not known; however, the generally accepted date is August 11, 1813.  Never-the-less, Kauikeaouli was apparently an admirer of Saint Patrick and chose to celebrate his birthday on March 17.

Kauikeaouli spent the first 5-years of his life with Chief Kaikioʻewa in the ‘O‘oma ahupuaʻa in Kona (the place where he first learned to be a king.)

Other early education the infant Prince received was at Kailua-Kona, from the Rev. Asa Thurston and Thomas Hopu, a native Hawaiian who had been educated on the continent and who came with the first missionaries to Hawaiʻi.  In Honolulu, the Prince was the pupil of Rev. Hiram Bingham.

The younger brother of Liholiho, he served as Hawai‘i’s King from 1825 to 1854 – the longest ruling monarch over the Hawaiian Kingdom.  Kauikeaouli was a pre-teen when he ascended to the throne; in the early years of his rule, he served under a regency with Kaʻahumanu, his father’s favorite queen, as joint ruler.

During the early- to mid-1800s timeframe, there were significant changes occurring that greatly affected the Hawaiian people:

  • his mother Keōpūolani and Kaʻahumanu convinced Liholiho to effectively break the Kapu system
  • the health of many Hawaiians was weakened by exposure to new diseases, common cold, flu, measles, mumps, smallpox and venereal diseases
  • as more ships came in, many of those who came to Hawaiʻi chose to stay and settle
  • Hawaiʻi changed from a land of all Hawaiians to a place of mixed cultures, languages and races
  • many new plants and animals were brought to the islands, both on purpose and by accident
  • new products by foreign ships were traded
  • the economy and everyday life was changing from a subsistence way of life to a commodity-based economy that started with barter and trade, that eventually changed to a monetary system
  • there was growth of business centers, where people ended up living closer to one another, typically surrounding the best seaports for western ships (small towns soon grew into large cities)

There is scarcely in history, ancient or modem, any King to whom so many public reforms and benefits can be ascribed, as the achievements of his reign. Yet what King has had to contend with so many difficulties as King Kamehameha III? (The Polynesian, 1855)

“That the existence of the King, chiefs and the natives, can only be preserved by having a government efficient for the administration of enlightened justice, both to natives and the subjects of foreign powers residing in the islands, and that chiefly through missionary efforts the natives have made such progress in education and knowledge, as to justify the belief that by further training, they may be rendered capable of conducting efficiently the affairs of government; but that they are not at present so far advanced.”  (Kamehameha IV, In Obituary to the departed King)

In private life, Kamehameha III  was mild, kind, affable, generous and forgiving. He was never more happy than when free from the cares and trappings of state. He could enjoy himself sociably with his friends, who were much attached to him. (The Polynesian, 1855)

Having associated much, while a boy, with foreigners, he continued to the last to be fond of their company. Without his personal influence, the law to allow them to hold lands in fee simple could never have been enacted; neither could conflicting claims to land have been settled and registered by that most useful institution, the Board of Land Commissioners.  (The Polynesian, 1855)

It is hardly possible to conceive any King more generally beloved than was Kamehameha III; more universally obeyed, or more completely sovereign in the essential respect of independent sovereignty, that of governing his subjects free from any influence or control coming from beyond the limits of his own jurisdiction.  (The Polynesian, 1855)

Under his leadership, Hawaiʻi changed from an isolated island kingdom to a recognized member of the modem world. Many of the things he did as king still influence life in Hawaiʻi today.  (Kamehameha Schools Press)

The following are only some of the many accomplishments of Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli:)

  • On June 6, 1825, Kauikeaouli was proclaimed king of Hawaiʻi. To the people he said, “Where are you, chiefs, guardians, commoners?  I greet you.  Hear what I say! My kingdom I give to God.  The righteous chief shall be my chief, the children of the commoners who do you right shall be my people, my kingdom shall be one of letters.”  (Kamakau – Kamehameha Schools Press)
  • June 7, 1839, he signed the Declaration of Rights (called Hawai‘i’s Magna Charta) that, in part, noted, “God hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the earth, in unity and blessedness. God has also bestowed certain rights alike on all men and all chiefs, and all people of all lands.”
  • June 17, 1839 he issued the Edict of Toleration permitting religious freedom for Catholics in the same way as it had been granted to the Protestants.
  • June 28, 1839 he founded Chief’s Children’s School (The Royal School;) the main goal of this school was to groom the next generation of the highest ranking chiefs’ children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaiʻi’s Kingdom.  (Missionaries Amos and Juliette Cooke were selected to teach the 16 royal children and run the school.)
  • October 8, 1840 (the King was about 27-years-old) he enacted the Constitution of 1840 that, in part, changed the government from one of an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. It provided for a separation of powers between three branches of government, with executive power in the hands of the king, the kuhina nui (similar to a prime minister) and four governors; a bicameral legislative body consisting of a house of nobles and a house of representatives, with the house of representatives elected by the people; and a judiciary system, including a supreme court.
  • April 27, 1846 he declared that “the forests and timber growing therein shall be considered government property, and under the special care of the Minister of the Interior …;” effectively starting the process of protecting our mauka watersheds.
  • January 27, 1848 through March 7, 1848 he participated in what we refer to as the “Great Māhele” that was a reformation of the land system in Hawaiʻi and allowed private ownership
  • June 14, 1852 he enacted the Constitution of 1852 that expanded on the Declaration of Rights, granted universal (adult male) voting rights for the first time and changed the House of Nobles from a hereditary body to one where members served by appointment by the King. It also institutionalized the three branches of government and defined powers along the lines of the American Constitution.
  • Toward the end of Kauikeaouli’s reign there were 423 schools in Hawaiʻi with an enrollment of over twelve-thousand-students. Most of the schools were elementary schools using Hawaiian as the language of instruction.

Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) died December 15, 1854 (at the age of 41.)

Happy Birthday and Cheers to Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III.  I think I’ll have a Guinness (or two) tonight in his honor.  (Happy St Patrick’s Day.)

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Kamehameha_III,_1825
Kamehameha_III,_daguerreotype,_c._1853
Kamehameha_III-Kauikeaouli
Kamehameha_III_hand_on_table
Kamehameha_III,_retouched_photo_by_J._J._Williams_(PP-97-7-011)-ca_1850
Kamehameha_III_and_Kalama,_ca._1850
Kamehameha_III-1853-400

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Amos Cooke, Asa Thurston, Daughters of Hawaii, Great Mahele, Hawaii, Hawaiian Constitution, Hiram Bingham, Kaahumanu, Kalama, Kamehameha III, Kauikeaouli, Keopuolani, Liholiho

April 30, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hawaiian Dynasties

The Kamehameha Dynasty ruled for nearly a century from the late-1700s to the late-1800s, while the Kalākaua Dynasty ruled from 1874 to 1893.

Kamehameha Dynasty

Kamehameha I, Paiʻea, Kamehameha the Great (1758-1819)
Born in North Kohala on the Big Island, Kamehameha united all the major islands under one rule in 1810.

The king traded with foreign ships arriving in the islands and enlisted some of the foreigners into his service. During his reign, the export of sandalwood to the Orient brought about the ability for island chiefs to purchase merchandise from abroad.

Kamehameha II, Liholiho – (1796-1824)
The son of Kamehameha and his sacred wife Keōpūolani, Liholiho overthrew the ancient kapu system by allowing men and women of the court to eat at the same table. At the same time, he announced that the heiau (temples) should be destroyed with all the old idols.

Believing like his father that the islands were under the protection of Great Britain, Liholiho and his favorite wife Kamamalu traveled to England in May of 1824, where they were received by the government of King George IV. However, measles afflicted the royal party and Kamāmalu died on July 8 followed by Liholiho on July 14, 1824.

Kamehameha III, Kauikeaouli (1813-1854)
The younger brother of Liholiho had the longest reign in Hawaiian history. He was 10 years old when he was proclaimed king in 1825 under a regency with Ka‘ahumanu, his father’s favorite queen, as joint ruler.

Realizing the need for written laws to control growing problems brought about by increasing numbers of foreigners settling in the kingdom, the declaration of rights, called the Hawaiian Magna Charta, was issued on June 7, 1839. The rights of residents were repeated in the Constitution of 1840.

The Great Mahele (division), the first legal basis for land ownership in the kingdom, was enacted and divided the land between the king, his chiefs and others.

Kamehameha IV, Alexander Liholiho (1834-1863)
The nephew of Kauikeaouli, Alexander Liholiho was the son of Kekūanāoʻa and his wife Kīna‘u, the grandson of Kamehameha I, younger brother of Lot Kapuāiwa and elder brother of Victoria Kamāmalu.

He ascended to the throne after the death of his uncle in December of 1854. On June 19, 1856, he married Emma Rooke.

Concerned about the toll that foreign diseases were taking on his subjects, the king signed a law on April 20, 1859 that established a hospital in Honolulu for sick and destitute Hawaiians. He and Emma personally solicited funds to erect Queen’s Hospital, named in honor of Emma.

Kamehameha V, Lot Kapuāiwa (1830-1872)
Four years older than his brother Kamehameha IV, Lot would also rule for just nine years. In 1864, when it appeared that a new constitution could not be agreed upon, he declared that the Constitution of 1852 be replaced by one he had written himself.

Known as “the bachelor king,” Lot Kamehameha did not name a successor, which led to the invoking of the constitutional provision for electing kings of Hawai`i.

William Charles Lunalilo (1835-1874)
The grandson of a half-brother of Kamehameha I, Lunalilo was the son of Charles Kanaina and Kekauluohi, a sister of Kīnaʻu.

He defeated David Kalākaua in 1873 to become the first king to be elected (therefore, technically, not a part of the Kamehameha Dynasty, although he was related.) He offered many amendments to the Constitution of 1864, such as abolishing the property qualifications for voting.

Lunalilo died of tuberculosis on February 3, 1874, a little more than a year after his election. He became the first Hawaiian to leave his property to a work of charity, creating the Lunalilo Home, which accommodates elderly Hawaiians who are poor, destitute and infirm.

Kalākaua Dynasty

David Kalākaua (1836-1891)
After the death of Lunalilo, Kalākaua (married to Kapiʻolani) ran against and defeated the queen dowager, Emma. Kalākaua was the first king in history to visit the United States.

“The Merry Monarch” was fond of old Hawaiian customs, and he attempted to restore the people’s lost heritage – such actions gave rise to anti-monarchy movements, such as the Reform Party.

In 1887, Kalākaua signed the “Bayonet Constitution,” (signed under threat of an armed uprising) that stripped the king of most of his power and gave foreigners the right to vote. Kalākaua died while on a trip to San Francisco on January 20, 1891, leaving his younger sister Liliuokalani to ascend the throne.

Queen Lili‘uokalani, Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī (1839-1917)
Liliʻuokalani (married to John Owen Dominis and living at his mother’s home, Washington Place) inherited the throne from her brother, King Kalākaua, on January 29, 1891.

Two years later, a group composed of Hawaiian Nationals, Americans and Europeans formed a Committee of Safety seeking to overthrow the Hawaiian Kingdom, depose the Queen and seek annexation to the United States; the Queen was deposed on January 17, 1893.

Queen Lili‘uokalani flew the US flag over her personal residence, Washington Place, in 1917 to mourn and honor Hawaiians killed in World War I.

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Kamehameha-Kalakaua_Dynasties
Kamehameha-Kalakaua_Dynasties
Collage of Kamehameha and Kalakaua dynasties-HSA
Collage of Kamehameha and Kalakaua dynasties-HSA
Collage of images of Kamehameha and Kalakaua dynasties-HSA
Collage of images of Kamehameha and Kalakaua dynasties-HSA

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Kaahumanu, Kalakaua, Kalama, Kamamalu, Kamehameha, Kamehameha II, Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V, Kapiolani, Kauikeaouli, Keopuolani, Liholiho, Lunalilo, Queen Emma, Queen Liliuokalani

September 1, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Aliʻi Letters Kalama to Cookes (September 1, 1847)

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) collaborated with Awaiaulu Foundation to digitize, transcribe, translate and annotate over 200-letters written by 33-Chiefs.

The letters, written between 1823 and 1887, are assembled from three different collections: the ABCFM Collection held by Harvard’s Houghton Library, the HEA Collection of the Hawaii Conference-United Church of Christ and the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

These letters provide insight into what the Ali‘i (Chiefs) were doing and thinking at the time, as well as demonstrate the close working relationship and collaboration between the aliʻi and the missionaries.

In this letter, Kalama writes to Mr. and Mrs. Cooke apologizing about a wrong that she has done in the past. Hakaleleponi Kapākūhaili Kalama was Kamehameha III’s wife.

Amos Starr Cooke and wife were members of the eighth company of missionaries, and were selected as the teachers of the Chiefs’ Children’s School in Honolulu.

In part, the letter notes:

“September 1, 1847”

“Greetings to you both, Mr. and Mrs. Cooke,”

“I am expressing my thoughts to the two of you about my seeing your invitation in the letter to the king on the 30th of this past August, to go to Loeau’s wedding tomorrow evening, and I was also invited by the letter to go as well.”

“It seems wrong to me that I go, for I have wronged you both and everyone there. Therefore, I am apologizing before the Lord for my wrongdoing towards him.”

“As for your inviting me to attend as well, I, the wrongdoer, shall oblige, and may you both forgive me for my wrong, as my apologies are sincere.”

“Yours truly, with gratitude Hazeleleponi”

Here’s a link to the original letter, its transcription, translation and annotation (scroll down):

https://hmha.missionhouses.org/files/original/1968337977302c848934f630507fde21.pdf

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) They arrived in the Islands and anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the earliest efforts of the missionaries, who arrived in 1820, was the identification and selection of important communities (generally near ports and aliʻi residences) as “stations” for the regional church and school centers across the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Mission Houses’ Strategic Plan themes note that the collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in the
• The introduction of Christianity;
• The development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• The promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• The combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine, and
• The evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing).

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Kalama Hazeleleponi - Cookes Sep 1, 1847-1
Kalama Hazeleleponi – Cookes Sep 1, 1847-1
Kalama Hazeleleponi - Cookes Sep 1, 1847-2
Kalama Hazeleleponi – Cookes Sep 1, 1847-2

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Alii Letters Collection, Amos Cooke, Hawaii, Juliette Cooke, Kalama

June 16, 2016 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Simon Peter Kalama

Lahainaluna Seminary (now Lahainaluna High School) was founded on September 5, 1831 by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents”.

In December, 1833, a printing press was delivered to Lahainaluna from Honolulu. It was housed in a temporary office building and in January, 1834, the first book printed off the press was Worcester’s Scripture Geography.

Besides the publication of newspapers, pamphlets and books, another important facet of activity off the press was engraving. A checklist made in 1927 records thirty-three maps and fifty-seven sketches of houses and landscapes, only one of which is of a non-Hawaiian subject.

“It was stated last year that some incipient efforts had been made towards engraving. These efforts have been continued. It should be remembered that both teacher & pupils have groped their way in the dark to arrive even at the commencement of the business.”

“A set of copy slips for writing was the first effort of importance; next a map of the Hawaiian islands. For some time past a Hawaiian Atlas has been in hand & is nearly finished, containing the following maps Viz. the Globes, North America, South America, the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Hawaiian islands & the Pacific.”

“It is evident that if the business is to be carried on so as to be of any benefit to schools generally, some considerable expense must be incurred for fitting up a shop for engraving & a room for printing. Hithertoo, everything has been done at the greatest disadvantage. Some means for prosecuting the business have lately been received from the Board.” (Andrews et al to Anderson, November 16, 1836)

Andrews was fortunate to have real talent in his artisans. Simon Peter Kalama was one of the best. Nineteen when he became a scholar, Kalama arrived at Lahainaluna with a recognized skill in drafting.

Kalama compiled the first map of Hawaiʻi published in Hawaiʻi and executed most of the “views,” which are the only record we have of the true island landscape of that time.

Since they were intended for the use of the Hawaiian students, the place names were given either in the Hawaiian form of the name, or in a modified transcription in which vowels were added so the foreign words could be pronounced in the Hawaiian style. (Fitzpatrick)

Ho‘okano, an assistant to Dr Gerrit P Judd, was assigned in the 1830s to interview kahuna lapa‘au to gain information about their practice which Judd incorporated in treating his own patients.

When Ho‘okano died in 1840, his notes were transcribed by Kalama and published in Ka Hae Hawaii in 1858 – 1859. The serialization has been translated by Malcolm Chun as Hawaiian Medicine Book: He Buke La‘au Lapa‘au and is the best source of information on traditional kahuna lapa‘au that exists today. (Mission Houses)

During the Wilkes expedition on Hawai‘i Island, on January 16, 1841, Kalama saved Judd from death in the crater of the volcano Kilauea. (Twain)

“Dr. Judd volunteered to head a party to go in search of some specimens of gases, with the apparatus we had provided, and also to dip up some liquid lava from the burning pool.” (Wilkes)

“I went down into Kilauea on the 16th to collect gases, taking a frying pan, in hopes of dipping up some liquid lava. Kalama went with me to measure the black ledge, and I had five natives to carry apparatus and specimens.” (Judd)

“While thus advancing, he saw and heard a slight movement in the lava, about fifty feet from him, which was twice repeated; curiosity led him to turn to approach the place where the motion occurred.”

“(T)he crust was broken asunder by a terrific heave, and a jet of molten lava, full fifteen feet in diameter, rose to the height of about forty-five feet … He instantly turned for the purpose of escaping, but found he was now under a projecting ledge, which opposed his ascent, and that the place where he descended was some feet distant.” (Wilkes)

Although he considered his life as lost, he prayed God for deliverance, “and shouted to the natives to come and take my hand, which I could extend over the ledge so as to be seen. … Kalama heard me and came to the brink, but the intense heat drove him back. ‘Do not forsake me and let me perish,’ I said.” (Judd)

“(He) saw the friendly hand of Kalumo (Kalama,) who, on this fearful occasion, had not abandoned his spiritual guide and friend, extended towards him. … seizing Dr. Judd’s with a giant’s grasp, their joint efforts placed him on the ledge. Another moment, and all aid would have been unavailing to save Dr. Judd from perishing in the fiery deluge.” (Wilkes)

A few years later, as the Western concept of landownership began to alter the Hawaiian landscape, Kalama enjoyed a lucrative career as a surveyor. He served as konohiki (overseer) of the Kalihi Kai district on O‘ahu, as a member of the House of Representatives and eventually as privy councilor to two kings. (Wood)

“The Hon SP Kalama, a member of the Privy Council, died on the 2nd inst at his residence at Liliha Street, having been ill for some months.”

“Mr Kalama was formerly a Government Surveyor, had served several terms in the Legislature as a Representative, and was a member of the Privy Council under Kamehameha V, Lunalilo and his present Majesty (Kalākaua.) He was about 60 years of age.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 4, 1875)

Here is a video of Moses Goods portraying Kalama (it was part of a Mission Houses event:)

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Na Mokupuni O Hawaii Nei-Kalama 1837
Na Mokupuni O Hawaii Nei-Kalama 1837
Mission_Houses,_Honolulu-Drawn_by_Wheeler_and_engraved_by_Kalama-_ca._1837
Mission_Houses,_Honolulu-Drawn_by_Wheeler_and_engraved_by_Kalama-_ca._1837
Maui from the anchorage of Lahaina-engraved by Kalama
Maui from the anchorage of Lahaina-engraved by Kalama
Sheldon_Dibble_House_at_Lahainaluna,_engraved_by_Kalama
Sheldon_Dibble_House_at_Lahainaluna,_engraved_by_Kalama
Kilauea-Wilkes-Expedition-1845
Kilauea-Wilkes-Expedition-1845
Palapala_Honua,_engraved_by_Kalama_and_Kepohoni,_1839
Palapala_Honua,_engraved_by_Kalama_and_Kepohoni,_1839

Filed Under: Economy, General, Hawaiian Traditions, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People, Schools Tagged With: Gerrit Judd, Hawaii, Kalama, Lahainaluna, Simon Peter Kalama

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