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Oregon Trail

Radiocarbon tests of carbonized plant remains where artifacts were unearthed indicate that the sediments containing these artifacts are at least 50,000 years old, meaning that humans inhabited North American long before the last ice age (more than 20,000-years ago). (Science Daily)

From at least 10,000 years ago to approximately 1100, the North American Plains were very sparsely populated by humans. Typical of hunting and gathering cultures worldwide, Plains residents lived in small family-based groups, usually of no more than a few dozen individuals, and foraged widely over the landscape.

By approximately the year 850, some residents of the central Plains had shifted from foraging to farming for a significant portion of their subsistence and were living in settlements comprising a number of large earth-berm homes.

As early as 1100, and no later than about 1250, most Plains residents had made this shift and were living in substantial villages and hamlets along the Missouri River and its tributaries. (Britannica)

Because of the limitations inherent in using only dogs and people to carry loads, Plains peoples did not generally engage in extensive travel before the horse. However, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s expedition in 1541 reported encounters with fully nomadic buffalo-hunting tribes who had only dogs for transport.

By the mid-18th century horses had arrived, coming from the Southwest via trade with the Spanish and the expansion of herds of escaped animals. Guns were also entering the Plains, via the fur trade. (Britannica)

The Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore the New World and the first to settle in what is now the United States.  European nations (England, France and Spain) came to the Americas to increase their wealth and broaden their influence over world affairs.

By 1750, some 80 per cent of the North American continent was controlled or influenced by France or Spain. Their presence was a source of tension and paranoia among those in the 13 British colonies, who feared encirclement, invasion and the influence of Catholicism.

As the United States spread across the Appalachians, the Mississippi River became an increasingly important conduit for America’s West (which at that time referred to the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi).

Since 1762, Spain had claimed the territory of Louisiana, which included 828,000-square miles. The territory made up all or part of fifteen modern US states between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.

Following the American Revolutionary War, France acquired Louisiana from Spain in 1800 and took possession in 1802; the French planned expansion of their empire in the New World.

The fledgling United States saw Louisiana as an important trade/transportation area and feared that the French would seek to dominate the Mississippi River and access to the Gulf of Mexico.

On January 18, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent a secret message to Congress asking for $2,500 to send an officer and a dozen soldiers to explore the Missouri River, make diplomatic contact with Indians, expand the American fur trade, and locate the Northwest Passage (the much-sought-after hypothetical northwestern water route to the Pacific Ocean).

The US was negotiating to acquire New Orleans and West Florida for $10-million.  Instead, Napoleon decided to give up his plans for Louisiana and offered the entire territory to the US.  (State Department)

The proposed trip took on added significance on May 2, when the United States agreed to the Louisiana Purchase.  Jefferson asked his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead the expedition.  As his co-commander he selected William Clark, who had been his military superior during the government’s battles with the Northwest Indian Federation in the early 1790s.

Over the duration of the trip, from May 14, 1804, to September 23, 1806, from St. Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific Ocean and back, the Corps of Discovery, as the expedition company was called, traveled nearly 8,000 miles. (Britannica)

American Indians had traversed this country for many years, but for European Americans it was unknown territory. Lewis and Clark’s expedition was part of a US Government plan to open Oregon Country to settlement. However, the hazardous route blazed by Lewis and Clark was not feasible for families traveling by wagon. An easier trail was needed.

Robert Stuart of the Astorians (a group of fur traders who established Fort Astoria on the Columbia River in western Oregon) became the first white man to use what later became known as the Oregon Trail. Stuart’s 2,000-mile journey from Fort Astoria to St. Louis in 1810 took 10 months to complete; still, it was a much less rugged trail than Lewis and Clark’s route.  (NPS)

The Oregon Trail is an overland trail between Independence, Missouri, and Oregon City, near present-day Portland, Oregon, in the Willamette River valley. It was about 2,000-miles long and crossed through the States of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington

It was one of the two main emigrant routes to the American West in the 19th century (the other being the southerly Santa Fe Trail from Independence to Santa Fe (now in New Mexico)).

It wasn’t until 1836 that the first wagons were used on the trek from Missouri to Oregon. A missionary party headed by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman set out to reach the Willamette Valley. Though the Whitmans were forced to abandon their wagons 200 miles short of Oregon, they proved that families could go west by wheeled travel.

In the spring of 1843, a wagon train of nearly 1,000 people organized at Independence, Missouri with plans to reach Oregon Country. Amidst an overwhelming chorus of naysayers who doubted their success, the so-called “Great Migration” made it safely to Oregon. (NPS)

Interest in the East for the Oregon country had begun to grow.  By 1846, thousands of emigrants who were drawn west by cheap land, patriotism or the promise of a better life found their way to Oregon Country.

With so many Americans settling the region, it became obvious to the British that Oregon was no longer theirs. They ceded Oregon Country to the United States that year.  (NPS)

Crucial to the success and well-being of travelers on the trail were the many forts and other settlements that sprang up along the route. (Britannica)   The forts were manned by troops of cavalry who were there to protect the emigrants traveling west and to also provide supplies for the wagon trains. (NPS)

Fort Laramie grew to become the largest and most important military post on the Northern Plains. It served emigrants as post office, resupply point and protection on the trail. Fort Laramie is now a NPS National Historic Site. (NPS)

As a result of the 1849 Gold Rush, the 1847 Mormon exodus to Utah and the thousands who moved west on the Oregon Trail starting in the 1840s, the need for a fast mail service beyond the Rocky Mountains became obvious.

The Pony Express, although it lasted only about 19-months (April 1860 and November 1861), generally followed the Oregon Trail and used some of the Forts as part of the horseback relay mail service. (NPS) There were approximately 190 relay stations located approximately 15 miles apart. (U of Nebraska)

Likewise, some of the forts served as telegraph stations and the forts protected the stations and helped to repair the telegraph lines. (The telegraph effectively eliminated the need for the Pony Express.)

The trail had several break-offs that were used by the Mormon pioneers, the California Gold Rush miners and many people who found what they were looking for or simply broke down along the way and decided to homestead the land they ended up on. (Post Register)

The Overland Trail and Stagecoach Line was an alternate wagon route off the Oregon Trail. Pioneers crossed this area as they headed westward in the late 1800s. (Laramie)

Possibly a half million traversed the Oregon Trail, covering an average of 15 to 20-miles per day; most completed their journeys in four to five months.  (Britannica)

Settlers who traveled the Oregon Trail spent roughly $800 to $1200 to be properly outfitted. Many of the pioneers raised their capital by selling their farms and possessions.

Along the way they found inflated prices for scarce commodities at trading posts and ferries. Once arriving in Oregon, there were scarce supplies available for purchase, requiring ability to work in exchange for goods and services (than cash for purchasing). (BLM)

Overwhelmingly, the journey was made by wagons drawn by teams of draft animals. Some people did not have wagons and rode horseback, while others went west with handcarts, animal carts, or even the occasional carriage.  (Britannica)

It is estimated that as many as 1 in 10 emigrants died on the trail – between 20,000 and 30,000 people (an average of ten graves per mile). The majority of deaths occurred because of diseases caused by poor sanitation. Cholera and typhoid fever were the biggest killers on the trail.

Another major cause of death was falling off a wagon and getting run over. This was not just the case for children; many adults also died from this type of accident.

Other deaths on the trail are recorded in dairies as: stampeding livestock, attack by emigrants on other emigrants, lightning, gunpowder explosion, drowning at river crossings and suicide. (BLM)

Most Native Americans tolerated wagon trains passing through their territories. Many pioneers would not have made it if it had not been for trading with the tribes along the trail.

There were conflicts between Native Americans and emigrants along the trail, but, when compared to the number of people traveling the Oregon Trail, deaths by Indians attacks were very rare. (BLM)

The completion of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah, in 1869 marked the beginning of the end for the great overland migration routes to the West. (Britannica)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Environmentalist Myth

“[T]he great enemy of truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” (John F Kennedy, June 11, 1962)

“The noble savage myth stated that mankind is intrinsically good at the primitive state but that civilization degrades him/her. This myth, which raised many debates about man’s true nature, served as a concealed critic of Western society from the 17th century onward and was based on the dichotomy between man at the state of nature and man in civilisation.”

“Although the origins of the term are attributed to Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the term ‘Noble Savage’ was coined by the French explorer and lawyer Marc Lescarbot in his New World writings in 1609. Today, … this myth is still prevalent in conservation.” (Rodrigue-Allouche)

“There is a widespread myth that ‘primitive’ people are ‘natural conservationists’ and live in a state of ‘ecological balance’ without any appreciable effect on the environment.”

“The impact of prehistoric people on island biota is a convincing rebuttal of this myth. The effect has invariably been highly destructive, not only to birds but to most types of organisms.” (Milberg and Tyrberg)

“Milberg and Tyrberg argue that there is still a pervasive notion – the ‘environmentalist myth’ – that ‘primitive’ people are ‘natural conservationists’ living in a state of ‘ecological balance,’ without causing any significant deleterious effects to their environment …”

“… this naive view, derived from a romanticized concept of the ‘noble savage’ … is simply untenable in the 21st century.”  (Perez)

Kirch noted that “the popular orthodoxy of indigenous peoples in symbiotic ‘harmony’ with nature should not go unquestioned.” (Kirch)

“Evidence obtained from archaeological and ancillary studies of paleoenvironment suggests that the prehistoric Polynesians had a far greater impact on the Hawaiian ecosystem than has heretofore been realized. Such impact began with the introduction, by Polynesians, of exotic plants and animals.”

“The cumulative effects of forest clearance and habitat modification through the use of fire led to major changes in lowland ecology. Among the consequences of this transformation of the Hawaiian landscape were the extinction of endemic species, alteration of vegetation communities, and erosion.” (Kirch)

“Although it is believed that native Hawaiian avifauna was affected by several interdependent factors, the extensively documented bird overkill by humans must have played a crucial role in their decline.”

“The extent to which humans contributed to bird demise may be unclear; however, as Berger argues, some birds – such as the ‘ō‘ō – went extinct in other islands, whereas the sole surviving ‘ō‘ō species in Kauai has ‘fewer yellow feathers than any of the other species’; this possibly helped it escape being overhunted.” (Perez)

“It is known that Hawaiians exploited birds both for meat and for their plumage, and predation was doubtless one of the factors leading to the massive avifaunal extinctions.” (Kirch)

“The ‘ō‘ū [honeycreeper] was at one time ‘ … common to all the larger Hawaiian islands’; ‘Next to [‘I‘ìwi], it is perhaps the most noticeable bird of the forest-birds of the islands’; however, its ‘… conspicuous bright yellow head and neck plumage’ were eagerly used for highly valued leis. Now the bird is gone.”

“Humans avidly consumed ‘ua‘u (petrel) meat, severely restricting the distribution of one of the most abundant birds in the Hawaiian Islands into just a minute fraction of its former range. Now the ‘ua‘u is an endangered bird, likely to become extinct in the near future.”

“That is the undeniable legacy of overexplotation and disregard of ancient Hawaiians toward their magnificent avifauna.” (Perez)

“The Hawaiian Islands have the dubious distinction of leading the world in numbers of historically extinct and currently endangered bird species; sadly, this unfortunate situation is not a recent phenomenon.”

“Bird extinctions after European discovery were extensive and are now well documented; however, native Polynesians caused extinctions of an even greater magnitude. Fossil evidence shows at least 50% of the original avifauna became extinct after Polynesians arrived in Hawai’i”.  (Perez)

“Feathers were important symbols of power for Polynesians; in Hawai‘i, feathers were more highly prized than other types of property.”

“Feathers used for crafts were obtained from at least 24 bird species, however, the golden feathers of ‘ō‘ō and mamo birds made them primary targets for birdhunters; both birds became extinct by the late 1800s.”

“Feathers were utilized for many items, including ‘ahu‘ula [cloaks], mahiole [war helmets], and kāhili [standards]. Most garments utilized a considerable number of feathers; a cloak for Kamehameha consumed the golden feathers of 80,000 mamo birds.”

“Bird meat was an important food item for native Hawaiians. It is believed that most birds were killed after being plucked; historical sources mention ~30 bird species were consumed. The ‘ua‘u, a currently endangered seabird, was ruthlessly hunted and avidly eaten.”  (Perez)

“Some authors prefer to disingenuously believe that birdcatchers plucked only a few feathers from each bird, then ‘set it free to raise its family and grow a new crop of feathers.’” (Perez)

In the first writing of Hawai‘i, Captain Cook’s Journal notes, “Amongst the articles which they brought to barter this day, we could not help taking notice of a particular sort of cloak and cap, which, even in countries where dress is more particularly attended to, might be reckoned elegant.”

“The first are nearly of the size and shape of the short cloaks worn by the women of England, and by the men in Spain, reaching to the middle of the back, and tied loosely before.”

“The ground of them is a network upon which the most beautiful red and yellow feathers are so closely fixed that the surface might be compared to the thickest and richest velvet, which they resemble, both as to the feel and the flossy appearance. …”

At the time of ‘Contact’, it was clear that when collection feathers birds were killed, as Cook’s Journal goes on to note, “We were at a loss to guess from whence they could get such a quantity of these beautiful feathers; but were soon informed as to one sort …”

“… for they afterward brought great numbers of skins of small red birds for sale, which were often tied up in bunches of twenty or more, or had a small wooden skewer run through their nostrils.”

“At the first, those that were bought consisted only of the skin from behind the wings forward; but we afterward got many with the hind part, including the tail and feet. The first, however, struck us at once with the origin of the sable formerly adopted, of the birds of paradise wanting legs, and sufficiently explained that circumstance. … (Cook’s Journal, Jan 1778)

“The scarlet birds, already described, which were brought for sale, were never met with alive; but we saw a single small one, about the size of a canary-bird, of a deep crimson colour; a large owl; two large brown hawks, or kites; and a wild duck.”  (Cook’s Journal, Feb 1778)

“It is certainly true that various resource management measures (such as the imposition of a kapu, or ban, on certain fish) were enacted at times to reduce the impact of exploitation on certain resources. But the existence of a conservation ethic and its effectiveness are two different things; the former does not automatically imply the latter.”

“[W]e need to be clear [though,] that the arrival of Europeans in the islands led to far greater impacts on the ecosystems than anything that the Hawaiians wrought – with the introduction of ungulates and other invasive species, massive water diversion, vast plantation monocropping, and so forth”.  (Kirch)

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Lānai – Lāhainā Ferry

In ancient times, the windward coast of the island of Lānai was home to many native residents.  Maunalei Valley had the only perennial stream on the island and a system of loʻi kalo (taro pond field terraces) supplied taro to the surrounding community.

Sheltered coves, fronted by a barrier reef, provided the residents with access to important fisheries, and allowed for the development of loko iʻa (fishponds), in which various species of fish were cultivated, and available to native tenants, even when the ocean was too rough for the canoes to venture out to sea.  (Lānai Culture and Heritage Center)

The history of Lānai is rich and diverse, spanning first, some 800 years of native Hawaiian residency and subsistence practices (ca. 1000 – 1800 A.D.). Then following 1800, there was a decline in the native population as foreign influences began to grow.

In 1861, Walter Murray Gibson came to Hawaiʻi after joining the Mormon Church the year before; he was to serve as a missionary and envoy of the Mormon Church to the peoples of the Pacific.

The experience with the Church was relatively short-lived; in 1864, he was excommunicated for selling priesthood offices, defrauding the Hawaiian members and misusing his ecclesiastical authority (in part, he was using church funds to buy land in his name.)

By the 1870s, Gibson focused his interests at Koele, situated in a sheltered valley in the uplands of Kamoku Ahupuaʻa. As the ranch operation was developed, Koele was transformed from an area of traditional residency and sustainable agriculture to the ranch headquarters.  (Lānai Culture and Heritage Center)  In 1872, Gibson moved from Lānai to Lāhainā and then to Honolulu.

After Gibson’s death in 1888, the ranch was turned over to his daughter and son-in-law, Talula and Frederick Hayselden.  As early as 1896, the Gibson-Hayselden interests on Lānai, which held nearly all the land on the island in fee-simple or leasehold title, began developing a scheme to plant and grow sugar on Lānai.

They chose the ancient fishing community of Keōmuku for the base of operations.  However, before completing the construction of the mill and associated facilities, and prior to the first harvest being collected for processing, the Maunalei Sugar Company went bankrupt.

In the period between 1899 to the 1920s, Keōmuku served as the hub of residency and commerce. Several motor-driven boats were engaged in providing transportation of people and goods between Lānai and Lāhaina. (Lānai Culture and Heritage Center)

Navigating the rough seas and near shore reef waters took exceptional skill. With names like “Akamai” (Smart,) “Naheihei” (The Racer,) “Mikioi” (Skillful,) “Lokahi” (Unity) and “Manukiiwai” (Bird That Fetches Water,) the boats regularly made runs to Lāhainā from Halepalaoa.

The return trip from Lāhainā brought back the mail, various food supplies, along with poi, rice and flour, fresh water in bottles, and passengers – including family members and visitors to the island.

Kupuna, Venus Leinaala Gay Holt, born at Keomoku in 1905 recalled that: “No matter how rough, Noa Kaopuiki knew how to wait. He would keep the engine running and everything. He’d wait. He knew how to count the waves. And we would all hold right there, see everything. And all the sudden, he’d go! He was gone. Right through the channel, gone. And the big waves are coming right after that. Gone on his way to Lāhaina.”

“Our boats ran twice a week to Lāhainā. They always came back with a barrel of poi, bags of flour, or whatever, whatever, whatever. We had sort of a store room with all the things in it… The boat went over and we bought most of our supplies from Lāhainā.”

“We brought in large supplies, by cases. Case of corned beef, case of canned salmon… Every Wednesday and every Saturday, they bought fresh supplies, poi, a whole barrel of poi once a week. We always had rice, and we grew a lot of things down here. We grew a lot of vegetables. We grew sweet potatoes, even down at the beach house. Lots of sweet potatoes were grown for the pigs…” (Venus Leinaala Gay Holt, January 28, 2006; Lānai CHC)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kokokahi

Dr Theodore Richards’ first position in Hawaiʻi was teacher of the first class to graduate from the Kamehameha Schools and also as an instructor of music and athletic coach.

He served as principal of the Kamehameha Schools for five years (replacing William Oleson, Kamehameha’s 1st principal.) Richards married Mary C Atherton in Honolulu, June 29, 1892. They had four children, Ruth (Mrs Frank E Midkiff,) Joseph Atherton, Herbert M and Mary Theodora Richards.

In 1927, Richards envisioned a community center and camp ground where people of all races could come together as “one blood” or “kokokahi”.

Initially, the Richards’ camp started on Moku O Loʻe (Coconut Island.)  Chris Holmes, Fleishman Yeast heir, offered to buy the Bishop Estate lease from the camp and to take over the island as a private residence.

With the money from selling the lease, Richards established a multi-racial community by setting out houselots for weekend cabins across the Bay; it had mountains for hiking and the bay for swimming and the land between for the camp itself.  (Taylor)

He established a garden there (now the independent Friendship Garden;) later, the Dudley Talbott Trail was added (about half-mile loop through lower Kokokahi Valley mauka of Kāneʻohe Bay Drive. )

Camp Halekipa was established and later merged with Theodore Richards’ combined conference, camp and vacation home area for all Christians, and called Kokokahi as part of the YWCA.

In a time when it was the custom for communities to be segregated by race, Kokokahi was an unprecedented effort to breakdown racial barriers.  The YWCA national commitment to eliminating racism is in close harmony with Dr Richard’s.

The new camp offered conferences and camp outings for such diverse organizations as church groups, the University of Hawaiʻi sororities, the Salvation Army and Home Demonstration Clubs.

In 1936, the Juliette Atherton Trust built Atherton Hall on the YWCA property.  It overlooks Kāneʻohe Bay, with floor to ceiling glass doors and a lanai that wraps around the building.

Today, Atherton Hall is used for group retreats or meetings, as well as a site for weddings; it has a full catering kitchen.   Hale Nanea Lodge and nearby island-style cottages provide sleeping quarters for overflow.

Hale Nanea Lodge is a modern style lodge that can accommodate up to 60-guests in five dorm style rooms (with 12-camp-style single bunk beds per room.)  Hale Nanea is equipped with its own kitchen, meeting space and men’s and women’s restrooms.

Originally built in 1933, nearby cottages have camp-style single beds and bunk beds and share a common area restroom with showers.  The cottages have electricity and an outdoor picnic area with barbeque grills and sink.

During WWII, Kokokahi was used as a rest camp by the military.  In 1968, renovations were begun to include a physical education building for indoor classes, an arts and crafts facility, a large multipurpose building and a marina.

Fully renovated in 2001, Midkiff Gymnasium is a modern multi-purpose gym.  The unique sliding doors create an open air area, allowing ocean and mountain views.  The gym has a sports floor covering and a college regulation size basketball court.

Today, Kokokahi offers YWCA members a place to participate in cultural, educational and recreational activities together.

Located on Kāne’ohe Bay, member families have access to over 11-acres of waterfront property which includes a full-size gymnasium, a functional kitchen and dining area, a pool with locker rooms, overnight cabins and multiple classrooms and meeting spaces.  (Information here is from YWCA, Kokokahi.)

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William Edward Young

John and Eleanor Young had a family of five children: Annie Edith Young was born December 28, 1868 (in San Francisco), then in San Diego, Herbert Gray Young, on March 21, 1870; William Edward Young, on April 24, 1875; John Alexander ‘Jack’ Young, on January 2 1882; and Edgar Nelson Young, on July 21, 1885.

John’s father was a chair and cabinetmaker, and John followed in his father’s footsteps.  The family supplemented their income with produce from their garden; John often took the older boys fishing mackerel and bottom fish in San Diego Bay.

Eleanor Young developed rheumatoid arthritis when she was in her early forties.  She died on February 16, 1894 at age forty-five, leaving minor children Jack, 12, and Edgar, 10, and granddaughter Belle, 8.

John Young suffered from tuberculosis in the 1890s. After Eleanor died, he traveled extensively trying in vain to find a more suitable climate. He finally returned to San Diego. There, he died September 13, 1896 at age fifty-seven.

John Young’s sons, Herb and Will had a business in the summers of 1898 and 1899 at Catalina Island (the Island was then owned by the Banning Brothers).

They set up a concession to provide sightseeing excursion boats circling the Island and fishing for the tourists. They also got permission to take tourists out in glass-bottomed boats to view the fish and undersea creatures. It was a very successful venture.

Will was a good storyteller and kept the tourists amused, while Herb went diving under the boat and excited the fish. Once he found a hammerhead shark with a lot of curiosity. Herb played with the shark and put on a good show for the viewers who thought he might be in mortal danger. The glass-bottomed boat trips became very popular.

Then Herb and Will saw opportunity for business in Honolulu. Herb thought it looked good and persuaded Will to join him there in December. In January 1900, Herb and Will started Young Brothers.

They purchased a small launch, the Billy, and made a business running lines for the ships, delivering foodstuffs to the crews, and ferrying passengers. They were joined in October by their younger brother, John Alexander ‘Jack’ Young, who was then eighteen years old.

From their first days in Honolulu, the Young brothers were fascinated by the big sharks that infested the waters just outside the harbor where the garbage was dumped.

While the three brothers were involved in their daily harbor activities, they came to befriend boat captains, passengers and interested bystanders who were fascinated by tales of sharks, and more particularly whether they attacked humans.

This led to a small side-business in shark hunting that quickly earned William the nickname ‘Sharkey Bill.’ Fishing parties would he formed from among hotel guests, who were taken out on the Billy for a day of shark fishing.

“[W]e got the contract for towing garbage out and dumping it daily. But despite the numbers of horses ashore, only once in a while was a carcass available for our uses.”

“We had our best opportunity to study the sharks as they fought over the floating body, literally going into frenzies with snapping jaws and lashing tails, whipping the water white with foam.” (William Young)

“Little by little we began to suspect that there might be profit in our old friend the shark. Passengers and visitors were very curious about the tigers of the sea and often became rabid partisans, as they do to this day, over the question of whether sharks attack and eat human beings.”

“What would have been rather gruesome stories, save for the fact that they were matched by many in our own daily experience, were recounted to make or discredit a point.”

“Our opinions were sought, but we could not say for sure, never having actually seen a shark devour a man. But we could and did offer to take anyone shark fishing who wanted to go, and many went.”

“Our method was always the same, except when circumstances beyond our control arose, to which we had to adapt our [shark] hunting …”

“It was great sport to take a small party of fishermen out, and using a carcass for bait, attract sharks close enough to catch or kill.”

“But it does not attack at once. A shark is above all cautious, for all his curiosity. He swims around the carcass, sniffing and sizing up the situation.”

“He comes close to the boat and sticks up one cold, expressionless eye, and winks at us in his ghostly way. Then, once more he returns to the alluring meal spread so invitingly before him. He cannot seem to make up his mind. Finally he disappears.”

“Gone? Wait a bit and see. In twenty minutes or half an hour he is back, this time with four or five of his friends whom he has informed of the free meal that he found. They circle about, hungrily. … What is the matter, don’t they want it? Have patience, this is their custom.”

On February 27, 1904, Herbert Young caught a monster gray shark off Ewa in the harbor. Measuring fourteen feet long, it was the largest shark ever seen there. When opened, the stomach contained the remains of three big pigs and a quantity of horse flesh.

The body of one of the pigs was nearly intact and had apparently been just gulped down whole. The shark could easily have swallowed a man.

It was put on display at the Navy wharf. Then it was skinned by Fish Inspector Berndt and, after preparation, the skin was sent off to the fish commission as an outstanding specimen of gray shark.

On another adventure, “Professor PM Stewart who occupies one of the chairs of language in Cambridge University, England, has had an experience during his visit to Honolulu that probably never came to him before. He went shark fishing.”

“On Friday he caught a shark. His wife who has attracted much attention in this city on account of being a very tall striking looking blonde with very ultra English appearance, accompanied him and to catch the first shark.”

“He hooked one shark yesterday morning and drew the shark close to the boat and then started to dispatch the sea wolf with a spade.  The weapon was bent and then Professor Stewart took a hatchet to strike the monster. In his excitement the professor struck the line with the hatchet cutting the line and allowing the shark to escape.”

“Later in the day a second shark was caught near the bell buoy. This time the shark was dispatched without cutting the line and was towed in shore. The shark measured about 14 feet in length and was of the man eating variety.”

The boys “have hit on a new scheme for shark fishing. They are able now to take the sharks with a hook and line instead of harpooning them as was done formerly. Some very successful expeditious have been taken out by tile young men.”  (Hawaiian Star, June 2, 1906)

Shark jaws would sell for $5 apiece and were prized as souvenirs for mounting and display by members of the party, while the fins were taken away to be made into soup by the many Chinese who frequented the wharves.

On March 19, 1904, the Waikiki Aquarium opened.  “The land and the building at Waikiki were donated by prominent citizens, and the traction company had the job of maintenance.”

[William]I applied for the position of manager, having previously caught and tended many fish with Herb for the Aquarium at Catalina. My application was accepted, and so for a year I herded fish. I not only nursed, fed and attended to their wants, but also, with the help of a native fisherman, caught all the specimens exhibited in the building.”

“Many were caught within a stone-throw of the building wall. There were big ones, little ones, brilliantly colored tropical fish, squid, shark and surgeon fish, which carries the sheathed spine near his tail for a weapon.” (William Young)  He also continued to help run Young Brothers until the demands of Young Brothers compelled him to return full time.

William decided to make a little extra money by harpooning a large shark to show at the County Fair, held in Honolulu each September.

The Elks Club was in charge of the amusement concession, so for a booth rental of $60, William set up a display of a shark packed in ice and charged ten cents a look. By the end of the week, he had collected $1,500.

Herbert sold his interest in the Young Brothers business and went to the mainland to look for work as a diver.  Jack Young and Will Young incorporated the business in 1913 as Young Bros. Ltd; Will no longer took an active part in the business.

In the years that followed incorporation, it was necessary for the Young Brothers’ fleet to continue growing in order to meet the needs of business that paralleled the expanding territorial economy.

Will preferred to pursue his fascination with sharks and eventually left the islands for good in 1921 to become a well-known international shark hunter.

“A business proposition that looked promising came along about this time, but it meant that I would leave Honolulu for New York to be gone an indefinite time. Nothing of a business nature held me in Hawaii, and so I made arrangements to sail aboard the President Harrison.”

“I went aboard just as I had boarded all the big ships for so many years in the harbor, but this time there would be no hurried climb over the side to the towboat as the vessel swung out the channel. Once she had warped out of the dock, I was aboard for good, headed for the States and a new future.”

“Good-bye to Honolulu! A passenger at my elbow sighed and said, ‘I hate to go,’ which, I realized, summed up my case, but inadequately.”

William left Young Brothers in the hands of Jack, the last founding member of the company to remain in Hawai‘i. (Lots of information here is from William Young’s book Shark Shark, Young Brothers: 100 Years of Service, and a Young family background and genealogy.)

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