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October 18, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Drinking Smoke

Nicotiana tabacum was unknown in Europe when Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic. There he saw both men and women who ‘drank’ (or inhaled) the smoke of rolls of burning leaves. The use of tobacco spread quickly through Europe. (Le Couteur)

“For a long time, there was simply no name for what you did with tobacco. Only in the course of the seventeenth century did ‘smoking’ become a commonly used term. Up to that time it was compared with drinking – one spoke of ‘drinking smoke,’ (‘fog drinking’) and ‘drinking tobacco.’” (Stern)

In the Islands, tobacco cultivation dates at least to 1809, when Archibald Campbell observed ‘smoking tobacco is another luxury of which the natives are very fond.’ Don Francisco de Paula Marin planted tobacco on January 11, 1813.

Six years later, the use of tobacco was widespread. Chiefs, as well as their servants would pass a single pipe from one person to another. (Schmitt)

The island of Kauai is credited with the enterprise of first systematic attempts in tobacco growing (as it was in sugar, coffee and other agricultural effort), which was in 1851, possibly earlier.

Hanalei was the first tested locality, in which venture Messrs. Wundenburg, Bucholz and Gruben were the pioneers, followed very soon after by JR Opitz at Waimea.

“(T)obacco raised on these islands is said by the Mexicans and Californians to be of excellent quality. It certainly possesses a flavor superior to that of two-thirds of the cigars imported into our market. It will grow, I think, almost anywhere on these islands.” (Judge Robertson; Thrum)

However, they soon learned that “growing tobacco at Hanalei, on the island of Kauai, has proved a failure, and Messrs. Bucholz and Gruben who were engaged in the same business have removed to Waimea, and joined Mr Opitz.”

“It has been found that tobacco cannot be grown to any profit at Hanalei, owing to the great humidity of the soil, and luxuriant vegetation, which keeps the ground filled with destructive insects.” (Lee; The Polynesian, July 17, 1852)

“Wundenburg speaks of the growth of tobacco in the following terms. ‘I have been examining where tobacco will grow best, and have found that it is most advantageously cultivated in those very plaices, which are unfit for the growth of nearly every other thing.” (Lee; The Polynesian, July 17, 1852)

“I believe all the leeward sides of the islands contain many tracts of land exclusively fitted for its cultivation, but the windward sides never will furnish good places for the growth of tobacco, except on a few small spots in barren ravines, well sheltered from the high winds.”

“Where the tobacco grows the finest, as near Waimea on this island, only one good crop can be raised in a year.” (Wundenburg; Lee, The Polynesian, July 17, 1852)

The good news held true in the leeward side of the Island of Hawaiʻi. “The promising outlook attending the cultivation of tobacco on the island of Hawaiʻi must be very gratifying to the promoters and shareholders in the established plantations”.

“(T)he crops and returns therefrom this past year already exceeding the estimate set forth in launching the new enterprise, so as to warrant the extension of the planting area and curing barns for the scientific care and treatment of the leaf.”

“A shipment each of several tons leaf tobacco from the Kona and the Hawaii Tobacco Co’s this year, is reported to have met ready sale in New York at very satisfactory figures; the leaf being of excellent quality and well cured received favorable notice of eastern buyers.” (Thrum)

The Islands grew “four different kinds of tobacco in our field, and as some of them are much better than others”. (Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, 1854)

First, native tobacco – when tobacco was first introduced into these islands, there were two kinds cultivated by the natives, one with a large round leaf, and the other with a smaller and more pointed one.

Second, there were some plants from seeds introduced from Havana by Robert C Wyllie. Both in appearance and flavor, the tobacco bears a strong resemblance to the broad-leafed native kind, and none but one well acquainted with tobacco, could distinguish them.

Third, there were a few plants from seed sent us by William L Lee, procured by him from the NYSA Society. It has a very small, round and fine leaf, and a superior tobacco.

Fourth, seed sent by John Montgomery; the plant is so different from any other we have seen, that it was suppose it was from Manila. (Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, 1854)

Later, “Cooperative experiments with tobacco have been conducted on the island of Hawaii with the object of producing a type of tobacco that is especially adapted to Hawaiian conditions.” (USDA; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 19. 1904)

By November, 1908, there are three de facto tobacco growers in Hawaii, the Kona Tobacco Company, operating in Kona and Hāmākua, on the island of Hawaii, one farmer in south Kona, and one farmer in Hāmākua.

“Hawaiʻi’s competitors in the tobacco industry are Cuba, Sumatra, and possibly the Philippines, tropical countries only. … The superior burning qualities of the Hawaiian-grown Cuban leaf will sell it in any market, and four years out of five Cuban leaf will not burn. The maintenance of the present duties on tobacco are necessary if a tobacco industry is to be built up in Hawaiʻi.” (Tariff Hearings, House of Representatives, 1908-1909)

Things were looking up for the Kona crop … “A small quantity of the Kona leaf was sent to the Coat recently to be made up into cigars. These have just arrived and demonstrate beyond a doubt that the wrapper tobacco as grown in the Kona district has no superior not even shade grown Connecticut or the finest imported Sumatra.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 25, 1911)

“The source of commercial tobacco is a large, sticky-hairy annual herb to about 6 feet high, 3 native of tropical America. Since about 1812 it has been growing in Hawaii, where from 1908 to 1929 it was tried out on a large scale in Kona, Hawaiʻi, as a possible industry.” (In Gardens of Hawaii; Melrose)

A disastrous fire broke out in late 1912, completely destroying numerous company buildings and two years’ worth of tobacco stored in them. The company never recovered. With the advent of World War I then the Great Depression, tobacco slowly withered away in Kona. (Melrose)

October 17, 2025 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Ida May Pope

“Kamehameha Girls School Last Night – The first commencement of the Girls’ School took place in Kaumakapili Church last night before an audience of something like 2,000 people, the largest number ever gathered together in the native place of worship.”

“This very generous attendance showed the interest that the people of Honolulu have in the work that is being done by Miss Pope and her corps of worthy assistants.”

“Miss Pope’s work with the girls cannot be too highly praised, and she and her assistants may feel justly proud that they have sent forth into the world Hawaiian girls who are eminently capable to take their places as trainers of the young Hawaiians.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 6, 1897)

“These are the young ladies of the school who graduated this year: Lydia Aholo, Julia Akana, Kalei Ewaliko, Miriama Hale, Lewa Iokia, Helen Kahaleahu, Elizabeth Kahanu, Malie Kapali, Hattie Kekalohe, Elizabeth Kaliinoi, Keluia Kiwaha, Julia Lovell, Jessie Mahoahoa, Elizabeth Waiamau, and Aoe Wong Kong.” (Kuokoa, July 2, 1897)

Ida May Pope was born in Crestline, Ohio July 30, 1862 to Dr William and Cornelia Waring Pope. She was the third child among seven.

Though her father was a doctor, he also co-patented the Franz-Pope device “to provide an improved mechanism for taking up the slack of the yarn, which occurs in knitting the heels and toes of stockings.” (Franz and Pope)

Ms Pope “was a graduate of Oberlin University and for many months held a responsible position in one of the educational institutions at Columbus supported by the State of Ohio.”

Then, “in August 1890, Miss Ida M Pope left for Honolulu to accept a position in the Kawaiahaʻo seminary. This talented young lady is one of the most efficient teachers ever raised in this community.”

“Miss Pope remained a teacher in the seminary one year. The gentlemen in charge of the seminary appreciated her faithful efforts and appointed her principal of the institution.”

In 1893, Miss Pope was granted a vacation to visit some of the best industrial schools on the continent and was given authority to employ seven young ladies to assist in Kawaiahaʻo Seminary. The education work made rapid progress and the seminary was so successful that it was determined to increase the corps of teachers and add an industrial department to the work.

“Among the seven teachers employed are three well known to the citizens of this community, who left yesterday afternoon with Miss Pope. These are Miss Bertha Sears, Mrs Ida Sturgeon and Miss Jennie Denzer. … They will sail from San Francisco on August 17 and reach Honolulu August 24.” (Bucyrus (Ohio) Journal; Hawaiian Gazette, August 29, 1893)

Then, on December 19 1894, the second stage of establishing the Kamehameha Schools was accomplished when the Kamehameha School for Girls was begun. The site was on the makai of King Street opposite the campus of the then school for boys (across from what is now Farrington High School.)

The first principal of the school was Ida May Pope; she was a strong-minded, energetic Midwesterner who picked her own teachers; the first, like her, were all single women from the mainland.

“Pope set a tone to discipline the Hawaiianness of her girls. ‘Constant and consistent restraint is the way to control the careless, joyous, happy-go-lucky nature of the Hawaiian.’” (Broken Trust)

“The object of the school is to furnish a carefully arranged, practical education to Hawaiian girls of thirteen years of age and over, qualifying them for service at home, for wage-earning in some handicraft, or as teachers in the government schools. The number of pupils is limited to eighty.” (Pope; The Friend)

The school has offered two courses—an English and a Normal course. The schoolroom work includes drill in the common branches, algebra, Hawaiian and general history, literature, elementary science, embracing physiology, botany, zoology, chemistry and physics.

We hope to see a fruit orchard, where the mango, orange, lime, papaya, and pear will flourish, and a garden that will supply vegetables for the table and flowers in abundance.”

“We cannot make farmers of Hawaiian girls, but we can train them to beautify their homes and supply their tables with flowers, fruit, and vegetables raised by their labor; and we can give them an insight into the keeping and caring for well-ordered homes and grounds.”

“The general housework of the school – cooking, laundering, and the care of public and private rooms – is done by the pupils. Games—tennis, croquet, basket and tower ball, afford ample relaxation and recreation. Mondays are holidays. Saturday evenings the pupils gather in the assembly hall or gymnasium for literary or social entertainments.” (Pope; The Friend)

Pope was referred to by the girls as Mother Pope or Mama Pope. During the last few years of her life, she also took on personal responsibility for a young child. The girl, Gladys, was the only daughter in a household with five older sons. Pope took Gladys as her hānai daughter (we knew her as Gladys Brandt (1906-2003.))

Miss Ida May Pope died on July 14, 1914, while on a teacher recruiting trip. “The death of Miss Pope is an irretrievable loss to the Kamehameha Schools and to the Hawaiian race.” (Albert F Judd)

“She gave herself to the cause of mothering Hawaiian girls, so many of whom had no real mothers. In this service she never spared herself and to it she sacrificed her life.” (LC Hudson)

October 16, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Public Access on Beaches and Shorelines

State law states that the right of access to Hawaii’s shorelines includes the right of transit along the shorelines. (HRS §115-4)

The right of transit along the shoreline exists below (seaward of) the private property line (generally referred to as the “upper reaches of the wash of waves, usually evidenced by the edge of vegetation or by the debris left by the wash of waves.”) (HRS §115-5)

However, in areas of cliffs or areas where the nature of the topography is such that there is no reasonably safe transit for the public along the shoreline below the private property lines, the counties by condemnation may establish along the makai boundaries of the property lines public transit corridors (not less than six feet wide.) (HRS §115-5)

Generally, the Counties have the primary authority and duty to develop and maintain public access to and along the shorelines. (HRS Secs 46-6.5, 115-5 & 115-7)

The State’s primary role in the shoreline area is to preserve and protect coastal resources within the conservation district and support public access along and below the shoreline. (HRS Chap. 205A)

When the shoreline erodes, lateral access is not lost; instead, the State’s acquires title to the newly eroded lands. (Application of Sanborn, 57 Haw. 585, 562 P.2d 771 (1997)) In other words, the public continues to have access along the shoreline to the upper reaches of the wash of the waves.

There is a specific situation related to ownership of beach areas; it is a special circumstance in Waikiki that dates back to 1928.

Waikiki is a ‘built’ beach. Over the last 100-years it has been built primarily in two ways, (1) construction of walls and groins in the nearshore waters and (2) beach nourishment/replenishment (adding sand to the beach.)

Between 1913-1919, the majority of Waikiki had seawalls; they were placed to protect roadways and new buildings. The beach was lost fronting Kūhiō and Queen’s Beach.

In 1927, the Territorial Legislature authorized Act 273 allowing the Board of Harbor Commissioners to rebuild the eroded beach at Waikiki.

In 1928, the Territory of Hawaiʻi entered into a “Waikiki Beach Reclamation” agreement with several of the beachfront property owners.

Effectively, the agreement authorized the Territory to build a beach from the existing high water mark fronting the shoreline from the Ala Wai to the Elks Club.

The new beach was “deemed to be natural accretion attached to the abutting property, and title thereto shall immediately vest in the owner or owners of the property abutting thereon”.

In exchange, the property owners agreed not to build anything “within seventy-five (75) feet of mean highwater mark of said beach” and “at no time prevent such beach in front of their respective premises from being kept open for the use of the public as a bathing beach and for passing over”.

As part of the 1928 Beach Agreement, eleven groins composed of hollow tongue and concrete blocks were built along Waikiki Beach with the intent of capturing sand. (SOEST)

A lot of the sand to build the beach was brought in to Waikiki Beach, via ship and barge, from Manhattan Beach, California in the 1920s and 1930s.

As the Manhattan Beach community was developing, it found that excess sand in the beach dunes and it was getting in the way of development there. At the same time, folks in Hawai‘i were in need for sand to cover the rock and coral beach at Waikiki.

Kuhn Bros. Construction Co supplied the sand; they would haul the sand up from Manhattan Beach, load it onto railroad cars, have it transported to the harbor in San Pedro and shipped by barge or ship to Hawai‘i. (Dalton)

Since 1929, about 616,500 cubic yards of sand have been used to enlarge and replenish Waikiki Beach between Fort DeRussy and Kuhio Beach, but every year more erodes away. Little new sand has been added since the 1970s. (DLNR)

When I was at DLNR, we initiated a demonstration project to move nearshore sand back on to the beach. In 2006, DLNR spent $500,000 to siphon 10,000 cubic yards of offshore sand – this was the largest replenishment effort of Waikiki’s beaches in more than 30 years.

It worked; then, a larger project was implemented. Early in 2012, a larger-scale replenishment project pumped sand from 2,000 feet off Waikiki to fill in the shrinking beach. Later, other replenishment projects occurred.

The 2006 demonstration project and the subsequent replenishment activity were really recycling projects, because the sand now settled offshore was brought in years ago to fill out the beach.

October 15, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kuahewa

At about the same time of Christopher Columbus crossing the Atlantic to America, ʻUmi-a-Liloa (ʻUmi) from Waipiʻo, son of Liloa, defeated Kona chief Ehunuikaimalino and united the island of Hawai‘i. He then moved his Royal Center from Waipi‘o to Kona.

At about the time of ʻUmi, a significant new form of agriculture was developed in Kona; he is credited with starting it. Today, archaeologists call the unique method of farming in this area the “Kona Field System.”

The Kona Field System was planted in long, narrow fields that ran across the contours, along the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualalai. As rainfall increases rapidly as you go up the side of Hualalai, the long fields allowed farmers to plant different crops according to the rainfall gradients.

General zones within the area were: Kula (plain, open country, Coast–500 feet – sweet potato, wauke;) Kalu or Kaluʻulu (luxuriant, 500–1000 feet – breadfruit, wauke and sweet potato;) ʻApaʻa (dry zone, 1000–2500 feet – taro, sweet potato, sugarcane, ti and banana;) and ʻAmaʻu or ʻAmaʻumaʻu (upland/fern zone, 2000–3000 feet – banana and fern.) (Allen)

Fast forward 300-years … Kamehameha, who had resided on Oʻahu since 1804, moved to Kamakahonu in 1812 at what is now known as Kailua on Hawaiʻi Island. He built Ahuʻena Heiau on the foundation of an older heiau (the former probably dating back to ʻUmi and his father Liloa.) (Kirch)

According to John Papa ʻIʻi, in addition to Ahuʻena Heiau and other structures associated with his court at Kamakahonu, Kamehameha “…built another house, a hale nana mahinaʻai, on the seaward side of Keawe a Mahi’s residence from which to observe the farm lands.”

“Facing directly upland toward Kuahewa, this house was like an observation post, for the site he first been built up high with stones. It was located on the west side of Ahuʻena, a heiau that stood beside Kamakahonu, on a spot where canoes could be seen coming from South Kona and from the vicinity of Kailua in North Kona.” (Ahuʻena)

Kuahewa (huge, vast) was Kamehameha’s farm situated above Kailua, (probably between the ahupuaʻa of Lanihau and Keopu.)

“Kuahewa is a place from which one obtains an unobstructed view. All the surrounding country, extending down to the seashore, is visible when one looks from there. The cold, gentle breeze (Kehau) and the rain are its drawbacks.” (Toketa Journal)

“(W)e entered the bread fruit plantations whose spreading trees with beautiful foliage were scattered about (3-miles) from the shore along the side of the mountain as far as we could see on both sides.”

“Here the country began to assume a pleasant and fertile appearance through which we continued our ascent for about two miles further, surrounded by plantations of the esculent roots and vegetables of the country, industriously cultivated, till we came to the uppermost village consisting of a few scattered huts.” (Menzies, 1792)

Kamehameha himself worked as a farmer at Kuahewa and he enacted the law that anyone who took one taro or one stalk of sugarcane must plant one cutting of the same in its place. (Rechtman)

John Papa ʻIʻi, who as a boy of 12, was a member of the royal court when Kamehameha returned to Kona in 1812. This was at a time of famine according to ʻIʻi, and members of the king’s household were supervising the clearing of Kuahewa, “a huge farm” located in the ʻamaʻumaʻu fern belt above Kailua Bay.

ʻIʻi lived here for a while, helping in the work by cutting fern fronds and clearing underbrush by hand. Taro cuttings for planting at Kuahewa were brought from the uplands of ahupua’a of Puaʻa. (Kelly)

Kuahewa was “about five miles in the rear of Kailua village, and at an elevation of about fifteen hundred feet on the western side of the volcanic mountain, Hualalai, where they thought the temperature as favorable as that of Hilo.”

“We found it very rurally situated, near the native huts on one side, and the forest on the other, and in the midst of plantations of sugar cane, bananas, potatoes, squashes, and melons, and upland kalo, where vegetation was unusually luxuriant.”

“The temperature was agreeable: the mercury in Farenheit ranged from 59° to 74°, the average for two months being 68°, or ten degrees lower than at Kailua, Lahaina, and Honolulu, at the same time.”

“The land breeze by night, and the sea breeze by day, were pleasant and refreshing. The latter brought to our ears the roar of many waters, as from the sea they dashed their surges upon the shores, from five to eight miles distant”. (Hiram Bingham, 1827 – Bingham’s distance estimate is probably over estimated.)

“This field was famous for its great extent and the fact of its being away in the uplands. Ten divisions of land were included in this field of Kuahewa. (Ualakaʻa was another famous field belonging to Kamehameha, so noted on account of its great size and bountiful production of potatoes. It was located up in Manoa, Oʻahu.) (Fornander)

Kuahewa passed to Kuakini. In his youth, Kuakini had been a close companion of Kamehameha, and after the return to Hawaiʻi Island, served the king as his representative in meeting foreign ships that came to Kona. He continued in that capacity for Liholiho.

In 1822, Kuakini undertook the clearing and replanting of Kuahewa, which apparently had been in fallow for some time. Under Kuakini’s supervision, in two days a company of some 40 men cleared eight ʻili sections of the farm for the planting of taro. (Barrere)

“We prepared to go to cultivate the field known as Kuahewa, a naturally fertilized field (Mahakea) formerly used by Kamehameha. Kuakini is undertaking to cultivate this field for the first time. They (Kuakini and his people) have long intended to cultivate this field, but have only now begun.”

“Hawaiʻi’s principle subject of discussion, day and night, is farming. The only salvation of the people is to continue farming, but to do the work half-way means death, as there is no other source of livelihood.”

“The people of Hawaiʻi are very strong, and cultivate the land industriously. Other countries dare not challenge Hawaiʻi in farming. Farming on the lava, (ʻaʻa) is persisted in. The subject most talked about by the people is farming.” (Toketa Journal)

The Thurston drawing, ‘View of the Country Back of Kailua,’ depicts what appears to be a large walled farm in either the upper portion of the ʻapaʻa, or in the lower ʻamaʻu zone. This may be the site of the Kuahewa gardens.

The site is unusually large compared with other gardens. It is unique in that it is walled, oriented laterally, and appears to contain two houses within its walls. In general, it seems to be a special place, which indeed Kuahewa was. (Kelly)

October 14, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Adventures of a University Lecturer

Hiram Bingham III was born in Honolulu, on November 19, 1875, to Hiram Bingham II, an early Protestant missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

He was the grandson of Hiram Bingham I, who in 1820 was the leader of the Pioneer Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi.

He attended Punahou School and ultimately earned degrees from Yale University, University of California-Berkeley and Harvard University.

In 1900 at the age of 25, Hiram III married Alfreda Mitchell, heiress of the Tiffany and Co fortune through her maternal grandfather Charles L Tiffany. With this financial stability he was able to focus on his future explorations.

He taught history and politics at Harvard and then was a lecturer and subsequently professor in South American history at Yale University.

In 1908, he served as delegate to the First Pan American Scientific Congress at Santiago, Chile. On his way home via Peru, a local prefect convinced him to visit the pre-Columbian city of Choquequirao.

Hiram III was not a trained archaeologist, but was thrilled by the prospect of unexplored cities. He returned to the Andes with the Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911.

“The first day out from Cuzco saw us in Urubamba, the capital of a province, a modern town charmingly located a few miles below Yucay, which was famous for being the most highly prized winter resort of the Cuzco Incas.”

“Its ancient fortress, perched on a rocky eminence that commands a magnificent view up and down the valley, is still one of the most attractive ancient monuments in America.”

Continuing on down the valley over a newly constructed government trail, we found ourselves in a wonderful cañon. So lofty are the peaks on either side that although the trail was frequently shadowed by dense tropical jungle, many of the mountains were capped with snow, and some of them had glaciers. There is no valley in South America that has such varied beauties and so many charms.” (Bingham; National Geographic)

“We camped a few rods away from the owner’s grass-thatched hut, and it was not long before he came to visit us and to inquire our business. He turned out to be an Indian rather better than the average, but overfond of ‘fire-water.’”

“His occupation consisted in selling grass and pasturage to passing travelers and in occasionally providing them with ardent spirits. He said that on top of the magnificent precipices nearby there were some ruins at a place called Machu Picchu”.

“He offered to show me the ruins, which he had once visited, if I would pay him well for his services. His idea of proper payment was 50 cents for his day’s labor. This did not seem unreasonable, although it was two and one-half times his usual day’s wage.” (Bingham; National Geographic)

On July 24, 1911, Hiram Bingham III rediscovered the ‘Lost City’ of Machu Picchu (which had been largely forgotten by everybody except the small number of people living in the immediate valley.)

“(W)e found ourselves in the midst of a tropical forest, beneath the shade of whose trees we could make out a maze of ancient walls, the ruins of buildings made of blocks of granite, some of which were beautifully fitted together in the most refined style of Inca architecture.”

“A few rods farther along we came to a little open space, on which were two splendid temples or palaces. The superior character of the stone work, the presence of these splendid edifices, and of what appeared to be an unusually large number of finely constructed stone dwellings, led me to believe that Machu Picchu might prove to be the largest and most important ruin discovered in South America since the days of the Spanish conquest.” (Bingham; National Geographic)

His book “Lost City of the Incas” became a bestseller upon its publication in 1948; he also wrote “Across South America” (an account of his journey from Buenos Aires to Lima, with notes on Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru.)

After his return to the United States, he attained the rank of Captain in the Connecticut National Guard.

He eventually became an aviator and organized the United States Schools of Military Aeronautics to provide ground school training for aviation cadets, as well as commanded an aviator school in France.

Hiram III was elected governor of Connecticut in 1924; he was also a US Senator.

‘Lost City of the Incas’ and Hiram III have been noted as a source of inspiration for the story and ‘Indiana Jones’ character.

Hiram Bingham I (reportedly a basis for James Michener’s Abner Hale character in ‘Hawaii’) is my great-great-great grandfather and Hiram III is my great-great uncle.