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May 13, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kahakuloa

There were several major population centers on the Island of Maui: Kahakuloa (West Maui) region; the deep watered valleys of Nā Wai ‘Ehā (Waiheʻe, Wai‘ehu, Wailuku and Waikapū;) the ‘Olowalu to Honokōhau region of Lāhainā; the Kula – ʻUlupalakua region and the Koʻolau – Hana region. (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Kahakuloa is a valley that sits between Nā Hono A Piʻilani, The Bays of Piʻilani (aka Honoapiʻilani – the six hono bays (uniting of the bays:) from South to North, Honokōwai (bay drawing fresh water), Honokeana (cave bay), Honokahua (sites bay,) Honolua (two bays), Honokōhau (bay drawing dew) and Hononana (animated bay) to the West) and Na Wai ʻEha to the East.

The importance of the region is reflected by the number of heiau that were reportedly present in precontact times. There were a total of seven heiau that were recorded in the Kahakuloa area. These heiau included Hononana, Kaneaola, Kuewa, Keahialoa, Pakai, Waipiliamoo and Kukuipuka. (Kukuipuka heiau was reported to have been a place of refuge for West Maui.) (Xamanek)

According to Handy the name Kahakuloa refers to a small and famous loʻi about one-half-mile inland in the bottom of Kahakuloa Valley.

This irrigated kalo patch belonged to the haku or lord of the land. Because of the isolation of the area, the haku became known as the “far away master” – ka haku loa. Kahakuloa was “one of the most genuinely native communities still extant in the islands [with] a population of about 20 families, all Hawaiian and all taro planters.” (Xamanek)

Descriptions differ on whether Kahakuloa is an ahupuaʻa or another type of land division. The island (mokupuni that is surrounded by water) is the main division. Islands were divided into sections within the island called moku; typically, there was a Kona on the lee side and one called Koʻolau on the windward side of almost every island.

These districts were further divided into ʻokana or kalana (smaller districts.) The next subdivision of land is the ahupua’a, which has been termed the basic unit of land in the Hawaiian system. Portions of ahupuaʻa were called ʻili.)

The region as Kahakuloa was known for extensive taro loʻi (irrigated taro cultivation.) Here the taro that grew in the sacred patch of the aliʻi was reputed to be of great size. (Maly) In addition, it was known for ʻUala (sweet potato cultivation.)

The Māhele land records indicate that much of the lands here were Crown lands with several properties going to Victoria Kamāmalu (daughter of Kīnaʻu, the wife of Kamehameha II) and a number of small awards were granted in the Kahakuloa Village region; many of these awards were granted for taro loʻi cultivation.

During the mid-1800s, a large portion of the surrounding region was used for sugar cane and macadamia nut agriculture, as well as extensive cattle grazing.

Haiku Fruit and Packing Co. utilized some lands in Kahakuloa to grow pineapple. Pineapple production in this part of Maui went into decline after the Great Depression in the 1930s and appeared to have ceased by the 1960s.

Kahakuloa is a small isolated village at the end of a valley – it is described to be a “cultural kīpuka that survived the onslaught of development after Hawaiʻi became a state.” (McGregor)

Standing tall and overlooking the coastal shoreline is Kahakuloa Head, 636-feet high and known historically for a King Kahekili’s Leap.

During the late-18th century, Maui chief Kahekili, a rival of Kamehameha, was known for many legendary feats in the ancient Hawaiian sport of lele kawa (to leap feet first from a cliff into water without splashing.) Legend says that in the early morning, the King would climb up the hill and “leap” into the ocean below from about the 200 foot height.

Access continues to be limited to this area (some suggest rental car agencies do not allow rentals to attempt to traverse the region.)

Coming from the West, you start on Honoapiʻilani Highway (Highway 30 – with ascending mile markers,) but as you travel through, the road transforms to Kahekili Highway (Highway 340 – with descending mileage markers.)

A lot of the way is single file on a single lane road – often without makai barriers. There are hairpin turns, steep ocean-side drops and narrow one-lane sections. Along the way are the Bell Stone, Olivine Pools and Nakalele Blowhole; in the valley is the Kahakuloa Congregational Church, founded in 1887.

May 12, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

George Robert Carter

George Robert Carter was born on December 28, 1866 in Honolulu, his mother was Sybil Augusta Judd (1843–1906,) daughter of Gerrit P. Judd, and his father was businessman Henry Alpheus Peirce Carter.

“His grandfather was Oliver Carter, an American sea captain engaged in the whaling industry, who first came to Honolulu during one of his whaling voyages in the late twenties or early thirties of the last century, and settled here in the thirties.” (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904)

“Carter went to school first in Nuʻuanu Valley … later he attended St. Alban’s College (forerunner to ʻIolani) and attended Fort Street School (which eventually became McKinley High School.)” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 24, 1903)

From the Honolulu schools Carter went to Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, and graduating there in 1885, entered the Sheffield Scientific school of Yale University where he finished a three years’ course in 1888.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 24, 1903)

“Carter, always took a healthy interest in athletic sports and while at Yale was a member of the Varsity football teams of ’86, ’87 and ’88 and was also a member of the Yale boat crews of ’87 and ’88.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 24, 1903)

He formed a rowing club with a few friends, including a friend from Hawaii Hiram Bingham III (my great uncle.) (Yale-edu) (Hiram Bingham III married into the Tiffany fortune, taught history and politics, and on July 24, 1911 rediscovered the “Lost City” of Machu Picchu – and, reportedly, was the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character.)

Carter married Helen Strong, daughter of Eastman Kodak president Henry A Strong on April 19, 1892. They had four children: Elizabeth (born August 25, 1895), Phoebe (born September 27, 1897), a daughter who died on June 17, 1903, and George Robert, Jr. (born November 10, 1905).

In 1895 Carter returned to Hawaiʻi to become the cashier of C Brewer & Co., where his father had been a senior partner from 1862 to 1874. From 1898 to 1902, he helped organize and manage the Hawaiian Trust Company, and was managing director of the Hawaiian Fertilizer Company. In addition, he served as a director for Bank of Hawaii, C. Brewer and Alexander & Baldwin.

Carter was elected to the Hawaii Territorial Senate, representing Oʻahu, in 1901. While a territorial senator, he was sent to Washington as an unofficial agent to discuss territorial matters with President Teddy Roosevelt.

Roosevelt later appointed Carter Secretary of the Territory in 1902 and then Territorial Governor in 1903, succeeding Sanford B. Dole who resigned to become a federal judge (Carter was Governor from 1903 – 1907.) (Yale-edu)

In 1905, during Carter’s administration, the current system of county governments was created; the five county governments (Oʻahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi and Kalawao) took effect on January 1, 1906. (Oʻahu County later became the City and County of Honolulu in 1909.)

In the late-1920s, Carter built ‘Lihiwai’ (water’s edge) with 26 major rooms and over 26,000-square feet under roof, it is reportedly “the largest and finest private residence ever constructed in Hawaiʻi (with the exception of ʻIolani Palace.)” (NPS)

Two waterways (an ʻauwai and Nuʻuanu Stream) flow through the property, thus the property’s name. You cross the ʻauwai over a coral bridge.

Completed in 1928 (and occupied by the Carters from 1928-1945,) the home was designed by Hardie Phillip (he was the architect for the Honolulu Academy of Arts (built at the same time (1927-28), and the C. Brewer and Co. Building (1929.))

The entire building is built of shaped bluestone set in concrete and steel reinforced cement, and all the perimeter walls are 2 – 3-feet thick with the exception of the end walls, which are 6-feet thick.

Originally, the building was connected to two smaller structures — by a breezeway on the eastern side and by the porte-cochere on the western side (these structures were separated in 1957.)

The roof over the front portion of the house is a double pitched hipped style roof made of flat Spanish terracotta tiles. The beams in the attic that support the roof are all steel I beams, and the hand carved eave beams (and supporting wood) are all teak. One concrete chimney rises from the roof and serves all 3 interior fireplaces.

The floors of the vestibule, downstairs foyer, upstairs foyer, upstairs hallways, and upstairs rear balcony are made of stone. The drawing room floors are ʻōhiʻa (ʻŌhiʻa lehua) parquet, and the formal dining room, music room, and upstairs bedrooms and guest suites have ʻōhiʻa strip flooring; slate is in other rooms.

The property was originally 10-acres, all professionally landscaped, but the estate was subdivided and sold in 1945 after the death of Helen Strong Carter. Today, the property includes the original house on a little over 1-acre.

Carter died February 11, 1933; he is buried at Oʻahu Cemetery. (Lots of information from Yale-edu and NPS.)

May 11, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

KGU

What is thought to have been the earliest broadcast of music and speech in the Territory occurred around October 1920 when Marion Mulrony and TC Hall transmitted nearly an hour of talk and records from the Electric Shop in downtown Honolulu to the Pacific Heights home of their only known listeners, Tong Phong and his family. (Schmitt)

Mulrony came to the Islands after a stint in Australia where he initially was the wireless operator on the RMS Makura. In April 1910, Mulrony claimed a record transmission from the RMS Makura of 2,080 miles to North Vancouver. He was later general Manager of Maritime Wireless.

On the continent, Westinghouse, one of the leading radio manufacturers, had an idea for selling more radios: It would offer programming. Radio began as a one-to-one method of communication, so this was a novel idea.

Dr Frank Conrad was a Pittsburgh area ham operator. He frequently played records over the airwaves for the benefit of his friends. This was just the sort of thing Westinghouse had in mind, and it asked Conrad to help set up a regularly transmitting station in Pittsburgh.

On November 2, 1920, station KDKA made the nation’s first commercial broadcast (a term coined by Conrad himself). They chose that date because it was election day, and the power of radio was proven when people could hear the results of the Harding-Cox presidential race before they read about it in the newspaper. (PBS)

Then, “Hello, hello” was blurted out over KGU at 10:57 am, May 11, 1922 – it was the first commercial radio broadcast in the Islands. (Territorial Airwaves)

The first scheduled program on KGU was a concert aired from 7:30 to 9:00 that evening. It began with a violin solo by Kathleen Parlow, Ave Maria, and closed with selections by Johnny Noble’s jazz orchestra. (Schmitt)

Mulrony had obtained the first license to construct a commercial radio station in the Hawaiian Islands. He was the first to broadcast over KGU. KDYX was the second, getting on the Hawaiian airwaves at 11:12 am with “Aloha.” (Territorial Airwaves)

Back then, radio stations were owned by the newspapers. KGU was owned by the Advertising Publishing Company and its transmitter was located in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper building; the Star-Bulletin’ radio went by the KDYX call letters. (KDYX later became known as KGMB.)

KGU and KGMB were the only commercial broadcast stations on O‘ahu until after World War II. Within a few months of the war’s end, KHON, KPOA and KULA came on the air using surplus military radio equipment. (Sigall)

Call letters were originally created so telegraph operators could send messages to ships and other parties without having to spell out the entire name of the recipient with every communication. With the advent of radio, they became an easy way to carve out a station’s identity.

The international assignment of call letters was codified in 1912 at the London International Radiotelegraphic Conference. German channels would begin with A or D (for Deutschland) or use KAA to KCZ. British stations would start with a B or M, while French channels would use the letter F.

The United States received the letters KDA to KZZ, as well as N (used for Navy and Coast Guard stations), and W. In 1929, it received the rest of the K combinations, which had originally been allocated to Germany. (New York Times)

When the US began licensing radio stations in late 1912, from the start the policy has been that stations in the west normally got K calls, while W calls were issued to stations in the east. (Initially ship stations were the reverse, with W assignments in the west, and K in the east.)

The original K/W boundary ran north from the Texas-New Mexico border, so at first stations along the Gulf of Mexico and northward were assigned W calls. It was only in late January, 1923 that the K/W boundary was shifted east to the current boundary of the Mississippi River.

With this change, Ks were assigned to most new stations west of the Mississippi, however, existing W stations located west of the Mississippi were allowed to keep their now non-standard calls.

May 10, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Maui, 1819

“We left Owhyhee on the 15th of August, at four in the morning, with a very light breeze, which, however, freshened up during the morning. We coasted along Taourae, a barren island, flat, and moderately elevated, on which was not the slightest appearance of vegetation.”

“The soil is reddish and furrowed at intervals. The island is desert and uninhabited; some breakers extend beyond its western point. On doubling this, we discovered the small rock of Morikini, from whose summit rises a lofty column of smoke, which would have induced us to suspect there was a volcano under it; the pilots on board, assured us, however; that this was not the case.”

“That part of the North-East coast of Mowhee which we were able to distinguish, appeared to me to be extremely barren; high mountains, separated by a neck of low land, divide it in two parts.”

“The Western coast is bold, and the volcanic rocks which rise above it are cut into sharp angles, forming deep ravines and frightful declivities.”

“When the clouds, which are driven by contrary winds rising from these caverns, and disputing their possession, float over the verdant summits of these mournful heights, the reflection of the light, and the lively tints bestowed on them by the sun, in contrast with the dark and stormy points of the horizon, form a landscape at once harmonious and terrific.”

“Some elevated springs, fed no doubt by the humidity contained in the surrounding vapours, give a degree of animation to these pointed rocks, which might almost be taken for the realm of the dead. The base of this mountain, which somewhat resembles our Canigou, is dry and barren, without the smallest trace of that verdure which crowns its summit.”

“As soon, however, as the South-West part of the island had been coasted for a little time, and we approached the North, a vigorous vegetation began to show itself, together with banana and other trees, which give life to the scene, and awaken pleasing sensations in the mind of the navigator.”

“From the perpendicular of the most lofty summit of the great mountain, to the North-West point of the island, and even beyond that, the country is quite delightful …”

“… so that it was with extreme pleasure we beheld the anchor drop in the harbour of Lahaina, that we might enjoy the prospect, which appeared the more brilliant, from the other objects that surround this part of Mowhee, as well as the isles which enclose its bay, being barren and repulsive.”

“A chain of breakers extends the whole length of the coast. The anchor is however cast at one or two cables’ length distance, without incurring the least danger, although sudden gusts of wind arise here frequently, and blow with great violence.”

“The group of islands which surrounds this bay will not permit the sea to run very high; and the bottom being very good, tends to banish every apprehension.”

“The observatory has been fixed on a small stone elevation, close to a house built of masonry, belonging to the King; richly tufted shrubs and beautiful cocoa-nut trees create an agreeable freshness.”

“While the astronomers are observing the heavens, let us range through the country; we shall certainly not find so much majesty there; but the variety and beauty of the scene will repay us with interest.”

“The environs of Lahaina are like a garden. It would be difficult to find a soil more fertile, or a people who could turn it to greater advantage; little path-ways sufficiently raised, and kept in excellent condition, serve as communications between the different estates.”

“These are frequently divided by trenches, through which a fresh and limpid stream flows tranquilly, giving life to the plantations, the sole riches of the country.”

“Hollow squares, of the depth of two, three, and sometimes four feet, nourish various sorts of vegetables and plants; amongst which we distinguish the Caribee-cabbage, named here taro; double rows of banana, bread-fruit, cocoa-nut, palma-christi, and the paper-mulberry trees intercept the rays of the sun, and allow you to walk at mid-day.”

“Every cabin has its enclosure, and every enclosure is well taken care of; it seems to suffice for the wants of the family.”

“Here, the father turns the ground with his long staff of red or sandal wood; there, the son clears the soil of weeds, and prepares the dinner; farther off the mother is seated at the door of her hut, and weaves the stuff with which she clothes herself, whilst her youthful daughter, unincumbered with drapery, is seated by her side, and tempts you by her unsophisticated caresses.”

“The space cultivated by the natives of Lahaina is about three leagues in length, and one in its greatest breadth. Beyond this, all is dry and barren; every thing recals the image of desolation.”

“Nevertheless, the soil and its resources are the same; whence therefore this apparently culpable neglect? It is a natural consequence of the mode of reasoning adopted by these people; they have all that is necessary at hand, what advantage would there be in seeking superfluities from afar? … Superfluities are thrown away on these people.”

“Twenty acres of land will not produce them a better dinner than their square of taro.”

“It is so rare to see ships put in here, that the hope of their arrival, and the ennui of disappointed expectation, would more than counterbalance all the advantages which they might procure by bartering.”

“Let us, therefore, leave these good people to their early habits and natural inclinations; why teach them desires and wants? If repose, comfort, tranquillity and pleasure constitute happiness, they are happy; what do they want more?”

“Would you propose to give them in exchange for these, interest, the love of glory, avarice, jealousy, and all the passions of which they are now ignorant, and which prevail in our wiser Europe? They will laugh at you, and, leaving you to your prejudices, return gaily to their own lowly huts.”

“I have here remarked the same customs, and the same tastes, the same gaiety and benevolence, as at Owhyhee. Are the natives of Woahoo equally happy?”

“During one of my late excursions, hearing loud cries proceeding from a small enclosure that I had just passed, several of my companions hastened with me to the spot, where we saw a young female seated on the ground, surrounded by about fifteen women, who were rubbing her with great violence, breaking forth at the same time into loud cries …”

“… approaching, with an air of sympathy, we inquired the cause of this general sorrow; their tears ceased, and they told us they were endeavouring to cure a sick person, whom these cries would restore to health: upon which, the lamentations recommenced with more ardour than ever.”

“With us, such a process would soon put an end to a patient; but here the louder the groans, the more efficacious the remedy. The most remarkable peculiarity in these scenes of desolation is, that when the parties are weary of crying, they become silent; then chat and laugh, and begin to roar in a moment after; such was the case in this instance.”

“These macerations, and some indigenous roots, are the only remedies in use here: surgery has not made greater progress than medicine; and I do not think the Bordeaux doctor will extend their progress greatly.”

“The tears shed for the restoration of this young sufferer, and for the death of Tammeamah, are the only ones I have seen flow in the Sandwich Islands. Have our own tears generally, or frequently, a source equally noble and innocent?”

All is from ‘Narrative of a Voyage Round the World’ by Jacques Arago (March 6, 1790 – November 27, 1855), a French writer, artist and explorer who joined Louis de Freycinet on his 1817 voyage around the world aboard the ship Uranie.

Maui_Nui-SP_Kalama-1838-Maui

May 9, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Thirteen Colonies

After numerous conquests by the Spanish and French, in 1578 Humphrey Gilbert, the author of a treatise on the search for the Northwest Passage, received a patent from Queen Elizabeth to colonize the “heathen and barbarous landes” in the New World which other European nations had not yet claimed. It would be five years before his efforts could begin. When he was lost at sea, his half-brother, Walter Raleigh, took up the mission.

In 1585 Raleigh established the first British colony in North America with a group of colonists (91 men, 17 women and nine children) on Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina. The first act was to restore to their friends the two Indians who had been previously taken to England.

The colony was later abandoned. Sir Walter Raleigh fitted out another colony, which sailed in the spring of 1587; the second effort also proved a failure. Mysteriously, by 1590 the Roanoke colony had vanished entirely. Historians still do not know what became of its inhabitants.

The failure that attended all these efforts of the hopeful and energetic Raleigh was probably due, if not wholly, to the fact that he did not himself accompany and command any of his expeditions. And, the main reason that he did not go with the ships was, that he was a great favorite with Queen Elizabeth, and she was not willing to let him risk himself in such adventures. (Johnson)

British First Success at Jamestown

It would be 20 years before the British would try again. This time – at Jamestown in 1607 – the colony would succeed, and North America would enter a new era. (Alonzo L Hamby)

The early 1600s saw the beginning of a great tide of emigration from Europe to North America. Spanning more than three centuries, this movement grew from a trickle of a few hundred English colonists to a flood of millions of newcomers. Impelled by powerful and diverse motivations, they built a new civilization on the northern part of the continent.

Most European emigrants left their homelands to escape political oppression, to seek the freedom to practice their religion, or for adventure and opportunities denied them at home.

In 1606, King James I divided the Atlantic seaboard in two, giving the southern half to the London Company (later the Virginia Company) and the northern half to the Plymouth Company.

Just a few months after James I issued its charter, the London Company sent 144 men to Virginia on three ships: the Godspeed, the Discovery and the Susan Constant. They reached the Chesapeake Bay in the spring of 1607 and headed about 60 miles up the James River, where they built a settlement they called Jamestown.

Then, the first English emigrants to what would become the New England colonies were a small group of religious separatists, later called the Pilgrims, who arrived in Plymouth in 1620 on the Mayflower to found Plymouth Colony.

Ten years later, a wealthy syndicate known as the Massachusetts Bay Company sent a much larger (and more liberal) group of Puritans to establish another Massachusetts settlement. With the help of local natives, the colonists soon got the hang of farming, fishing and hunting, and Massachusetts prospered. As the Massachusetts settlements expanded, they generated new colonies in New England.

Between 1620 and 1635, economic difficulties swept England. Many people could not find work. Even skilled artisans could earn little more than a bare living. Poor crop yields added to the distress. In addition, the Industrial Revolution had created a burgeoning textile industry, which demanded an ever-increasing supply of wool to keep the looms running. Landlords enclosed farmlands and evicted the peasants in favor of sheep cultivation. Colonial expansion became an outlet for this displaced peasant population.

Later, more came and expansion was occurring across the Eastern Seaboard.

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.

In 1700, there were about 250,000 European settlers and enslaved Africans in North America’s English colonies. By 1775, on the eve of revolution, there were an estimated 2.5 million. The colonists did not have much in common, but they were able to band together and fight for their independence.

The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) was sparked after American colonists chafed over issues like taxation without representation, embodied by laws like The Stamp Act and The Townshend Acts. Mounting tensions came to a head during the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, when the “shot heard round the world” was fired.

It was not without warning; the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770 and the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773 showed the colonists’ increasing dissatisfaction with British rule in the colonies.

The Declaration of Independence, issued on July 4, 1776, enumerated the reasons the Founding Fathers felt compelled to break from the rule of King George III and parliament to start a new nation. In September of that year, the Continental Congress declared the “United Colonies” of America to be the “United States of America.”

France joined the war on the side of the colonists in 1778, helping the Continental Army conquer the British at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. The Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution and granting the 13 original colonies independence was signed on September 3, 1783. (History-com)

Here is a list of the thirteen colonies (now states) with the year they were founded: Virginia (1607); New Hampshire (1623); Massachusetts (1630); Maryland (1633); Connecticut (1636); Rhode Island (1636); Delaware (1638); North Carolina (1663); South Carolina (1663); New York (1664); New Jersey (1664); Pennsylvania (1681) and Georgia (1732).

Vermont, which was not one of the 13 colonies, is named because, after seeing the Green Mountains, French explorer Samuel de Champlain referred to it as “Verd Mont” (green mountains) on a map in his native French.

Click the following link to a general summary about the Thirteen Colonies:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Thirteen-Colonies.pdf