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September 23, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Future Captains

Captain James Cook set sail on three voyages to the South Seas. His first Pacific voyage (1768-1771) was aboard the Endeavour and began on May 27, 1768. It had three aims; go to Tahiti to record the transit of Venus (when Venus passes between the earth and sun – June 3, 1769;) record natural history, led by 25-year-old Joseph Banks; and search for the Great South Land.

Cook’s second Pacific voyage (1772-1775) aboard Resolution and Adventure aimed to establish whether there was an inhabited southern continent, and make astronomical observations.

Cook’s third and final voyage (1776-1779) of discovery was an attempt to locate a North-West Passage, an ice-free sea route which linked the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Cook commanded the Resolution while Charles Clerke commanded Discovery. (State Library, New South Wales)

“Every Fighting Service has, and must have, two main categories – ‘Officers’ and ‘Men.’ The Royal Navy in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was no exception. The distinction existed: was indeed more than ordinarily marked. It was not only a naval distinction, but a sharp social one too.”

“‘Officers’ as contemporary society used that word, came from one walk of life, ‘Men’ from another: and, as it was not easy in Society to pass from a lower stratum to a higher, so in the Navy, it was not easy for a ‘Man’ to become an Officer. But it was possible.” (Captain Cook Society)

“Cook had chosen his subordinates well or had been lucky. The officers of the third voyage were a remarkably intelligent group of men.” (Captain Cook Society)

“All the great remaining voyages of the eighteenth century drew on Cook’s officers. Bligh, Portlock, Vancouver, Colnett, Riou, and Hergest all got their commands and served with great distinction. These men then passed on their skills to a second generation of men such as Flinders and Broughton.” (Mackay, Captain Cook Society)

We’ll look at three of these familiar names, here in the Islands, as well as the Pacific – Portlock, Bligh and Vancouver.

Nathaniel Portlock was born in Norfolk, Virginia in about 1748. At about the age of 24, he entered the Royal Navy as an able seaman on the St Albans. On March 30, 1776, he served as master’s mate on Captain James Cook’s third Pacific voyage aboard the Discovery. Portlock was transferred to the Resolution, also on the expedition, in August 1779.

Then, in 1785, a group of London merchants formed the “King George’s Sound Co” (also known as Richard Cadman Etches and Company,) for the purpose of carrying on the fur trade from the western coast of America to China, bringing home cargoes of tea from Canton for the East India Company. They bought two boats; Portlock and George Dixon were selected to sail them (Dixon also previously sailed with Cook to Hawai‘i.)

That year, the two traveled to the North Pacific. Portlock commanded the 1785-1788 expedition from the ship King George, while Dixon captained the Queen Charlotte. The purpose of the expedition was to investigate the potential of the Alaskan fur trade and to resume Cook’s search for a Northwest Passage through the continent.

The pair left England on August 29, 1785, and took nearly a year to reach Alaska, rounding Cape Horn and touching at Hawaiʻi on the way. During the course of their 3-year expedition, they made three trips to Hawaiʻi, first arriving off the coast of Kaʻū, May 24, 1786.

A favorite anchorage on Oʻahu for Portlock was at Maunalua Bay, between Koko Point and Diamond Head (which Portlock named King George’s Bay.)

Maunalua was thought to be well-populated in ancient times. Maunalua was known for its offshore fishing resources, a large fishpond, and sweet potato cultivation. Taro was farmed in wet areas, sweet potato was grown in the drier regions and a series of fishing villages lined the coast. (McElroy) Part of that area now carries the Portlock name.

William Bligh was part of the Cook’s crew on its third voyage. Bligh later captained the Bounty on a voyage to gather breadfruit trees from Tahiti and take them to Jamaica in the Caribbean. There, the trees would be planted to provide food for slaves.

According to a legend, the chief Kahai brought the breadfruit tree to Hawaiʻi from Samoa in the twelfth century and first planted it at Kualoa, Oʻahu. Only one variety was known in Hawaiʻi, while more than 24 were distinguished by native names in the South Seas. (CTAHR)

“This tree, whose fruit is so useful, if not necessary, to the inhabitants of most of the islands of the South Seas, has been chiefly celebrated as a production of the Sandwich Islands; it is not confined to these alone, but is also found in all the countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean.” (Book of Trees, 1837)

Bligh didn’t make it back on the Bounty, his crew mutinied (April 28, 1789;) one reason for the mutiny was that the crew believed Bligh cared more about the breadfruit than them (he cut water rationing to the crew in favor of providing water for the breadfruit plants.) Bligh’s tombstone, in part, reads he was the “first (who) transplanted the bread fruit tree.”

In the introduction to Captain George Vancouver’s journals of his voyage to the Pacific, his brother John wrote, “that from the age of thirteen, his whole life to the commencement of this expedition, (to the Pacific) has been devoted to constant employment in His Majesty’s naval service.” Vancouver was one of the seamen and midshipman who had travelled with Cook on his second and third voyages.

In 1791, Vancouver later entered the Pacific a dozen years later in command of the second British exploring expedition. (HJH) Vancouver visited Hawaiʻi three times, in 1792, 1793 and 1794.

On the first trip, Vancouver’s ships “Discovery” and “Chatham” first rounded the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and traveled to Tahiti, via Australia and New Zealand, and then sailed north to the Hawaiian Islands.

On his second trip in February 1793, the “Discovery” and “Chatham” first circled and surveyed the Island Hawaiʻi. From a meeting he had with Kamehameha, he noted in his Journal, that he was …

“… agreeably surprised in finding that his riper years had softened that stern ferocity, which his younger days had exhibited, and had changed his general deportment to an address characteristic of an open, cheerful, and sensible mind; combined with great generosity, and goodness of disposition.” (Vancouver, 1798)

When Kamehameha came aboard the ship, taking Vancouver’s hand, he “demanded, if we were sincerely his friends”, to which Vancouver answered in the affirmative. Kamehameha then said “he understood we belonged to King George, and asked if he was likewise his friend.”

“On receiving a satisfactory answer to this question, he declared the he was our firm good friend; and according to the custom of the country, in testimony of the sincerity of our declarations we saluted by touching noses.” (Vancouver, 1798)

In the exchange of gifts, after that, Kamehameha presented four feathered helmets and other items, Vancouver gave Kamehameha the remaining livestock on board, “five cows, two ewes and a ram.”

The farewell between the British and the Hawaiians was emotional, but both understood that Vancouver would be returning the following winter.

Just before Vancouver left Kawaihae on March 9, 1793, he gave Isaac Davis and John Young a letter testifying that “Tamaahaah, with the generality of the Chiefs, and the whole of the lower order of People, have conducted themselves toward us with the strictest honest, civility and friendly attention.” (Speakman, HJH)

George_Vancouver-arriving_at_Kealakekua_Bay

Mutiny_HMS_Bounty

Kahai-The_Grandson_of_Moikeha-(herbkane)

Transplanting_of_the_bread-fruit_trees_from_Otaheite,_1796

ohn Ellis, the Bread-fruit-1775

Bligh’s_survival_voyage_after_the_mutiny-(HerbKane)

William Bligh’s tombstone-(first_transplanted_breadfruit)

Cook_-_Bligh_Map_of_Hawaii_-_Geographicus_-_Hawaii-cook-1785

Nathaniel_Portlock-(WC)

Portlock-China_Walls

Maunalua_Bay-(bishopmuseum)

Koko_Marina-05-26-52

King_George-Queen_Charlotte-(Raymond Alistair Massey-maunalua-net)

George_Vancouver-(WC)

George_Vancouver’s_Discovery

George_Vancouver_statue-(WC)

September 22, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hobo Hat

In 1922, an imaginative shipping clerk at the Delaware & Hudson freight station in Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) decided to take an old straw hat and send it on a trip of its very own to see how far it could go. (Luzerne County Historical Society)

(It was not a completely original idea; word of a traveling hat was found in a North Carolina newspaper from 1908. However, this Hobo Hat was the first to travel around the world.)

Patrick Fagan started the Hobo Hat send off for the Pacific Coast on September 5, 1922, as a way to advertise the good shipping and handling service of the freight line.

Fifty post cards were attached, along with a note asking those freight agents who received the hat to send back a card telling of its travels, and to please keep the hat going.

Mr. Fagan received postcards from Massachusetts, Chicago, and California, before receiving word that the hat was going to be traveling to the Orient via Hawaii, thanks to some friendly staff at the Matson Navigation Company freight office across the country.

In March 1923, Mr. Fagan received a post card from freight agents at Yokohama, Japan telling of the arrival of the hat in good condition, and that it was being sent next to Hong Kong.

The hat also traveled to West Australia, Java in the Dutch Indies, South Africa, and Brazil, before coming back to Hawaii after two years.

By this point, “Mr. Hobo Hat” was a famous world traveler and was traveling aboard the ships of the Dollar Steamship line. (Luzerne County Historical Society)

“The famous ‘Hobo Hat’ sent on a trip around the world by Patrick Fagan, employee of the Delaware & Hudson freight station, in September 1923, and which is now making its third tour of the globe, was las heard of at Honolulu.”

“Mr Fagan yesterday received a card from MW Mitchell, agent of the Dollar Steamship line, to the effect that the hat had arrived at Honolulu on the SS Garfield February 21 and was presented to the Hon. Wallace R Farrington, governor of the Territory of Hawaii at the executive building.”

“The fame of the hat had probably reached the territory before the hat itself and legislative business was suspended in the Senate and the House of Representatives, temporarily in order that the ‘world tourist’ might be viewed before it started again on the journey.”

“Mr Mitchell said that the hat was decorated and left with the Aloha of Hawaii (the best of luck0 on board the SS President Garfield which departed for Japan on the same day.”

“The owners of the Dollar Steamship Line has a specially made hat box prepared for the hat. It is a leather case on which has printed’ Mr Hobo Hat’ in large letters and with the words ‘Round the World’ at the bottom.”

“The ‘Hobo Hat,’ an old straw lid, the property of Patrick Fagan of this city, was started on its first trip around the world three years ago for the D&H station yards in this city and is now on its third tour of the world.” (Wilkes-Barre Record (Pennsylvania, March 23, 1925)

“On the last lap of his third trip around the world. ‘Mr. Hobo Hat’ accompanied by ‘Uncle Joe’ Fordney, former chairman of the House ways and means committee, has landed in this country and is en route to the Capital to pay his respects at the White House to the President.”

“This hobo hat is a battered straw ‘lid’ that started on its wanderings from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on September 12, 1922. It went first to New York, thence across the continent to the Pacific coast, next to the Orient. It traveled on the steamers President Adams and President Hayes, and its last voyage was on the President Garfield, traveling ‘de luxe’ with a special ticket personally indorsed by Capt. Robert Dollar, president of the Dollar Steamship Co.”

“Mr. Hobo Hat wears many tags in token and testimony of his around the globe voyaging, which now aggregate more than 100,000 miles. In each country and in many important cities, Mr. Hobo Hat has called upon the most prominent persons in political and social life.” (The Sunday Star (DC), May 10, 1925)

When Hobo Hat finally returned home after all his travels, he was displayed in the window of MacWilliam’s Store in Wilkes-Barre in June 1925 to coincide with Poppy Day for the American Legion, which raised money for the wounded veterans of World War I and their families.

After that, the Hobo Hat was in 1935 when he came to the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society (for Wyoming Valley, PA; now the Luzerne County Historical Society) to be displayed, along with his “entourage” of hat box, autographed ticket, postcards, luggage tags and photographs, and ended up staying to become a permanent part of the collection (donated in 1959 by Patrick Fagan).

In addition to various foreign dignitaries, President Calvin Coolidge’s name is among the now-faded signatures to be found on the ticket, testifying to the widespread popularity that Mr. Hobo Hat once enjoyed. (Luzerne County Historical Society)

September 21, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pioneer Inn – Maunalei Sugar Connection

Getting a little back into posting historical summaries, I have wanted to correct the record on a couple of the prior posts …

I previously posted a summary on the Maunalei Sugar Company on Lanai. I also did one on the Pioneer Inn in Lahaina.

I never knew of a connection between the two.

Then, Rick Towill loaned me a book and I was shocked to learn of their connection – something that never showed up in any of the research I did on each.

You can read the prior posts on each. I’ll let Ruth Tabrah (who wrote a book on Lanai that Rick loaned me) tell the rest of the story …

“The Hayselden venture was named Lanai Sugar Company. Later, the name was changed to Maunalei Sugar Company. The lands, like much of the old Gibson holdings, were on lease. The annual ground rent on the beach portions was $10 an acre, that of the valley lands $5 an acre.”

“Fred Hayselden had renegotiated many of the Gibson leases in his own name. He 78 bought several small kuleanas outright.”

“Lanai, which had the reputation thirty years earlier of being the sheep raising center of the kingdom, still supported a population of livestock far larger than the human population.”

“There were nearly 50,000 sheep, large herds of goats and hogs, flocks of wild turkeys, but only 174 people on Lanai when Maunalei Sugar Company began.”

“Hayselden worked hard to boost the water resources and the reservoir capacity of the island. Water was the key to high sugar yield and one of the three wells advertised in the prospectus was already in operation. It produced between one and two million gallons of water a day. This was fortunate, since the other two wells did not turn out.”

“The decision was made not to build a mill, but to ship the cane to Olowalu, Maui for grinding. A wharf was built at Halepalaoa and a railroad between there and Keomuku to haul the harvested cane and plantation supplies.”

“Had Walter Murray Gibson been alive, or had Talula been consulted, the engineer would never have torn down the walls of Kahe‘a heiau to make the roadbed. The Hawaiians of Keomuku predicted that because of this, there would be trouble.”

“At first, everything prospered.”

“A spacious verandahed two story building went up. The plantation offices and the company store were on the ground floor. On the second floor were rooms for visitors, a company boarding house and quasi-hotel.”

“Camp houses and barracks were built as the population of Lanai ballooned with contract laborers. Those Lanaians who applied were hired, but the majority of the work force had to be brought in.”

“There were Gilbert Islanders, the first Japanese to arrive on Lanai, and fellow countrymen of that first sugar maker of them all, Wu Tsin, who had been the first Chinese on Lanai nearly a century before.”

“By August 1899 there were 710 laborers at Maunalei. Wages varied for each ethnic group.”

“Chinese were paid either $18.75 or $20 a month depending on their jobs. Japanese field laborers were paid $15 a month for men, $10 a month for women. Cooks earned $15 a month. Carpenters were paid at the rate of $1.50 a day.”

“Since the company made all deductions for room and board in advance, and allowed workers to run up accounts at the company store, many sugar workers on Lanai like their counterparts on the other islands, were always in debt to their employer.”

“The only cash that seemed to reach and stay in working hands was that earned by the Chinese. In Honolulu the most affluent of the merchants were Chinese, and they invested their money in the Maunalei venture to such an extent that they soon owned seventy-five per cent of the shares.”

“For its first year, the company did well.”

“Then, plague flared up among the Chinese laborers.”

“The shacks they lived in were burned, but this did not stop the epidemic. The church at Keomuku was turned into a dispensary. Those who were not already too sick to do so, fled.”

“The curse predicted when the walls of Kahe’a were broken fell heavily now on the plantation. The water in the well turned brackish. The sugar content of the cane was too low to make it worthwhile to harvest.”

“By June of 1900 the payroll of Maunalei Sugar Company carried only 38 men and by March 1901, 12 were left to shut the plantation down.”

“The two-storied company store and hotel was left up until 1905 when it was carefully dismantled, a section at a time, and floated on rafts to Lahaina. There it was hammered together again to become the Pioneer Inn.” (Tabrah)

Whoa … Who knew the Pioneer Inn was originally a structure on Lanai?

All prior research did not note the Maunalei building and Pioneer Inn connection.

In fact, newspaper accounts of that time only noted the formation and construction of the hotel in Lahaina, not that it was formerly built on Lanai and floated to Lahaina and then reassembled.

A notice in the Hawaiian Star, October 9, 1901, noted “New Hotel For Lahaina. Articles of association were filed yesterday by the Pioneer Hotel Company, with the principal place of business at Lahaina, Island of Maui.”

“The object of the association is to conduct a general hotel and restaurant business, and billiard tables. … The officers and principal stockholders are J. J. Newcomb, president, twenty-five shares; A Aalberg, secretary, twenty-five shares; P. Nicklas, treasurer, two shares; George Freeland, thirty-five shares.”

Three weeks later, the newspaper reported “George Freeland, manager of the Pioneer hotel at Lahaina, is in town for the purpose of purchasing supplies and furniture for the establishment. He will return to Lahaina nest Tuesday. (Honolulu Republican, October 31, 1901)

“Lahaina now boasts two new and up-to-date hotels. Matt. McCann has just finished and moved into his new hosterie (Lahaina Hotel,) and is not able to handle all the travel at present, consequently he is compelled to turn away guests this week.”

“The Pioneer Hotel is practically completed and under the management of Mr. Freeland, will be thrown open for the reception of guests about December 1.” (Maui News, November 23, 1901) Thanks, Rick.

September 20, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lehi IV

According to the Book of Mormon, “An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah and his four sons, being called, (beginning at the eldest) Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi.”

“The Lord warns Lehi to depart out of the land of Jerusalem, because he prophesieth unto the people concerning their iniquity and they seek to destroy his life.”

“He taketh three days’ journey into the wilderness with his family. Nephi taketh his brethren and returneth to the land of Jerusalem after the record of the Jews. The account of their sufferings.”

“They take the daughters of Ishmael to wife. They take their families and depart into the wilderness. Their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness. The course of their travels. They come to the large waters. Nephi’s brethren rebel against him. He confoundeth them, and buildeth a ship.”

“They call the name of the place Bountiful. They cross the large waters into the promised land, and so forth. This is according to the account of Nephi”. (Book of Mormon)

DeVere Baker, a Mormon, sought to establish the authenticity of his church’s views on the first peoples to visit American shores by making a series of daring raft trips over a 30-year period.

From 1952 to 1979, he sailed – sometimes successfully, sometimes not – in an attempt to show that the Book of Mormon is correct and that members of some of the Lost Tribes of Israel had crossed the sea to North America.

Unlike primitive rafts, Baker’s were equipped with electronic navigation gear and could be propelled by outboard motors.

On Lehi IV in 1958, he managed to successfully drift to Hawaii from California to prove that crossing oceans by raft was an ancient probability.

(The Lehi reference generally refers to one of six or seven craft launched from California to try to help prove the story from the Book of Mormon about Lehi sailing from the Middle East to Central America.)

The Lehi IV didn’t have a favorable start, “The raft Lehi IV, in the tradition of its predecessors, met with bad luck yesterday as it headed out to sea for a tentative start to Hawaii.”

“Four miles out of Redondo Beach a tow line broke and the raft poked a hole in the yacht Quest, which was to tow it to Santa Catalina Island. The Quest then towed the Lehi IV to Los Angeles Harbor instead.”

“Lehi skipper Devere Baker, undismayed, said he would try to get started again tomorrow. Baker had planned to go only to Catalina, approximately 22 miles off the coast, on the first stage of his ocean voyage.”

“Three previous tries by Baker to accomplish a transoceanic drift ended in failure. Baker said he would stay at Catalina several days, taking on additional provisions and trying to arrange for someone to tow the raft 200 miles westward.” They left July 5, 1958.

“He hoped there to pick up currents favorable for drifting to Hawaii. Baker, 42, who sold his shipyard 12 years ago to devote himself to early inhabitants of this hemisphere drifted on currents across the Pacific from Asia.”

“The 18 by 28-foot raft has a sail, a cabin, two-way radio and an outboard motor for harbor maneuvering. Baker’s crew this time includes Milt Farney, 29, photographer; Larry Foglino, 31, psychologist; Don McFarland, 27, student at the University of New Mexico, and Ed Kekaula, 27, a native of Samoa.” (San Bernadino Sun, July 6, 1958)

Of this voyage, a newspaper reported, “An adventurous Mormon elder and his three young crewmen — who drifted to Hawaii from California aboard the raft Lehi IV …”

“The raft arrived off Maui Saturday afternoon (September 20, 1958) after a 69-day voyage from Long Beach, 2,100 miles to the east. When Baker and his bearded crew and their dog Torgoroa were sighted, they were down to their last four cans of spinach and tomatoes.”

“The raft was towed into port at Kahului by a tuna boat. All the mariners were in good condition.”

“Asked what his trip proved, Baker told newsmen: ‘The Coast Guard put it very nicely when they congratulated us on proving Hawaiians thousands of years ago came from the Americas, the same way we did.’”

“With Baker were Larry Foglino, 31, a UCLA psychologist; Don McFarland, 27, University of New Mexico student, and Ed Kekuala, 27, a Brigham Young University dental student.” (Nome Nugget, Sep 24, 1958)

Baker wrote a series of books on his faith and his adventures, many of which ended in Coast Guard rescues. In 1980, he made a brief bid for the nation’s presidency as a world peace candidate, but withdrew after a loss in the Democratic primary in New Hampshire. (Los Angeles Times)

September 19, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Aloha from Vermont

In 1777, the thirteen colonies were fighting the Revolutionary War with England. Vermont was not one of the 13 Colonies; rather, in January of that year, delegates from towns around Vermont held a convention and declared their independence.

They called the new republic ‘New Connecticut;’ later that year, they changed the name to Vermont. (Vermont Secretary of State)

Although an independent republic, Vermonters fought with the Colonists against the British. A turning point in the revolution was at the Battle of Bennington, Vt. It was a major victory for the Americans and helped to convince France that the rebels were worthy of support.

Between 1777, when Vermont established its independence, and 1791 (when Vermont joined the Union as the 14th state,) Vermont was truly independent – as a republic it had its own coins and its own postal service. (Vermont Secretary of State)

At this same time (October 30, 1789,) Hiram Bingham was born to Calvin and Lydia Bingham in Bennington Vermont. Thirty years later (October 23, 1819,) Bingham led the Pioneer Company of Protestant missionaries to Hawaiʻi.

This is not the only tie Vermont has to the Islands. A lasting legacy is through descendants of another Hawaiʻi missionary, Peter Johnson Gulick, a member of the Third Company of missionaries to the Islands.

First of all, Hawaiʻi-born grandson Luther Halsey Gulick, Jr. MD and his wife Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Emily Vetter founded Camp Fire Girls (now known as Camp Fire.)

Another Hawaiʻi born grandson Edward Leeds Gulick and his wife Harriet Marie Gulick later settled in Vermont and started the “Aloha Camp” there in 1905. It started as a success and is still going strong today.

“Aloha began as a picnic. Three young couples, one summer day of 1898, were cycling around Lake Morey, seeking the loveliest spot at which to enjoy their lunch, brought from Hanover, NH. At just the very place where all agreed the views were most beautiful, stood a plain, substantial house, with no paint, no blinds, and a porch only big enough for two small chairs.”

“The sign, ‘For Sale; Inquire at the next house,’ fired the imagination, and while Mr. Gulick, ‘just for fun,’ went over to make inquiries, the rest ran around, peeking in at each window, and promptly imagining themselves spending a gay summer in that ideal spot.”

“July 1899 found the Gulicks with a new baby, Harriet, later known to campers as ‘Johnnie, the bugler,’ taking the long ride from New Jersey to their new summer home.”

“The name of the new cottage was a source of lively and humorous discussions. Aloha, meaning ‘Love to you,’ in Hawaiian, was finally chosen, for its euphonious sound, and its kindly meaning. Who better should name this cottage Aloha, than one who was son and grandson of men who had spent their lives in uplifting the natives of those beautiful Islands?”

“For six happy summers Aloha cottage housed the quartette of Gulick children, and their cousins and uncles and aunts and friends, filling it full from the attic down. But just when and how Aloha camp was thought of, it is hard to say.”

“Believing that girls and their parents would soon see the immense advantages of camp life, – the health, the beauty, the sanity, and the wholesome democracy of such a life, – we started bravely in.” (Harriet Farnsworth Gulick)

In 1905 – 15 years before women were allowed to vote, when floor length skirts and lace up boots were mandatory for playing any sport; when popular conduct books for girls encouraged a “retiring delicacy” and declared that “one of the most valuable things you can learn is how to become a good housewife” – Harriet and Edward Gulick created a world in which every girl could discover her most adventurous self.

That world, Aloha Camp on Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vermont, afforded young women the knowledge, skills and freedom to explore wild nature on foot and on horseback, by skiff and by canoe; to kindle campfires in the woods and cook meals in the open air; to pitch tents over rough ground and sleep out of doors under the stars.

“Imagination necessary. The very fabric of human civilization depends on it.” Harriet Farnsworth Gulick wrote these words in a notebook of ideas for assembly talks at Aloha Camp, a camp for girls.

Next, the Gulicks turned their imagination to opportunities for women ‘age eighteen to eighty,’ opening Aloha Club in 1910 on the secluded shore of Lake Katherine in Pike, New Hampshire. The success of Aloha Camp and Aloha Club inspired the Gulicks to imagine how camp could benefit younger girls. Having purchased 400-acres of farmland on Lake Fairlee in Ely, Vermont, they developed Aloha Hive, which opened in 1915.

At the turn of the century (1900,) girls’ camps were rare. Then, the girl camper was about twelve to twenty. She usually came from a home of luxury and enjoyed the novelty of sleeping in tents, the unhampered opportunities for learning to swim, to row, to paddle – in short, to live close to friendly Mother Nature – through eight or nine happy weeks of the camp season. (Coale)

At Aloha Camp, girls received ‘Kanaka’ awards – “The little figure in bloomers is won by a camper whose tent and land adjoining it is perfect as to order and neatness for a week. If to that virtue is added punctuality at all the appointments of a week – meals, assembly, crafts, etc – the girl wins a Kanaka”. (Aloha Kanaka)

Every summer one whole camp has an opportunity to vote for just one girl. It is not the most popular girl; nor the most athletic; nor yet the best-looking. Not any of these. The highest honor the camp has to bestow is given for Camp Spirit – and it goes to the girl who has proved to be the most thoughtful, generous, and kind-in short, the best friend. (Worthington)

After launching Hive, the next question for the Gulick’s imagination was “what about all the little brothers of Aloha and Hive campers?” Far from the military camps that prevailed for boys in those days, they envisioned Camp Lanakila, a camp that promoted a spirit of adventure, discovery, creativeness, respect for others and individual growth.

After Edward Gulick’s death in 1931, Harriet Gulick continued for twenty years as the central, caring presence for all the camps. She passed away in February 1951 at the age of 86. In the mid-1960s, the camps faced a major challenge as members of the Gulick family’s next generation followed pursuits other than the management of Aloha (1905,) Hive (1915) and Lanakila (1922.)

The Aloha Foundation was formed as a nonprofit organization that continues operating the camps and endeavors to sustain the Gulick traditions.

In Hawaiʻi, one of the lasting legacies and reminders of the Gulick family in Hawaiʻi is heard in almost every morning’s Honolulu traffic report with reference to conditions at the Gulick Avenue overpass in Kalihi. (Lots of information here from Aloha Kanaka and Aloha Camp website.)