Peter T Young

March 14, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Founders

Founding Fathers. Founders. Fathers. Signers. Framers. Patriots. The list of terms to describe the individuals who ‘founded’ the United States of America can go on and on. (Harvard)

Warren G. Harding popularized ‘Founding Father’ a little over a century ago, in his keynote address at the 1916 Republican National Convention. Harding was a senator from Ohio at the time, and chairman of the convention, which nominated Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes (who ultimately lost to Woodrow Wilson).

As reported by the Richmond Virginian on June 8, 1916, Harding said,

“No political party ever has builded or even can build permanently except in conscientious devotion to abiding principles. Time never alters a fundamental truth.”

“Conditions do change, popular interest is self-assertive, and ‘paramounting’ has its perils, as the Democratic party will bear witness, but the essentials of constructive government and attending progress are abiding and unchanging.”

“For example, we ought to be as genuinely American today as when the founding fathers flung their immortal defiance in the face of old-world oppressions and dedicated a new republic to liberty and justice.”

“We ought to be as prepared for defense as Washington urged amid the anxieties of our national beginning, and Grant confirmed amid the calm reflections of union restored.” This wasn’t the only time Harding used the term.

In 1859, George William Curtis, a popular lecturer and writer of his day, referred to the men who created the Declaration of Independence as ‘fathers,’ when he said,

“Our fathers did not say it, because they did not mean it. They were men who meant what they said, and who said what they meant, and meaning all men, they said all men. They were patriots asserting a principle and ready to die for it, not politicians pettifogging for the presidency”

A few years later (on November 19, 1863) on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania came perhaps the most famous use of the term ‘fathers,’

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

(“Four score and seven” equals eighty-seven, so President Abraham Lincoln (speaking in 1863, at the time of the American Civil War) was referring to 1776. Likewise, his reference to “all men are created equal” takes us to the Declaration of Independence that states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”)

Dictionaries don’t necessarily help in narrowing a list on who a Founding Father is:

Merriam-Webster

founding father (n): 1. an originator of an institution or movement; 2. often capitalized both Fs: a leading figure in the founding of the United States; specifically a member of the American Constitutional Convention of 1787

Oxford English Dictionary

founding (adj): Associated with or marking the establishment of (something specified); that originated or created. Spec. founding father (freq. with capital initials), an American statesman of the Revolutionary period, esp. a member of the American Constitutional Convention of 1787

Safire’s Political Dictionary (1968, 2008)

Founding Fathers: A group of revolutionaries who took their changes on treason to pursue the course of independency, who are today viewed reverently as sage signers of the documents of U.S. freedom.

Some say the term has been applied to the first English settlers in North America, to participants in the Continental Congresses and Constitutional Convention or the “founding generation” that led the United States from the Declaration of Independence onward.

To some, a Founding Father is, more specifically, a signer of the Declaration of Independence (there were 56 signers – who “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”)

In addition, some suggest the framers and/or signers of the US Constitution are the Founding Fathers.

The ‘Founders’ is Not a Gender-based Group

An obvious omission in finding the ‘Founding Fathers’ is that it suggests only men helped found this country. That, of course, is simply not true.

We are reminded of Abigail Adams, wife of the 2nd President of the US, John Adams, and mother of the 6th President of the US, John Quincy Adams. She reminds us of the saying, “Behind every great man is a great woman.”

As she says, “Remember the Ladies.” Abigail Adams signs her letter, “I am your ever faithfull friend”.

In addition, if one were to suggest Paul Revere is a ‘Founding Father’ because of his midnight ride to Lexington, Massachusetts, with the news that British soldiers stationed in Boston were about to march into the countryside northwest of the town, then we would also need to include Sybil Ludington as a ‘Founder;’ she, too, rode a midnight ride to warn Patriots of the coming of the British.

The Founders Were Not Perfect (Neither Are We)

None of the ‘Founders’ were perfect; and, neither are any of us.

For some of the Founders, their deeds were not consistent with their words. For example, many of the Founders were slave owners. While this is abhorrent, the Founders established a system of government that, after much struggle and the violence of the Civil War and the civil rights movement, did lead to legal freedom for all Americans and movement toward equality. (Smithsonian)

Nowadays it seems it is easy and often that others will blame everyone else for everything. And, one fault of character becomes the focus of the judgment of the whole person.

If we continue to judge people of the past by their respective actions or inactions based on the norms of our society today versus theirs, I am confident future generations will look upon all of us and laugh and wonder, ‘What were they thinking?’

Wouldn’t it be nice if, “I just want to say – you know – can we, can we all get along? Can we, can we get along?” (Rodney King, May 1, 1992)

Broad Expression of the Founders

A challenge of making a list is that lists invariably leave someone out.

And, who makes the list of Founders depends on who you talk to, or what criteria you suggest you use in making your own list. And, unfortunately, views tend to change, as political or social views/issues of the present interfere with the context and commitment of nearly 250-years ago.

More broadly, it may be appropriate to suggest a Founder is anyone who helped bring on the American Revolution, win the war that secured independence, and helped establish the American Republic.

Click the following link to a general summary about the Founders:

Click to access Founders.pdf

March 13, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sandalwood Era

“When the first people arrived in Hawai’i by canoe, Sandalwood (‘iliahi) grew abundantly. They found medicinal and other practical uses for the tree, including using the pulverized wood to scent bark cloth used for clothing and bedding.” (Elisabeth C. Miller Library)

“The Hawaiian people were familiar with the pleasant aroma of the iliahi. They called its wood laau ala (or laau aala), meaning “fragrant wood,” and they sprinkled finely powdered heartwood on their kapa or bark doth to perfume it.” (St John)

“For centuries the sandalwood, with its pleasantly fragrant dried heartwood, was much sought for. In the Orient, particularly in China, Burma, and India, the wood was used for the making of idols and sacred utensils for shrines, choice boxes and carvings, fuel for funeral pyres, and joss sticks to be burnt in temples.”

“The distilled oil was used in numerous medicines, perfumes, and cosmetics, and as a body rub. The thick oil pressed from the seed was used as illuminating oil.” (St John)

“The fragrant wood was a principal commodity of the American China traders, prized by the Chinese mainly for incense but also for furniture and craft objects.” (Johnston) “White men also traded along the Northwest Coast for furs and other goods, stopping in Hawaii to replenish their ships before sailing to the market in Canton.” (Kashay)

“The islands’ animals, fruits, and vegetable could only go so far in paying for the silks, satins, china, furniture, and other goods that the chiefs desired.”

“At the same time, American and British businessmen’s need to sell items in order to gain wealth persisted. The discovery of sandalwood at the islands made it possible for both these needs and desires to be met.” (Kashay)

“The early 19th century in the Hawaiian Islands is known as the ‘Sandalwood Era,’ where it is estimated that as many as 90% of Hawaiian sandalwood trees were felled and exchanged for ships and supplies. As a result, most Hawaiian sandalwood taxa are now rare or threatened”. (Harbaugh etal)

“American and British merchants exchanged guns, powder, cloth, glass, and New England rum for Hawaiian sandalwood. In turn, they traded the fragrant wood to the Chinese for silk, china, furniture, and the like.” (Kashay)

While the chiefs “could consume the goods their people produced without remuneration, capitalists required payment. The islands’ animals, fruits, and vegetable could only go so far in paying for the silks, satins, china, furniture, and other goods that the chiefs desired.”

“From 1790 to 1810 sandalwood may have been exported, but if so, in very small quantity, for little record is found.” (St John) “The sandalwood era started in 1804 and lasted until about 1842.” (Seto Levin)

“Then, in 1809, two brothers, the American ship captains Jonathan Winship of the “Albatross” and Nathan Winship of the “O’Cain,” started on a voyage that established the sandalwood trade.”

“After trading for furs on the coast of Oregon, they sailed in October, 1811, for Honolulu, where they and Captain William Heath Davis of the “Isabella” took on cargoes of sandalwood. The ships sailed to Canton, where the fragrant wood was sold at a large profit.”

“Returning to Honolulu, the three captains persuaded King Kamehameha I to grant them a monopoly of the sandalwood and cotton trade for 10 years. Loading five ships, the three captains sailed to Canton and thus established a highly remunerative traffic.” (St John)

“(W)hen the captains returned to Honolulu they found Kamehameha unfriendly. He canceled their trade monopoly and refused to renew it …. Thereafter, though no longer a trader’s monopoly, the sandalwood trade developed rapidly and throve from 1815 to 1826 … The wood was marketed in China by the picul (133 1/3-pounds) and its value fluctuated from $3.00 to $18.00.” (St John)

“[T]he sandalwood trade reached its peak between 1810-1819. During these years, plenty of good quality wood could be found in the easily accessible lowlands of the islands. This timber fetched a high price in China, somewhere between a $120-$ 150 a ton. “With his monopoly of the trade, Kamehameha I could net as much as $300,000 or more annually.” (Kashay)

“But, by the 1820s, the supply of sandalwood had diminished. Excessive cutting of the timber had reduced the Hawaiians to searching for stands of the fragrant wood in the inaccessible mountains at the center of the islands. Generally, this wood proved inferior to that which had been previously logged.” (Kashay)

“By the 1820s, the whaling industry brought more western men to the islands. They arrived either to replenish their vessels or to sell goods to those who did. In all of these cases, the lure of great wealth led westerners to settle permanently.” (Kashay)

“As the exchange in sandalwood declined in the late 1820s, the resident foreign merchants made up for their lost revenues by increasing their trade in provisions with the new whale fleets that were cruising the Pacific.” (Kashay)

“The successive Hawaiian kings at first followed the example of the shrewd Kamehameha I and kept sandalwood as a royal monopoly, but later they shared it with the higher chiefs.” (St John)

“As with the Native American fur trade, the sandalwood trade allowed the chiefs to buy western goods on credit. (Kashay) In the Islands, “Business seems to have been conducted, to a very considerable extent, by barter.”

“Sandal wood was the chief article, indeed it might almost have been called the standard coin, although Spanish silver more nearly reached that definition. There is constant mention of sticks or piculs of the wood, but none of money.” (Hunnewell)

“As the king bought greater and greater quantities of imported goods, his demands for sandalwood in taxes became greater and more frequent.” (St John)

“All the inhabitants able to go were ordered into the hills in search of the precious wood. The trees were cut down and chopped into logs 6 to 8 feet long; then with adzes the bark and sapwood were chipped off.”

“Men and women tied the logs to their backs with the fibrous leaves of the ti and trudged to the measuring pit or to the shore.” (St John) There were “frequent and unannounced trips by chiefs throughout their lands to observe the local populations, direct their activities (such as sandalwood cutting)”. (Johnston)

“The tax levies increased, becoming more and more exacting, and as all chroniclers agree, they became an intolerable burden on the people. As the easily accessible sandalwood stands had been felled, the people had to climb farther and farther into the wet, cold mountain forests and the quests were no longer like idyllic song fests.”

“The people were driven to the task, and many died of exposure in the mountains. While they were away in the interior, crops and taro patches were neglected, so that famine came to the islands and took its toll of the king’s subjects.” (St John)

“The advent of the sandalwood trade was not without consequence for the whole society. External trade formerly consisted of the exchange of food for iron and this trade did not overburden Hawaii’s subsistence economy.”

“But the collection of sandalwood for trade entailed diverting a large portion of the labour force from subsistence agriculture to the grueling task of cutting trees in the mountain forests and hauling them long distances to the seacoast.”

“A direct consequence of this diversion of labour was that many of the fields were left uncultivated and fishing virtually ceased and that whatever was cultivated was harvested for the ali’i and their konohiki ‘managers’; the makaainana went hungry.”

“Moreover the new use of labour reinforced the breach already existing between the makaainana and the ali’i. The ali’i now viewed the makaainana not as junior kinsmen but as a resource to be exploited.” (Seto Levin)

“The following are the regulations adopted and enforced by the Sandwich Island authorities, in December, 1826, for the purpose of raising revenue to discharge their debts due to citizens of the United States:”

“Every man is required to deliver a half picul of good sandalwood [a picul being 133 lbs.] to the governor of the district to which he belongs, on or before the 1st day of September, 1827; in case of not being able to procure the sandalwood, four Spanish dollars, or any property worth that sum, will be taken in payment.”

“No person, except those who are infirm, or too advanced an age to go to the mountains, will be exempted from this law. Every woman of the age of 13 years or upwards, is to pay a mat, 12 feet long and 6 wide, or tapa of equal value, (to such a mat,) or the sum of one Spanish dollar, on or before the 1st day of September, 1827….”

“Every man who shall proceed to the mountains for sandal-wood shall be at liberty to cut one pecul, and, on delivering half a pecul to the person appointed to receive it, shall be entitled to sell the other half, on his own account, to whomsoever he may think proper.” (Thomas AP Catesby Jones, Feb 4, 1845 Report No. 92)

“On one occasion we saw nearly two thousand persons, laden with fagots [bundles] of sandalwood, coming down from the mountains to deposit their burthens in the royal store houses, and then depart to their homes–wearied with their unpaid labors, yet unmurmuring in their bondage.”

“In fact, the condition of the common people is that of slaves; they hold nothing which may not be taken from them by the strong hand of arbitrary power, whether exercised by the sovereign or a petty chief. (Journal of Tyerman & Bennet, April 18, 1822)

“Even in the time of Kamehameha I the sandalwood had been much depleted, so that this monarch put a kapu (ban) on the cutting of young trees.” (St John)

By 1849, “The Oahu Sandal-wood, the Iliahi, or Laau ala (fragrant wood) of the Hawaiians, is now to be found in only one place, called Kuaohe, where it grows on the slopes of hills, close to the sea.” (Seemann, in Journal of Botany)

“Of the splendid groves, with the produce of which formerly so many ships were laden, but a few isolated bushes, which do not exceed three feet in height and an inch in diameter, remain, and these would probably disappear had they not been protected by the law, and thus escaped being converted into fuel.” (Seemann, in Journal of Botany)

March 12, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Young Patriots

The British established militias in the colonies after the French and Indian War to alleviate the need to garrison expensive regular soldiers in the colonies.

All military aged males, aged 16 to 45, were required to serve in the militia and maintain the necessary arms and equipment for military service.

Although citizen militias played an important role in the conflict, the fledgling nation fielded a formal military force known as the Continental Army.

Most men who served in the Continental Army were between the ages of 15 and 30.

Over 230,000 soldiers served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, although no more than 48,000 at any one time. The largest number of troops gathered in a single place for battle was 13,000.

The Continental Army was mustered out of service by early 1784. Only a small token of 80 soldiers remained on active duty.

The following year, the First American Infantry Regiment was created. It consisted of eight infantry companies and two artillery batteries. This unit was enlarged a decade later.

The army accepted volunteers as young as 16. A 15-year-old could join with a parent’s permission.

Some notable younger Patriots (age at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776):

Boys:

Andrew Jackson (age 9) – When he was 13 years old, the future 7th President of the United States served as a patriot courier.

Ebenezer Fox (age 12) ran away from home and was hired as a sailor on an American ship.

Joseph Plumb Martin (age 15) persuaded his grand-parents to let him join the army. He fought for the duration of the war.

James Armistead (age 15) was born a slave but worked as a spy under Marquis de Lafayette.

William Diamond (age 15) signed up as drummer in the Lexington and beat “to arms”, bringing 70 militiamen against the approaching Red Coats.

Peter Salem, (age 16) was a Massachusetts slave who was freed in order to serve in the local militia, then the Army, and was named a hero in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

James Monroe was 18 and dropped out of college to join the Continental Army; he later became 5th President of the US.

Charles Pinckney (age 18) fought in the American Revolution and was captured. After regaining his freedom, Pinkney practiced law, served in the Continental Congress, signed the US Constitution, and became governor of South Carolina.

Marquis de Lafayette (age 18) traveled from France to America to join the Revolution. He was commissioned as a Major General at age 19.

Girls:

Deborah Sampson (age 15) disguised herself as a man so she could join the Massachusetts military. She kept her true identity hidden for two years.

Sybil Ludington (age 15) rode her horse for 40 miles to warn American soldiers of an impending British attack.

Click the following links to general summaries about the Young Patriots:

Click to access Young-Patriots.pdf

Click to access Young-Patriots-SAR-RT.pdf

March 11, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Rock Walls

Uhau humu pōhaku, or dry stacking, is masonry without mortar or metal joinery. “Each layer is locked into place by the one below.” (Gino Bergman; Simon)

Other gravity-resistant touches include inwardly tilting facades and adjacent stones that clench together like upper and lower jaws of teeth. (Simon)

“[S]tone structures of the old Hawaiians … were of rough stone, dry laid, and consist of pyramidal and enclosed temples which will properly be considered with the Ancient Worship, and extensive walls enclosing fish preserves on the fringing coral reefs, which belong again to the Fisheries.”

“In both these stone works it was the great labor expended in collecting, transporting and placing the stones rather than any architectural skill that made them noteworthy. … Cut stones for building purposes were rare, and in all cases they were shaped from slabs of lava by patient hammering.”

“The stone walls of the heiau often tumbled down on Hawaii in the frequent earthquakes, but I do not know that they were ever made the objects of the victor’s destroying wrath in the interminable petty wars, while the walls of the fish ponds were usually broken down to let out the fish and so materially injure the conquered owners.” (Brigham)

The Great Wall, or Pā Puʻuhonua, is a massive L-shaped structure that bounds the puʻuhonua on its eastern and southern sides. The wall stands nearly 12 feet tall, 18 feet in width, and stretches 965 feet in length. Constructed over 400 years ago, the Great Wall continues to protect the puʻuhonua, the people, and ceremonial sites contained within from the outside world.

The Great Wall was built using traditional, dry masonry techniques in which unmodified cobbles and boulders were fitted together without the use of mortar. The structure was originally constructed with two outer walls faced with ‘alā (volcanic stones, often water worn and with smooth faces).

Archaeological investigations conducted in the 1919 and 1963 revealed two distinct techniques of masonry design within the interior of the structure.

The first style, known as pa’o (caverned), is an open work construction technique accomplished by laying lava slabs on top of upright columns. This architectural style is unique to the Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau park lands and, thus far, has been documented nowhere else on the Hawaiian Archipelago.

The other type of interior construction noted within the Great Wall is haka haka or vacant spaces. Commonly used throughout Hawaiʻi Island, haka haka uses broken, angular stone rubble to fill the interior cavity of the outer walls. (NPS)

However, not all of the rock walls you see were built by Hawaiians. “Although the role of Japanese immigrants in shaping Hawaiian plantation culture is frequently acknowledged, their contributions to paniolo culture have been underemphasized.”

“The first Japanese contract laborers arrived in Hawai‘i in 1885, primarily to harvest sugarcane and pineapple. The Humu’ula Sheep Company made use of the same labor pool, particularly in the summer when most sheep shearing took place.”

“H. Hackfeld & Company also owned a number of sugar plantations and moved Japanese contract laborers seasonally depending on where they were needed.” (Peter Mills)

Maly notes that the primary tasks for the Japanese employees at the sheep station included, “construction of stone walls, fences, and carpentry; sheering and herding sheep; baling wool; trail and road work; garden work; setting of phone poles and lines; weeding thistle and gorse; and general facility maintenance.” (Kumu Pono)

By 1885, the Humu‘ula lease was held by the Humu‘ula Sheep Company, which in that year obtained the lease for the east side of Ka‘ohe, while Parker Ranch continued to lease the west side. The company hired immigrant stonemasons to build stone walls around their grazing lands in the 1890s; portions of these are still standing. (CARA)

“Through 1890 and the summer of 1892, the names of 29 Japanese laborers and 12 Chinese laborers appear in August Haneberg’s journal. They worked on various tasks, including shearing sheep, building walls, weeding, working on a cart road between stations, and constructing a telephone line between Kalai’ehā and Hopuwai.” (Peter Mills)

“Between 1893 and 1895, many miles of stone walls were built by several Japanese laborers who camped at the Humu‘ula headquarters. The fence along the south boundary, the kīpuka [oasis within a lava bed] of ‘Āina hou near Pu‘u Huluhulu, is still intact in portions along the Saddle Road.”

“Parts of the wall were buried in the 1935 lava flow. The north wall can still be seen meandering steeply up the Mauna Kea slope from the Humu‘ula-Mānā Road near Pu‘u‘ō‘ō.” (Billy Bergin)

“Billy Paris was saying that [with the] 1928 or ’29 earthquake, he was thinking too, that out at Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a when the earthquake happened, they brought in a lot of Japanese stone wall masons and they went into the mountain … to go rebuild the walls that were required.” (Kepa Maly)

March 9, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honoli‘i and Douglas

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Hawaiian Islands. Four young Hawaiians joined the Pioneer Company.

They were, Hopu (Thomas Hopu) ‘ Hopoo’; Kanui (William Kanui) ‘Tennooe’; Humehume (George Prince) ‘Tamoree’ and Honoli‘i (John Honoli‘i) ‘Honoree’.

“The Hawaiian boys who came back with the missionaries … were able to reassure the Hawaiian people as to the friendliness of the relations between America and Hawaii and to serve as guides to the missionaries upon their arrival.” (Kamakau, Ka Nupepa Ku‘oko‘a, Jan 4, 1868; Ruling Chiefs)

Honoli‘i had arrived in Boston in the fall of 1815. He came over in a ship belonging to Messrs. Ropes & Co merchants of Boston. He was taken on board the ship by the consent of his friends, and replaced a sailor, who died before the ship arrived at Hawai‘i. He was curious and wanted to see the world.

“A place was soon found for him at the Rev. Mr. Vaill’s of Guilford, where he began to learn the first rudiments of the English language. Messrs. Ropes & Co., in whose ship he came to this country, not only cheerfully released him for the purpose of being educated, but very generously gave one hundred dollars towards the expense of his education.”

“He was ignorant of our language. And of every species of learning or religion, when he began to study. In about six months he began to read in a broken manner in the Bible. In the mean time, he also learned to write, which cost him but little time or labour. … He is industrious, faithful, and persevering, not only in his studies, but in whatever business he undertakes.” (ABCFM)

Honoli‘I enrolled in the Cornwall school in 1817. His teachers considered him to be mild-mannered and industrious. He was also thought to be “tactful, persevering, and faithful.” (Morris & Benedetto)

Honoli‘i became a valuable Hawaiian language instructor because, having come at a later age (about 19), he still had good command of his native tongue. He also won praise for his considerable vigor and intellect and his discreet and stately deportment. (Kelley)

Back in the Islands, “The king Kaumualii appears exceedingly interested in what he now learns from the bible through the interpretation of Honolii.” (Sybil Bingham)

Then, David Douglas visited the Hawaiian Islands. Douglas first visited in 1830, on his way from England to the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. On this brief visit, he climbed several peaks on O’ahu and was “splendidly” entertained by “Madame Boki”, the wife of the governor.

Douglas left the Columbia region in December of 1830 and traveled to California. He visited Hawai‘i a second time in September of 1832 enroute from Monterey in California to the Columbia River. He was in the Islands for just a few short weeks; he returned to Honolulu in December of 1833.

“I arrived here on the 23rd of December, and after spending Christmas Day with two English ladies, the wife of our Consul, Mr. Charlton, and her sister, I started on the 27th for the island of Hawaii, which I reached on the 2nd of January, 1834.”

“You know I have long had this tour in contemplation, and having spent three winter months in botanizing here, I proceed to give you a short notice of my proceedings.” (Douglas; Greenwell)

When Douglas was exploring Hawai‘i in 1833 and 1834, he knew Honoli‘i and deemed him a friend as well as a guide. Honoli‘i accompanied Douglas on several ascents of Mauna Kea. It is clear the Honoli‘i was still practicing his faith: on one of their trips the Douglas party stopped at Kapapala where Honoli‘i preached at the Sunday service. (Morris & Benedetto)

“Honoli‘i had probably been chosen as a guide because of his command of the English language. He had spent a number of years in America and had returned to Hawai‘i … in 1820. Douglas referred to Honoli‘i as ‘my guide, friend, and interpreter, Honori, an intelligent and well-disposed fellow’”. (Greenwell)

They first made their way up Mauna Kea; Douglas next visited Kilauea crater and ascended Mauna Loa, again traveling with Honoli’i and a large retinue of Hawaiians.

Douglas’s little terrier, Billy, accompanied him on these trips and in all his travels. The botanist once wrote in his journal: “my old terrier, a most faithful and now to judge from his long grey beard, venerable friend, who has guarded me throughout all my journies, and whom, should I live to return”. (Memoir of David Douglas-in Companion to the Botanical Magazine Vol II-1836)

Honoli‘i was not with Douglas when he died on Mauna Kea, in a bullock pit. On July 12, 1834, while exploring the Island; “Douglas, a scientific traveller from Scotland, in the service of the London Horticultural Society, lost his life in the mountains of Hawaii, in a pitfall, being gored and trampled to death by a wild bullock captured there. (Bingham)

“It was a native custom to trap the wild long-horned Spanish cattle by digging pits and covering them with brush. … When some natives came by later in the morning, they first saw the feet of a man sticking out of a mass of rubbish and stones.”

“A bull was already entrapped in the pit and the angry beast was standing on the chest of the young plant-hunter. … Thus ended 9 years of botanical adventure along the Pacific for David Douglas. His death at 35 is one of the tragedies of botanical history. But in his short span of life, as one scientist wrote …”

“‘No other explorer personally made more discoveries, or described more genera or species. No other collector of rare plants ever reaped such a harvest or associated his name with so many economically useful and beautiful plants as David Douglas.’” (Gould; Vassar)

Honoli‘i died in February 1838. David Douglas was buried in the native churchyard of Kawaiaha‘o Church in Honolulu; Honoli‘i was buried in the cemetery of Ka‘ahumanu Church at Wailuku, Maui.