Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Dave Guard, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds

Donald David Guard (October 19, 1934 – March 22, 1991) was born in San Francisco and grew up in Hawai‘i.  Robert Castle Shane (Schoen) (February 1, 1934 – January 26, 2020) was born in Hilo.  Nicholas Wells Reynolds on July 27, 1933 – October 1, 2008) was born in San Diego.

Upon completion of his final year of high school in 1952 at Menlo School, a private prep school in Menlo Park, California, Guard attended nearby Stanford University (graduating in 1957 with a degree in economics).

Shane was born to Margaret (Schaufelberger) and Arthur Castle Schoen, who owned a wholesale business, and whose German family had settled in Hawaii. (Shane was a phonetic spelling of Schoen, adopted by Bob in 1957.)

Shane and Guard were Punahou classmates; they began performing at parties, in the school glee club and school variety shows.

Reynolds was the son of a US Navy Captain; Nick grew up in nearby Coronado, California where he graduated from high school in 1951.

Planning a career in hotel management, Reynolds attended San Diego State College and the University of Arizona. He transferred to Menlo Business College where he met Shane and Guard (from Stanford).

They began performing together at fraternity parties and local beer gardens as Dave Guard and the Calypsonians, sometimes as a trio or occasionally with other friends. At the time, calypso music was extremely popular, and the group played songs like “Jamaica Farwell” and “Come Back, Liza” that Harry Belafonte, the reigning king of calypso, had made popular.

In 1956 Shane graduated and moved back to Hawai‘i to work in his family’s sporting goods business. During that time, he worked up a solo act and got a regular gig at the Pearl City Tavern in Honolulu.

Shane says. “I was billed as Hawaii’s Elvis Presley in 1956, which was the same year he got really popular. It was a great idea because they didn’t have much television in Hawaii yet, so you could do whatever you wanted.”

“I had sideburns and I wore a bright sport coat and stuff like that. And I’ll never forget when I met Elvis in ’63, just briefly, and I told him that’s how I got my start. And he said, ‘What did you want to do that for?’ That’s exactly the way he said it. That’s the only thing I ever said to him.” (Simmons)

While Shane was in Hawai‘i, Reynolds and Guard continued to perform in the Bay Area. They joined up with Menlo College student Joe Gannon and singer Barbara Bogue.

They refashioned themselves as the Kingston Quartet (they maintained their link to calypso music by naming themselves after the capital of Jamaica) and tried to get jobs at various local nightspots; but, they had little success.

The struggling quartet crossed paths with publicist and talent agent Frank Werber, who liked them but felt that Gannon’s bass playing wasn’t good enough. When he suggested he might sign them on if they got rid of Gannon, Bogue said she would leave the group if Gannon was kicked out – so they did, and then she did.

Guard and Reynolds called Bob Shane in Hawai‘i, who was finding life in the family sporting goods business uninspiring. And although he was doing pretty well as a solo performer, he really missed singing in harmony. In March 1957 he came back to California to join the now-renamed Kingston Trio under the management of Frank Werber. (Simmons)

Their close-cropped hair and matching (usually striped) shirts projected a wholesome college-boy image, appealing to television sponsors and to baby boomers reaching their teens.

Most of the songs were led by Shane, whose baritone voice and accomplished guitar accompaniment were essential to the group’s acoustic sound. (Guardian)

In the summer of 1957, comedian Phyllis Diller was forced at the last minute to cancel a weeklong booking at the Purple Onion nightclub, a leading night spot in San Francisco.

Werber, who had an office above the venue, saw this as a perfect opportunity for the new act he had just signed to get some much needed stage experience. He persuaded the Purple Onion to give the slot to his group, the Kingston Trio.

Guard then sent out postcards to 500 people that all three of them knew at Stanford and Menlo, inviting them to a week’s worth of shows at the Purple Onion. The result was a series of sold-out shows. (Eder)

The Kingston Trio was asked to stay on for another week, and then another, and then another. Eventually, their one-week trial booking stretched from June until December.

The group followed the Purple Onion engagement with a national tour that took them to Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago and the Village Vanguard in New York, all of them successful appearances. (Eder)

During that time, word about the Trio’s powerful singing and hilarious stage patter made its way down south to Los Angeles. Various music industry figures, and the occasional movie star, made the trek north to San Francisco to check out what the fuss was all about. Voyle Gilmore, a producer at Capitol records, liked what he heard and signed them to a contract.

In February 1958 the Kingston Trio recorded their first album. (Simmons)  With it, they achieved chart success with the murder ballad Tom Dooley. (The song is based on the true story of Tom Dula, hanged in Statesville, NC in 1868 for the murder of Laura Foster.)  Their rendition reached No 1 in the US singles charts and No 5 in the UK, earning them a Grammy. (Guardian)

On a commercial level, from 1957 until 1963, the Kingston Trio was the most vital and popular folk group in the world, and folk music was sufficiently popular as to make that a significant statement. (Eder)

The Kingston Trio was one of the most critically and commercially successful acts in the American music industry and opened the door for later artists like Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul & Mary. (Menlo College)

Equally important, the original trio,  in tandem with other, similar early acts such as the Limeliters, spearheaded a boom in the popularity of folk music that suddenly made it important to millions of listeners who’d previously ignored it.  (Eder)

In 1959 they performed at both the Newport jazz and folk festivals and recorded four albums, all of which were in Billboard’s Top 10 at the same time.  (Guardian)

The trio made the cover of Life magazine on August 3, 1959, and were voted the Best Group of the Year for 1959 in the pages of both Billboard and Cashbox magazines, the twin recording industry bibles; they also won two Grammy Awards.

By the early-60s, there were lots of Kingston Trio imitators running around: the Highwaymen (from Wesleyan University); Bud & Travis; the Journeymen; the Halifax Three from Canada; and, on the “big-band” folk side, the New Christy Minstrels under Randy Sparks, the Serendipity Singers from the University of Colorado, and the Big 3 (with Cass Elliot) and, later, the Shilos.

For the next few years, the Kingston Trio toured relentlessly, playing on college campuses and in nightclubs across the country.  (Simmons)

The pressure of touring and Guard’s and Shane’s different personalities led to conflict between the two men, and Guard left the group in 1961, to be replaced by John Stewart.  (After leaving the Trio, Guard founded a quartet called the Whiskeyhill Singers.)

Within a few years the American folk music scene had changed, displaying a more political edge, and the Beatles became the new favorites of American teens.

From 1958 to 1964, the Kingston Trio played thousands of shows and had released 19 albums, five of which made it to the top spot on the Billboard charts.  The Beach Boys’ song Sloop John B came from the trio.

The Kingston Trio brought the urban folk revival into the mainstream of American popular culture and made Martin guitars and long-necked banjos must-have items for musicians everywhere. (Simmons)

The trio continued to release albums and enjoy success but Shane failed to change their musical direction to reflect new trends, and they disbanded in 1967. (Guardian)

After a couple of years playing solo, Shane leased and later bought the trio name from the other two members to form the New Kingston Trio, playing past hits and contemporary songs, but without the earlier success.

The reunion gig of the three original members in 1981 was broadcast by PBS in 1982 but plans for further reunions were cancelled when Guard died in 1991. Shane continued to front various lineups of the Kingston Trio until 2004 (when he died). (Guardian)

This era was later recalled and satirized in Christopher Guest’s comedy film A Mighty Wind, in which the Kingston Trio and other collegiate-type folk groups of the period were parodied in the guise of “the Folksmen.” (Eder) There have subsequently been different members in the Kingston Trio – and, it started with a couple guys from Punahou and their friend.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu – About 1850

On the continent: the Donner Party was trapped in heavy snow (1846;) California Gold Rush was underway (1848;) and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, giving the United States Texas, California, New Mexico and other territories (1848.)  Europe was in political upheaval with the European Revolutions of 1848 (aka “Spring of Nations” or “Springtime of the Peoples.”)

In Hawaiʻi, Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III, was King and the Great Māhele (1848) was taking place; it was the most important event in the reformation of the land system in Hawaiʻi that separated land title to the King, the Chiefs and the Konohiki (land agents,) and eventually the people.

At about that time, Honolulu had approximately 10,000-residents.  Foreigners made up about 6% of that (excluding visiting sailors.)  Laws at the time allowed naturalization of foreigners to become subjects of the King (by about that time, about 440 foreigners exercised that right.)

The majority of houses were made of grass (hale pili,) there were about 875 of them; there were also 345 adobe houses, 49 stone houses, 49 wooden houses and 29 combination (adobe below, wood above.)  In 1847, Washington Place was built by future-Queen Liliʻuokalani’s father-in-law.

Kawaiahaʻo Church (Stone Church) generally marked the eastern edge of town; it was constructed between 1836 and 1842.  The “Kauikeaouli clock,” donated by King Kamehameha III in 1850, still tolls the time to this day.

Honolulu Harbor was bustling at that time.  Over the prior twenty years, the Pacific whaling fleet nearly quadrupled in size and in the record year of 1846; 736-whaling ships arrived in Hawai‘i.

Shortly after, however, in 1859, an oil well was discovered and developed in Titusville, Pennsylvania; within a few years this new type of oil replaced whale oil for lamps and many other uses – spelling the end of the Hawaiʻi whaling industry.

At the time, Honolulu Harbor was not as it is today and many of the visiting ships would anchor two to three miles off-shore – cargo and people were ferried to the land.

What is now known as Queen Street was actually the water’s edge.

From 1856 to 1860, the work of filling in the reef to create an area known as the “Esplanade” (where Aloha Tower is now situated) and building up a water-front and dredging the harbor was underway.

Fort Kekuanohu (Fort Honolulu) was demolished in 1857; its walls became the 2,000-foot retaining wall used to extend the land out onto the shallow reef in the harbor – some of the coral blocks are still visible at Pier 12.

The old prison was built in 1856-57, to take the place of the old fort (that also previously served as a prison.)  The custom-house was completed in 1860.  The water-works were much enlarged, and a system of pipes was laid down in 1861.

The city was regularly laid out with major streets typically crossing at right angles – they were dirt (Fort Street had to wait until 1881 for pavement, the first to be paved.)  Sidewalks were constructed, usually of wood (as early as 1838;) by 1857, the first sidewalk made of brick was laid down on Merchant Street.

Honolulu Hale was then located on Merchant Street (now the park/vacant lot between the Kamehameha V Post Office and Pioneer Plaza.)  County governance was still 50-years away (1905) and what we now know as Honolulu Hale today was 75-years away (1928.)

To get around people walked, or rode horses or used personal carts/buggies.  It wasn’t until 1868, that horse-drawn carts became the first public transit service in the Hawaiian Islands.

At that time, folks were 50-years away from getting automobiles (the first gasoline-powered arrived in 1900;) that same year (1900,) an electric trolley (tram line) was put into operation in Honolulu, and by 1902, a tram line was built to connect Waikīkī and downtown Honolulu. The electric trolley replaced the horse/mule-driven tram cars.

Honolulu was to be a planned town. Kinaʻu (Kuhina Nui Kaʻahumanu II) published the following proclamation (1838:) “I shall widen the streets in our city and break up some new places to make five streets on the length of the land, and six streets on the breadth of the land… Because of the lack of streets some people were almost killed by horseback riders ….”  By 1850, there was much improvement.

By the 1840s, the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing, and many of the old traditional trails – the ala loa and mauka-makai trails within ahupua‘a – were modified by removing the smooth stepping stones that caused the animals to slip.

At the time, “Broadway” was the main street (we now call it King Street;) it was the widest and longest – about 2-3 miles long from the river (Nuʻuanu River on the west) out to the “plains” (to Mānoa.)

There were five food markets in Honolulu (in thatched sheds) one of which was more particularly a vegetable market.  Irish potatoes were $2-$3 per bushel (about 50-lbs;) eggs were $0.25 to $0.75 per dozen; oranges $0.25 per dozen and turkeys and ducks were about $.05 each, chickens started at about $0.25 a piece.

Butter was mostly made on the Big Island and Kauai – about 19,000-lbs produced – and sold at an average price of $0.30 per pound; milk was 12 1/2 cents a quart.  Fresh beef sold for $0.06 per pound.

The fledgling sugar industry was starting to spread across the islands.

It wasn’t until 1852 that the Chinese became the first contract laborers to arrive in the islands.  Of the nearly 385,000 foreign contract workers that eventually came, many thousands stayed to become a part of Hawai‘i’s unique ethnic mix.

Founded in 1839, Oʻahu’s first school was called the Chief’s Children’s School.  The school was created by King Kamehameha III to groom the next generation of the highest ranking chief’s children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaii’s Kingdom.

Missionaries Amos and Juliette Cooke were selected by King Kamehameha III to teach the 16 royal children and run the school.

Here, Hawai‘i sovereigns (who reigned after Kamehameha III over the Hawaiian people after his death in 1854) were given Western education, including, Alexander Liholiho (King Kamehameha IV,) Queen Emma, Lot Kapuaiwa (King Kamehameha V,) King William Lunalilo, King David Kalākaua and Queen Lydia Lili‘uokalani.

Lots of information here from ‘The Polynesian’ (January 1, 1847,) Greer and Gilman.  The image shows Honolulu from the Harbor in 1854.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Adherent Planters

When we think of the prior sugar industry, we often only think of the large corporate entities – the Big Five (C. Brewer & Co, 1826; Theo H. Davies & Co, 1845; Amfac, 1849; Castle & Cooke, 1851 and Alexander & Baldwin, 1870).

These were the ‘factors’ who served as agents (and many times bankers) for thirty-six of the thirty-eight sugar plantations,;the Big Five openly monopolized the sugar trade.

But these and the companies they represented were not the only sugar planters.  Hawai‘i also had adherent planters.  These farmers, many of whom worked certain periods for the plantation, sold their cane to the plantation on a contractual basis.

Because of the topography of Hawaii, it often happens that small areas of land suitable for growing sugarcane are isolated by deep ravines or small rivers from the main body of the plantation land.

When, for these or other reasons, it was not practicable to put a piece of land under the direct management of the plantation, it was the usual practice to provide for the cultivation of such land under what was known as “ the adherent-planter system.”

In 1939, there were approximately 3,500 such adherent planters in the Territory, cultivating about 13 percent of the total cane area on more than 5,000 separate parcels of land, and producing about 10 percent of the total sugar cane grown in Hawaii. (US Bureau of Labor, 1939)

Around statehood (1959) approximately 100,000 tons of sugar was produced annually, principally on the unirrigated plantations on the island of Hawaii under the so-called adherent planter system.

This adherent planter system was an outgrowth of the Hawaiian plantation system over the prior 50 years and was unique in the American sugar-producing areas.

The small sugar growers had two types of agreements with the plantations: as adherent planters or as independent growers.

The adherent system originated when adherent planter agreements were offered by already established and operating sugar plantations to employees as a convenient arrangement to grow sugarcane on a portion of lands under cultivation by the plantation.

The plantation financed the venture, made available the use of mules, plows, fertilizer, heavy equipment, and labor at the time of harvest and transported the sugarcane crop after harvest to the plantation mill.

As a payment for the contribution of the adherent planter for labor performed, the plantation producer settled with the adherent planter by purchasing the sugarcane at a price tied to the price of raw sugar at market.

Direct contributions by way of finances, the loan of equipment, men, and advance of materials and services such as transportation, were a charge against the adherent planter.

Indirect contributions such as technical assistance in agricultural practices, certain types of supervision, scientific research and development, and the general costs that go into operating a large-scale plantation were charged to the adherent planter’s account.

Thus the Hawaiian sugar plantations early entered into a cooperative project of sugarcane production with certain selected employees under the adherent planter system.

This was in contrast to the so-called independent planters of Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands. In those areas, for the most part, the sugar centrals came into already independently developed farming areas where sugarcane was already in existence, and placed a mill among the growers for the purpose of processing sugarcane.

The sugar processors in the independent-planter areas never were in a joint enterprise in the growing of sugarcane with their planters, as were the plantation producers of Hawaii under the adherent planter system.

The adherent planter system on the Hawaiian sugar plantations was an outgrowth of the earlier development. There are many different types of adherent planter agreements on various sugar plantations, and, in some instances on the same plantation.

But, the basic relationship which was an outgrowth of the past was essentially the same in all. For the most part, adherent planters were employees of the plantations who have been granted small parcels of land for the cultivation of sugarcane either in their spare time or during portions of the year which they devote exclusively to these adherent planter plots.

These same employees spend the bulk of the year on the plantation pay rolls in various capacities such as harvesters, cultivators, millmen, or in similar employment. As a rule an adherent planter has two parcels of land, one for each crop year. This was because sugar cane in Hawaii was grown in a 2-year crop cycle and it was financially more convenient for adherent planters to receive a settlement once a year instead of once in 2 years.

The adherent planter was charged with the responsibility of planting, bringing to maturity, and harvesting the crop of sugarcane on the land allocated to him by the plantation producer.

The skilled operators of the plantation producer run the equipment, and the planter was given the full advantage of scientific mechanization in sugarcane cultivation.

Plantation agriculturalists under the terms of the adherent planter agreements determined the varieties of cane to be planted and the agricultural practices to be followed by the adherent planter and gave the adherent planters early advantage of newest developments at the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association experiment station.

These and other developments in the industry station have been brought about at industry expense and made available to the adherent planters without charge.

At the time of the harvest, in most instances, the sugarcane was taken off by the heavy equipment of the plantation producer or by gangs of plantation men. The sugarcane was delivered to the mill in the plantation system of transportation.

The adherent planter was generally paid for his sugarcane on the basis of the average New York price of 90° sugar, for the month in which the sugarcane was harvested.

The various adherent planter plots are quite frequently found interspersed among the administration fields and are always physically located within the confines of the farming unit of the plantation.

The entire operation was essentially a joint one between the adherent planter and the plantation producer.  The passage of the Jones-Costigan amendment to the Agricultural Adjustment Act in 1934 resulted in the scrutiny of this system by the Department of Agriculture.

After a thorough investigation and public hearings in the Territory of Hawaii in December 1934, at which were present the representatives of the bulk of adherent planters in the Hawaiian sugar industry, the various plantation producers and the Secretary of Agriculture entered into the so-called production adjustment agreement.

These agreements set up the terms and conditions under which the Hawaiian sugar producers participated in the program for the production of sugar cane under the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. In these agreements, the peculiar status of the adherent planters of Hawaii was given recognition by the Secretary of Agriculture.

The so-called benefit payments of $10 per ton on sugar produced from adherent planter sugarcane were divided between the plantation producers and the adherent planters on the basis as though these payments were an increase in the market price of sugar; thus recognizing the joint nature of the venture under the adherent planter system.  (Most here is from the Congressional Record)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

1783

“… at 5 o’clock we arrived there and saw a number of People, I believe between 2 and 300 … we still continued advancing, keeping prepared against an attack tho’ without intending to attack them … they fired one or two shots, upon which our Men without any orders rushed in upon them, fired and put ’em to flight; several of them were killed”. (Diary of Lt. John Barker, Library of Congress)

The first shot (“the shot heard round the world”) was fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. The American militia were outnumbered and fell back; and the British regulars proceeded on to Concord.

On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies of British North America.

Following this, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and it was signed by 56-members of the Congress (1776.) The next eight years (1775-1783) war was waging on the eastern side of the continent. The main result was an American victory and European recognition of the independence of the United States.

The formal end of the war did not occur until the Treaty of Paris and the Treaties of Versailles were signed on September 3, 1783 and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory bounded roughly by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west.

The treaty document was signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay (representing the United States) and David Hartley (a member of the British Parliament representing the British Monarch, King George III.)

The last British troops left New York City on November 25, 1783, and the US Congress of the Confederation ratified the Paris treaty on January 14, 1784.

While the Colonists were battling the British, the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four chiefdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Separate chiefdoms ruled separate parts of the Islands. However, conquest was in the air and battles and negotiations for power and control were going on.

In about 1781, through a well-planned campaign, Kahekili was able to regain possession of the Hāna district and this marked the beginning of the disintegration of Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s kingdom. (Kuykendall)

Kalaniʻōpuʻu died shortly thereafter (1782.) Before his death, Kalaniʻōpuʻu gave an injunction to Kiwalaʻo and Kamehameha, and to all the chiefs, thus: “Boys, listen, both of you. The heir to the kingdom of Hawaii nei, comprising the three divisions of land, Kaʻū, Kona and Kohala, shall be the chief Kiwalaʻo. He is the heir to the lands.” (Fornander)

“As regarding you, Kamehameha, there is no land or property for you; but your land and your endowment shall be the god Kaili (Kūkaʻilimoku.) If, during life, your lord should molest you, take possession of the kingdom; but if the molestation be on your part, you will be deprived of the god.” These words of Kalaniʻōpuʻu were fulfilled in the days of their youth, and his injunction was realized. (Fornander)

On Hawaiʻi Island, civil war broke out between Kīwalaʻō’s forces and the various chiefs under the leadership of Kamehameha. In the first major skirmish, the battle of Mokuʻōhai (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 at Keʻei, south of Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawaiʻi,) Kiwalaʻo was killed.

The result of the battle of Mokuʻōhai was virtually to split the island of Hawaiʻi into three independent and hostile factions. The district of Kona, Kohala and portions of Hāmākua acknowledged Kamehameha as their sovereign. (Fornander)

The remaining portion of Hāmākua, the district of Hilo and a part of Puna, remained true to and acknowledged Keawemauhili as their Mōʻī; while the lower part of Puna and the district of Kaʻū, the patrimonial estate of Kīwalaʻō, ungrudgingly and cheerfully supported Keōua against the mounting ambition of Kamehameha. (Fornander)

On Maui, “At that time, Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, and the queen of Kauaʻi was disposed to assist him in these enterprises.” (Kalākaua)

Kahekili deceived Kahahana by having him believe Kaʻōpulupulu (his kahuna, priest) had offered the government and throne of Oʻahu to him (Kahekili), but that out of affection for his nephew he had refused; and he intimated strongly that Kaʻōpulupulu was a traitor to Kahahana.

Kahahana believed the falsehoods and it subsequently caused friction between Kahahana and Kaʻōpulupulu and the Oʻahu King turned a deaf ear to his kahuna’s advice and by the later part of 1782 or beginning of 1783, he arranged to have Kaʻōpulupulu killed.

Weakened, Kaʻōpulupulu commanded his wounded son, who had gained a point where a few steps would have placed him at the mercy of the angry sea: “E nui ke aho e kuʻu keiki a pa ke kino I ka ili kai a na ke kai ka ua ʻāina la” …

“Spend not your strength my son until your body strikes the surface of the ocean, for the land belongs to the sea.” This cryptic message culminated in the invasion of Oʻahu by Kahekili, aliʻi nui of Maui. (Nui; Cultural Surveys)

With his main obstacle removed, Kahekili prepared for an invasion against Oʻahu and Kahahana. He called on Kahahawai, his special friend, strategist and war chief. Kahekili’s warriors landed at Waikīkī in the beginning of 1783.

While Kahekili and his Maui army were camped near the heiau at ʻApuakehau, without authorization from Kahahana, the Eight of Oʻahu suddenly attacked the Maui warriors. The conflict was hand to hand, and in that respect was favorable to the eight men well-skilled in the use of spear and javelin.

Side by side, striking and smiting all before them, the little band forced its way into the heart of the body of its foes. It has been said that this was a fight “to which Hawaiian legends record no parallel.” Eight men attacked an army and for some time were victorious in their onslaught. (Westervelt)

Kahahana’s army was later routed, and he and his wife fled to the mountains. For nearly two years or more they wandered over the mountains, secretly aided, fed and clothed by his supporters. He was finally betrayed and killed by his wife’s brother. (Kanahele)

Kahekili and his eldest son and heir-apparent, Kalanikūpule, conquered Kahahana, adding Oʻahu under his control. (Kahekili’s son, Kalanikūpule, inherited his chiefdom; Oʻahu was later lost to Kamehameha in the Battle of Nuʻuanu (1795.))

The image shows a Herb Kane depiction of the sea portion of the land-sea battle of Mokuʻōhai.

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Sea_battle_at_mokuohai-(HerbKane)
Sea_battle_at_mokuohai-(HerbKane)

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Tsunami in Hawai‘i

A tsunami is a series of ocean waves generated by sudden displacements in the sea floor, landslides or volcanic activity.  In the deep ocean, the tsunami wave may only be a few inches high.  The tsunami wave may come gently ashore or may increase in height to become a fast moving wall of turbulent water several meters high.
 
In Hawaii, tsunamis have accounted for more lost lives than the total of all other local disasters.  In the 20th century, an estimated 221 people have been killed by tsunamis.  Most of these deaths occurred on the Big Island during the tsunamis of 1946 and 1960, two of the largest tsunamis to strike in the Pacific.
 
Here is a brief summary of some recent tsunami and their impacts in Hawai‘i:
 
1946
The tsunami of 1946 was generated by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in the Aleutian Islands.  This tsunami struck the Big Island of Hawaii on April 1st.  The tsunami flooded the downtown area of Hilo killing 159 people and causing more than $26-million in damages.
 
1952
On November 4, 1952 a tsunami was generated by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the USSR.  In Hawaii, property damage from these waves was estimated at $800,000-$1,000,000 (1952 dollars); no lives were lost.  The waves beached boats, caused houses to collide, destroyed piers, scoured beaches and moved road pavement.
 
1957
On March 9, 1957 a tsunami was generated by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake in the Aleutian Islands.  It generated a 24-foot tsunami that did great damage on Adak Island, especially to the fuel and oil docks.  The Hawaiian Islands incurred about $5,000,000 of damage in 1957 dollars.  The highest wave in Hawaii was 12-feet.
 
1960
The tsunami of May 23, 1960 was generated by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake in Chile.  The 35-foot tsunami struck Hilo, Hawaii causing severe damage.  61-deaths were recorded and $23-million in damage occurred.  In the area of maximum destruction, only buildings of reinforced concrete or structural steel and a few others sheltered by these buildings, remained standing – and even these were generally gutted.  Frame buildings were either crushed or floated nearly to the limits of the flooding.
 
1975
On November 29, 1975, an earthquake occurred off the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.  When the quake-generated tsunami struck, 32 campers were at Halape Beach Park.  The sound of falling rocks from a nearby cliff, along with earth movement caused the campers to flee toward the ocean.  They were then forced back to the cliff by rising ocean waters.  The first wave was 5-feet high, but the second wave was 26-feet high and carried the unfortunate campers into a ditch near the base of the cliff, where they remained until the ordeal ended.  Two campers died and 19 suffered injuries.
 
2011
An earthquake measured at 9.0 magnitude, the sixth biggest since 1900, struck Japan on March 11, 2011.  The first tsunami waves reached Kaua‘i shortly after 3 a.m. and took about 30 minutes to sweep through the island chain.  Waves above 6-feet were recorded at Kahului on Maui and 3-feet at Haleiwa on the north shore of Oahu.  Lost homes, sunken boats, Kona Village Resort damage, and damaged piers and roads caused tsunami damage into the tens of millions of dollars; no one was killed or injured during the tsunami.
 
The earliest historical account of a Hawaii tsunami was from a 16th century Hawaiian chant that described a huge wave that struck the coast of Molokai.
 
The earliest confirmed tsunami was on Dec 21, 1812, when a wave from Southern California was observed at Ho‘okena on the west coast of the Big Island (Hawai‘i island). Maximum runups in excess of 15 m were measured for the 1946 and 1957 distant tsunamis and the 1975 local tsunami.
 
The record shows that damaging tsunamis from distant earthquakes reached Hawaii these years: 1837, 1841, 1868, 1869, 1877, 1883, 1906, 1918, 1923, 1933, 1946, 1957, and 1960. Other smaller tsunamis that caused no significant damage in Hawaii were generated by distant earthquakes in 1896, 1901, 1906, 1919, 1922, 1923, two in 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1938, 1944, 1952, and 1964.
 
In a period of 157 years, a damaging or destructive tsunami struck the Hawaiian Islands on the average of once in every twelve years.