Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka La Ho‘iho‘i Ea

Kamehameha III commissioned and dispatched three Ministers – an American, Briton and a trusted childhood friend – William Richards, Sir George Simpson and Timoteo Haʻalilio, to secure the recognition of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s independence and protection of public international law that accompanied recognition. (Hawaiian Journal of Law & Politics)

In April 1842, Simpson left soon for England; Haʻalilio and Richards departed in July for the US. By December 1842, the US had recognized the Hawaiian Kingdom; shortly thereafter they secured formal recognition from Great Britain and France.

However, for about five months in 1843 the islands were under the rule of the British commission set up by Lord George Paulet. Queen Victoria, on learning these activities, immediately sent an envoy to the islands to restore sovereignty to its rightful rulers.

Finally, Admiral Richard Thomas arrived in the Islands on July 26, 1843 to restore the kingdom to Kamehameha III. Then, on July 31, 1843, Thomas declared the end of the Provisional Cession and recognized Kamehameha III as King of the Hawaiian Islands.

“The Commander-in-Chief confidently hopes that this act of restoration to the free exercise of his sovereign authority, will be received by the King of the Sandwich Islands as a most powerful and convincing proof not only of the responsibility he is under to render immediate reparation for real wrongs committed upon British subjects or their property …”

“… but also of the importance which attaches to the maintenance of those friendly and reciprocally advantageous relations which have for so many years subsisted between the two nations …”

“… and he further hopes that neither His Majesty nor his successors will ever forget that to the illustrious circumnavigator Captain Cook, as the first discoverer, the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands owe their admission into the great family of civilized man, and from the lips of Vancouver (another Englishman) Kamehameha I heard mention for the first time of the true God …”

“… which ultimately led to the abrogation of a false worship, idolatry, and human sacrifices, and by the well directed energies, the ceaseless perseverance of the American Missionaries to the establishment of a religion pure and undefiled …”

“… accompanied by the advantages of instruction and civilization, the which combined and duly cultivated, bring in their train, security of life and property, social order, mental and moral improvement, internal prosperity, and the respect as well as good will of other nations more advanced in the knowledge of the true faith, and the science of good government.” (Admiral Richard Thomas)

“A parade of several hundred English marines appeared on the plain of Honolulu, with their officers, their banners waving proudly and their arms glittering in the sunbeams. Admiral Thomas and the suspended king proceeded thither in a carriage, attended by the chiefs and a vast multitude of people.” (Bingham)

“Kauikeaouli emerged from the grounds of Kanaina; he and Kekuanaoa, Paki, Keoniana, Kanoa, Kivini, and some foreigners on horseback, and they rode for Kulaokahua.”

“Admiral Thomas was there with his troops and mounted guns in all his grandeur, and also there were the young chiefs, and a crowd of natives and foreigners awaiting the arrival of the King.”

“When he arrived, Admiral Thomas came to him holding the Hawaiian flag in his hands. The King and all his people dismounted and the Admiral came and opened the flag to the wind, and then gave it to Kauikeaouli’s flag bearer.”

“Right then, 21 mounted guns fired as a salute to the Flag, and the British flag was lowered on Puowaina (Punchbowl), while the Hawaiian flag was drawn up again, whereupon 21 guns of Puowaina sounded.”

“Then the British flag was pulled down at the Fort and the Hawaiian flag was raised, so the Fort fired a 21 gun salute, followed by 21 guns from the ship Carysfort, 21 from the Dublin, 21 more from the Hazzard, and then the American ship Constellation fired a 21-gun salute. When that was over, the 21 mounted guns fired a salute in honor of the King.”

“The British soldiers stood in a circle saluting the King, and when that was done the King returned to the palace. At 1 o’clock the King, his soldiers and the crowd of people all went to the church of Kawaiaha’o and gave thanks to God for his grace in restoring the sovereignty of the Nation.”

“At three o’clock, the King went aboard the ship Dublin to a dinner hosted by the Admiral, and when the Carysfort saw the King’s flag on the launches, a 21-gun salute was fired, followed by 21 guns from the Hazzard, then the Dublin, and then a final 21 gun salute came from the Constellation.”

“When the dinner on board the ship was finished, the King and his retinue came ashore and the Dublin fired a salute, followed by the Carysfort, then the Hazzard and the Constellation, 21 guns each.”

“The next day the great feast at Luakaha was held for the Admiral, and Kauikeaouli decided that the 31st of July would become a holiday for the Nation and the people.” (Judd, 1865; Nogelmeier; SCS)

The Kulaokahu‘a, the plains, was the comparatively level ground below Makiki Valley (between the mauka fertile valleys and the makai wetlands.) This included areas such as Kaka‘ako, Kewalo, Makiki, Pawaʻa and Mōʻiliʻili.

“It was so empty that after Punahou School opened in July 1842, mothers upstairs in the mission house could see children leave that institution and begin their trek across the barren waste. Trees shunned the place; only straggling livestock inhabited it.” (Greer)

This flat plain would be a favorable place to play maika, a Hawaiian sport which uses a disc-shaped stone, called an ‘ulu maika, for a bowling type of game.

In the 1840s, it was described as “nothing but a most exceedingly dreary parcel of land with here and there a horse trail as path-way.” (Gilman) The flat plains were also perfect for horse racing, and the area between present-day Piʻikoi and Makiki Streets was a race track.

The Plains were described as dry and dusty, without a shrub to relieve its barrenness. There was enough water around Makiki Stream to grow taro in lo‘i (irrigated fields,) and there was at least one major ʻauwai, or irrigation ditch.

The area of the restoration celebration was at an area that was not yet a park, but ultimately became the first public park in the Islands – Thomas Square – in 1850.

The Privy Council records for January 22, 1850 noted the approval of “Wyllie’s suggestion to set apart a day for marking out the boundaries of the square on the Plains of Waikiki, to be called by the name of Admiral Thomas.” The square remained unimproved until 1873, when plans to fence the area and plant trees were announced. (Schmitt)

“(I)t will be highly pleasing to him, to know that he has not been forgotten on this occasion. I will take care to communicate to him that he has not been forgotten. The Act of Restoration, commemorated on this day, will associate his name indelibly with the history of this young nation …”

“… in which, I can assure you, the Admiral takes the most lively interest. It was a source of great gratification to him, after performing that act, to find that he had judged correctly of the just and liberal views of HBM’s Government towards these Islands.” (Wyllie at First Anniversary)

“(T)he example and influence of Admiral Thomas of the British, and of Commodore Jones of the U. S. Navy, strengthened and encouraged both the native population and the missionaries.”

“Following the misrule and licentiousness consequent upon wresting the government out of the hands of the legitimate rulers, their counsels and aid were most opportune for the restoration of things to order, and a healthful moral state.” (ABCFM)

“During these struggles of the Hawaiian government to settle their relations with foreign powers on a proper basis without subjugation, the American Board, with the co-operation of the American Bible and Tract Societies, and the agency of their missionaries, used their endeavors to urge the nation forward to a state of independence in respect to foreign missionary aid.”

“Messrs. Richards, Andrews, Green, and Judd, of our mission, having resigned as missionaries and been discharged, with the expectation of contributing to the stability of Hawaiian institutions, took, with other foreigners, the oath of allegiance to His Hawaiian Majesty, and became his adopted naturalized subjects.” (Bingham)

“The king being restored to the free use of his sovereignty under the constitution, and once more regarding himself as the head of the people, took the lead again by example and influence, and by such means as were in his power, to favor the cause of temperance and order.” (Bingham)

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Hawaiian Flag - 1816-1845
Hawaiian Flag – 1816-1845

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

George Washington Houghtailing

George Washington Houghtailing (April 7, 1817 – September 2, 1887,) a Dutchman from the Hudson-Mohawk Valley in New York, came to Hawai‘i around 1845.

He married a Hawaiian woman in 1850, and ran the Bay Horse Saloon on Bethel and Hotel Street in Honolulu.  (Cultural Surveys)

His first wife died after their daughter Sara was born (Sara married Jerome Feary.) Houghtailing remarried (Elizabeth Thompson) and had ten more children (5-boys and 5-girls,) nine of whom lived to adulthood.

During the Māhele, he was given several kuleana, later consolidated into a 15-acre tract along a road later named after him, Houghtailing Road. The family home was between School and Vineyard Streets.

“On the premises there was a large pond which had a natural spring and which also fed the lower land where we had taro patches and cultivated the other truck gardening on the land. The land was quite open.”

“We had a couple of bay horses and raised chickens and pigs for family consumption. There was a large open area fronting Houghtailing Road which was used as a park for the neighborhood kids.”  (Houghtailing Jr; Cultural Surveys)

Mr. Houghtailing located the ponds, taro fields, and rice patches from School Street to Liliha Street; other taro patches were in the area “between Pālama Street and Liliha Street, below School Street down to what in now Vineyard Street”.

The rice ponds and taro patches, usually operated by the Chinese, were cultivated up to the 1920s, when many were filled in for the development of residential subdivisions.

The Japanese took over some of the land as truck farms, and the Japanese also gradually took over the small stores once operated by the Chinese.  Additionally, the development of one of the first subdivision, the McInerny Tract was developed around 1918-1920.

“The upper part of McInerny Tract used to be planted with pineapple. The other part was more grazing and open area where guavas and other natural types of fruits, like mangoes, grew. … The sugarcane fields in the Pālama area, ran all the way up to what would be now the Dole (cannery) parking lot … extended above what is now Vineyard Street.”

“The management of that plantation at that time was the Honolulu Plantation, where the mill was located in Aiea. … Cane growing in the Kapālama area phased out about the late ‘20s. I think.”

“The phasing out program took place because lands were being purchased by the federal government to expand military reservations, including Hickam Field.” (Houghtailing Jr; Cultural Surveys)

Back to the Bay Horse … “On Sunday the 17th inst. Geo. Houghtailing an employee of the Bay Horse Saloon was arrested for selling liquor on that date and placed under bonds. At the same time James Gibbs was arrested for selling liquor without a license at the same time and place, and also placed under bonds to appear on the following Monday.”  (Hawaiʻi Holomua, June 27, 1894)

The warrants were later seen as defective and “After the close of the prosecution the defense moved for their discharge, and the court discharged Mr. Houghtailing as there was no evidence against him, and after viewing the premises did charge  Mr. Gibbs on the grounds that there was no evidence to hold him guilty of the offence charged.”  (Hawaiʻi Holomua, June 27, 1894)

At the end of World War II, the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu saw the need for a second Catholic School on Oʻahu. The new school was named after Saint Damien de Veuster.

The Congregation of Christian Brothers, students, and parents volunteered to turn the land, which included 4-acres of taro patches and a good deal of uneven swampland into a school campus, because the company that started the construction on Damien went bankrupt.

Damien Memorial School is now situated on what was part of the Houghtailing homestead in Kapālama.

Regarding the name, the theory is that all Houghtailings and various spellings in the United States are descended from Conrad Mathias Houghtaling who emigrated from the Netherlands around 1650.

Reportedly, the correct pronunciation for Houghtailing Street (named for the family,) is Ho-tailing (Hough as in dough, not as in cough.)  (Midweek)  (Lots of information here from Houghtailing message boards, as well as Cultural Surveys.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Harry and Billy

Flowing water turned wheels to grind wheat into flour more than 2,000-years ago.  Back then, wind was also turning windmills for grinding and pumping water.  Fast forward to the mid-1700s, a French hydraulic engineer wrote of the development of the science of hydraulics.

Beginning with Benjamin Franklin’s experiment with a kite one stormy night in Philadelphia, the principles of electricity gradually became understood.

In 1880, a brush arc light dynamo driven by a water turbine was used to provide theater and storefront lighting in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and in 1881, a brush dynamo connected to a turbine in a flour mill provided street lighting at Niagara Falls, New York.

Before light bulbs, outdoor lighting was via arc lights (lamps that produce light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc – through two electrodes separated by a gas.))

The world’s first public electrical supply was provided in late-1881, when the streets of the Surrey town of Godalming in the UK were lit with electric light.

That system was powered from a water wheel on the River Wey and supplied a number of arc lamps within the town. The supply scheme also provided electricity to a number of shops and premises to light 34-incandescent Swan light bulbs.

In 1882, water from the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin served the first operational hydroelectric generating station in the United States, producing 12.5 kilowatts of power; the total electrical capacity generated was equivalent to 250-lights.

Shortly thereafter, hydroelectricity that powered public electric lighting made its way to Hawaiʻi.

“This has been a work of great labor and anxiety, and was really only brought to a completion on Monday night. Some days previous to that the Waterworks staff … had laid the necessary piping, bringing the water into the Electric building … was to be turned into the new wheel for the first time in these islands”.  (Daily Bulletin, March 21, 1888)

“The conditions of electrical power transmission have been thoroughly studied by competent engineers, and are now so well understood that those conversant with the practical aspects of the subject are well assured that within a few years even the smallest towns and villages will supply themselves with electric light and power plants.”

“The management of an electric power plant requires no unusual scientific knowledge. Once the station has been established it can be carried on by the ordinarily intelligent class of mechanics and workmen who are to be found in every village.”  (Daily Bulletin, March 26, 1888)

“Punctually at 7 pm yesterday (March 23, 1888,) the Princess Liliʻuokalani and Princess Kaʻiulani, attended by His Excellency the Hon. LA Thurston, Minister of Interior, arrived at the Electric Light Station in the Valley and was there received by the Superintendent Mr. Faulkner and Mr. Eassie.”    (Daily Bulletin, March 24, 1888)

“The moon three quarters full rose brightly in the sky Friday night.  The usually dark streets were softly lighted by the lunar rays.  Speculation was rife as to whether the electric lights would be turned on or not as it had been announced previously that Friday evening would witness a new era in the civic history of Honolulu.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, March 27, 1888)

 “A few minutes after 7, HRH (Kaʻiulani) was accommodate with a chair for her feet and under the guidance of Mr. Superintendent Faulkner in full working costume connected the circuits and had the honor of illumining the streets of Honolulu for the first time with the new light.”

“Suddenly as the sun emerging from behind a cloud brightens and gladdens the face of nature, did the turning of that wheel brighten and gladden the anxious intellectual mirrors of the assembled cognoscenti. The work and anxiety of the last few weeks was at an end.”

“Mr. Faulkner immediately hurried away to the town to see the lamps some of which were not burning, but after the lapse of half an hour or so, he had the satisfaction of seeing that all with the exception of 3 or 4 were glowing brightly and steadily; and it is confidently expected that to-night all the lights will burn from the jump.”  (Daily Bulletin, March 24, 1888)

“At 7:30 pm the sound of excitement in the streets brought citizens, printers, policemen and all other nocturnal fry rushing outdoors to see what was up. And what they did see was Honolulu lighted by electricity. The long looked for and anxiously expected moment had arrived.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, March 27, 1888)

“The lamps are of 2,000-candle power each arranged to burn one side at a time each carbon lasting from six to seven hours. After a carbon is burned out the current is automatically transferred by a lever which immediately trips the other side of the carbon and then that one burns six to seven hours.”

“The Electrical Works are just two and a half miles from Merchant Street up the Nuʻuanu Valley. On a knoll by the roadside on the way to the Pali stands a neatly finished dwelling house thirty three feet front by twenty-seven feet wide the residence of the superintendent and engineer.”

“A few yards to the rear rises an unpretentious looking two story building dimensions forty feet long by thirty feet wide and thirty five feet high to the peak of the roof where the motors and machinery of the electric works are in operation.”

“The water pressure at the wheel is 130-pounds to the square inch. The water power in its impact on the wheel is regulated by a governor operating exactly like that of a steam engine. By the time the turbine is reached the water has come rushing through 6,000-feet of pipe from the head source which is 300-feet above the level of the main in the building.”

“It is estimated that the discharge of water into the turbine is at present 2,000,000-gallons every 24-hours but that the discharge may be 3,000,000-gallons if required.”

“The turbine makes 1,275-revolutions per minute and is equivalent to a 130-horse power engine.  The revolution of the turbine is communicated to the dynamo motors on the second floor by belting. The two dynamos are respectively 42 and 10-horse power.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, March 27, 1888)

“Before closing this brief account of the event at the station we feel bound to offer one or two remarks on what can be only regarded as a strange anomaly, that at this late period in the history of science and amongst persons of high intelligence and practical experience and scientific attainments there should have been one who could dive into the dim recesses of superstitious gloom and having found what he wanted remarked that the wheel would have no luck unless it were christened.”

“There was such a one and he no Scotchman, and he had brought his tools with him in the shape of a bottle of ‘potheen,’ (whiskey) but the strangeness of the anomaly was nothing to the strangeness of the alacrity with which the assembled few agreed with that person and the strange appreciation they showed for the ‘potheen.’”

“Suffice it to say that the wheel was christened and its health drunk with heartily expressed wishes for its success. This took place on the ground floor – the distinguished company was above.”  (Daily Bulletin, March 24, 1888)

A year later, the first of a handful of houses and businesses had electricity. By 1890, this luxury had been extended to 797 of Honolulu’s homes.

It’s interesting to note that the first electric lighting was installed in the White House in 1891 – after ʻIolani Palace (1886.)  (Contrary to urban legend that it also pre-dated the British palace, Buckingham Palace had electricity prior to ʻIolani Palace.  It was first installed in the Ball Room in 1883, and between 1883 and 1887 electricity was extended throughout Buckingham Palace.)

Oh, “Harry and Billy” in the title?

“Mr F (Faulkner) has two dynamos here the larger known as Harry and the smaller as Billy. Harry supplies power to 50 arc lights – Billy only runs 12 but Billy is getting old, having been working in America 8 years ago.”  (Daily Bulletin, March 21, 1888)

A special thanks to John Wehrheim for images (past and present) of the Nuʻuanu Hydroelectric facility.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Haʻikū

It’s melted away;
This Buddha of snow is now
Indeed a true one
(Yamazaki Sokan (1464-1553))

A traditional Haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count.

Wait … that’s not what this is about.  However, this is about a place (Haʻikū) at about the time the Haiku above was written.

According to oral tradition, Piʻilani unified the entire island of Maui, bringing together under one rule the formerly-competing eastern (Hāna) and western (Wailuku) multi-district kingdoms of the Island.   In the 1500s, Chief Piʻilani (“stairway to heaven”) ruled in peace and prosperity.

Among other accomplishments, Piʻilani built interconnecting trails.  His son, Kihapiʻilani laid the East Maui section and connected the island.  This trail was the only ancient pathway to encircle any Hawaiian island (not only along the coast, but also up the Kaupō Gap and through the summit area and crater of Haleakalā.)

“Hāmākua Poko (Short Hāmākua) and Hāmākua Loa (Long Hāmākua) are two coastal regions where gently sloping kula lands intersected by small gulches come down to the sea along the northern coast line of East Maui.”

“Stream taro was probably planted along the watercourses well up into the higher kula land and forest taro throughout the lower forest zone. The number of very narrow ahupuaʻa thus utilized along the whole of the Hāmākua coast indicates that there must have been a very considerable population.”

“This would be despite the fact that it is an area of only moderate precipitation because of being too low to draw rain out of trade winds flowing down the coast from the rugged and wet northeast Koʻolau area that lies beyond.”

“It was probably a favorable region for breadfruit, banana, sugar cane, arrowroot; and for yams and ʻawa in the interior. The slopes between gulches were covered with good soil, excellent for sweet-potato planting. The low coast is indented by a number of small bays offering good opportunity for fishing.”  (Handy)

At the boundary of Hāmākaupoko and Hāmākualoa (within the Hāmākualoa moku) is the ahupuaʻa of Haʻikū (lit. speak abruptly) and Haʻikū Uka (inland.)

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (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 (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

In the battles between Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Kahekili, “Kalaniʻōpuʻu decided to go on to Koʻolau, Maui, where food was abundant.  He went to Kāʻanapali and fed his soldiers upon the taro of Honokahua….”

“At Hāmākualoa Kalaniʻōpuʻu landed and engaged in battle, but Kahekili hastened to the aid of his men, and they put up such a fierce fight that Kalaniʻōpuʻu fled in his canoes. Landing at Koʻolau he slew the common people and maltreated the captives”.

Of the wars, it was noted, “Like the fiery petals of the lehua blossoms of Pi‘iholo were the soldiers of Kahekili, red among the leaves of the koa trees of Liliko‘i or as one glimpses them through the kukui trees of Ha‘ikū.”   (Kamakau)

During Kamehameha’s later conquest of Maui at Wailuku and ʻIao Valley, his canoe fleet landed at various places along the Hāmākua coast.

A notable feature along and through Haʻikū is Maliko Gulch; it apparently had a pre-contact canoe landing at the mouth of the gulch.  (Xamanek)

“Maliko is a place with a good stream, it is also an anchorage for seafaring boats, and there is a wharf on one side. The cliff is quite steep, but the flat lands below, are beautifully adorned with groves of kukui.”  (A Journey, 1868; Maly)

By 1858, The Haʻikū Sugar Plantation was formed, at the time, there were only ten sugar companies in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Five of these sugar companies were on the island of Maui, but only two were in operation. The five were: East Maui Plantation at Kaluanui, Brewer Plantation at Hāliʻimaile, LL Torbert and Captain James Makee’s plantation at ʻUlupalakua, Hāna and Haʻikū Plantation.

The Haiku Mill, on the east bank of Maliko Gulch, was completed in 1861; 600-acres of cane the company had under cultivation yielded 260 tons of sugar and 32,015 gallons of molasses. Over the years the company procured new equipment for the mill.

(In 1853, the government of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i had set aside much of the adjoining Hāmākuapoko to the Board of Education. The Board of Education deeded the Hāmākuapoko acreage which was unencumbered by native claims to the Trustees of Oʻahu College (Punahou) in 1860, who then sold the land to the Haʻikū Sugar Company (Cultural Surveys))

In 1871 Samuel T Alexander became manager of the mill. Alexander and later his partner, Henry Perrine Baldwin, saw the need for a reliable source of water, and started construction of the Hāmākua ditch in 1876.

With the completion of the ditch, the majority of Haʻikū Plantation’s crops were grown on the west side of Maliko gulch. As a result in 1879 Haʻikū mill was abandoned and its operations were transferred to Hāmākuapoko where a new factory was erected, which had more convenient access to the new sugar fields.

Other ditches were later added to the system, with five ditches at different levels used to convey the water to the cane fields on the isthmus of Maui. In order of elevation they are Haʻikū, Lowrie, Old Hāmākua, New Hāmākua, and Kailuanui ditches.   (They became part of the East Maui Irrigation system.)

Although two missionaries (Richard Armstrong and Amos Cooke) established the Haʻikū Sugar Company in 1858, its commercial success was due to a second-generation missionary descendant, Henry Perrine Baldwin. In 1877, Baldwin constructed a sugar mill on the west side of Maliko Gulch, named the Hāmākuapoko Mill.

By 1880, the Haiku Sugar Company was milling and bagging raw sugar at Hāmākuapoko for shipment out of Kuau Landing. The Kuau Landing was abandoned in favor of the newly-completed Kahului Railroad line in 1881, with all regional sugar sent then by rail to the port of Kahului.

Brothers Henry Perrine and David Dwight Baldwin laid the foundation for the company in the late-1800s through the acquisition of land.  Experimentation with hala kahiki (pineapple) began in 1890, when the first fruit was planted in Haʻikū.

In 1903 the Baldwin brothers formed Haʻikū Fruit & Packing Company, launching the pineapple industry on Maui.  Maui’s first pineapple cannery began operations by 1904, with the construction of a can-making plant and a cannery in Haʻikū.

1,400 cases of pineapple were packed during the initial run. In time, the independent farmers for miles around brought their fruit there to be processed.

Haʻikū Plantation remained in operation until 1905 when it merged with Pāʻia Plantation, to form Maui Agricultural Company. (In 1948, Maui Agricultural Company merged with HC&S (Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company.))

At the outbreak of WWII, the Army rented 1,600-acres from various landowners in the Haʻikū area.  Buildings went up for offices, tents for living quarters; mess halls were constructed and roads carved out. Post Exchanges opened up; movie screens and stages were built and baseball diamonds were laid out.

The 4th Marine Division was deactivated November 28, 1945.  In April 1946, the Camp Maui land was returned to the owners.  Today, the grounds are now a public park named “Kalapukua Playground” (“magical playground”;) Giggle Hill has a large children’s playground (and some claim they can still hear the laughter of Marines and their girlfriends on dark nights.)  The centerpiece of the park is the memorial to the Fourth Marine Division.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kukuiho‘olua

Kukuiho‘olua (which means “oven-baked candlenut”) islet is located in Lā‘ie Bay, just offshore from Laniloa (meaning “tall majesty”) Point. The calcareous islet is about 2 acres in size and reaches a height of about 20 ft. It is part of the Hawai‘i Offshore Islet Seabird Sanctuary System.

Vegetation on the islet is made up of a single native species, akulikuli, which seems to be doing well on its own; it is was common on slopes where the ocean did not wash over too severely. Previously, ohelo kai and button mangrove were observed these plants likely come and go on this high energy islet. (HEAR)

In addition to Kukuiho‘olua, there are four other small islands in the vicinity of the point. To the north, the northernmost island is Kihewamoku, with Mokuaia Island (locally known as “Goat Island”) and Pulemoku Island lying between Kihewamoku and Kukuiho’olua. To the southeast of Kukuiho’olua and directly east of Laniloa Point is another islet named Mokualai Island.  (Jordan)

The offshore islets on O‘ahu’s eastern side are comprised of several small calcareous islands, tuff cones, and lava cones. These predator free isles, part of the Hawaii State Seabird Sanctuary, provide refuge for numerous seabirds and native coastal plants. The islets offer a unique opportunity for restoration due to their isolation, small size, and harsh oceanic conditions. (HEAR)

The O‘ahu Offshore Islets are a series of geological features off the windward coast of O‘ahu.   These islets are a lone refuge for many native seabirds, plants, and insects.   Because of their ecological importance, the islets are part of the Hawaii State Seabird Sanctuary system. (HEAR)

The islands and islets are refuge for many native seabirds, plants, and insects, as well as for Hawaiian Monk seals and other protected and endangered ocean species.

The O‘ahu Offshore Island Seabird Sanctuaries include Mokuauia, Popoia, Kapapa, the Mokulua Islands, Kihewamoku, Pulemoku, Kukuihoolua, Mokualai, Kekepa, Moku Manu, Mokulea, Manana, and Kaohikaipu.

The islands are under the jurisdiction of the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, which manages the State Seabird Sanctuary System for the protection and management of native Hawaiian coastal ecosystems.

What folks now call Lā’ie Point was originally called Laniloa Point, and the beach south of the point was called Laniloa Beach.  Locally, it has been called Clissold’s Beach for decades because one of the first beach estates along here was built by Edward LaVaun Clissold in about 1951.

Clissold had been a Mormon missionary to Hawai‘i and was fluent in the language; he was also the stake president, temple president, mission president, and manager of Zion’s Securities, the predecessor of Hawai‘i Reserves, thereby earning him the title of “second most powerful man in the Church.”  (BYUH)

In Hawaiian mythology, Laniloa Point and the nearby islands formed when a great warrior, named Kana, set out to kill a mo‘o or giant lizard (Laniloa), which had killed many people in the area.

Kana easily defeated the mo‘o and chopped it into five pieces and tossed them into the sea. Kukuiho’olua Island as considered the head because it had large sea caves on the north and south sides that resembled eye sockets.  (Rice, Jordan)

In the great epic told about Hi‘iaka’s journey from Hawai‘i Island to Kauai, she initially traveled along the windward side of O‘ahu. When she stopped in Lā‘ie, Hi‘iaka extolled the beauty of the place in a traditional chant.

This chapter of her journey is recalled by Ho‘oulumāhiehie in the Hawaiian language newspaper, Ka Na‘i Aupuni:

They did continue along, and Hi‘iaka eventually saw Laniloa, that long point of land extending out from Lā‘ie, at which time she offered this kau.

Laniloa soars, peacefully calm

A roaring sea below

I am cleansed by the salt spray.

They arrived at the places called Lā‘iemalo‘o and Lā‘iewai. When they had passed the ridged boundaries of these lands, they went on through the next district Mālaekahana, and on to Kahuku. (Ho‘oulumāhiehie 2006:156)

At the time of initial western contact, that is, during the period following Kamehameha I’s conquest of O‘ahu, the warrior chief from Hawai‘i Island placed Lā‘ie (Lā‘iewai and Lā‘iemalo‘o) in the hands of his half-brother Kalaimamahū.

This Kalaimamahū was “the grandfather of [future king] Lunalilo, who later formally received the land in the Māhele of 1848, under the rule of Kamehameha III.” (McElroy)

Before the tsunami of April 1, 1946, there was no ‘arch’ at Kukuiho‘olua; instead, there were two large, but shallow, sea caves on either side of Kukuiho‘olua.  The “April Fools Earthquake and Tsunami” punched through the caves.

Over subsequent decades, continued erosion of the caves led to collapse and a joining of the caves to form a sea arch, with a boulder in the middle of the arch. (Jordan)

During February 24-26, 2016 storm, large storm waves, resulting from the unique El Niño conditions washed out the large boulder that had lain within the arch since its initial formation, significantly increasing the open area beneath the arch.

The large boulder, consisting of the same cemented dune material as the Kukuiho‘olua Island sea arch and lying beneath it had been moved from beneath the arch and had fallen into the sea. (Jordan)

DLNR rules close or restrict access to the Offshore Islets for the protection of the biological, geological, or cultural resources of the area or the safety and welfare of persons or property.  Online rules indicate public access to Kukuiho‘olua is closed.

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