Peter T Young

June 9, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Maui Agricultural Company

In 1922, “Maui Agricultural Company [MA Co] has the largest land holdings of any of the Maui plantations but in area planted to cane is second to Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar. … It is a Baldwin plantation and its fields extend from those of the Hawaiian Commercial Sugar Co and extend thence into Haiku and up into Makawao.”

“Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company or Puunene as it is so commonly called, was the plantation for which the late HP [Herny Perrine] Baldwin did perhaps more than any other, much as he did for his Paia plantation. The two went forward together after he acquired what is now Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company property.” (Maui News, Oct 10, 1922)

“[A]s one travels east along Hana Highway from the city of Kahului, two sugar mills can be seen among the cane fields which characterize central Maui. The first to come to view is Puunene Mill. Located two miles from Kahului, it is part of the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S). “ (Stores and Storekeepers of Paia & Puunene, Maui, UH Manoa, Ethnic Studies Program)

“The Maui Agricultural Company was a copartnership of corporations consisting of the two historic plantations, Haiku Sugar Co., founded in 1858 and Paia Plantation dating back to 1883, and five companies chartered in 1903, the date of the formation of the Maui Agricultural Co.”

“Previous to 1883 and back to 1870 the upper portions of the Paia lands comprised a plantation owned by Mr HP Baldwin, the manager, and Mr ST Alexander as partners under the firm name or Alexander & Baldwin.”

“In 1886 the Haiku Sugar Co absorbed the East Maui Plantation Company located at Kaluanui and in 1889 the Paia Plantation purchased the Grove Ranch Plantation Co., doing business at Grove Ranch or Pahulei.” (Maui News, Oct 10, 1922)

“Two miles further along Hana Highway, on a hill, appears Paia Mill. … [P]rior to 1948 when the two companies merged, Paia Plantation was part of the Maui Agricultural Company (MA Company).”

“Less sprawling than neighboring Puunene Plantation, Paia Plantation consisted of six main camps housing approximately 6,000 people. Besides the main Paia Camp which consisted of smaller ‘subcamps’ near the mill, the other camps were at Kaheka, Hamakua Poke, Keahua, Pulehu, and Kailua.” (Stores and Storekeepers of Paia & Puunene, Maui, UH Manoa, Ethnic Studies Program)

“Paia and Puunene were almost the same company. [Maui Agricultural Company [Paia] and Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company [Puunene] were both subsidiaries of Alexander and Baldwin.]” (Minoru Hayashida, Oral History) “MA Company and HC&S was different company – sugar company … Then, they merged, came HC&S [in 1948].” (Kenichi Itakura, Oral History)

In 1900 Alexander & Baldwin incorporated as an agency for sugar plantations such as Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company and Maui Agricultural Company, Ltd., an A&B creation. (Stores and Storekeepers of Paia & Puunene, Maui, UH Manoa, Ethnic Studies Program)

Henry “Harry” Alexander Baldwin, son of Henry Perrine Baldwin, was President and Manager of Maui Agricultural Company which consolidated the sugar plantations over in the Ha‘ikū, Hamakuapoko, and Hāli‘imaile areas. (Orr)

In 1906 Frank F. Baldwin succeeded his father Henry Perrine Baldwin as manager of HC&S; and became both president and manager in 1911, when his father died.

In 1908 HC&S and MA Company jointly organized East Maui Irrigation Company, Ltd to manage their ditch system and divide water between them.

In 1917 Maui Agricultural Company, Ltd. built the first distillery in the US for producing alcohol from molasses; the plantations vehicles operated on molasses alcohol instead of kerosene or gasoline during World War I. The company also grew corn which they grounded at their Ha‘ikū factory, supplying the Territory of Hawaii. (Orr)

“Another case of pioneering on the part or the MA Co, was its installation of a plant for the manufacture of fuel alcohol. This process was devised by JP Foster, factory superintendent. ln this way the company utilized its waste alcohol profitably, manufacturing enough motor fuel to run all of its tractors and other motor vehicles.”

“It Is now furnishing the fuel to its employes for cooking purposes. This Is being done because of the growing scarcity and increasing cost of wood as a fuel, the plantation always having furnished the latter to its workers.”

“It experimented as to the cost of the new fuel compared with oil and found it more economical. It now furnishes the necessary stoves at a lower cost than other stoves could be bought and the fuel alcohol gratis.” (Maui News, Oct 10, 1922)

“One of the world’s largest plantations at the time, Puunene Plantation consisted of 33,000 acres, 16,000 of which were cane land in 1935.”

“In 1935, 7,600 employees and their families lived in the twenty-six camps that dotted the area. Among the plantation camps stood four public schools, three Japanese-language schools, ten churches, one large hospital, twelve day nurseries, three theaters, and a gymnasium.”

Maui Agricultural Company, Ltd. once had a thriving pineapple department; in 1932 the department became a part of Maui Pineapple Company. In 1948 HC&S and Maui Agricultural Company merged, forming one of the largest sugar producers. The following year HC&S abandoned its Pu‘unene railroad for the new trucking era. (Orr)

June 8, 2025 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘The Lion of North Kona’

George Washington Pilipo was born February 22, 1828 in Holualoa North Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi, one of eleven children (only two of whom however lived to majority.)

He attended the District School for several years, and in 1852 went to the Hilo Boarding School where he remained only a few months, entering Lahaina Seminary in 1853.

“He took the full course there graduating in 1857 with honor having won the affection and respect of both teachers and fellow pupils.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 29, 1887)

Returning to Kona he opened an independent school which was maintained for a number of years. During this time however he acted as the efficient assistant pastor in the Kailua church of Reverend Asa Thurston.

In 1864, at the Evangelical Association for Hawaiʻi Island meeting in Waimea, Pilipo received his license. The next year he was ordained a minister.

“He was installed at Kailua over the old church where Father Thurston had labored from the landing of the missionaries in 1820 … Here Pilipo labored and preached acceptably and honored by all for six years, until he was called to, and accepted, the pastorate of Kaumakapili in Honolulu.” (Paris)

“(V)ery few know of the actual facts connected with the financial transactions there which left a stain upon his good name, fewer still are aware of his honorable attempt to make good any loss suffered through him. It is a fact however that he settled the whole matter with the church borne years ago. (Hawaiian Gazette, March 29, 1887)

“(H)e was unfortunate in entrusting church funds to persons who were unreliable. I believe he meant to be honest and has been greatly slandered.”

“He was noble and independent, a true Patriot and Christian … a fearless champion for temperance and unmoved by the threats, bribes or flattery of the Roman and Anglican churches, both of which sought to win him over to their faiths.” (Paris)

“Mr Pilipo’s reputation however rests mostly upon his political career. He was early elected a member of the Legislative Assembly and served continuously and with honor for sixteen years. He was a powerful and effective speaker.”

“Among a nation of born orators he excelled. He rarely failed to carry the hearts as well as the heads of his audiences in his utterances. From the first he has stood consistently on the side of what he considered Hawaiʻi’s best good.”

“He earned for himself the name of The Lion of North Kona.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 29, 1887)

“He was the persistent foe of corruption and peculation in office. His voice was ever raised against measures calculated to injure Hawaii. His clear sight of the true character of measures proposed arrayed him against them whenever in his judgment they would tend to injure the people as a nation.”

On February 12, 1874, nine days after the death of King Lunalilo, an election was held between the repeat candidate David Kalākaua and Queen Emma, widow of King Kamehameha IV. Pilipo supported Emma – she lost.

However, in the legislature, “the last of the Emmaites” were reelected, including Pilipo (as well as Joseph Nawahi from Hilo and J Kauai from Kauai.) (Kanahele)

On July 11, 1882, a bill before the legislature called for conveyance of Crown Lands to Claus Spreckels in satisfaction of claims he may have. Pilipo declared that this was a “step toward destroying the independence” of Hawaiʻi. (Hawkins)

Pilipo opposed the bill and in a speech in the legislature he said, (1) “this is not a matter that will please the Hawaiian People,” (2) this issue “really has no business before this Assembly … (and) should be considered in the courts’ and …”

(3) “I think that taking crown lands away from the crown and giving them to another person is a step in destroying the independence of the country.” (The bill was later approved and signed into law by Kalakaua.) (Van Dyke)

King Kalakaua became so incensed by Pilipo’s critique of his government’s dealings with Spreckels that he personally intervened in the 1886 general election campaign to ensure that Pilipo was not reelected.

Kalakaua “received hundreds of cases of cheap gin, which he sent to every voting precinct to secure the election of his candidates to the Legislature. He went personally to one country district, with a company of soldiers (to campaign against) Kalakaua’s staunchest opponent in the Legislature.” (William Brewster Oleson; Congressional Record)

“In order to prevent Pilipo’s election, the King proceeded to his district of North Kona (and) took an active part in the canvass …. The King’s interference with the election nearly provoked a riot, which was averted by Pilipo’s strenuous exertions.” (US State Department)

“(Kalakaua) stationed soldiers with side arms in double rows at polling places, thus intimidating voters and pushing men out of line who were suspected of opposition to his schemes, thus forcibly preventing their voting.” (William Brewster Oleson; Congressional Record)

Pilipo was defeated by JK Nahale by 19-votes; Pilipo died March 25, 1887. (Hawkins) The image shows George Washington Pilipo.

George Washington Pilipo

June 7, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Forty Niner

Katsutaro Chagami was Issei (first generation) – born in Japan and emigrated to the Islands from 1885 to 1924 (when Congress stopped all legal migration). The term Issei came into common use and represented the idea of a new beginning and belonging.

The children of the Issei, like Richard Kiyoshi Chagami, were Nisei, the second generation in Hawaiʻi and the first generation of Japanese descent to be born and receive their entire education in America, learning Western values and holding US citizenship.

“When the Issei first arrived in Hawaii they lived in plantation villages or camps and preserved their way of life by only speaking Japanese. After 1900, a significant influx of picture brides to the islands created families that served as the basis for a flourishing Japanese population.”

“As the community grew, Buddhist temples, Japanese newspapers, and Japanese language schools were created. Most Japanese immigrants were plantation workers, but there were those who chose to take up a life of fishing as a means of sustenance and income.”

“Small fishing villages were known to crop up around coastal areas. Katsutaro and Kawayo Chagami [Richard Chagami’s parents], lived on the shores of Pearl Harbor in a small fishing village on what is currently the Aiea Bay State Recreation Area.” (Minatoishi and Gushiken; NPS)

“Katsutaro Chagami owned a sampan (a flat-bottomed fishing boat) that was moored at Kewalo Basin. His fishing endeavors called him away for two weeks at a time. Besides deep sea fishing, Katsutaro occasionally brought the boat home to take the family for rides to Ford Island (Mokuumeume) or around Pearl Harbor (Puuloa).”

“The Chagami family had erected an ebisu kotohira (fishing shrine) on their property, a sacred object the family would eventually take with them.”

“In 1940, Pearl Harbor terminated the leases on the fishing village and Katsutaro, Kawayo, and their 11 children were forced to look for other living accommodations.” (Minatoishi and Gushiken; NPS)

Richard Chagami (born on June 21, 1917) served in the Army along with his brother Henry. They served in Italy and France as part of the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. During his service with the Army, Richard served as a cook. (Minatoishi and Gushiken; NPS)

Upon the boys’ return, their parents purchased a lunch wagon from Elia Niau so the brothers could start a business together. The lunch wagon sold meals near the corner of Honomanu and Kamehameha Highway.

In the beginning, they served mostly banana splits, ice cream floats and sodas. The menu later changed to plate lunches, saimin and burgers. (Bernardo)

“The wagon was on their (Chagami’s) property. We used to hook up to their electricity and use their water to run the wagon. They were always really nice to us.”

“It was World War II, so there was rationing. But because my father was a police officer who patrolled the Pearl City area, he always knew where to get the food.”

“I used to use a wheel barrel to carry the sodas and the burgers across the street. They loved our burgers and our bacon sandwiches.” (Solomon Niau, son of Elia Niau; Paragas) These were the two staples of the lunch wagon then, and they remain popular among many of the restaurant’s current patrons. (Paragas)

The wagon was named the “Forty Niner”. The name drew inspiration from the Gold Rush and alluded to the owner’s hopes that patrons would flock to the eatery much like adventurers converged on California.

“I guess my parents (including mom Elizabeth Johnson Niau) thought that if they bought the Forty Niner, people would rush in like they did during the 1949 Gold Rush.” (Solomon Niau, son of Elia Niau; Paragas)

The wagon gained a strong following from workers at the Aiea Naval Hospital, Pearl Harbor, and other adjacent military facilities. After the lunch wagon gained a substantial following, a free-standing, permanent restaurant was constructed. The Forty Niner establishment was completed in August of 1947. (Minatoishi and Gushiken; NPS)

Richard Chagami handled the daily operations while Henry handled the bookkeeping. Over the years, Chagami’s nine other siblings also helped out. (Bernardo)

Richard retired in 2006 and passed the historic building, and the recipes served in it, to new owner Wil Cordes III. “I knew there would be a lot of eyes on me,” Cordes says.

“People have been bringing their families, three, four generations already. They were going to know the menu and taste of the food better than I did.”

So, after a few months of much needed renovations – the kitchen had a single burner and no telephone – he reopened with Richard’s sister, Jennie Tsuchidana, still making the burgers, saimin dashi and all the original menu items. Before he passed in 2011, Richard would even stop by now and then: “He would just say, ‘taste good, taste good,’” Cordes says.

“Meanwhile, he and his wife, Karla, expanded the menu to breakfast with pancakes, waffles and French toast and rotating specials throughout the day.

Longtime diners can now dig into the Forty Niner pancakes – which Cordes says were the first to feature haupia sauce and macadamia nuts – banana French toast, chilaquiles with eggs and garlic chicken while sitting on the eatery’s original stools. (Honolulu Magazine)

June 6, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Two Friends … Fellow Adventurers

The older was born February 25, 1821 in Sandy Hill, New York (In 1910, the village’s name was changed to Hudson Falls.) Stone quarried from there was used to construct the Brooklyn Bridge (1883.)

The younger was born January 25, 1822 in Glens Falls, New York, about 3-miles away; his father was a toll collector who worked on a toll booth in the middle of the Hudson River. Glens Falls was later known as “Hometown USA,” a title given to it by Look Magazine in 1944.

Shortly after his brother was born (1824,) the younger’s mother becomes ill and died a few weeks later. Her older sister, Lucy, takes the two-year old to Fort Ann, New York to live with her awhile. Aunt Lucy keeps him for a few years, then sends him to live with his paternal grandfather, Jesse. (KSBE)

The younger didn’t have much schooling, attending Glens Falls Academy for 7th and 8th grades, his only years of formal schooling. After leaving school, he was a clerk for Nelson J Warren, the largest business in Warrensburgh, New York. He learns bartering, bookkeeping, taking inventory, maintenance and janitorial duties.

The older had formal education; he had been a law student at Harvard under US Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story and the renowned law teacher Samuel Greenleaf. (Silverman)

At about the age of 20 (in 1842,) the younger worked as a bookkeeper and head clerk for Charles Dewey in the Old Stone Store in Sandy Hill about 3 miles from Glens Falls.

It was here the two met.

Dewey was a brother-in-law of the older. Later, the older’s sister, Eliza, married the younger’s uncle, Linus.

The older suffered from recurring tuberculosis and sought a better place to live. The younger looked to broaden his horizons. In early 1846, they planned a trip to the Oregon Territory, the older seeking to practice law, the young to survey land.

The Oregon Territory stretched from the Pacific coast to the Rocky Mountains, encompassing the area including present-day Oregon, Washington, and most of British Columbia. Since the late-1600s the wilderness was hunted and trapped for furs (mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the US.)

After acquiring the “Louisiana Purchase” in 1803, under the directive of President Thomas Jefferson, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the “Corps of Discovery Expedition” (1804–1806,) was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific coast undertaken by the US.

Later, Manifest Destiny was the widely held belief that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent. Journalist John L O’Sullivan wrote an article in 1839 and predicted a “divine destiny” for the United States.

By 1843, increased American immigration on the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Territory made of the border between the US and Canada an issue in Congress. On June 18, 1846, they voted on the 49-degree line as the border between Canada and the US.

Rather than walk, the two sailed on the ‘Henry,’ leaving February 23, 1846. After a long and stormy voyage – rather than continuing to Oregon Territory – the ‘Henry’ limped into Honolulu Harbor on October 12, 1846, needing extensive repairs.

While waiting there, the older was consulted by some American residents on a legal question. He caught the attention of officials in the Hawaiian kingdom and was recruited by Attorney General John Ricord and Dr Gerrit Judd, the Minister of Finance for Kamehameha III. Then 26 years old, he was only the second trained attorney in the Islands (after Ricord). (Dunn)

After some persuasion, he consented to stay, provided his friend could also be provided with employment. The younger first worked at Ladd & Company, a mercantile and trading establishment, then at the US Consulate in Honolulu.

They didn’t plan to go to Hawaiʻi, let alone stay there; but they did.

However, there was a time, the younger appeared to catch the gold fever and on January 6, 1849, he and others published, “Notice. The subscribers hereby give notice of their intention to depart from this kingdom, and request all persons having demands against them to present them for payment immediately.” (Polynesian, January 6, 1849)

The older encouraged and convinced the younger to stay. He did; in fact, in 1849, the younger became a naturalized citizen and signed an oath to “support the Constitution and Laws of the Hawaiian Islands”.

The two left lasting legacies in the Islands.

The older, William Little Lee, was the first Chief Justice of the Superior Court (1847-52) and then the Supreme Court (1852-57.) In 1851, he was elected to the Legislature and became Speaker of the House of Representatives. Among his efforts were the framing of the revised constitution of the kingdom, and the task of drafting criminal and civil codes for the kingdom. (Ellis)

Lee brought major areas of substantive Western law into the Hawaiian legal system by drafting legislation which was frequently passed without alteration.

The younger of the two, Charles Reed Bishop, was primarily a banker (he has been referred to as “Hawaiʻi’s First Banker.”) An astute financial businessman, he became one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom from banking, agriculture, real estate and other investments.

He met Bernice Pauahi while she was still a student at the Chiefs’ Children’s School (they probably met during the early half of 1847,) and despite the opposition of Pauahi’s parents who wanted her to marry Lot Kapuāiwa (later, Kamehameha V,) Bishop courted and married Pauahi in 1850.

Bishop’s industrious nature and good counsel in many fields were also highly valued by Hawaiian and foreign residents alike. He was made a lifetime member of the House of Nobles and appointed to the Privy Council.

He served Kings Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V, Lunalilo and Kalākaua in a variety of positions such as: foreign minister; president of the board of education; and chairman of the legislative finance committee.

The image is the two friends and adventurers: William Little Lee (L) and Charles Reed Bishop (R) (1846.) (Lots of information here is from KSBE.)

June 5, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hermit of Kalalau

“People may think I am a fool but I have found real happiness and, above all real peace of mind.” (Wheatley)

Bernard Gamaliel Wheatley was born the son of a shopkeeper in St Thomas, Virgin Islands, October 14, 1919, son of Osorio Solario Wheatley and Anna (Fleury) Wheatley. (Ancestry and Soboleski)

Wheatley received a medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., and held a medical post with the Army, from which he was discharged in 1946. Wheatley practiced medicine for a short time in Sweden. (TenBruggencate) Dr. John Eriksson, who was his superior, says: “He was a good surgeon and a nice man.” (Ebony)

“There is evidence to indicate that both in medical school and in later practice the doctor showed brilliance and an unusual capacity for work. He was also successful.” (Krauss)

Then, “‘He became,’ one of his friends say, ‘a religious fanatic.’ This transition was not accomplished without a mental upheaval. Dr. Wheatley disappeared three times. The last time he was found naked in a Stockholm park.”

“The doctor-turned-mystic is critical of his former colleagues. ‘Shooting people with penicillin,’ he says, ‘is no better way of curing disease than shooting hydrogen missiles is a means of curing war.’ His rejection of medicine, he says, was hastened by a heart attack he suffered in 1951 in Sweden.”

“‘I became struck,’ he continues, ‘with the similarity between psychosomatic medicine and the teachings of Christ – how closely hate and fear and anxiety are related to heart disease, high blood pressure, peptic ulcer, diabetes mellitus.’”

“‘Finally, I made up my mind to go directly to the cause of disease instead of treating the symptoms. In a moment of lucidity, I saw all the way to the fact that man could overcome death and could control his health by living a life of love.’” (Ebony)

“He was treated for a nervous breakdown. In 1953, he went to Paris, where his brother, a pianist, lives. He wandered around Europe for a while and then came to America.”

“He turned up unexpectedly at the homes of several of his classmates. They were shocked by his appearance and the sudden change in his personality. It was like meeting a completely different man, one doctor says. He walked from New York to California.”

“In Chicago, he was a guest in the home of the Reverend William J Faulkner, who was dean of chapel when Wheatley was a student at Fisk University. He told Faulkner that he wanted to found a center for the propagation of his philosophy. Faulkner replied in a lighthearted vein that Hollywood would be just the place for the center. Both men laughed.” (Ebony)

“A few months later, Wheatley turned up in Hawaii. He worked for a while as a dessert maker in a restaurant. He quit this job. ‘I found,’ he says, ‘that at the end of the day I had spent so much energy arguing with the waitresses that I had none left for creative thinking.’”

“When a man who knows Wheatley heard this explanation, he said; ‘That sounds typical of him. He was probably telling them what stupid, narrow lives they lead and they were telling him he was crazy. And probably, they were all right, in a way.’”

“Wheatley’s last job was at the Central YMCA in Honolulu. He was desk clerk. He quit this job because he didn’t think it was right to charge poor people for rooms.” (Ebony)

“[I]n April, 1957, Dr. Wheatley turned his back on the world and went into Kalalau Valley. ‘My guess,’ a friend of his says, ‘is that these experiences are what finally drove him out of the world and into Kalalau. To a man of his sensitivity, I should think an arrest and appearance in court with attendant publicity would be a sort of final stamp of social disapproval in his mind.’” (Ebony)

Wheatley became known as the Hermit of Kalalau.

“The Hermit of Kalalau is a lean but powerfully built man of 40 years, His jaw and upper lip are covered with short, curling black whiskers. He was barefoot and dressed in a pair of tan swimming trunks and a spotlessly clean T-shirt.”

“He spoke with excellent articulation and with great poise, searching for just the right word, as if he were giving a lecture out there on the trackless beach. … Then then the Hermit helped us carry our gear across the sunlit sand into his ‘guest cave,’ a small cavern beside the one in which he lives under a majestic black cliff.” (Krauss)

“In front of his cave, about 30 feet wide and 12 feet deep and eight feet high in the rear, were a series of neat, geometrical patterns ln the sand. Otherwise the sand was undisturbed.”

“‘These are my paths,’ the Hermit explained. ‘May I ask you to use them? You see, there is great beauty in the land with the sun or moonlight upon it. Footprints destroy it. And I’ve found that, of all the requirements for survival, beauty is the most important.’” (Krauss)

“Then he took us on a tour of his valley. We started with his own cave. It reminded me very much of the cell of a monk. The immaculate sand floor is terraced in two levels. On the first terrace the Hermit has, on one side of the cave, his tiny fireplace, which is a grill set neatly upon four stones. He must use it only occasionally because there was only a trace of ash.”

“Above the fireplace, on the top terrace in a niche in the lava rock, the Hermit keeps his silverware and cooking utensils. He has about four spoons, as many forks and a few knives. Also three cups and saucers and as many jelly glasses.”

“Everything was neatly arranged on the rocks and on a wooden board. ‘I try to keep some degree or nicety and orderliness,’ the Hermit explained. “I always set my table (a wooden box) correctly with silverware at meals even though I’m having only taro. One can judge character by the way a man acts m the wilderness.’” (Kraus)

“Little by little I pieced together the strange story of survival that began in April, 1957. ‘I had seen the valley from the lookout in January of that year,’ the Hermit said, ‘and felt attracted to it. In April I hiked in for the first time.’”

“’Had you ever been on the trail?’ ‘No. All I had with me was a lunch. I didn’t even have matches. It took me two days to get into the valley. I lost the trail and had to hull my way through the lantana. My clothes were pretty badly torn.’”

“‘The first time I stayed for 23 days. Then I became constipated because of the guava seeds. The pain was pretty bad for about five days. Finally I flagged down a passing sampan and the crew took me to Lihue Hospital.’ Five weeks later the Hermit was back in his valley, armed with a mess kit this time, and a change of clothing.”

Why was he there … “What he is trying to do, he said, is live according to what he believes with no compromise. Apparently, the only place he has found this is possible ls in remote Kalalau Valley.”

“‘On the outside I constantly feel limitation around me,’ he said. ‘The instinctive reaction to a new situation is fear. There is so much that is negative in the world so many people to say, ‘That’s impossible.’ Here in the valley I feel no fear or limitation. That doesn’t mean I think I can fly. But I feel that l can always do what I have to do. Some wisdom must come from taking chances.”

“‘I’ve found,’ he said, ‘that very few people want to hear what I have to say. I can accomplish more by talking to the occasional person who is interested and understands. Try not to judge others. There is no way of knowing which of us will finally be most important in the scheme of things.’”

“When hippies came to Kalalau in the late-1960s with their hallucinogens and lifestyles at odds with his own, he finally left his once solitary home. A good friend of his said that he had dedicated his life to God, and Kalalau had been his test. By surviving there alone for so long, he had proven that God had taken care of him.” (Soboleski)

“I think a person should be improving all the time. Then, on a certain day, you know that you have achieved enough change in yourself to belong in another place on a certain day. That is what happened to me. … I have stayed at the YMCA several times. Other times I stay with friends.” (Kraus)

“’I’ve never really been a hermit I used to leave the valley fairly frequently when friends needed me. I often played tennis or bridge with them. I’m primarily a thinker. I came to the valley to evaluate things.’ … He says he is never going back to the practice of medicine.” (Knaefler)

“One of his chief criticisms of you and I is that we don’t DO the things we say we believe. … He puts little stock in philosophers because ‘they don’t act on their philosophies; they don’t participate in the universe.” (Krauss)

“Dr. Bernard Wheatiey died on Kauai at 72 on December 3, 1991, and his ashes were scattered in Kalalau Valley.” (Soboleski)