Peter T Young

October 30, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu Clay Company

In the beginning, things looked good – very good.

“In view of the enormous demands New Honolulu will soon be making upon both building and paving material, the establishment of the brick making industry here at this juncture seems highly opportune.”

“It is the Honolulu Clay Company that is starting this new local enterprise, the partners in it being HL Kerr, ML Smith, CG Ellison and FL Litherland. The deposits of clay to be worked are up Nuuanu valley, where the brickyard is to be established. In actual substance the raw material is decomposed volcanic rock.” (Evening Bulletin, Feb 15, 1900)

Kerr and Smith were the promoters and Ellison and Litherland were the clay and brick experts. After prospecting and experimenting, they obtained the necessary land, machinery, etc., and incorporated on May 24, 1900, under the name of the Honolulu Clay Company, Limited.

By 1906, they were bankrupt. Let’s look back …

“By the steamer Australia from San Francisco yesterday [February 14, 1900] there arrived the machinery complete for manufacturing brick of Hawaiian clay. The making of the article will begin whenever the plant can be set up, which will be done without any avoidable delay.” (Evening Bulletin, Feb 15, 1900)

“The machinery employed by the incorporation was originally intended for the Paris Exposition, but the Honolulu Clay Company, having sent in their order just as the manufacturers were about to crate it and send it across the Atlantic, were persuaded to send the machinery west instead of east.” (PCA, August 6, 1900)

“[A] native Hawaiian, stated that in earlier times, and more particularly at the battle of Nu‘uanu, when Kamehameha I and his invading army drove the forces of O‘ahu over the Pali , the district was called Laimi.” (Jardin, HHR)

The district was generally referred to as the ‘Brick Yard.’ (Jardin, HHR) The brick factory stood on the site now occupied by St. Stephen Catholic Church at 2747 pall Highway and Laimi Road – just below Hānaiakamalama (Queen Emma Summer Palace).

“There is enough clay in sight for the manufacture of at least 150,000.000 brick. All of the ingredients necessary for the marking of an extra good class of brick are found either on the premises upon which the plant is located, or upon some one of the various properties of the company, of which there are several in the neighborhood.”

“The situation of the establishment is most ideal for such an enterprise. It is within fifteen minutes’ drive of the business center of the city and is close to the main business center of the Territory. Water is found on the place in abundance, the Nuuanu stream flowing across it on the lower side.” (PCA, August 6, 1900)

“The manufacture of brick in Honolulu has caused no little amount of interest among business men and contractors in this city. From the first the present company met with many discouragements, for they were told that there was no clay on the Island of Oahu suitable for the purposed desired.”

“Considerable, opposition was met among many of the builders in city, many of them even declaring that under no circumstances would the new brick be used by them. Still the Honolulu Clay Company kept on, and now after fifteen months are enabled to put bricks on the market at $16 per thousand against $22.50, the price demand elsewhere.”

“Many of the new buildings at the Navy Yard at Pearl City are to be constructed of them. Engineer USG White of the Naval Station speaks in the highest terms of the character of output.”

“When asked what his opinion of the brick might be, Captain White said: ‘I am free to say that the brick made by the Honolulu Clay Company is not only as good but much better than the bricks shipped into the Islands.’”

“‘I made several experiments, testing their ability to stand strains and pressure, and was highly pleased with the result. The bricks, as you have no doubt noticed, are excellent in color, while their weight is more than half that of the ordinary bricks found in the States.’”

“The company is fortunate in having for its manager Mr FL Litherland of Portland, Oregon, who for many years has been recognized as one of the leading brick and tile-makers on the Pacific Coast.”

“Mr. Litherland is giving the work his personal attention and is to be found on the grounds from early in the morning until late in the evening, looking after the thousand and one little details that only a practiced eye can see, but which are so necessary to be properly attended to in order to insure success.” (PCA, August 6, 1900)

“Clay for the brick-making came from a pit behind the drying shed, close to the Nuuanu Stream. The material came up from the pit on chain conveyors. Before long it was discovered that the pit contained only a small deposit of clay, and it soon gave out. This necessitated the bringing in of clay from Palolo Valley and from Puunui.” (Jardin, HHR)

“The made specimens contradict a statement that has often been repeated, that there is no clay suitable for brick making in the group.” (Evening Bulletin, Feb 15, 1900)

“The clay, however, proved not to be as good as it was believed to be and some contractors specified for California bricks, thus excluding Honolulu bricks. Conditions changed also in other respects.”

“Building operations fell off in Honolulu and the demand for brick decreased in consequence. The cost of making bricks was found to be higher than was anticipated. A long spell of rainy weather, prevented the bricks from drying properly.” (Supreme Court of the Territory of Hawaii)

“From the beginning of the operation the quality of the clay was unsuited for brick-making. The finished bricks would often crumble when exposed to heavy rain. They lacked ‘body.’”

“Many attempts were made to introduce other materials to prevent the crumbling, but they all failed. This disappointment, added to the fact that Honolulu was not then erecting many permanent buildings, hastened the doom of the venture.” (Jardin, HHR)

Finally it was a question whether to continue or give up the business.

“As time went on, the storage yard became filled with bricks that were not being sold, and the plant shut down. Eventually the entire factory was dismantled and moved away. This last operation took place about 1905 and closed the chapter on brick manufacture in Honolulu.” (Jardin, HHR)

October 29, 2021 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Heʻeia Sugar

Heʻeia is one of nine ahupuaʻa of Kāneʻohe Bay (this makes up most of the Koʻolaupoko moku (district.)) In early times, the land was intensely cultivated and fish ponds lined the Bay (30 walled fishponds were noted in the Bay in 1882 – including the two largest (Heʻeia and Moliʻi) fishponds remaining in Hawaiʻi.)

“Southeastward along the windward coast, beginning with Waikāne and continuing through Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāne’ohe, were broad valley bottoms and flatlands between the mountains and the sea which, taken all together, represent the most extensive wet-taro area on Oʻahu.” (Handy, Devaney)

As early as 1789, Portlock described this area: “Indeed, I had some reason to think, that the inhabitants on that part of the island were more numerous than in King George’s Bay (Maunalua Bay)”.

“… the bay all around has a very beautiful appearance, the low land and valleys being in high state of cultivation, and crowded with plantations of taro, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, etc. interspersed with a great number of coconut trees”.

The open waters of the bay were also probably heavily fished within the limitations of the kapu system, and fishing rights were allocated as part of the respective ahupua’a. (Coles)

Chief Abner Paki (father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop and hānai father of Queen Liliʻuokalani) was granted the land of Heʻeia in 1848, apparently in recognition of allegiance to the Kamehameha Dynasty and also for a longer ancestral family interest in this land. Kelly reports that some of Paki’s ancestors can be traced to a Maui line of chiefs that had conquered Kahahana, the ruling chief of O‘ahu about 1785.

Apparently, one of Paki’s uncles was charged with managing Heʻeia under the Maui rulership. Kelly suggests: “At least part of Paki’s connection with the land of Heʻeia may stem from his uncle’s earlier residence in that land, and may have been the reason why Paki was made konohiki of Heʻeia.” (Carson)

Sugarcane was introduced to Koʻolaupoko in 1865, when the Kingdom’s minister of finance and foreign affairs, Charles Coffin Harris, partnered with Queen Kalama to begin an operation known as the Kāneʻohe Sugar Company. (History of Koʻolaupoko)

By 1865, four plantations were in production, at Kualoa, Kaʻalaea, Waiheʻe and Kāneʻohe, and in the early 1880s, four more at Heʻeia, Kāneʻohe, Kahaluʻu and Ahuimanu, with a total of over 1,000-acres in cultivation in 1880. (Coles)

McKeague’s Sugar Plantation was in Heʻeia; starting in 1869, John McKeague (from Coleraine near Belfast, Ireland – February 12, 1832 – January 25, 1899) leased the Heʻeia ahupuaʻa from Charles and Bernice Pauahi Bishop – he had a partner, his uncle, Dr Alexander Kennedy.

About a decade later, McKeague added a mill and other improvements. (The Plantation was also known as Heʻeia Sugar Company, as well as Heʻeia Agricultural Company.)

“Mr John McKeague, the proprietor of the Heʻeia Sugar Plantation at Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu, has completed the erection of an entire new mill and buildings, and on Wednesday last, he very hospitably entertained a large party of his friends and acquaintances, on the occasion of firing up and setting to motion the machinery of his new plant.”

“Mr Young, the manager of the Honolulu Iron Works (by whom the machinery was built,) and several other practical engineers were present, and everybody, including Mr McKeague himself, pronounced the running of the works as perfectly satisfactory.”

“The mill can turn out ten tons of sugar per diem. The machinery has all the modern improvements…. The works are located on rising ground, whereby each story has a ground floor.”

“The proprietor has built a dock on the water front below the mill, alongside which a vessel can load and unload freight – a vast improvement on the old boat and scow system. Altogether, it may be said that the mill and works of Heʻeia are among the finest and best appointed of any on the Islands.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1878)

Unfortunately, on February 12, 1879, McKeague received a severe injury by a fall from his horse in an accident crossing the Pali, “by reason of which his mind became impaired to such an extent as to render his intellect incoherent and his judgment defective so as to unfit him for the transaction of business.” (Supreme Court Records) A guardian (TA Lloyd) was appointed to represent his interests.

For the 1880 season, the plantation was renting 2,500-acres, 650 of which were for sugarcane, with 250 actually under cultivation, and having a mill capacity of 10 tons/day, expecting 600 tons that season. (Devaney)

June 30, 1882, John McKeague sold to the Heʻeia Sugar Plantation Company, a corporation “organized and existing under the laws of the State of California, USA, and carrying on business at Heʻeia, Koʻolaupoko, Island of Oʻahu, as cultivator and manufacturer of sugar and other products of sugarcane”. (Supreme Court Records)

Heʻeia had a good landing place, in which the sugar was shipped in barges, to be put on board schooners which lie out about the sixth part of a mile from the shore. In the late-1800s, all supplies were brought to the windward side from Honolulu by the schooner JA Cummins, which made twice a week trips, picking up sugar grown in Heʻeia and Waimanalo, and rice from the area. (Devaney)

In 1880, the region reported 7,000-acres available for cultivation; in 1883 a railroad was installed at Heʻeia, and by the summer of that year it was noted that the railroad had allowed a much greater amount of land to be harvested, even allowing cane from Kāneʻohe to be ground at Heʻeia; however, the commercial cultivation of sugar cane was short-lived. (Devaney)

After almost four decades of a thriving sugar industry in Koʻolaupoko, the tide eventually turned bad and saw the closures of all five sugar plantations by 1903. The closures were due to poor soil, uneven lands and the start-up of sugar plantations in ʻEwa, which were seeing much higher yields.

As sugar was on its way out in Koʻolaupoko, rice crops began to emerge as the next thriving industry. (History of Koʻolaupoko) In 1880 the first Chinese rice company started in the nearby Waineʻe area. Abandoned systems of loʻi kalo were modified into rice paddies. The Kāneʻohe Rice Mill was built around 1892-1893 in nearby Waikalua.

Another commercial crop, pineapple, was also grown here, starting around 1910. By 1911, Libby, McNeill & Libby gained control of land there and built the first large-scale cannery at nearby Kahaluʻu with an annual capacity of 250,000-cans; growing and canning pineapples became a major industry in the area for a period of 15 years (to 1925.)

October 28, 2021 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Holoikauaua

Holoikauaua (literally, Hawaiian monk seal that swims in the rough) is a large oval coral reef with several internal reefs and seven sandbar/islets above sea level along the southern half of the atoll. The land area is just under 100-acres (surrounded by more that 300,000-acres of coral reef) and is 20-miles across and 12-miles wide.

The highest point above sea level is about 10-feet; the islets are periodically washed over when winter storms pass through the area.

Holoikauaua (estimated age is 26.8-million years) is a true atoll, fringed with shoals, permanent emergent islands and sandy islets. These features provide vital dry land for monk seals, green turtles and a multitude of seabirds, with 16-species breeding here.

Seal Island lies just inside the reef, in the southwestern section of the lagoon. It is 1,400-feet from east to west, and 300-feet wide at its broadest point, with an area of 10.6-acres. An area of the western half has almost all of the island’s vegetation.

Kittery Island is a low sand and coral rubble triangle and has no vegetation. Troughs eroded in the sand of the island’s interior suggest that it is periodically inundated during severe weather. The island covers 11.9-acres; the northwestern side is highest, about 5-feet above sea level – the rest is just barely above normal high-water level.

Grass Island is just inside the reef – it is 1,800-feet east to west, and only 400-feet wide at its broadest (near the western end;) it has an area of 11-acres. In 1923, Wetmore, who named this island, noted that the crest of the island was covered with grass and a few of the shrubs.

Bird Island and Planetree Island are continually changing sandspits along the inner margin of the southern reef between Southeast and Grass Islands. They have been described as “merely part of a three-mile chain of shifting sandspits just inside the south reef.” A small-boat channel runs between Bird and Planetree Islands.

Southeast Island, the largest of the group, lies in the eastern corner of the atoll; it is nearly cut into two unequal portions by a seaward extension of the lagoon. The entire island is 2,600-feet long east to west with a maximum width of 1,100-feet. It has a land area of 34 acres.

Little North Island was officially named on February 11, 1969 – it was sometimes referred to as Humphrey Island. At low tide, it is less than 200 feet wide and is about 1,100 feet long in a north-south direction. The central portion of the main island, 400 feet long and 1.4 acres in area, is 6 to 10 feet above sea level, and has a meager flora of 4 species of grass and herbs.

North Island lies in the northeastern corner of the lagoon; it has an area of 15.9-acres. The body is about 1,000-feet long north to south, and 800 feet wide; it is 10-feet above sea level.

An early visitor to the atoll, Captain Benjamin Morrell (from July 8 to 10, 1825) wrote of seeing “earl-oysters and biuche de
mer (sea cucumber,)” as well as green turtles, seal elephants and sea leopards.

Captain John Paty of the Hawaiian schooner Manokawai stopped at the atoll in May 1857 to determine its position and map the islands. In 1859, Captain NC Brooks sailed the Hawaiian bark Gambia there and on July 5 of that year took possession in the name of Hawaiʻi.

When Westerners first arrived, the atoll abounded with birds. Presently, thousands of birds from 22 species are seen. They include Black-footed albatrosses, Tristram’s storm petrels, and one of two recorded Hawaiian nest sites of Little terns.

Since 1891, the North Pacific Phosphate and Fertilizer Company was harvesting guano from Laysan. On February 15, 1894, the agreement was expanded to cover other nearby islands and atolls, including Holoikauaua. The 25-year lease, at $1 per year, also royalties of 50 cents for each ton taken.

Interest in birds expanded; beginning in 1902, Japanese feather poachers visited the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and killed thousands of albatrosses but the extent of their poaching here is not clear.

On February 3, 1909, President Roosevelt signed an executive order creating the largest and most important Bird Reservation, known as the Hawaiian Islands Reservation and consists “of a dozen or more islands, reefs, and shoals that stretch westward from the Hawaiian Islands proper for a distance of upwards of 1,500 miles toward Japan (including Holoikauaua.”)

“The Hawaiian Islands Reservation was established by Executive order in 1909 to serve as a refuge and breeding-place for the millions of sea birds and waders that from time immemorial have resorted there yearly to raise their young or to rest while migrating.” It’s also part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

From 1926 to 1930, fishing operations became important in the history of the atoll. Pearl oysters, which yield mother-of-pearl shell, had been discovered in May 1928 by Captain William B Anderson who commanded the schooner Lanikai for the Lanikai Fishing Company; Hawaiian Tuna Packers, Ltd, partnered with them.

A third, Hawaiian Sea Products Company, quickly organized and established a fishing station (with buildings) on the atoll. They sought a license to develop the pearl beds. (Smithsonian)

Because of the increased interest in the fishing station and cold storage plant and in the development of the pearl oyster beds, “the Territorial Government requested the US Bureau of Fisheries to outline methods for conservation and development” of the pearl oyster bottoms of the atoll.

Over the next few years they conducted surveys and studies; some fishing activity continued there from the schooner Lanikai, but by October 1931 the fishing base operated by Hawaiian Sea Products was abandoned and the Lanikai was to be laid off.

The modern name of the atoll is “Pearl and Hermes.” But it’s not named because of the oyster discovery. Rather, it reflects and memorializes the twin wrecks of British whalers, the ‘Pearl’ and the ‘Hermes,’ lost 100-years before.

During the night of April 26, 1822, these British whaling ships ran aground almost simultaneously. The 327-ton Pearl (with Captain E Clark) grounded into a sandy coral groove, pressing its wooden keel into the sediment, while the smaller 258-ton Hermes (with Captain J Taylor) hit the hard sea bed.

The two ships had been making a passage from Honolulu to the newly discovered Japan Grounds, a track which took them through the uncharted Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The Pearl and the Hermes (wrecked to the west of the Pearl) are the only known British South Sea whaling wreck sites in the world.

The combined crews (totaling 57) made it safely to one of the small islands and were castaway for months with what meager provisions they could salvage. Using salvaged timbers and other parts of the lost ships, one of the carpenters on board the Hermes, James Robinson, supervised the building of a small 30-ton schooner named ‘Deliverance’ on the beach.

Before launching the beach-built rescue vessel, the castaways were rescued by a passing ship. Though most of the crew elected to board the rescue ship, Robinson and 11 others were able to recoup some of the financial losses from the wrecks by sailing the nearly finished Deliverance back to Honolulu, and eventually sold her there.

From there, Robinson went on to found the highly successful James Robinson and Company shipyard in 1827 (the first shipyard at Honolulu) and became an influential member of the island community (his descendants became a well-known island family and his fortune founded the Robinson Estate.) (This family is different than the Robinson’s associated with Niʻihau.) (Lots of information here from Smithsonian.)

Click HERE for a link to several Google ‘Street Views’ on Holoikauaua.

Fishing camp of the Hawaiian Sea Products Company at Southeast Island-1930

Holoikauaua_Pearl & Hermes-(SBOceanGirl)

Holoikauaua-Setting up camp-BishopMuseum

October 27, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

HNL

John Rodgers, Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station at Pearl Harbor from 1923 to 1925, left to command the Navy’s historical flight between the West Coast and Hawaiʻi.

On August 31, 1925, Rodgers and his crew left San Francisco to attempt the first flight across the Pacific Ocean from the Mainland US to Hawaiʻi. The seaplane was forced to land in the ocean after running out of fuel, about 365 miles from Oʻahu.

After three days of waiting to be picked up, the crew crafted sails from the wings of the plane and sailed toward Hawaiʻi. On the tenth day, they spotted Kauaʻi. Ten miles off shore they met a submarine which towed them safely to shore.

(Rodgers lived only one year after the Hawaiian flight. While serving as the Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, he was killed in a single engine plane crash in the Delaware River near the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia on August 27, 1926.)

In response to the growing demand to accommodate aviation presence, the Territorial Legislature appropriated funds for the acquisition and improvement of an airport and/or landing field on the Island of Oʻahu, within a reasonable distance of Honolulu.

According to the Act, Territorial Treasury funds needed to be matched with private funding; the Chamber of Commerce raised the matching money from local businessmen.

From these funds, about 119-acres of fast (dry) land and 766-acres of submerged land were purchased from the SM Damon Estate as an airport site.

John Rodgers Airport (named in honor of Rodgers) was dedicated March 21, 1927 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Territorial Aeronautical Commission – then, construction began.

In 1929, a runway 250-300 feet wide and 2,050-feet long was completed as well as considerable clearing on the balance of the area.

Over the next few years, the facility faced various stages of expansion, on land and in the water – the layout included a combined airport and Seadrome, with seaplane runways in Keʻehi Lagoon adjacent to John Rodgers Airport.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, all airports were taken over by the US armed forces. The Army Corps of Engineers began to build four runways at John Rodgers Airport which would become Naval Air Station Honolulu (NAS 29) and home base for an Army and Navy Air Transport Command.

Dredged material from the seaplane runway was used to fill some of the submerged land and raise the elevation of the airport to about eight feet. The land area was increased from about 200-acres to more than 1,000-acres. Over the years, the facilities expanded.

The Navy completed construction of a terminal building, control tower and maintenance hangars for land planes operated by the Naval Air Transport Services. On the north side of the field, the Navy built the Naval Air Station Honolulu to support the Naval Air Transport operations and to house about 5,000-men.

The airport was officially designated as Naval Air Station Honolulu, with the primary mission of maintaining and operating a base for Naval Air Transport Units, Pacific Wing. During the war years, John Rodgers Airport was also home base for the Naval Utility Flight Unit, Naval Air Transport Service, 1522d AAF Base Unit, 15th Air Service Squadron and 19th Troop Carrier Squadron.

Full scale operations commenced at US Naval Air Station Honolulu for both land and sea planes on April 1, 1944 (by the end of World War II the seaplane runways were obsolete.)

In 1946, John Rodgers Airport was one of the largest airports in the US and comprised over 4,000-acres. It had four paved land plane runways, 200 feet wide and with lengths varying from 6,200 linear feet to 7,650 linear feet. There were three seaplane runways, each 1,000 feet wide with an average length of approximately 2.7 miles.

Space for federal agencies was provided, including the CAA Control Tower, Airways Traffic Control and Communication Center. Also US Customs, US Immigration, US Department of Agriculture, US Public Health and US Weather Bureau.

John Rodgers Airport was returned to the Territory on October 1, 1946; the following year the name changed from John Rodgers Airport and Keʻehi Lagoon Seaplane Harbor to Honolulu Airport. In 1951, its name changed to Honolulu International Airport.

Recognizing the importance of making visitors welcome in Hawaiʻi, Lei Stands replaced cars and trucks, that previously had parked on the airport entry road.

Then, in 1953, Honolulu International Airport’s combine Hickam/Honolulu 13,097-foot runway was officially declared the longest runway in the world by the Airport Operators Council.

By 1959, most major airlines serving Hawaiʻi decided to purchase jet aircraft and have them in operation between Hawaiʻi and the mainland; the next expansion of the airport was timed to the schedules of the major airlines.

On February 5, 1959, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark construction to accommodate “jet age facility (that was) the first of our major public improvements when Hawaiʻi becomes a state” and “a facility which Hawaiʻi will be proud of.” (Governor William F Quinn) The first jet service from the mainland US and Hawaiʻi started later that year.

In 1962, Hawaiʻi Visitors Information Program was established to welcome passengers at Honolulu International Airport and Honolulu Harbor, to encourage travel to the Neighbor Islands, and to provide information and other help to airport and harbor visitors.

A Joint Use Agreement between Hickam AFB and Honolulu International Airport was signed in 1963. It specified that for the purpose of overall aerial and ground operation, Hickam AFB and HNL comprised a single airport complex.

Construction of the first phase of the long-awaited Reef Runway over the fringe reef began in 1972; the runway was completed and dedicated for use on October 14, 1977.

HNL (identifying Honolulu International Airport) is part of the 3-letter airport and 2-letter airline codes administered by the Montreal-based International Air Transport Association (IATA.) It was patterned after the National Weather Service 2-letter identification system, giving a seemingly endless 17,576-different combinations.

Honolulu got HNL; to ease the transition for existing airports, an X was placed after the 2-letter weather station code (i.e. Los Angeles became LAX, Portland became PDX and so on.) At the historic sand dune in Kitty Hawk, where the first flight occurred, the US National Parks Service maintains a tiny airstrip called FFA—First Flight Airport.

With little fanfare, Honolulu International Airport was renamed the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, honoring the state’s former US senator, effective April 27, 2017. (Lots of info here is from hawaii-gov.)

October 26, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

1836

Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821 following 11 years of conflict. With independence achieved, Mexico struggled to find its own independent identity, first establishing a monarchy then a constitutional republic.

The need to protect the northern frontier prompted the government to establish colonization laws that allowed colonists into Texas. Large groups of people moved to Texas, with the attraction of land and an opportunity to start over.

People, such as Stephen F. Austin, helped to facilitate the arrival of immigrants to Texas by ways of colonies and land grants. Many of these colonists, along with the native population, enjoyed a semi-autonomous way of life far from the capital in Mexico.

This autonomy would be challenged with the election of Antonio López de Santa Anna as president in 1833. His political views would change from federalism to centralism causing Mexico to fall into a civil war and Texas to seek its own independence.

On October 2, 1835, the Texas Revolution began as tension boiled over and shots were fired in the town of Gonzales. The Texans fired a shot at the Mexican Army, leading to the start of the Texas Revolution. The Mexican Army realized they were outnumbered and retreated.

An army of Texan volunteers arrived in Mexican-occupied San Antonio de Bexár in late October, and began to lay siege to the town as a result of the Battle of Gonzales.

By mid-October, the volunteers had amassed to over 400, with individuals such as James Bowie, James Fannin, and Juan Seguin arriving on the outskirts of town. These men were under the command of Stephen F. Austin.

On October 28, 1835, as the Texan Army lay siege to San Antonio, a group of Texans and the Mexican Army clashed, at Mission Concepción. During the skirmish, Bowie and Fannin led a group of Texans to victory over a detachment of 275 Mexican Army troops led by General Martín Perfecto de Cos. Once again the Mexican Army was defeated.

On November 26, 1835, the Texan Army once again defeated the Mexican Army in the Grass Fight. Later, General Santa Anna’s Army were marching north towards Texas, unbeknownst to the Texans. Their plan was to take back the town of Bexár and end the Texas Revolution once and for all.

Established in 1718 as Mission San Antonio de Valero, what is now referred to as the Alamo was a religious outpost of the Spanish empire. The mission was founded as a Spanish foothold in a territory that Spain rarely entered, with the intent to convert indigenous peoples to Catholicism and instruct them to become Spanish citizens.

Beginning in the early 1800s, Spanish military troops were stationed in the abandoned chapel of the former mission. Because it stood in a grove of cottonwood trees, the soldiers called their new fort “El Alamo” after the Spanish word for cottonwood and in honor of Alamo de Parras, their hometown in Mexico.

Santa Anna’s Army began to arrive in San Antonio de Bexár on February 23, 1836. Their arrival prompted members of the Texan Army to enter the Alamo, which was by now heavily fortified. The Alamo had 18 serviceable cannons and approximately 150 men at the start of the siege.

On February 24, 1836, with the garrison surrounded and the Texan Army at the Alamo outnumbered, one of the most famous letters in American history was written by William B. Travis.

It was addressed, “To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World.” This letter was a passionate plea for aid for the Alamo garrison. He ended the letter “Victory or Death” – the only outcome this battle could have.

On March 1, 1836, 32 men from the town of Gonzales arrived to aid the Alamo. This brought the number of defenders up to almost 200 men. On March 2, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.

On March 3, 1836, courier James Butler Bonham arrived at the Alamo with word from Robert Williamson informing Travis help was on the way. Unfortunately it would not arrive in time.

On March 5, 1836, Santa Anna held a council of war, setting forth this plan for a four pronged attack of the garrison. At dawn on March 6, 1836, the 13th day of the siege, the Battle of the Alamo commenced.

Fighting lasted roughly 90 minutes, and by daybreak all the Defenders had perished, including a former congressman from Tennessee, David Crockett. The loss of the garrison was felt all over Texas, and even the world.

The Defenders were from many different countries, including some Defenders who were native-born Mexicans. Following the battle, Santa Anna ordered the Defender’s remains burned. (TheAlamo)

From March to May, Mexican forces once again occupied the Alamo. For the Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became a symbol of heroic resistance and a rallying cry in their struggle for independence.

On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston and some 800 Texans defeated Santa Anna’s Mexican force of 1,500 men at San Jacinto (near the site of present-day Houston), shouting “Remember the Alamo!” as they attacked.

The victory ensured the success of Texan independence: Santa Anna, who had been taken prisoner, came to terms with Houston to end the war. (History)

At this same time, in the Islands …

First Commercial Sugar

The first commercially‐viable sugar plantation, Ladd and Co., was started in the Islands at Kōloa on Kauai. On July 29, 1835, Ladd & Company obtained a 50‐year lease on nearly 1,000‐acres of land and established a plantation and mill site in Kōloa.

It was to change the face of Kauai (and Hawai‘i) forever, launching an entire economy, lifestyle and practice of mono-cropping that lasted for over a century. A tribute to this venture is found at the Kōloa Sugar Memorial in Old Kōloa Town.

On September 7, 1835, the Diana arrived 92 days from Canton via Bonin Islands. … Brig full of miscellaneous cargo … the principal of the balance to the Chinamen in French’s employ….”

“There were in the brig four Chinese sugar manufacturers with a stone mill and 400 to 600 pots for cloying and 5 cast Iron boilers. They are under control of Atti (Ahtai who was employed by William French) and hopefully can be obtained on fair terms.” (William Hooper, Ladd & Company; Kai)

Hilo Boarding School Founded

Reverend David Belden Lyman (1803-1884) and his wife, Sarah Joiner Lyman (1806-1885,) arrived in Hawaii in 1832, members of the fifth company of missionaries sent to the Islands by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and were assigned the mission in Hilo.

In 1835, they constructed the Hilo Boarding School as part of an overall system of schools (with a girls boarding school in Wailuku and boarding at Lahainaluna.) The Mission then established ‘feeder schools’ that would transmit to their students’ fundamental reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, and religious training, before admission to the Lahainaluna.

On January 6, 1835 “our children’s school commenced, eighty children present, sixty knew their letters. A number of the more forward children are employed as monitors to assist the less forward. (ie advanced)” (Sarah Lyman)

In October 1836, two thatch houses were constructed near Lyman’s house and on October 3 the school opened with eight boarders, but the number soon increased to twelve.

The school was operated to an extent on a manual labor program and the boys cultivated the land to produce their own food. (The boys’ ages ranged from seven to fourteen.)

More than one-third of the boys who had attended the school eventually became teachers in the common schools of the kingdom. In 1850 the Minister of Public Instruction, Richard Armstrong, reported that Hilo Boarding School “is one of our most important schools. It is the very life and soul of our common school on that large island.”

Anthony Allen

Anthony D. Allen was born a slave on the German Flats, in New York, in 1774. In 1800, he made a flight for freedom from Schenectady, NY, and made his way to Boston. He spent the next few years a free man sailing across the globe – Boston, France, Haiti, Havana China, Northwest US and eventually, in 1811, Hawaiʻi.

By 1820, Allen owned a dozen houses, “within the enclosure were his dwelling, eating and cooking houses, with many more for a numerous train of dependents. There was also a well, a garden containing principally squashes, and in one part, a sheepfold in which was one cow, several sheep, and three hundred goats.” (Sybil Bingham Journal)

Allen may have operated the first commercial dairy in Hawaiʻi. In addition to his farming, Allen provided overnight accommodations – one of the earliest known hotel uses in Waikīkī.

Allen’s six-acres and home were about two miles from downtown at Pawaʻa, between what we now call Waikīkī and Mānoa at what is now the corner of Punahou and King Streets. This is where Washington Intermediate School is now situated. Allen, the former slave, died of a stroke on December 31, 1835, leaving behind a considerable fortune to his children.

Sandwich Island Gazette and Journal of Commerce

In 1836, two years after Hawaiian language newspapers took hold, the Sandwich Island Gazette and Journal of Commerce, the first English language paper (and the oldest West of the Rocky Mountains) was born.

It was aimed at the foreigners living in Hawai‘i. It was the first newspaper to contain advertising. It published old news from world newspapers, local shipping notices, and contributions from its readers. It advocated freedom of the press, discussed the declining native population, and supported freedom of religion for Roman Catholics in Hawai‘i.

Sybil Bingham Plants Night-blooming Cereus at Punahou

In 1836, Sybil Bingham (wife of Protestant missionary leader Hiram Bingham) planted a night-blooming cereus hedge from a few branches of the vine she received from a traveler from Mexico. Today, that famed cacti, known as Panini o Kapunahou, continues to cover the Punahou walls; it was noted to have “world-wide reputation and interest”. (The Friend)

In addition, the main part of the Kapunahou property was planted with sugarcane by Sybil, with the aid of the female church-members; the plan was to support his family from the profits of the cane field, selling the cane to the sugar mills, one of which was in Honolulu.

Royal Hawaiian Band Formed

In 1836, King Kamehameha III created the “King’s Band.” The band, presently called the “Royal Hawaiian Band,” continues to entertain audiences in Hawaii and around the world today.

Queen Emma is Born

Emma Naʻea Rooke was born January 2, 1836, the daughter of High Chief George Naʻea and High Chiefess Fanny Kekelaokalani Young and hānai to by her childless maternal aunt, chiefess Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young Rooke, and her husband, Dr. Thomas CB Rooke.

On June 19, 1856, Emma married Alexander Liholiho and became Queen Emma. They had one child Prince Albert. In 1859, King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma founded Queen’s Hospital.

Fifteen of the Highest Ranking Chiefs Ask the Missionaries to Send More Teachers

On August 23, 1836, King Kamehameha III and 14 of the highest ranking chiefs in the Islands wrote a letter to the American missionaries asking that more American teachers be sent by the missionaries to the Islands.

The chiefs noted, “If you agree and send these teachers when we will protect them when they arrive, provide the necessities to make their professions viable and give our support those needed endeavours.”

In response, shortly after, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) sent the largest company of missionaries to the Islands, that included a large number of teachers. The Eighth Company left Boston December 14, 1836 and arrived at Honolulu, April 9, 1837 on the Mary Frasier from Boston.

King Kalākaua is Born

David Laʻamea Kamanakapuʻu Mahinulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua was born in Honolulu to High Chief Kahana Kapaʻahea and the High Chiefess Analea Keohokālole, on November 16, 1836.

Per the custom of the times, he was hānai (adopted) by the chiefess Haʻaheo Kaniu, who took him to Maui, where the court of King Kamehameha III was located. When Kalākaua was four, he returned to Oʻahu to begin his education at the Royal School (it was started in 1839).

Kalākaua became king in 1874. Under Kalākaua’s direction, the cornerstone for ʻIolani Palace was laid on December 31, 1879. Construction was completed in 1882; in December of that year Kalākaua moved into his palace with his wife, Queen Kapi’olani, the granddaughter of King Kaumuali’i of Kauai. He died on January 20, 1891.