Peter T Young

February 5, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ana Huna

Native Hawaiians believe ʻiwi (the bones) to be the primary physical embodiment of a person. Following death, ʻiwi are considered sacred, for within the bones reside the person’s mana (spiritual essence.) Mana was greatly valued, and native Hawaiians spent their lives maintaining and enhancing their mana. (Halealoha Ayau)

For native Hawaiians, it was important for the bones of a deceased person to complete their journey and return to the ground to impart their mana.

From island to island, community to community and family to family, there were many different ways to prepare bodies for burial. Each method was appropriate for the individual and his or her status. Burial locations were one of the most secretive traditions in a culture over a thousand years old. (DLNR)

Sometimes the bones of the dead were dug up out of the burial grounds to be used for arrows for rat shooting and for fishhooks, and the bones and bodies of the newly buried were dug up for food and bait for sharks.

For this reason, surviving family members sought places of concealment for the bones of their grandparents, parents, children, chiefs and relatives. They searched for deep pits (lua meki) in the mountains, and for hiding pits (lua huna) and hiding caves (ana huna) along the deep ravines and sheer cliffs frequented by koa‘e birds. (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

For some, including the high aliʻi, often their ʻiwi were placed in secret burial caves (ana huna.)

A few of the notable areas burial areas with secret burial caves include, ʻIao Valley, Pohukaina, Pali Kapu o Keōua and the reported cave burial of Kahekili and Kamehameha at Kaloko.

ʻIao Valley (Maui)

For centuries, high chiefs and navigators from across the archipelago were buried in secret, difficult-to-access sites in the steep valley walls of ʻIao on Maui.

‘Iao Valley became a “hallowed burying place for ancient chiefs” and is the first place mentioned in the historical legends as a place for the secret burials of high chiefs.

Because this was sacred ground, commoners were not permitted to enter the valley, except for the Makahiki festival. Some suggest the last burial was in 1736, with the burial of King Kekaulike.

Pohukaina (Oʻahu)

“There is only one famous hiding cave, ana huna on Oʻahu. It is Pohukaina… This is a burial cave for chiefs, and much wealth was hidden away there with the chiefs of old … Within this cave are pools of water, streams, creeks, and decorations by the hand of man (hana kinohinohiʻia), and in some places there is level land.” (Kamakau)

Pohukaina involves an underground burial cave system that connects with various places around O‘ahu and is most notable as the royal burial cave at Kualoa. The opening in the Honolulu area is in the vicinity of the Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) residence (the grounds of ʻIolani Palace,) where also many of the notable chiefs resided. (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

The opening on the windward side on Kalaeoka‘o‘io faces toward Ka‘a‘awa is believed to be in the pali of Kanehoalani, between Kualoa and Ka‘a‘awa, and the second opening is at the spring Ka‘ahu‘ula-punawai.

On the Kona side of the island the cave had three other openings, one at Hailikulamanu – near the lower side of the cave of Koleana in Moanalua—another in Kalihi, and another in Pu‘iwa. There was an opening at Waipahu, in Ewa, and another at Kahuku in Ko‘olauloa.

The mountain peak of Konahuanui was the highest point of the ridgepole of this burial cave “house,” which sloped down toward Kahuku. Many stories tell of people going into it with kukui-nut torches in Kona and coming out at Kahuku. (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

Pali Kapu O Keōua (Kealakekua, Hawaiʻi Island)

Keōua (father of Kamehameha I) and Kalaniʻōpuʻu (aka Kaleiopuʻu & Kalaiopuʻu) were half-brothers, sons of Peleioholani. During the illness of Keōua, at his residence in Hilo, a messenger was sent to Kaʻū to notify Kalaniʻōpuʻu of his brother’s illness; he immediately started for Hilo.

Keōua said to Kalaniʻōpuʻu, “Brother, I cannot live long, for our uncle Alapaʻinui has an evil disposition and is praying me to death. My only request to you is to take my young son Kamehameha and keep him with you, for some day he will become famous and will add luster to our lineage; do not neglect him.”

Kalaniʻōpuʻu sent for their kahuna; as soon as the kahuna saw Keōua he advised Kalaniʻōpuʻu to return home, as it was impossible for his brother to live. (He died shortly thereafter; his remains were transported to Kona.)

On arriving at Kailua great preparations were being made for the mourning ceremonies. Wailing, removing the teeth, shaving the head, etc, took place. After these ceremonies Kalaniʻōpuʻu headed for Kaʻawaloa to await the remains of his brother Keōua from Hilo.

On their arrival they were deposited in a cave three-fourths of the way up the pali, whence it was called “Ka Pali Kapu O Keōua (at Kealakekua Bay.”) (Diary of George Hueu Davis, the Son of Isaac Davis; Henriques)

Later, in 1829, Kapiʻolani “and Kaʻahumanu removed the bones of (Kapiʻolani’s) father, and more than a score of other deified kings and princes of the Hawaiian race, from their sacred deposit, – may be the “House of Keave” at Honounou, – placing them out of the way, in one of the caves high in the precipice at the head of the bay where she resided.” (Anderson, 1864)

(A little side note on Pali Kapu O Keōua … while I was at DLNR, the 2006 Kohala earthquakes exposed a previously unknown burial cave on the side of the Kealakekua cliff. Because we had concerns about keeping the cave secret, I asked FEMA to document this new cave in a separate, non-public report, aside from the general (public) earthquake damage report. They agreed; the cave was subsequently sealed.)

Kaloko (Kona, Hawaiʻi Island)

An early traditional reference to the area in the late eighteenth century mentions the burial of Kahekili, the ruler of Maui, in a hidden cave at Kaloko. However, the most significant burial ceremony traditionally reported to have taken place there is that of Kamehameha, although there is no firm proof of this. (NPS)

Following his death, Kamehameha’s bones were supposedly transported by canoe from Kailua to Kaloko, where the bearers of the royal remains met the man in charge of the secret burial cave, and together they placed the bones in the same depository used for Kahekili.

“Kaloko (pond) is another famous burial area; it is in Kekaha, Hawaii. (In a cave that opens into the side of the pond) were laid Kahekili, the ruler of Maui, his sister Kalola, and her daughter, Kekuʻiapoiwa Liliha, the grandmother of Kamehameha III. … This is the burial cave, ana huna, where Kameʻeiamoku and Hoapili hid the bones of Kamehameha I so that they would never be found.” (Kamakau; NPS)

In 1887 King Kalākaua designated a man named Kapalu, who had guided him to a burial cave at Kaloko in which he supposedly beheld Kamehameha’s bones, as overseer and keeper of the “Royal Burial Ground” at Kaloko.

A year later Kalākaua wrote that he ordered Kapalu to retrieve the bones, which the king took to Honolulu and deposited in the Royal Mausoleum in Nuʻuanu Valley. (Barrère; NPS) (Questions remain as to where Kamehameha was buried.)

February 4, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Polynesian Confederacy

The last decades of the 19th-century were a period of imperial expansion, especially in the Pacific. European (primarily Britain, France and Germany,) Asian (Japan) and American (US) were making claims and establishing colonies across the Pacific.

After the British took control of Fiji in 1874, only three major island groups remained independent in the Pacific: Tonga, Hawai‘i and Sāmoa. The Euro/American powers had marked off all three of these groups as falling under their own spheres of interest.

However, the Americans took a specific interest in Hawai‘i, the British in Tonga, and the Germans, British and Americans all claiming a right to determine the future of Sāmoa. (Cook)

Kalākaua was filled with visionary schemes for the protection and development of the Polynesian race; (Walter Murray Gibson) fell in step with him … The king and minister at least conceived between them a scheme of island confederation. (Stevenson)

“(Gibson) discerned but little difficulty in the way of organizing such a political union, over which Kalākaua would be the logical emperor, and the Premier of an almost boundless empire of Polynesian archipelagoes.” (Daggett; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 6, 1900)

“The first step once taken between the Hawaiian and Samoan groups, other Polynesian groups and, inclusively, Micronesian and Melanesian groups, might gradually be induced to enter into the new Polynesian confederation just as Lord Carnarvon gets colony after colony to adopt His Lordship’s British Federal Dominion policy.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 17, 1877)

As early as 1880, the American consul in Hawaiʻi had complained that Kalākaua was “inflamed by the idea of gathering all the cognate races of the Islands of the Pacific into the great Polynesian Confederacy, over which he will reign.”

On June 28, 1880, Kalākaua’s Premier Walter Murray Gibson, introduced a resolution in the legislature noting, “the Hawaiian Kingdom by its geographic position and political status is entitled to claim a Primacy in the family of Polynesian States …”

“The resolution concluded with an action “that a Royal Commissioner be appointed by His Majesty, to be styled a Royal Hawaiian Commissioner to the state and peoples of Polynesia …” (Kuykendall)

It passed unanimously and within six months Gibson became the head of a new ministry, as Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Although Kalākaua had been elected and serving as King since 1874, upon returning from a trip around the world, it was determined that Hawaiʻi’s King should also be properly crowned.

“It was through (Gibson’s) influence that the Hawaiian Legislature ceremonies of the occasion were impressively enacted in the presence of the representatives of the most of the great civilized powers and with the warships of many nations giving salutation to the event in the harbor of Honolulu.” (Daggett; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 6, 1900)

“ʻIolani Palace, the new building of that name, had been completed the previous year, and a large pavilion had been erected immediately in front of it for the celebration of the coronation. This was exclusively for the accommodation of the royal family; but there was adjacent thereto a sort of amphitheatre, capable of holding ten thousand persons, intended for the occupation of the people.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“On Monday, 12th February, the imposing ceremony of the Coronation of their Majesties the King and Queen of the Hawaiian Islands took place at ʻIolani Palace. … Like a mechanical transformation scene to take place at an appointed minute, so did the sun burst forth as the clock struck twelve, and immediately after their Majesties had been crowned.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 17, 1883)

Then, to set the stage for the assemblage of the Polynesian Confederacy, Gibson wrote a diplomatic protest that the legislature officially approved, condemning the predatory behavior of the Great Powers in the Pacific.

“Whereas His Hawaiian Majesty’s Government being informed that certain Sovereign and Colonial States propose to annex various islands and archipelagoes of Polynesia, does hereby solemnly protest against such projects of Annexation, as unjust to a simple and ignorant people, and subversive in their ease of those conditions for favourable national development which have been so happily accorded to the Hawaiian nation.” (Gibson Protest, August 23, 1883)

The protest evoked the goals of the Confederacy and justified Hawai‘i’s right to lodge such a protest based on its dual status as both a Polynesian state and part of the Euro/American community of Nations. (Cook)

Kalākaua’s vision of a Polynesian Confederacy reflected a complex and multi-dimensional understanding of both the identity of the Hawaiian people and how that identity connected and allied them with a broad array of other peoples and states across the globe.

It was a project that envisioned Hawai‘i as intimately connected to the Euro/American powers through the bonds of an international community built on the shared ideals of constitutional governments, formal diplomatic recognition, and the rule of law.

At the same time, it envisioned the nation as closely allied with other non-European peoples against the shared threat of the Euro/American empires. More specifically, however, it envisioned Hawai‘i as part of a Polynesian community whose members needed to rely upon one another in order to maintain both their independence and shared identity. (Cook)

John Bush, Hawaiʻi’s ambassador to Sāmoa, succeeded in negotiating Articles of Confederation, which the Hawaiian cabinet ratified in March 1887. Kalākaua sent the Kaimiloa to salute High Chief Malietoa Laupepa in Sāmoa. (However, a German warship there warned Kalākaua to stop meddling in Samoan affairs.) (Chappell)

Later, the Berlin Act (signed June 14, 1889,) between the US, Germany and Britain, established three-power joint rule over Sāmoa. This ultimately led to the creation of American Sāmoa.

Eventually, the confederacy attempts failed. It part, it is believed too many changes to existing systems were proposed, many of which were modeled after the Western way.

However, Kalākaua’s dream was partially fulfilled with later coalitions (although Hawaiʻi is not the lead.) In 1971, The Pacific Islands Forum, a political grouping of 16 independent and self-governing states, was founded (it was initially known as the South Pacific Forum, the name changed in 2000.)

Members include Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Sāmoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Later (2011,) eight independent or self-governing countries or territories in Polynesia formed an international governmental cooperation group, The Polynesian Leaders Group.

The eight founding members are: Sāmoa, Tonga and Tuvalu (three sovereign states;) the Cook Islands and Niue (two self-governing territories in free association with New Zealand;) American Sāmoa (an unincorporated territory of the United States;) Maʻohi Nui (French Polynesia) and Tokelau (a territory of New Zealand.)

Its members commit to working together to “seek a future for our Polynesian people and countries where cultures, traditions and values are honored and protected”, as well as many other common goals. (PLG Memorandum of Understanding, 2011)

February 3, 2025 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Two Wills, Two Outcomes

Prince Lunalilo was born on January 31, 1835 to High Chiefess Miriam ‘Auhea Kekauluohi (Kuhina Nui, or Premier of the Hawaiian Kingdom and niece of Kamehameha I) and High Chief Charles Kanaʻina.

Lunalilo’s grandparents were Kalaʻimamahu (half brother of Kamehameha I) and Kalākua (sister to Kaʻahumanu). His great grandfather was Keōuakupupailaninui (Keōua, father of Kamehameha I.)

Lunalilo was educated at the Chiefs’ Children’s School, and at age four, became one of its first students. He was known as a scholar, a poet and a student with amazing memory for detail.

From a very young age, he loved to write with favorite subjects in school being literature and music. He composed Hawai’i’s first national anthem, E Ola Ke Ali`i Akua, or God Save the King.

He also developed a sense of justice and love for people. These traits were recognized by the age of six in the unselfish and caring manner in which he interacted with his servants.

As a young man, he was courteous and intelligent, generous and friendly. His close friends affectionately called him “Prince Bill”. His native people called him ”Lokomaikaʻi”, meaning “generous or benevolent”.

When Lunalilo died on February 3, 1874, while he was king, he was the first of the large landholding aliʻi to create a charitable trust for the benefit of his people.

His estate included large landholdings on the five major islands, consisting of 33-ahupuaʻa, nine ʻili and more than a dozen home lots. His will, written in 1871, established a perpetual trust under the administration of three trustees to be appointed by the justices of the Hawaiian Supreme Court.

The purpose of the trust was to build a home to accommodate the poor, destitute and infirm people of Hawaiian (aboriginal) blood or extraction, with preference given to older people. The will charged the Trustees to sell all of the estate’s land to build and maintain the home.

His will states “all of the real estate of which I may die seized and possessed to three persons … to be held by them in trust for the following purposes, to wit …”

“… to sell and dispose of the said real estate to the best advantage at public or private sale and to invest the proceeds in some secure manner until the aggregate sum shall amount to $25,000, or until the sum realized by the said trustees shall with donations or contributions from other sources, amount to the said sum of $25,000.” (District Court Records)

“The will leaves the testator’s real estate to his Trustees in trust to sell the same at public or private sale and invest the same till the amount realized from such sale or by additions from other sources shall be $25,000 …”

“… and then directs that they shall expend the whole amount in the purchase of land and in the erection of a building or buildings on the Island of Oahu for specified eleemosynary purposes.” (Supreme Court Records)

His will notes, “Then I order the trustees to exceed the whole amount in the purchase of land and in the erection of a building or buildings on the Island of Oʻahu, of iron, stone, brick or other fireproof material, for the use and accommodation of poor, destitute and infirm people of Hawaiian blood or extraction, giving preference to old people.” (District Court Records)

According to the instructions in the will, the Estate trustees sold the land, built Lunalilo Home and invested the remaining proceeds in mortgages, securities and government bonds.

Unfortunately, those investments went sour, and today the Lunalilo estate has limited assets, other than Lunalilo Home in Hawaiʻi Kai and the land under it, and the trust must constantly raise funds to maintain the operation of the home. (Byrd)

Reportedly, Lunalilo left an estate even larger than the one left by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, founder of Kamehameha Schools. However, the outcome of her estate has had a different ending.

High Chief Abner Pākī and his wife High Chiefess Laura Kōnia (Kamehameha III’s niece) had one child, a daughter, Bernice Pauahi Pākī (born December 19, 1831.)

When her cousin, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani, died, Keʻelikōlani’s will stated that she “give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauaʻi, all of said property to be hers (about 353,000 acres.)”

(Keʻelikōlani had previously inherited all of the substantial landholdings of the Kamehameha dynasty from her brother, Lot Kapuāiwa (King Kamehameha V.))

Pauahi died childless on October 16, 1884. Her will formed and funded the Kamehameha Schools; “I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate real and personal … to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools.”

Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s will (Clause 13) states her desire that her trustees “provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women”.

That same Clause gives the “trustees full power to make all such rules and regulations as they may deem necessary for the government of said schools and to regulate the admission of pupils, and the same to alter, amend and publish upon a vote of a majority of said trustees.”

She directed “that the teachers of said schools shall forever be persons of the Protestant religion, but I do not intend that the choice should be restricted to persons of any particular sect of Protestants.”

However, in order to support her vision, her will did not require her trustees to sell the land; rather, they can only sell “for the best interest” of the estate. Clause Seventeen notes, “I give unto the trustees … the most ample power to sell and dispose of any lands or other portion of my estate, and to exchange lands and otherwise dispose of the same … “

“I further direct that my said trustees shall not sell any real estate, cattle ranches, or other property, but to continue and manage the same, unless in their opinion a sale may be necessary for the establishment or maintenance of said schools, or for the best interest of my estate.”

Today, the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate has net assets of nearly $7-billion and annual operating revenue of $1.34-billion.

“Had Lunalilo directed its trustees, as Princess Pauahi Bishop did, to retain the land and sell it only as necessary to run the home for the aged, the Lunalilo Trust today would rival the Bishop Estate in its net asset value, and it would be able to assist many more than the approximately fifty elderly Hawaiians who now live in Lunalilo Home.” (Takabuki)

“Princess Pauahi was wise when she directed her trustees to retain the “ʻĀina,” her primary endowment, and sell it only when necessary for the Kamehameha Schools or the best interest of the trust. Real estate has been, and will continue to be, a sound, prudent, long-term investment.” (Takabuki)

This summary is intended to address one key differing statement in the respective wills. While each called for trustees selected by the Supreme Court (thereby not knowing who would eventually carry out its instruction,) Lunalilo instructed his trustees to sell his land; on the other hand, Pauahi gave her trustees that right, but only in the “best interest” of the trust.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop,_about_age_twenty-three-1854

Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop,_San_Francisco,_1875

Charles Reed Bishop and his wife Bernice Pauahi Bishop in San Francisco in September 1876

Kamehameha School for Boys campus-(KSBE)-before 1900

Kamehameha School for Girls campus is the first to be completed on Kapälama Heights-(KSBE)-1931

Kamehameha_School_for_Girls-makai-Diamond Head corner of King and Kalihi Streets.(KSBE)

V2_5A Kamehameha Schools for Boys-(KSBE)-before 1900

Kamehameha_Schools_Land_Holdings-Google_Earth

February 2, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Metal Stick Operators – Beeper Pilots

“Much of the credit for the 17,000 Japanese planes shot out of the air or destroyed aground in the war can be given to realistic training afforded pilots, aircrewmen and [anti-aircraft] gunners firing at aerial targets – tow sleeves, banners and drones.”

“Intensive work to develop an aerial target that would approximate more closely firing on an aircraft in flight began at Naval Aircraft Factory in 1923.” (Naval Aviation News, Nov 1945)

“Drones were developed [in the 1920s]. First experiments with radio-control were in 1922 and the first successful take-off and flight was made with a VE-7 plane in 1924. … During the war smaller drones were used”.

The standard drone is … “a low wing Culver monoplane with 30-foot wingspan. It is a standard small plane adapted as a flying target and can fly three hours and another hour if provided with auxiliary fuel tank.” (Naval Aviation News, Nov 1945) The airframe was made with molded plywood. (Allnut, Military Aviation Museum)

Wheeler Army Airfield had the 17^th Tow Target Squadron that, as the name suggests, towed targets behind aircraft for aerial anti-aircraft gunnery training.

“The unit’s other responsibility involved training antiaircraft gunners on the ground, and for this they were also equipped with radio-controlled PQ-8 Red Foxes and later, with PQ-14 Cadets, along with specially modified Cessna UC-78 Bobcats which served as motherships to guide the PQ aircraft on their missions.”

“The PQ-14 and its slightly older and smaller sibling, the Culver PQ-8 Red Fox, played key roles in preparing the nation’s anti-aircraft gunnery crews (on both land and at sea) for the situations they might encounter in combat.”

“These diminutive, radio-controlled aircraft presented realistic, live targets for our trainee gunners to test their skills against. The men got to practice every aspect of how best to track, lead and shoot down incoming enemy aircraft.”

“Short of experiencing actual combat, this opportunity presented them with the most effective way of gaining such vital skills in their efforts to help win World War Two.” (Allnut, Military Aviation Museum)

“The PQ-8 and PQ-14 were flown remotely using the same principles which present day RC [Remote Control] hobbyists fly their model aircraft.”

“Each of the drone’s control surfaces (rudder, elevator, ailerons and trim tabs) was connected to its own servo motor, which input precise position adjustments responding to commands it received from the remote pilot (via the aircraft’s radio control receiver).”

“Similar servo motors were connected to the engine’s throttle, mixture and carburetor heat levers. The PQ-14 also had a relay for operating the retractable undercarriage as well, a feature which the fixed-gear PQ-8 obviously didn’t need.”

“Neither aircraft type had flaps, to reduce their complexity and weight, although it did mean that landing speeds were comparatively high (90-mph for PQ-14) relative to other aircraft of their size.”

“During a typical drone mission, a pilot on the ground would perform the takeoff, sitting atop a chair with a ‘Metal Stick’ controller in front of them to remotely operate the PQ’s controls.” (Allnut, Military Aviation Museum)

“Formally known as ‘Metal Stick Operators’, these pilots were colloquially referred to as ‘Beeper Pilots’ due to the sounds and flashing lights emanating from their control consoles.” These sounds and lights were confirmation that the system was in proper communication with the PQ drone.

Typically, the ground-bound Beeper Pilots were only involved in the PQ’s takeoff sequence, another Beeper Pilot aboard a mothership would then take over the drone’s flying controls.”

“Once the PQ was in the air, a separate remote operator, flying nearby in a mothership with their own ‘Metal Stick’ controller, would assume command of the aircraft and take it through its mission and, should it survive, back to base for a landing.”

“Those qualified to fly a PQ from its cockpit often had to take their turn serving as a safety pilot while other trainee Beepers tested their mettle from the mothership.”

“A ‘Beeper’s’ ultimate goal involved learning how to land the PQ remotely from the air without a safety pilot aboard the drone, a feat referred to colloquially in some quarters by the term ‘nullo.’ With a nullo under their belt, and a little more practice, trainee Beepers would soon become qualified to fly actual gunnery missions with the PQ.” (Allnut, Military Aviation Museum)

“These pilots could control the plane as effectively as if they were sitting in the cockpit and could perform a satisfactory imitation of even the hottest enemy fighter planes during target training for gunners and pilots.” (Experimental Aircraft Assn)

WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) were involved in the drone operations, as noted in a letter from Betty Jane Deuser, who spent several months learning how to fly the PQ-8, both from the cockpit and remotely. She was based at Liberty Field in Hinesville, Georgia.

“‘The radio control operations is secret, but seeing as how they publicize the torpedo angle, it’s OK to say a little about it I guess. There’s a unit in the PQ [Culver PQ-14 Cadet airplane] which works by radio signals. We’re practicing flying the PQ with this unit now, and will go on to flying the PQ from the C-78, using the same method.’”

“‘To begin with, the PQ has a safety pilot in it; in case the ‘beeper’ gets the ship doing maneuvers that aren’t cricket. Then the safety pilot takes over and flies the PQ.’”

“‘But that’s just for practice. When we get good enuf at landing the PQ without busting it up, then we can do PQ missions – flying the PQ from the C-78 up over the anti aircraft artillery range, where they try to shoot it down. It’s better practice for the AA [Anti-Aircraft] to use real planes instead of just target sleeves…’” (Betty Jane Deuser, October 19, 1943 in letter home)

February 1, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oregon Ducks

Before Oregon was the 33rd state admitted to the United States in 1859, it was known as the Oregon Territory, and before that, the Oregon Country. On February 14, 1859, Congress granted Oregon statehood.

Edwin Battistella, a professor of English at Southern Oregon University says the name Oregon dates back to a written record of at least 1765, credited to a British soldier named Major Robert Rogers.

“He was a colonial soldier in 1765 who wrote up a proposal to King George III to fund an expedition to find the northwest passage by way of the river the Indians call Ouragon,” Battistella said. King George III denied that request. “For now, we can safely say that the name originated from Major Robert Rogers’ rendering of a Native word for the water route to the Pacific.” (KGW)

The origin is unknown. It may have come from the French word Ouragan (which means Hurricane) and was a former name of the Columbia River.

Other say the word “Oregon” is derived from a Shoshoni Indian expression meaning, The River of the West, originating from the two Shoshoni words “Ogwa,” River and “Pe-on,” West, or “Ogwa Pe-on.” (Rees) That river as we know it today is the Columbia River.

In the word “Ogwa” the syllable “Og” means undulations and is the basis of such words as “river,” “snake,” “salmon,” or anything having a wavy motion. The sound “Pah” means water. Therefore, a river is undulating water. “Pe-on” is contracted from the two syllables, “Pe-ah,” big and “Pah,” water or Big Water meaning the Pacific Ocean. (Rees)

The use of the word webfoot associated with Oregon has a long history. Webfoot was first used by Californians to express their satirical dislike of the Oregonian and his rainy county and was brought to Oregon by California miners settling in or traveling through the territory during the various gold rushes of the late 1850s into the Pacific Northwest.

“In fact, it seems quite probable that webfoot began as a derisive epithet in California during the gold rush of 1848-1849. The Oregonians were among the first to reach the California gold fields, were not beloved by the Californians.”

“The first discovered printed usage in California pf the word webfoot in the sense of Oregon or Oregonian is in the San Francico Sun on May 19, 1853. The writer of the item requested that ‘if you have any web-foot friends bound this way, dissuade them from putting in here, as nothing in the way of supplies can be obtained but water.’” (Mills)

In describing a coming football game between the University of Oregon and Pacific University, the Eugene Guard noted, “The grounds will be somewhat muddy tomorrow, but that never stops an enthusiastic football player. In fact Webfoot boys would rather play on a muddy field than one that is dry and solid.” (Eugene Guard, Nov 28, 1894)

Webfoot caught on and ‘Webfoot State’ became a nickname for the State of Oregon. When the University of Oregon began searching for an athletic nickname in the late 1800s, the name “Webfoots” was the obvious choice. (White) By 1907 statewide sentiment had turned sour toward the term Webfoot, and the 1907 yearbook would adopt the name “The Beaver”.

Through the first two decades of the 20th century, there remained no officially sanctioned mascot for the university. Even as the use of mascots became commonplace at universities around the country, the Oregon teams that went to the Rose Bowl twice in four years after the 1916 and 1919 seasons traveled to Pasadena without one of their own to cheer them on. (University of Oregon)

The word “Web-foot” made its reappearance in print in January 1922 thanks to Oregon Daily Emerald reporter Ep Hoyt, who bestowed the name upon the Oregon Agricultural College football team during its postseason tour of Hawai‘i. (Oregon Alumni)

Oregon’s football team played two games in Hawai‘i – the Star Bulletin stated in a headline, “Webfooters Shut Out Pearl Harbor Navy Team”. The accompanying articles stated, “The Navy put up a good brand of football but the webfooters put up a brand that was better.” (Star Bulletin, Jan 3, 1922) Final score 35 to 0.

The Oregon Webfoots previously beat the University of Hawai‘i 47 to 0. Otto Klum was the new football coach at University of Hawai‘i that year – he had arrived from Portland a couple months before the Oregon game. (Oregonian, Sept 10, 1921)

Later that year, an Emerald editorial argued for the necessity of adopting a team name for University of Oregon sports teams and solicited names from readers.

Professor WG Thatcher argued in favor of Pioneers, while other suggestions included Condors, Eagles, Hawks, Vultures, Bulls, Wild Cats, and Fighting Drakes. Another professor, Jim Gilbert, favored Skinners in tribute to the founder of Eugene. (University of Oregon)

The Chamber of Commerce later stepped in and noted, “Oregon’s misnomer, ‘Webfoot State’ will be discarded”, stating, “that the term ‘webfoot state’ is poor advertising for the state, leading many eastern people to believe that Oregon is a swampy country, deluged by rain winter and summer.” (The Bulletin, Nov 17, 1923)

The debate surrounding the adoption of an official mascot raged for five years from 1922 to 1926. On November 6, 1926, the Eugene Guard and Oregon Daily Emerald jointly announced a new naming contest for the University of Oregon’s sports teams.

Webfoots and Ducks were viewed as “inadequate names” that impute “the harmlessness of doves” on the school’s squads. But the newspaper contest did not end the debate. It wouldn’t be until 1932 that students and alumni voted to confirm Webfoots as the official school mascot. (University of Oregon)

Even after Webfoots was officially adopted by the school in 1926, according to Douglas Card in “The Webfooted Ducks,” “Sportswriters gradually shortened the moniker to Ducks.” (Caputo)

Oregon’s first live mascot had surfaced in the 1920s when “Puddles,” a resident duck of the nearby Millrace, was escorted to football and basketball games by his fraternity-house neighbors.

Puddles and his various offspring were part of the Duck sports scene until the early 1940s when repeated complaints from the Humane Society finally sucked the fun out of bringing a live duck to games. (University of Oregon)

However, Puddles’ memory was preserved in 1947 when Oregon’s first athletic director, Leo Harris, struck a handshake arrangement with Walt Disney. Donald Duck’s likeness could serve as the mascot, as long as it was done in good taste.

The unique deal stood for 20 years, with Walt Disney Productions providing several versions of the duck for Oregon’s use, until the cartoonist’s death in 1966. That’s when both parties realized no formal contract existed granting the University the right to Donald’s image. (University of Oregon) They later formalized the association.

Another Hawai‘i connection, at least for me … when we were kids, our family hosted a couple of the Oregon Duck women’s swim team, when they came to the Islands for UH swim meets.