Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Royal Remains

Pu’uhonua o Honaunau, ‘Place of Refuge of Honaunau,’ is located in the ahupua‘a of Honaunau, in South Kona, on the west coast of the Island of Hawai‘i. (NPS)

“The heiau of the pu‘uhonua at Honaunau at the time of European contact was Hale o Keawe. This association with religious structures indicates that a pu‘uhonua as that at Honaunau was not merely a place of physical refuge, but more specifically a sanctuary.”

“In a thatched house on one of the heiau platforms were kept the bones of deceased high chiefs, now deified. This was not a burial, but rather a deification. Hawaiian burials per se were quite different.”

“The powerful mana of these deified chiefs continued after life to surround the area and to afford protection to anyone entering the enclosure. The sanctuary at Honaunau was under the protection of the deified chief Keawe, and the one at Waipi‘o Valley under Liloa.” (Marion Kelly, NPS)

“The oldest Hawaiian mausoleum of which there is information was Hale o Liloa at Waipio. It was built probably in 1575, when it may be estimated that King Liloa died.” (Stokes)

“It was during this residence at Kaawaloa that we visited the old ‘heiau,’ or temple, at Hoonaunau, in company with Naihe and Kapiolani.  It was then surrounded by an enclosure of hideous idols carved in wood, and no woman had ever been allowed to enter its consecrated precincts.”

“Our heroic Kapiolani led the way, and we entered the enclosure. It was a sickening scene that met our eyes. The dead bodies of chiefs were placed around the room in a sitting posture, the unsightly skeletons mostly concealed in folds of kapa, or rich silk.”

“The blood-stained altar was there, where human victims had been immolated to idol gods. Fragments of offerings were strewed about. Kapiolani was much affected and wept, but her husband was stern and silent.”

“A few months after our visit [probably early 1829] Kaahumanu came and ordered all the bones buried, and the house and fence entirely demolished. She gave some of the timber, which was spear-wood (kauila), to the missionaries, and told them to make it into canes and contribution boxes, to send to their friends. (Laura Judd, Honolulu Sketches)

“By the order of Kaahumanu and Kalanimoku , the officers of the Blonde were allowed to remove nearly all of the idols and some of the other relics deposited in the ‘House of Keawe’”. (Alexander)

“A few months later, Kaahumanu visited Kapiolani, and resolved to put an end to the superstitions connected with the place. By their orders the venerated deified bones were removed, deposited in two large coffins, and interred in a secret cave at Kaawaloa, where they remained for nearly thirty years.”

“Mr. Chamberlain made a list of the names of twenty-three chiefs, whose bones were then removed, and stated that five or six more were brought over from the sacred ‘House of Liloa’ in Waipio.” (Alexander)  “Liloa, Lonoikamakahiki, Kauhoa, and Lole are the only ones who were found by Kaahumanu at Waipio, and they were brought to Kaawaloa.” ((Kuokoa, June 13, 1868)

“The house and fence were entirely demolished, and the sacred Kauila rafters were used in building a Government House on the site now occupied by Hackfeld & Co’s building, which was therefore called ‘Ka hale kauila.’” (Alexander)

“In January, 1858, Kamehameha IV, accompanied by a numerous retinue, made a tour of the windward islands in the British sloop-of-war, Vixen, Captain Meacham, arriving at Kaawaloa, January 24th, 1858. On the following night the venerable kahu, or guardian of the secret burial cave, was ordered to remove the stones that concealed the entrance.”

“The coffins were then brought out by torch-light, and carried on board of the man-of-war, which brought them to Honolulu, where they were consigned to Governor Kekuanaoa.”

“The Vixen, with the royal party on board, arrived in Honolulu, February 12th, and Captain Meacham died on the 17th, after an illness of only three days. It was universally believed by the Natives that his death was caused by the displeasure of the akuas, or departed spirits, whose mortal remains had been disturbed.” (Alexander)

The remains were taken to Sacred Mound (previously a stone mausoleum); it was constructed in 1825 to house the remains of Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and his consort, Queen Kamāmalu. Both had died of measles while on a journey to England the year before.

Then upon their arrival in Hawai‘i, in consultation between the Kuhina Nui, Ka‘ahumanu, and other high chiefs, and telling them about Westminster Abbey and the underground burial crypts they had seen there, it was decided to build a mausoleum building on the grounds of ʻIolani Palace.

The mausoleum was a small eighteen-by-twenty-four foot Western style structure made of white-washed coral blocks with a thatched roof; it had no windows.

Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and Queen Kamāmalu were buried on August 23, 1825.  The name ‘Pohukaina’ begins to be used to reference the site at the time of their burial.  (Pohukaina – is translated as “Pohu-ka-ʻāina” (the land is quiet and calm.))

For the next forty years, this royal tomb and the land immediately surrounding it became the final resting place for the kings of Hawai‘i, their consorts and important chiefs of the kingdom.

“After the completion of the present Mausoleum in Nuuanu [Mauna Ala], on the night of October 30th, 1865, the coffins of the former royal personages of Hawaii nei, including those brought from Kaawaloa, were removed to it in an imposing torch-light procession . It is to be hoped that their repose will not be disturbed again.” (Alexander)

The remains of the Ali‘i were removed from Pohukaina and transferred in a torchlight procession at night to Mauna ‘Ala, a new Royal Mausoleum in Nu‘uanu Valley.

In a speech delivered on the occasion of the laying of the Cornerstone of The Royal Palace (ʻIolani Palace,) Honolulu, in 1879, JH Kapena, Minister of Foreign Relations, said:

“Doubtless the memory is yet green of that never-to-be-forgotten night when the remains of the departed chiefs were removed to the Royal Mausoleum in the valley.”

“Perhaps the world had never witnessed a procession more weird and solemn than that which conveyed the bodies of the chiefs through our streets, accompanied on each side by thousands of people until the mausoleum was reached …”

“… the entire scene and procession being lighted by large kukui torches, while the midnight darkness brought in striking relief the coffins on their biers.”

“Earth has not seen a more solemn procession what when, in the darkness of the night, the bodies of these chieftains were carried through the streets”.  (Hawaiian Gazette, January 14, 1880)

“The utmost quiet pervaded the streets of the city as the procession moved along, escorted by a military guard, and followed by the Royal carriage, another carriage in which rode His Excellency, Governor Kekuanaoa and several other carriages.”

“The procession passed through the streets about nine o’clock. The solemn stillness was broken by the wailing of one solitary native woman, who followed the procession.”

“It seemed peculiarly fitting that this national sign of mourning should find utterance as the mortal remains of Kings and Chiefs were passing to their final resting place on earth.” (The Friend, Nov 1, 1865)

The March 10, 1899 issue of the Hawaiian Gazette noted that Līloa (1500s,) Lonoikamakahiki (late-1500s) and Alapaʻi (1700s) are among the buried at Mauna ʻAla.

The State designated the area a Monument in recognition of its historic importance, and to utilize these unique resources to educate and promote awareness of the historic and cultural character of the era of the Hawaiian monarchy.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kuapehu

Pukui translates Ka‘awaloa as “the distant kawa,” and explains “runners went to Puna or Waipio to get kava for the chiefs”.  The archaeological sites of Ka‘awaloa reflect the occupation of this coastal flat from pre-contact times until approximately 1940.

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival in 1779, Ka‘awaloa was one of the seven chiefly residential compounds in Kona and home to some of the island’s most important ruling chiefs. At least two (2) heiau are recorded on Ka‘awaloa Flat, as well as Puhina o Lono Heiau on the slopes above. (DLNR)

Kalokuokamaile recorded that “When Keawe-nui-a-‘Umi lived at Kaawaloa, he was known as the awa drinking chief and would send his runner to Waipio and Puna to get awa”. In Judd’s dictionary, Hawaiian Language, he translates it as “Ka awa – the harbor). Rev. Paris is cited as translating Ka‘awaloa means “the long landing place”. (Maly)

“It has been said that Ka‘awaloa means something like ‘Awa gotten from far away,’ and this was because the people of Kona had to go all the way to Puna to get their ‘awa.”

“This isn’t true. Kona always had plenty of ‘awa. Old Charley Aina always said that Ka‘awaloa described the ‘Long, or distant canoe landing’ of the area.” (Billy Paris; Maly)  Ka‘awaloa is recognized as the site of Captain James Cook’s demise.

The missionaries arrived in Hawai‘i in 1820 and the first Kealakekua missionary settlement was established at Ka‘awaloa Flat by Reverend Ely in 1824. The missionary records indicate that a church and several missionary houses were built at Ka‘awaloa. (DLNR)

Because of the heat, the missionaries moved the mission upslope to Kuapehu in 1827.  Kuapehu was “A place belonging to Naihe where he raised taro. His wife, Kapiolani, allowed missionaries to build there, over the ruins of her house.” (Place Names)

“The distinguished chief woman, Kapiolani, built a fine stone house near by the old meeting-house, and resided there for some time, living decently and in order to the day of her death, ap ornament of religion, and a wonderful trophy of the grace of God.”

“She interested herself in the missionary’s American friends, shared with them the pleasure of foreign letters, and was in all things the sympathizing mother and friend.” (Cheever)

“On the first day of the new year, I met the assembled chiefs and people at Kaawaloa, and to our mutual joy opened to them the Scriptures.”

“An attempt was made for the permanent establishment of the Kaawaloa station at Kuapehu, Naihe and Kapiolani removed and built there, and others gathered round them; but the people of the district chiefly preferred the shore station as more convenient to them.” (Bingham)

“But Kaawaloa, at the landing-place on the north side of Kealakekua bay, however conveniently accessible to the people of the district, who live much along the shores, was cramped and rocky, being composed almost exclusively of lava.”

“It was hot, dry, and barren, affording neither brook nor well, nor spring of fresh water, nor field, nor garden-spot for plantation, though a few cocoa-nut trees, so neighborly to the sea, find nourishment there.”

“Kuapehu, about two miles inland, east of the bold and volcanic cliff at the head of the bay, is, in many respects, preferable as a place of residence.”

“It is elevated 1500 feet above the sea; is airy and fertile, fanned agreeably by the land breeze from the cold Mauna Loa by night, and the sea breeze by day, making the temperature and climate about as agreeable and salubrious as Waimea.”

“Scattered trees around, and the forest a little further in the rear, the banana, sugar-cane, upland kalo, potatoes, squashes, gourds, and melons, which its soil produces; its high grasses, flowering shrubs, and wild vines, all contrasted finely with the dry and sterile shore north of the bay.”

“Besides the ordinary productions of the country, Mr. Ruggles, Naihe, and Kapiolani had a variety of exotics – the grape, fig, guava, pomegranate, orange, coffee, cotton, and mulberry, growing on a small scale, which is the most that can be said, as yet, of these articles at the Sandwich Islands.” (Bingham)

“An honorable woman, a hoary-headed Hawaiian convert to Christianity, Kekupuohi, who had been one of the wives of Kalaniopuu, the king in the days of Capt. Cook, but now a member of the church at Kailua, visiting at the thatched cottage of Mr. Ruggles, in the midst of this scenery …”

“… and having her attention agreeably attracted by a prolific grape vine, which spread its fruit and foliage over the door, and by the various flowers and fruits of the garden-like court”. [Bingham] translated:”

“It may be proper to say here that the church and mission-houses of this station, some time after Mr. Ruggles, through loss of health, left the field, were located on the south side of Kealakekua Bay, a position which was supposed to accommodate the people connected with the station better than the north side, or Kuapehu in the rear.” (Bingham)

In visiting the area, Sereno Bishop notes, “Our nearest missionary neighbor outside of the town of Kailua were the Ruggleses, who lived at Kaawaloa, twelve miles south. Their dwelling was at Kuapehu, two miles up the mountain, a most verdant and attractive spot.”

“It later became the residence of Rev John D Paris. Kaawaloa proper was a village on the north side of Kealakekua Bay.”  (Bishop)

In 1852 the Rev Paris, who had been at Waiohinu for ten years, was assigned to the Kealakekua district. He wrote that the name Ka‘awaloa was used, by the Hawaiians, more often than Kealakekua.  Paris built Kahikolu Church that served the Ka‘awaloa and Kealakekua area; it also was as the Mother Church for the South Kona Area. (NPS)

“We often visited Kaawaloa, probably twice a year, going by water in a double canoe, generally starting two or three hours before daylight, so as to carry the land breeze a good part of the way.” (Sereno Bishop)

“Following the Path of the Gods, Kealakekua; dotted for miles by heathen temples great and small, I found Kuapehu. A grass house, built by Keike, Brother Ruggles, and a cottage built by the beloved Forbes, where the mission families used to spend a few weeks for a change as a health station”. (Recollections of Paris)

There was a road “built above the shoreline flats in the late 1850s to connect Kailua to Ka‘awaloa. Its starting place at Kealakekua was the Paris house at Kuapehu.”

“Government documents of the time describe this road as the “Road from Kealakekua pali”. Samuel Clemens travelled it in 1866 and described the occasional “great boughs which overarch the road and shut out the sun and sea and everything, and leave you in a dim, shady tunnel.” (DLNR)

The Paris family dominated the life of the ahupua‘a from its purchase in 1859 to the death of Rev. John Paris, Sr. (a Congregational minister) in 1892. The son, John Paris, Jr., retained much of his father’s interests.

“Here for five or six years the veteran missionary [John D Paris] continued in his Master’s work. On the marriage of his son John, in 1880, the old home at Kuapehu was sold to him. and the elder Paris family, Father and Mother Paris with their daughter Ella, moved again to Honolulu, expecting never to return.” (The Friend, June 1926)

His only son, John, Jr. became a stock raiser of both cattle and goats, kept at Ka‘awaloa and other nearby lands. He was also the recipient of his father’s most choice land. The Paris’ daughter, Ella, ran a boarding house on the site of Kapi‘olani’s mauka house referred to as the Paris Hotel. (DLNR)

Billy Paris in an oral history noted, “my great-grandfather, with his second marriage, he had two children. His daughter was Ella Hudson Paris.”

“The home I was telling you about, he first built, was down in Mauna-alani, where my sister’s living now. Up on the hill–directly on the hill there above the junction, where the deep cut is on the upper side of the road–the home is still there. (The house site name is Kuapehu.)”

“It’s quite in pretty bad shape today [1981]. My cousins have just recently sold that property to someone. And I see they’re starting to clear the lot now next to Kamei’s Cleaners there–Shiraki’s Cleaners or whatever it is.” “Well, you’ll see a roadway on the left going up. The hotel is on top of the hill.”

(Kuapehu is above “the Captain Cook junction, where you go down to Napoopoo” – “that is where Princess Kapiolani [once] lived.”) (Paris; Social History of Kona)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka Houpo o Kāne

E ui aku ana au ia oe,
Aia i hea ka Wai a Kane?
Aia i lalo, i ka honua, i ka Wai hu,
I ka wai kau a Kane me Kanaloa
He waipuna, he wai e inu,
He wai e mana, he wai e ola,
E ola no, ea!

One question I ask of you:
Where flows the water of Kane?
Deep in the ground, in the gushing spring,
In the ducts of Kane and Loa,
A well-spring of water, to quaff,
A water of magic power-
The water of Life!
Life! O give us this life!
(Emerson; Unwritten Literature of Hawaii)

Precipitation includes rain, snow, and fog drip. Evapotranspiration is the water that is either evaporated directly into the atmosphere or that which is used by plants and transpired back into the atmosphere. Runoff is the component that contributes to streamflow.

Groundwater recharge is the component of precipitation that percolates into the subsurface and is not lost to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration.  (Intera)

Fresh water travels down into the earth through a process called percolation. On the Hawaiian Islands, water first percolates through soil, if present, then through porous volcanic rock to the water table within the lava. (BWS)

During the volcanic eruptions that created the Hawaiian Islands, molten rock beneath the surface flowed up from the center of the volcanoes; dikes formed when magma stopped flowing to the surface, then cooled over time to form dense, nonporous rock.

Fresh water percolating down between the dikes compartment becomes trapped between the nearly impenetrable walls of the dikes. The water can only escape when its level rises and overflows the walls of the dike, or when great internal pressure causes leakage. Sometimes a freshwater spring will form above ground when such water spews from a dike. (BWS)

Sometimes percolating water becomes trapped when it meets layers of fine volcanic ash or clay-like soil that occur between the remnants of Hawaii’s ancient underground lava flows.  This perched water can no longer seep downward, so it collects and moves sideways, sometimes appearing as a spring (BWS)

“Ka-houpo-o-Kāne (literally, The-bosom-of Kāne), is the sacred region of Mauna Kea (between the 10,000 – 11,000 foot elevation), in which are found the springs fed by Ka-wai-hū-a-Kāne; by a rivulet from Waiau to the head of Pōhakuloa Gulch.” (“Houpokāne is mistakenly written Hopukani on most maps dated after 1900.”) (Maly)

Ka Houpo o Kāne represents the springs of the island of Hawaii. (Vredenburg)  “The area identified as Ka-houpo-o-Kāne is situated below Waiau, on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea, in the land of Ka‘ohe.”

“The god Kāne is believed to be foremost of the Hawaiian gods, and is credited with creation, procreation, light, waters of life, abundance, and many other attributes.”

“A land being likened to the chest of Kāne, can imply that the land was cherished and blessed by the god Kāne. … SN Hale‘ole’s tradition of Lā‘ie-i-ka-wai (In Kū ‘Oko‘a 1862-1863), records that “Kahoupokane” was one of three companions of Poli‘ahu. The other two companions were Lilinoe and Waiau.”

“The area identified as Ka-houpo-o-Kāne is situated below Waiau, on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea, in the land of Ka‘ohe.” (Maly)

“One of the primary attributes of Kāne are the wai ola (life giving waters), sacred springs and water sources made by Kāne around the islands, to provide for the welfare of the people and the land). Interestingly, at Kahoupo-o-Kāne are found the waters of Pōhakuloa, Hopukani, and Waihū (also known by the name “Ka-wai-hū-a-Kāne”).   (Maly)

“A spring on the southern side of the mountain, called ‘Wai Hu,’ is believed by the natives to be connected with [Lake Waiau].” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, Sep 14, 1892)

“The few small springs on the glaciated peak of Mauna Kea in Hawaii are fed by ground water perched on and in glacial drift deposits. Their presence is note-worthy because of the light they throw on geologic history and on hydrologic principles rather than for the amount of water produced.”

“Springs in Hawaii fall into two chief categories: (1) high-level springs fed by ground-water bodies perched on or confined by intrusive bodies, ash beds, or modem or ancient soils and (2) basal springs fed from a great body of ground water which is kept in hydrostatic balance with sea water at a few feet above sea-level.” (Wentworth & Powers)

“Conditions on Mauna Kea favor rapid percolation of most rain and meltwater from the winter snow. Toward higher elevations rock-weathering becomes progressively more physical in type.”

“The largest springs on Mauna Kea are found at several points in the Waihu branch of Pohakuloa Valley, on the southwest slope between 8,900 and 10,400 feet.”

“The upper part of the Waihu springs area forms, in summer, a notably green little valley with many small patches of lush grass quite in contrast to the almost complete barrenness of the surrounding terrane, which is above timber line.”

“In the area to the east and up the slope from the springs are numerous small heaps of pre-European stone adz workings.  Certain lava caves contain evidence of habitation, suggesting that the springs were frequented by adz workers.”

“In addition to these larger springs there are some dozens of smaller seeps where trickling water or greener vegetation shows the emergence of small amounts of ground water.” (Wentworth & Powers)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Four Miles

Nā pana keia ō Keaukaha
Mai Ka Palekai ā I Leleiwi
P`̄ mau I ka meheu ā nā Kūpuna …

Au aʻe ʻoe e pa mokumoku
ʻO Peiwe pili me Lokowaka
Kapaʻia o Kealoha Paka, Mile Eha

These are the famous places of Keaukaha
From the Breakwater all the way to Leleiwi,
Resounding to the footsteps of our ancestor …

You walk along the seashore and see the islets.
This is Peiwe, close to Lokowaka
Called today ‘Kealoha Park’ and ‘4-Miles’

(Edith Kanaka’ole; translation Kalani Meinecke; noted in Downey)

The shoreline lands of the Waiakea peninsula and Keaukaha contain fourteen fishponds, the largest of which is Lokowaka (at 60 acres in area), located directly across Kalaniana’ole Ave from a beach park.  (John Clark)

Then, a tsunami hit the area … “In 1946, there was no tsunami warning system. In Hawaii, no one saw or felt anything that presaged the coming disaster. The tsunami was caused by a M8.6 earthquake centered in the Aleutian Islands more than 2,300 miles from Hilo. Needless to say, no one in Hawaii felt the shaking.”

“There were seismographs in 1946. The University of California at Berkeley had a network in Northern and Central California, including a station in Ferndale. Caltech had stations that covered the southern part of the State.”

“There were instruments elsewhere in the world including a pair in Hawaii, but earthquake investigations of that era relied on analyzing data after the event. It was often weeks until magnitude and location had been hammered down.”

“The 1946 tsunami killed 96 in Hilo, 158 throughout the Hawaiian Islands, five in Alaska, one in Santa Cruz and three elsewhere in the Pacific.”  (Dengler, Times Standard)

During the tsunami of 1946 … “in the Keaukaha area east of Hilo, witnesses described the arrival of a wave from the north simultaneously with one from the northeast, which built up a very high crest at the place of juncture.” (Macdonald etal)

“A drive along the Keaukaha coast beyond Hilo today will leave you with a terribly depressed feeling. The tidal wave of April 1 in a few short minutes wiped the shoreline bare of once swanky homes and destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property.”

“As soon las the road was repaired sufficiently to make the trip, Lorrin Thurston and your correspondent drove out with Police Lieutenant De Mello to view the damage. What was once the show place of the district was the home of the Wendell Carlsmiths.”

“Today nothing remains but the chimney of the house and the tennis court. Redwood beams from the house have been found miles away down the coast.  Attorney Carlsmith was viewing his loss as we drove by. He told of the miraculous escape of himself and his family.”

“‘When I built this home,’ [Carlsmith] said, ‘I had a possible tidal wave in mind and constructed the foundation accordingly.  As you can see it is 11 feet above sea level and I figured any wave coming in this far (the home was about 200 yards from the coastline) would not be above the level of this foundation.’”

“‘On the morning of the fatal wave I happened to look out my bedroom window and saw the first one coming.  It wasn’t very big but it must have been traveling in about 40 miles an hour.’”

“‘I grabbed a robe and put it on and then ran down and released one of our dogs. Mrs Carlsmith in the meantime got the children out and into the car. I ran around the house with the water lapping at my heels. The dog refused to follow and that’s the last I saw of her.’”

“‘I dashed up the steps and into the garage and we started the car out. We got down as far as the tennis court and saw the water receding. We then walked back to see if any damage had been done.’”

“‘While we were examining the premises,  we saw another wave coming and ran back to the tennis court. This wave was higher and washed up over the foundation of the house and into the pond in front but didn’t come up to the tennis court. We made our way then to the Laura Kennedy home which is on high ground and from there saw another wave coming from an opposite direction.’”

“‘This wave collided with another wave rolling in a different direction causing a huge water spout and then both of them rolled in over our house and across the highway. An old Japanese who had climbed a coconut palm when the first wave came had gotten down on the ground. He tried to shinny up again and was about 15 feet up the tree when the big wave got him. He disappeared.’”

“‘When the wave subsided, we could not see anything of our house except the naked chimney. There wasn’t even a stick of furniture. I lost the collection of a lifetime. And as you can see the grounds have been completely destroyed.’”

“‘Several thousand yards of dirt l had had hauled in have been washed completely away. I also have a valuable stock of liquor and wines and most of this is being salvaged. It had washed into the pond in front of the house. The children are digging it out now.’” (Advertiser, Coll; April 9, 1946)

Then, again … on May 22, 1960, a 9.5 earthquake – the largest ever recorded – hit southwest Chile, generating a tsunami that struck the Hawaiian Island in about 15 hours.

Hilo Bay area on island of Hawai‘i was hit hard by the 35-foot wave, which destroyed or damaged more than 500 homes and businesses. Sixty-one people died. Damage was estimated at $75 million.

In the vicinity of the Carlsmith property was a beach park; with several additions, the park properties in this area fell under different names. In 1963, Leleiwi Beach Park was renamed James Kealoha Beach Park, in honor of the former County Chairman who became Hawai‘i’s first elected Lieutenant Governor.

In 1972, Hawai‘i County Council adopted resolutions to acquire property for park expansion.  Part of that package was the 1.92-acre ‘Carlsmith’ property. By that time Carlsmith had sold and San Francisco financier owned it and was planning an 8-story condominium. (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Jan 14, 1972)

By the end of the year the County had acquired the ‘Carlsmith’ (~2-acres) and ‘Richardson’ (~1-acre) properties for $2.42-million; the Parks Director, Robert Fukuda, said the additional acquisitions “would greatly enhance our program for providing recreational and regional park facilities in the Keaukaha area.” (HTH, Nov 12, 1972)

The park area makai of Lokowaka became known as Carlsmith Beach Park (in and around the Leleiwi/James Kealoha parks).  More informally, it is known as Four Miles – it’s four miles away from downtown Hilo. Richardson’s Beach Park is just down the way.

An interesting side note, Carl and Nelle Smith, married in Atlantic, Iowa, left aboard the ‘Martha Davis’ from San Francisco and arrived in the Islands on December 27, 1897; Carl was 27 and his new bride was 26.

In Hilo he was associated in the practice of law with various partners, including DH Hitchcock (father of artist D Howard Hitchcock) and Charles F Parsons. In 1911, Carl sought to change his name.

Notices for “the Matter of the Petition of Carl Schurz Smith for Change of Name” were published in the newspaper Dec. 12, 19, 26 (1911), Jan. 2, 12 (1912).  Those notices stated that Governor Walter F Frear “ordered and decreed that the name of Carl Schurz Smith hereby is changed to Carl Schurz Carlsmith”. (Hawaiian Star, December 19, 1911)

Carlsmith inherited the firm upon Hitchcock’s death in 1890. The firm was renamed to Carlsmith in 1911; his two sons Wendell and Merrill joining him in 1920, and his grandson, Donn, joined the staff in 1953. The Carlsmith law firm has had several names; it is now named Carlsmith Ball LLP.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waiwelawela

Paʻu o keahi o Waiwelawela o ka lua e
Aloha na poʻe la o

The pit of Waiwelawela is encircled by fire
Greetings to the people of the upland pit

(From the chant “A popoʻi haki kaikoʻo” – it describes how Pele got established in Puna; it compares the movement of the lava to the movement of water.)

There are indications that the ancient Hawaiians made use of natural hot springs for recreation and therapy. Oral history relates that the ancient chieftain, Kumukahi, frequented hot springs in Puna to relieve his aches and pains.  (Woodruff/Takahashi)

“The fame of the waters of the warm springs of the Puna districts has been great during many years. In fact, it is a legend … that when the ailments of the body overcame the aliʻi of old they betook themselves to the spring known as Waiwelawela … and there they were healed of rheumatic affections through bathing, and their systemic ills cured by drinking of the waters.”

“This legend has come down to the Hawaiians of today and even now there is a fame attached to the waters of the springs, which draws to the side of the stream scores of the native residents of nearby districts.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 28, 1902)

Waiwelawela “is a warm spring, crescent shaped, and of a vivid ultramarine in color …. The spring, named the Blue Lake, is 90-deg in temperature and 900-feet above the level of the sea.  The water is wonderfully clear and, strange to relate, at this elevation, it has a regular rise and fall which is said to correspond to the tide of the ocean.”  (Daily Bulletin, August 28, 1882)

The Kapoho Warm Springs was formed when the downthrown block of the Kapoho fault slipped below the water table and exposed the warm waters, probably heated by a magmatic body intruded in 1840.  (USGS)

“At present no practical use is made of them, but were there a proper access a small hotel would be built and many invalids would be able to make use of these springs.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, September 17, 1889)

“The famous warm spring is to be found near the residence of Mr RA Lyman (Kapoho’s largest landowner) and is one of the finest bathing places on the islands.  Natives formerly flocked to the place from all over the islands believing that it was possessed of great healing powers.”

“The water is a pleasant temperature for bathing and is clear as crystal, small objects can be readily distinguished twenty feet below the surface. There is a mineral taste to the water.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 22, 1892)

“The railway now goes so close to them that it is believed if a few cottages were built, and attendance provided, many afflicted people would be glad to go there and be healed.  Even those who need no physician would find at these springs a place for rest and contemplation, far from the maddening crowd.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 12, 1908)

“It is the most marvelously beautiful place in all these beautiful islands. There is not a doubt of it. The pool, at the base of a small peak that is like what Diamond Head would be if that had sugar cane growing to its very summit, lies shaded by a dense growth of ʻōhiʻa and koa and lehua trees and guava bushes, the sun glistening upon it through the leaves of these.”

“The waters, not steaming, but of perceptibly higher temperature than the air, by some strange law of refraction are shot through with dazzling gleams of a blue that is like the blue depths of the sky. Yet the rocks in the pool are not blue. They are of rather reddish cast.”  (Mid-Pacific Magazine, 1912)

“The exposed basin where the spring comes to the surface is something like five by six yards, and the water rises from no one knows where and departs no one sees how.  The water is warm and is very full of mineral salts.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 28, 1902)

“This spot is unquestionably one of the loveliest in all Hawaiʻi, and its charm is typical of Hawaiʻi.  It is close against the face of a volcanic cliff.  Here there is a shady grotto, and in this grotto a pool almost as it hewed out of the rocks for the bathing place of some giant of the forest.”

“The water is in spots 20-feet deep, but so translucent that it seems much less than 10.  It holds many lights and shadows, many hues and colors, varying from the deep indigo blue to a transparent jade-green and in spots a golden brown.  There are seats here and the shade is grateful.”  (Honolulu Star-bulletin, September 6, 1916)

At Warm Springs, where portions of ‘Bird of Paradise’ (1951) and other motion pictures had been filmed, stone steps led to a spring-fed, naturally heated pool fringed by ferns, cattleya orchids and lau hala trees.

The grounds and a half-mile drive were landscaped with plumeria, thousands of ti plants, crotons and ginger. Picnic tables and barbecue pits dotted a smooth lawn shaded by mango trees.  Slim Holt, who leased the property from Lyman, had labored for years to create this beauty, assisted by interested individuals and organizations.  (Flanders)

Then, “Something was amiss.”  An eruption at Kilauea had ended on December 21, 1959.

“(B)ut the shallow reservoir beneath the summit of Kilauea volcano was gorged with magma, far more than before the eruption started. Rather than removing pressure, the eruption had, for all intents and purposes, created more.”

“The uncertainty ended at 1935 January 13, (1960,) when red glow in the night sky above Kapoho announced the 1960 eruption.”  (USGS)

Bulldozers erected a quarter-mile line of dikes designed to prevent the lava from reaching Warm Springs.  Despite this effort, toward midnight the flow surmounted the embankments.

Barbecue pits exploded; trees, shrubbery, tables and benches burst into flame. Lava poured down stone steps in a cherry-red stream.  Still water, reflecting the infernal scene, disappeared under the flow. The new cinder cone was dubbed Puʻu Laimanu.  … Today, buried beneath this primeval landscape, under 50-feet of lava, lays Warm Springs.  (Flanders)

“Estimates of damage from the six-day eruption of Kilauea volcano rose into the millions today.  State Senator Richard F Lyman estimated damage to his land, blanketed by the lava as $2,000,000.”

“He owns 80-acres of sugar land and the Warm Springs resort area, now buried by the flow on Hawaiʻi Island.  Other landowners reported 3,500-acres of farmland destroyed.”  (The Spokesman, January 20, 1960)

“Waiwelawela (meaning ‘warm water’) was a warm spring pool near Kapoho which was covered in the 1960 eruption. … It is said by people of the area that Pele covered the springs because people were charging others, namely Hawaiians, for use of the warm springs. In former days these warm springs were available to everyone.”  (Pukui; DOE)

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