Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

1849

In 1789, Congress created three Executive Departments: Foreign Affairs (later in the same year renamed State), Treasury, and War. It also provided for an Attorney General and a Postmaster General. Domestic matters were apportioned by Congress among these departments. (DOI)

In the decade of the 1840s the cry of Manifest Destiny expanded the vision of Americans to continental dimensions. In quick succession came the annexation of Texas in 1845, the resolution of the Oregon boundary dispute with Britain in 1846, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo concluding the Mexican War in February 1848.

In three years the United States enlarged its domain by more than a million square miles, reaching nearly its present size between Canada and Mexico. Widely applauded, this remarkable national aggrandizement also prompted sectional controversy over the extension of slavery.  (NPS)

The idea of setting up a separate department to handle domestic matters was put forward on numerous occasions. It wasn’t until March 3, 1849, the last day of the 30th Congress, that a bill was passed to create the Department of the Interior to take charge of the Nation’s internal affairs.

Creation of the Home Department consolidated the General Land Office (Department of the Treasury), the Patent Office (Department of State), the Indian Affairs Office (War Department) and the military pension offices (War and Navy Departments).

Subsequently, Interior functions expand to include the census, regulation of territorial governments, exploration of the western wilderness, and management of the D.C. jail and water system. (DOI)

“Everything upon the face of God’s earth will go into the Home Department,” US Senator John O. Calhoun had prophesied.  Later, it became known as the Department of Interior.

As Interior took shape under its early leaders and in response to congressional mandates, it came more and more to deserve the appelation of “Great Miscellany” often given it.  Some suggested it was the Department of Everything Else. (NPS)

In the Islands …

French Invasion of Honolulu – 1849

On August 12, 1849, French admiral Louis Tromelin arrived in Honolulu Harbor on the corvette Gassendi with the frigate La Poursuivante.  Upon arrival, de Tromelin met with French Consul Dillon.

Dillon immediately initiated a systematic and irritating interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom, arising largely out of personal hostility to RC Wyllie, minister of foreign affairs, picking flaws and making matters of extended diplomatic correspondence over circumstances of trifling importance.

This continued until the French Admiral Tromelin arrived, and after a conference with Dillon the celebrated “ten demands” were formulated and presented to the Hawaiian Government with the commanding request for immediate action.

Sensing disaster, King Kamehameha III issued orders: “Make no resistance if the French fire on the town, land under arms, or take possession of the Fort; but keep the flag flying ‘till the French take it down. … Strict orders to all native inhabitants to offer no insult to any French officer, soldier or sailor, or afford them any pretext whatever for acts of violence.”

The marines broke the coastal guns, threw kegs of powder into the harbor and destroyed all the other weapons they found (mainly muskets and ammunition).  They raided government buildings and general property in Honolulu, including destruction of furniture, calabashes and ornaments in the governor’s house.  After these raids, the invasion force withdrew to the fort.

On the 30th, the admiral issued a proclamation, declaring that by way of “reprisal” the fort had been dismantled, and the king’s yacht, “Kamehameha III,” confiscated (and then sailed to Tahiti,) but that private property would be restored. He also declared the treaty of 1846 to be annulled, and replaced by the Laplace Convention of 1839. This last act, however, was promptly disavowed by the French Government.

Alexander Liholiho and Lot Kamehameha travel abroad – 1849

Alexander Liholiho and Lot Kapuaiwa, grandsons of Kamehameha I through his daughter Kīnaʻu, later ruled Hawai’i as Kamehameha IV and V. While still teenagers, 9n 1849, they traveled to the United States and Europe accompanied by their guardian Dr. Gerritt Judd.

Alexander Liholiho celebrated his 16th birthday in Paris where he learned to fence and speak French. He and Lot met with French President Louis-Napoleon, with Prince Albert in London, and with President Zachary Taylor and Vice President Millard Fillmore in Washington, DC.

Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation and Extradition with US – 1849

On December 20, 1849, the US and the Kingdom of Hawaii signed a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation and Extradition. The treaty, negotiated by US Secretary of State John M. Clayton and the Hawaiian special Commissioner to the Government of the United States James Jackson Jarves, was signed in Washington, D.C. (US State Department)

H Hackfeld & Co and BF Ehlers (Amfac and Liberty House) started – 1849

On September 26, 1849, sea captain Heinrich (Henry) Hackfeld arrived in Honolulu with his wife, Marie, her 16-year-old brother Johann Carl Pflueger and a nephew BF Ehlers.  Having purchased an assorted cargo at Hamburg, Germany, Hackfeld opened a general merchandise business (dry goods, crockery, hardware and stationery,) wholesale, as well as retail store on Queen Street.

In 1850 he moved to a larger location on Fort Street. This store was so popular, it became known as “Hale Kilika” – the House of Silk (because it sold the finest goods available.) As business grew, the nephew took over management of the store while Hackfeld traveled the world for merchandise. The company took BF Ehlers’ name in 1862.

By 1855, Hackfeld operated two stores, served as agent for two sugar plantations, and represented the governments of Russia, Sweden and Norway. (Later the firm or its principals also represented Austro-Hungary, Belgium and Germany.)  When Hackfeld left on a two-year business trip to Germany and Pflueger took charge in his absence.  (Greaney)

In 1881, Hackfeld and Paul Isenberg became partners.  Isenberg, who had arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1858, had extensive experience in the sugar industry, previously working under Judge Duncan McBryde and Rev. William Harrison Rice in Kōloa and Līhu‘e.

From that time on Mr. Isenberg was a factor in the development of the Hackfeld business, which became one of the largest in Hawaiʻi.  When the partnership was incorporated in 1897, a new building was erected at the corner of Fort and Queen Streets; it stood there for 70-years.

A few years later, with the advent of the US involvement in World War I, things changed significantly for the worst for the folks at H Hackfeld & Co. and BT Ehlers.

In 1918, using the terms of the Trading with the Enemy Act and its amendments, the US government seized H Hackfeld & Company and ordered the sale of German-owned shares.  (Jung)

The patriotic sounding “American Factors, Ltd,” the newly-formed Hawaiʻi-based corporation, whose largest shareholders included Alexander & Baldwin, C Brewer & Company, Castle & Cooke, HP Baldwin Ltd, Matson Navigation Company and Welch & Company, bought the H Hackfeld stock.  (Jung) 

At that same time, the BF Ehlers dry goods store also took the patriotic “Liberty House” name.  In 1937 a second store was opened in the Waikiki area. Eventually there would be seven stores on Oahu, and several more on the other islands.

Judd Trail – 1849 – 1859

At its May 23, 1849 meeting, the Privy Council of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (a private committee of the King’s closest advisors to give confidential advice on affairs of state) sought to “facilitate communication between Kailua, the seat of the local government, and Hilo, the principal port.”

They resolved “that GP Judd and Kinimaka proceed to Kailua, Hawaiʻi, to explore a route from that place to Hilo direct, and make a road, if practicable, by employing the prisoners on that island and if necessary taking the prisoners from this island (Oʻahu) to assist; the government to bear all expenses”. (Privy Council Minutes, Punawaiola)

(In 1828, Dr Gerrit Parmele Judd came with the Third Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi. A medical missionary, Judd had originally come to the islands to serve as the missionary physician; by 1842, he left the mission and served in the Hawaiian government.)

In planning the road, the words of the Privy Council’s resolution were taken literally, and the route selected ran to the high saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on a practically straight line between the terminal points.

What became known as the “Judd Road” (or “Judd Trail”) was constructed between 1849 and 1859; construction began at the government road in Kailua (what is now known as Aliʻi Drive) and traversed through a general corridor between Hualālai and Mauna Loa. (Remnants of perimeter walls can still be seen at Aliʻi Drive.)

When the road had been built about 12-miles from Kailua into the saddle between Hualālai and Mauna Loa, the project was abandoned – an 1859 pāhoehoe lava flow from the 11,000 foot-level of Mauna Loa crossed its path. Though incomplete (it never reached its final destination in Hilo,) people did use the Judd Road to get into Kona’s mauka countryside.

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Lili‘uokalani Childhood

“Very near to (the site of Queen’s Hospital,) on Sept. 2, 1838, I was born. My father’s name was Kapaʻakea, and my mother was Keohokālole; the latter was one of the fifteen counsellors of the king, Kamehameha III., who in 1840 gave the first written constitution to the Hawaiian people.”

“My great-grandfather, Keawe-a-Heulu, the founder of the dynasty of the Kamehamehas, and Keōua, father of Kamehameha I., were own cousins, and my great-grandaunt was the celebrated Queen Kapiʻolani, one of the first converts to Christianity. “

“She plucked the sacred berries from the borders of the volcano, descended to the boiling lava, and there, while singing Christian hymns, threw them into the lake of fire.”

“This was the act which broke forever the power of Pele, the fire-goddess, over the hearts of her people. Those interested in genealogies are referred to the tables at the close of this volume, which show the descent of our family from the highest chiefs of ancient days.”

“Naihe, the husband of Kapiʻolani, was the great orator of the king’s reign; his father, Keawe-a-Heulu, was chief counsellor to Kamehameha I; while had it not been for the aid of the two chiefs, Keʻeaumoku and Kameʻeiamoku, cousins of the chief counsellor, the Hawaiian Islands must have remained for a long time”.

My grandfather, ʻAikanaka, had charge of the guns of the fort on Punch-Bowl Hill, which had been brought from the larger island of Hawaii; as the chiefs, their families, and followers had settled here from the time of the final battle, when all the forces contending against Kamehameha I were driven over the Pali.”

“But I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents.”

“Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth, and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted. Konia, my foster-mother, was a granddaughter of Kamehameha I, and was married to Paki, also a high chief; their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi, afterwards Mrs. Charles R. Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister.”

“In speaking of our relationship, I have adopted the term customarily used in the English language, but there was no such modification recognized in my native land.”

“When I was taken from my own parents and adopted by Paki and Konia, or about two months thereafter, a child was born to Kīna‘u. That little babe was the Princess Victoria, two of whose brothers became sovereigns of the Hawaiian people.”

“While the infant was at its mother’s breast, Kīna‘u always preferred to take me into her arms to nurse, and would hand her own child to the woman attendant who was there for that purpose.”

“So she frequently declared in the presence of my adopted mother, Konia, that a bond of the closest friendship must always exist between her own baby girl and myself as aikane or foster-children of the same mother …”

“… and that all she had would also appertain to me just as if I had been her own child; and that although in the future I might be her child’s rival, yet whatever would belong to Victoria should be mine.”

“This insistence on the part of the mother was never forgotten; it remained in the history of Victoria’s girlhood and mine until her death, although Kīna‘u herself never lived to see her prophetic predictions fulfilled. Kīna‘u died on the 4th of April, 1839, not long after the birth of her youngest child, Victoria.”

“I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice. I used to climb up on the knees of Paki, put my arms around his neck, kiss him, and he caressed me as a father would his child …”

“… while on the contrary, when I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me.”

“My own father and mother had other children, ten in all, the most of them being adopted into other chiefs’ families; and although I knew that these were my own brothers and sisters, yet we met throughout my younger life as though we had not known our common parentage.”

“This was, and indeed is, in accordance with Hawaiian customs. It is not easy to explain its origin to those alien to our national life, but it seems perfectly natural to us.”

“As intelligible a reason as can be given is that this alliance by adoption cemented the ties of friendship between the chiefs. It spread to the common people, and it has doubtless fostered a community of interest and harmony.”

“At the age of four years I was sent to what was then known as the Royal School, because its pupils were exclusively persons whose claims to the throne were acknowledged. It was founded and conducted by Mr Amos S Cooke, who was assisted by his wife.”

“It was a boarding-school, the pupils being allowed to return to their homes during vacation time, as well as for an occasional Sunday during the term.”

“The family life was made agreeable to us, and our instructors were especially particular to teach us the proper use of the English language; but when I recall the instances in which we were sent hungry to bed, it seems to me that they failed to remember that we were growing children.”

“A thick slice of bread covered with molasses was usually the sole article of our supper, and we were sometimes ingenious, if not over honest, in our search for food …”

“… if we could beg something of the cook it was the easier way; but if not, anything eatable left within our reach was surely confiscated.”

“As a last resort, we were not above searching the gardens for any esculent root or leaf, which (having inherited the art of igniting a fire from the friction of sticks), we could cook and consume without the knowledge of our preceptors.”

“I can remember now my emotions on entering this the first school I ever attended. I can recall that I was carried there on the shoulders of a tall, stout, very large woman, whose name was Kaikai (she was the sister of Governor Kanoa, and they were of a family of chiefs of inferior rank, living under the control and direction of the higher chiefs).”

“As she put me down at the entrance to the schoolhouse, I shrank from its doors, with that immediate and strange dread of the unknown so common to childhood.”

“Crying bitterly, I turned to my faithful attendant, clasping her with my arms and clinging closely to her neck. She tenderly expostulated with me …”

“… and as the children, moved by curiosity to meet the new-comer, crowded about me, I was soon attracted by their friendly faces, and was induced to go into the old courtyard with them. Then my fears began to vanish, and comforted and consoled, I soon found myself at home amongst my playmates.”

“We never failed to go to church in a procession every Sunday in charge of our teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Cooke, and occupied seats in the immediate vicinity of the pew where the king was seated.”

“The custom was for a boy and girl to march side by side, the lead being taken by the eldest scholars. Moses and Jane had this distinction, next Lot and Bernice, then Liholiho with Abigail, followed by Lunalilo and Emma (after the latter had joined the school), James and Elizabeth, David and Victoria, and so on, John Kīna’u and I being the last.”

“From the school of Mr. and Mrs. Cooke I was sent to that of Rev. Mr. Beckwith, also one of the American missionaries. This was a day-school, and with it I was better satisfied than with a boarding-school.” (Lili‘uokalani)

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Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, the future Queen Liliuokalani, in her youth possibly at Royal School.
Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, the future Queen Liliuokalani, in her youth possibly at Royal School.

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Lunalilo’s Crown

William Charles Lunalilo was born on January 31, 1835 in an area known as Pohukaina 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 Keouakupupailaninui (father of Kamehameha I).

He was declared eligible to succeed by the royal decree of King Kamehameha III and was educated at the Chief’s 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.

Kamehameha V had not named a successor to the throne before he died on December 11, 1872. Lunalilo wanted his people to choose their next ruler in a democratic manner and requested a plebiscite to be held on New Year’s Day following the death of Kamehameha V.

He therefore noted, “Whereas, it is desirable that the wishes of the Hawaiian people be consulted as to a successor to the Throne, therefore, notwithstanding that according to the law of inheritance, I am the rightful heir to the Throne, in order to preserve peace, harmony and good order, I desire to submit the decision of my claim to the voice of the people.” (Lunalilo, December 16, 1872)

Kalākaua chose to run against Lunalilo.  The majority of people on every island chose William Charles Lunalilo as King.  At noon on January 8, 1873, the Legislature met, as required by law, in the Courthouse to cast their official ballots of election of the next King.  Lunalilo received all thirty-seven votes.

The coronation of Lunalilo took place at Kawaiahaʻo Church in a simple ceremony on January 9, 1873. Unfortunately, he was to reign for just over a year, succumbing to pulmonary tuberculosis on February 3, 1874.

Upon his passing, the Royal Mausoleum was the temporary resting place for Lunalilo.  By birthright, his remains could have remained there with the other Aliʻi, however, his desire was to be among his people, and in 1875 his remains were moved to their permanent resting place in a tomb built for him and his father, Kanaʻina, on the grounds of Kawaiahaʻo Church.

Then, terrible news hit the papers, “Advices from Key West, Fla., today told of the arrest at the naval station there of two bluejackets, Albert Gerbode and Paul Payne, charged with having broken into the Lunalilo mausoleum and stolen the skull of a Hawaiian king, a silver shield and a silver crown.”  (The Evening Leader, Tartonn Springs, Florida, April 22, 1918)

In follow-up reporting, we learn that, “All that remains intact of the historic crown of King Lunalilo, which was stolen last autumn from the tomb in the Kawaiahao churchyard, is a silver leaf, part of the name plate and the silver ornament which rested on the top of the crown. The rest has been melted down into a single bar of silver.”

“Deputy Sheriff JW Asch returned this morning from Key West, Florida, where he went to recover the crown. His story of the chase, which finally ended in the arrest of Albert Gerbode and Paul Payne, electricians in the submarine flotilla which was stationed at Pearl Harbor, and the recovery of the stolen property, throws much new light on the robbery.”

“Sheriff Asch says that both Gerbode anil Payne absolutely deny taking any of the skulls and bones from the tomb, as was reported at the time of the robbery.”

“He says that both the naval authorities and himself are inclined to believe the two men in this respect, which would make it appear that others entered the tomb and stole the bones.”

“The skull which the two men had was made by themselves of plaster of Paris.”

“According to the confession of Gerbode and Payne, Sheriff Asch says plain robbery was the motive for the theft. They had heard that Hawaiian chiefs were buried with all their jewelry and expected to make a big haul.”

“In the confession the men said that they did not use instruments to enter the tomb, but simply yanked off the padlock, which they said, was so old and worn that it took but little effort to break.”

“The crown was kept intact until the submarine had reached Key West where it was melted down.”

“Another strange feature of the theft was that the two electricians made no attempt to hide the crown and a large number of the crew knew of its existence on board. For this reason, when charged with the robbery, neither Gerbode nor Payne attempted to deny anything but made a full confession.”

“Gerbode and Payne are to be tried by the naval authorities at Key West. They will not be returned to Honolulu as was first reported.”

“It will be possible to some extent to reproduce the original crown from the silver, as the naval authorities made Gerbode and Payne draw pictures and diagrams of the crown with a full description of its appearance. That Sheriff Asch brought back with him.”

“The silver has been sent by registered mail and will probably arrive on the next steamer from San Francisco. – Star-Bulletin.” (Maui News, May 31, 1918)

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Bishop Moves to California

“[T]he Man of Peace leaves institutions founded and endowed for promoting Education, Science, Charity and Good Morals, – his memory blessed by generations that he never knew.”

He never mentioned “any particular guide or mentor who took the place of parents in his early years. His faithfulness to the work in hand, whatever it might be, seems to have been innate, and in no way corrupted by unfit companions.”

We should remember “the good that he did in a long life on the Hawaiian Islands, for it was not long before the natural desire came to him to know more than the rural region of his birth offered, and the good sense of proper companionship that had befriended in early life continued when he left his native shores to seek a fortune in what was then called the ‘Northwest’”.

“The hand of God seems visible in the direction of that voyage, for provisions gave out and the ship put in to Honolulu for supplies. Perhaps with exception of the missionaries no ship ever brought greater help to these islands than these two young men [Charles R Bishop and William L Lee] were, all unconsciously, bringing in their unexpected visit in search of food.”

“While his interest in education so valuable to the country in later days took him often to the Royal School for Chiefs, then in the charge of Mr and Mrs Cooke, wise selection of companions picked out the Princess Pauahi, who soon showed an equal inclination to the interesting young haole.”

Bishop and Pauahi “were privately married in the school parlor, and [Pauahi’s father] Abner Paki in his wrath disowned his beloved Bernice and took Liliuokalani in her place; …”

“… but the father-love was stronger than his anger, and after a year’s estrangement all was forgiven and the young couple came back to Paki’s home, “Haleakala”, which soon became the greatest centre of hospitality in Honolulu.”

“In this quiet way began the united life that was to give so much to Honolulu and the whole kingdom, not merely in money, but in far greater measure in good influences among both natives of the soil and the foreigners who settled here and those who merely pass through on their way to other lands.”   (Brigham in Thrum 1916)

“Next to her royal lineage, no other aspect of Pauahi’s life was as important to her fulfillment as a woman … as her marriage to Charles Reed Bishop. He brought her the love and esteem she needed as a woman and the organizational and financial acumen she needed to ensure the successful founding of her estate.”

“It was Thursday, October 16, 1884. The rains had been falling since early morning. Pauahi was unconscious and Charles was at her side. In a heavy downpour the rains reached a crescendo just about the time Pauahi died. It was twelve minutes after noon.”  (Kanahele)

“After 34 years of marriage, Pauahi died … Bishop was co-executor of her will and one of five trustees she selected to manage her estate.”

“Bishop and his royal wife never had children of their own, but their love for Hawaii’s people and Hawaiian children were of high priority. Bishop set in motion the process that resulted in the establishment of the Kamehameha Schools in 1887.”  (Dela Cruz)

“Because Pauahi’s estate was basically land rich and cash poor, Bishop contributed his own funds for the construction of several of the schools’ initial buildings on the original Kalihi campus …”

“… the Preparatory Department facilities (1888), Bishop Hall (1891) and Bernice Pauahi Bishop Memorial Chapel (1897). In addition, he founded and endowed the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in 1889 as an enduring memorial to his wife.”  (KSBE)

Bishop noted, “‘Being interested in her plans and wishes and because of her very generous gifts to me … I decided to carry out her wishes regarding the schools and promised to do something toward a museum of Hawaiian and other Polynesian objects”.

“‘[I]n order to accomplish something quickly without sacrifice or embarrassment of her estate, I soon reconveyed to her estate the life interests given by her will and added a considerable amount of my own property on Oahu, Hawaii and Molokai.’ (C.R. Bishop letter to Samuel Damon, 1911)” (KSBE)

“In 1889, again with his own funds, Bishop established a museum in his wife’s honor. The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum was built to house the princess’s personal collections, ranging from chiefly possessions to Polynesian curios. Today, it is the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History and houses more than 24 million catalogued objects.”  (Dela Cruz)

“During the 1880s, Bishop visited San Francisco frequently, staying at the Occidental Hotel. In 1894, he made it his residence”. (Dela Cruz)

“[W]hile approving annexation as the only way of protecting the group from Oriental capture, he thought it wiser to remove to San Francisco where he had important interests, and he never revisited his island home.” (Brigham)

“It has been mentioned that Mr. Bishop was a trustee of Oahu College [Punahou School], and as his interest was strongly educational it was there that some of his larger public gifts were made; besides endowments there were the Scientific Building, Pauahi Hall, and the CR Bishop Building for the preparatory classes, permanent monuments.” (Brigham)

“During his years in San Francisco, many visitors traveling to and from Hawaii would visit with him at his apartment; many of them sought his advice. From California, he also remained active in all of his philanthropic affairs in Hawaii. He created a Charles R Bishop Trust to provide direction for his charities and philanthropies.”

“Then, in 1906, the devastating San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed many of Bishop’s possessions, including all of his wife’s correspondence, pictures and personal papers. Following the disaster, he moved to Berkeley, where he died on June 7, 1915. He was 93 years old.”

“When news of his death reached Hawaii, flags were lowered to half-staff. A grieving Queen Liliuokalani was quoted in the Pacific Advertiser stating: “In common with those who have known Mr. Bishop for a lifetime, I feel the news of his death most keenly, and can truly say that his loss to Hawaii and the Hawaiians is irreparable.”

“Bishop’s ashes were returned to Hawaii where memorial services were held at Kawaiahao Church. The chants of Kamehameha were performed in his honor, and a royal ceremony was observed for the first time in nearly 100 years for a Caucasian man connected with the Kamehameha dynasty.”

“The only other white man to lay in state in such fashion was John Young, Kamehameha the Great’s trusted friend and adviser. Bishop was laid to rest with his wife at the royal mausoleum, at the tomb of the Kamehameha’s.” (Dela Cruz)

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Kūkaemoku

Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands, and covers about 730 square miles.  Maui consists of two separate volcanoes with a combining isthmus between the two.

The Mauna Kahālāwai (West Maui Mountain) is probably the older of the two; Haleakala (East Maui) was last active about 1790, whereas activity on West Maui is wholly pre-historic.

The West Maui Mountain’s highest peak, Puʻu Kukui, towers 5,788-feet; it is one of the wettest spots on earth (average yearly rainfall at the rain gage since 1928 is about 364-inches.)  The rain carved out valleys on either side, one of these, ʻĪao Valley (“cloud supreme,”) has a narrow entrance facing toward Wailuku that opens into a much larger expanse in the back.

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

ʻĪao valley in the West Maui Mountain is the first place mentioned in the historical legends as a place for the secret burial of high chiefs. Kapawa, the ruling chief of Hawaiʻi about 25-30 generations ago, was overthrown by his people, assisted, perhaps, by Pāʻao.  (Westervelt)

His body was said to have been taken to ʻĪao and concealed in one of the caves of that picturesque extinct crater. From that time apparently this valley became a “hallowed burying place for ancient chiefs.”  (Westervelt)

For centuries, aliʻi (chiefs) were laid to rest in secret burial sites along the valley’s steep walls. The practice of burying aliʻi in the valley began in the eighth century and reportedly continued until 1736, with the burial of King Kekaulike.

Commoners were not permitted into ʻĪao, except during the annual Makahiki festival, which was held on the grassy plateau above the Needle.

Then, in the late-1780s into 1790, Kamehameha conquered the Island of Hawai‘i and was pursuing conquest of Maui and eventually sought to conquer the rest of the archipelago.  At that time, Maui’s King Kahekili and his eldest son and heir-apparent, Kalanikūpule, were carrying on war and conquered O‘ahu.

In 1790, Kamehameha travelled to Maui.  Hearing this, Kahekili sent Kalanikūpule back to Maui with a number of chiefs (Kahekili remained on O‘ahu to maintain order of his newly conquered kingdom.)

“Kamehameha marched overland to Hāna. His army is said to have contained 16,000 men. Nelson’s famous exhortation to his men at Trafalgar (1805) fifteen years later was:

“England expects every man this day to do his duty,” but Kamehameha’s command to his battle-scarred veterans was: “Imua e nā pōkiʻi a inu i ka wai ʻawaʻawa” (Onward brothers until you taste the bitter waters of battle.)”   (Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

After a battle in Hāna, Kamehameha landed at Kahului and then marched on to Wailuku, where Kalanikūpule waited for him.  The ensuing battle was one of the hardest contested on Hawaiian record.  The battle started in Wailuku and then headed up ‘l̄ao Valley – the Maui defenders being continually driven farther up the valley.

Kamehameha ordered his army to advance, the Maui army met the invaders, but the Maui defenders were so powerless in the face of musketry that they retreated up the valley with the Kamehameha army following them.

Kamehameha’s superiority in the number and use of the newly acquired weapons and canon (called Lopaka) from the ‘Fair American’ (used for the first time in battle, with the assistance from John Young and Isaac Davis) finally won the decisive battle at ‘Īao Valley.

The Maui troops were completely annihilated, and it is said that the corpses of the slain were so many as to choke up the waters of the stream of ‘l̄ao – one of the names of the battle was “Kepaniwai” (the damming of the waters.)  Kalanikūpule fled.

Kamehameha left for Moloka‘i to secure it under his control, and there received Keōpūolani as his wife.  Then, in 1795, Kamehameha moved on in his conquest of O‘ahu, meeting and defeating Kalanikūpule, at Nuʻuanu.

Visiting Wyoming Senator Clark once declared ʻĪao Valley to be the Yosemite of Hawaiʻi. “These words of adulation were not inspired by momentary flattery, for many others who have feasted their eyes on that famous place, thousands of miles away, were also of the same opinion.”    (Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

“In order to properly understand the significance of the Yosemite Valley or any of the well-traveled picturesque places of the mainland, there is always some historical fact attached to give added interest.”

“We all know that the Yosemite is named after an enormous grizzly bear who made his last stand against the Indians in the fastnesses about the celebrated falls. And so it is in Hawaiʻi, nearly every one of the beautiful and sometimes overpowering pieces of scenery is associated with some historical fact that gives food for thought.“ (Overland Monthly, July 1909)

A hundred years ago, visitors had the opportunity to travel to the back of the ʻĪao, “After leaving the needle, the traveler crosses the stream, and up the narrow, winding path leading to the plateau several hundred feet above. This table land is called Kaalaholo. Around its entire base gently flows streams of pure, crystal-like, mountain water.”

“When the top is reached the visitor views a scene so grand, inspiring and majestic that its equal cannot be found within the bounds of the Hawaiian Islands. It is beautiful beyond comparison.”

“Imagine oneself standing at the bottom of a huge basin four miles wide and about five miles long, and looking up with awe at the crest of the Iao mountains above, rising to a height of five thousand feet. The circumference of the ridges which encompass Iao Canyons is about twenty miles.”

“They rise up perpendicular all around and are inaccessible except in a few places. And from the summits of these tall, lofty precipices, called “Palilele-o-Koae,” or the home of the seabirds, play myriads of tiny waterfalls in mid-air, which as they reach the bottom, form part of the mighty stream.”    (Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

From the present viewing area within the State Monument at ʻĪao (and in all the photos showing the valley,) you can see Kūkaʻemoku (more commonly called ‘Iao Needle.)  From this perspective, Kūkaʻemoku appears to stick up from the valley floor like a ‘needle,’ thus its modern name.

Actually, what people see is a bump on a side-ridge on the right-side of ʻIao Valley with a large protrusion that sticks up on top; it stands about 1,200-feet tall.  It looks like a ‘needle’ of rock, but really isn’t (it’s part of the ridge.)

The Valley and volcanic rocks within it were selected to serve as a National Natural Landmark (1972.)  It also serves as a Hawaiʻi Monument operated under DLNR’s State Parks system.  It is at the end of ‘Īao Valley Road (Highway 32.)  

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