Economy | Page 203 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 21, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Old-Young – Wet-Dry – East-West

“Agriculture was a matter of great importance in Hawai‘i, because by it a man obtained the means of supporting himself and his wife, his children, friends and domestic animals. It was associated, however, with the worship of idols.” (Malo)

“In the Hawaiian Islands agriculture was conducted differently on lands where there were streams of water and on dry lands. On lands supplied with running water agriculture was easy and could be carried on at all times …”

“… and the only reason for a scarcity of food among the people on such lands was idleness. Sometimes, however, the water-supply failed; but the drought did not last long.” (Malo)

All Polynesian societies descend from an ancestral culture which had first settled the western archipelagoes of Samoa and Tonga by about 1200 BC. Throughout this varied region, root-crop horticulture was transferred and adapted to local environmental conditions and challenges. (Kirch)

Most Polynesian archipelagoes have a volcanic ‘hot spot’ origin and, due to tectonic plate movement, islands increase in age as one progresses further from the hot spot of volcanic activity. The Hawaiian Islands illustrate this geological age progression, and associated opportunities for crop production.

The geographically older westerly islands (Kauai, O‘ahu, Molokai and west Maui) are more heavily weathered, with permanent stream flow and alluvium valleys, on which irrigation could be developed.

The agricultural emphasis was on taro irrigation, with shifting cultivation and other forms of dryland gardening providing a secondary role.

In the geologically younger islands to the east (east Maui and Hawai‘i), irrigation was only a minor contributor to subsistence production and highly labor-intensive, short-fallow dryland field systems predominated.

Most of the arable terrain is volcanically younger, lacking stream flow and prohibited the development of extensive irrigation works. Thus, irrigation systems in east Maui and Hawai‘i, while present in restricted areas, contributed in only minor.

Initial settlement was confined for the most part to the windward valley regions, with their more favorable ecological conditions (ample stream flow, higher rainfall, extensive alluvial soils.)

Later, there was a major expansion into leeward regions throughout the archipelago. The initial stages of this expansion focused on leeward valleys or around bays with rich marine resources.

By about AD 1400, settlements were moving into increasingly marginal environments, including the interiors of leeward valleys and the higher elevation slopes of the easterly islands.

It was a period of tremendous significance in Hawaiian history; during this time, (1) the population underwent a geometric rate of increase; (2) virtually all habitable and arable lands were occupied and territorially claimed; and (3) the territorial pattern of chiefdom (moku) and sub-chiefdom units (ahupua‘a) appears to have been established.

In addition, toward the end of this period the Hawaiian sociopolitical system was transformed from a simple, ancestral Polynesian chiefdom to a highly stratified society with virtual class differentiation between ali‘i (chiefs) and maka‘āinana (commoners.)

There were other differences in the political and religious structure of the eastern and western chiefdoms. In particular, the elaborate makahiki, or wet-season harvest ritual, as well as the emphasis accorded the cult of the war god Kū with its associated luakini temple ritual, was especially developed on Hawai‘i and Maui, less so on the westerly islands of O‘ahu and Kauai.

Of the four great Hawaiian gods (Lono, Kāne, Kanaloa and Kū,) Lono and Kane were both associated with agriculture, each showing different symbolic linkages, the one centered on Lono involving rainfall, sweet potato (and to a lesser extent dryland taro) and dryland cultivation, the other centered on Kāne involving flowing waters, taro and irrigation.

Lono was specifically the god of dryland cultivation and associated with “clouds bearing rain,” thunder, the sweet potato (the primary dryland crop,) the rise of Pleiades and the rainy season.

Kāne who was associated with pondfield irrigation of taro, running water (wai,) springs, fishponds, male procreative powers and irrigation. As noted by Handy & Pukui, “the family bowl of poi (starch staple made from taro) in the household was sacred to Haloa, who is Kāne, an ancestor in the line senior to man”.

“The control of agricultural production was one of the sources of power for the leasers if Hawaiian societies, societies which were among the most highly stratified in Polynesia at the time of European exploration.” (Tuggle)

The political formations and moves for territorial expansion just before ‘contact,’ show a pattern that corresponds closely to the fundamental differences in agricultural base. The aggressive, expansionist, Ku-cult centered chieftainships of Maui and Hawai‘i were precisely those polities most dependent upon intensified dryland field cultivation.

The frequent objects of their aggression were the western islands of Molokai, O‘ahu and Kauai, and their resource-rich centers of irrigation agriculture and fishpond aquaculture.

In these western islands, the possibilities for greater agricultural intensification remained substantial, despite high levels of population density, owing to the environmental conditions favoring irrigation.

The complex linkages between varied agricultural landscapes and the social relations of production – effectively, the ecological and cultural contrasts between ‘the wet and the dry’ – illustrate the role intensification played in the political evolution of chiefdom societies.

(The inspiration and information here is from Patrick Kirch’s book “The Wet and the Dry.” Maps are Natalie Kurashima’s Traditional Agriculture Maps.)

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January 19, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

First Sight of Land

“As we kept our Christmas here, I called this discovery Christmas Island. … Christmas Island, like most others in this ocean, is bounded by a reef of coral rocks, which extends but a little way from the shore. Farther out than this reef, on the west side, is a bank of sand, extending a mile into the sea.”

In January 1778, Captain James Cook aboard the Resolution and Captain Charles Clerke aboard the Discovery were sailing from the Society Islands to the Northwest coast of North America on Cook’s Third Expedition of the Pacific Ocean. The following or excerpts from their journals:

“We continued to see birds every day …; sometimes in greater numbers than others; and between the latitude of 10° and 11° we saw several turtle. All these are looked upon as signs of the vicinity of land.”

“However, we discovered none till day-break, in the morning of the 18th, when an island made its appearance, bearing northeast by east; and, soon after, we saw more land bearing north, and entirely detached from the former.”

“Both had the appearance of being high land. At noon, the first bore north-east by east, half east, by estimation about eight or nine leagues distant; and an elevated hill, near the east end of the other, bore north, half west. Our latitude, at this time, was 21°12’ N.; and longitude 200° 41’ E.”

“We had now light airs and calms, by turns; so that at sunset, we were not less than nine or ten leagues from the nearest land.”

“On the 19th, at sunrise, the island first seen, bore east several leagues distant. This being directly to windward, which prevented our getting near it, I stood for the other, which we could reach; and not long after discovered a third island in the direction of west north-west, as far distant as land could be seen.”

“We had now a fine breeze at east by north; and I steered for the east end of the second island; which at noon extended from north, half east, to west northwest, a quarter west, the nearest part being about two leagues distant.”

“At this time, we were in some doubt whether or not the land before us was inhabited; but this doubt was soon cleared up, by seeing some canoes coming off from the shore, toward the ships, I immediately brought-to, to give them time to join us.”

“They had from three to six men each; and, on their approach, we were agreeably surprised to find, that they spoke the language of Otaheite (Tahiti,) and of the other islands we had lately visited.”

“It required but very little address, to get them to come alongside ; but no intreaties could prevail upon any of them to come on board. I tied some brass medals to a rope, and gave them to those in one of the canoes, who, in return, tied some small mackerel to the rope as an equivalent.”

“This was repeated; and some small nails, or bits of iron, which they valued more than any other article, were given them. For these they exchanged more fish, and a sweet potatoe; a sure sign that they had some notion of bartering; or, at least, of returning one present for another.”

“They had nothing else in their canoes, except some large gourd shells, and a kind of fishing-net; but one of them offered for sale the piece of stuff that he wore round his waist, after the manner of the other islands.”

“These people were of a brown colour; and, though of the common size, were stoutly made. There was little difference in the cast of their colour, but a considerable variation in their features; some of their visages not being very unlike those of Europeans.”

“The hair of most of them was cropt pretty short; others had it flowing loose; and, with a few, it was tied in a bunch on the crown of the head.”

“In all, it seemed to be naturally black; but most of them had stained it, as is the practice of the Friendly Islanders, with some stuff which gave it a brown or burnt colour. In general they wore their beards.”

“They had no ornaments about their persons nor did we observe that their ears were perforated; but some were punctured on the hands, or near the groin, though in a small degree; and the bits of cloth which they wore, were curiously stained with red, black, and white colours.”

“They seemed very mild; and had no arms of any kind, if we except some small stones, which they had evidently brought tor
their own defence; and these they threw overboard, when they found that they were not wanted.”

“Seeing no signs of an anchoring place at this eastern extreme of the island, I bore away to leeward, and ranged along the south east side, at the distance of half a league from the shore.”

“As soon as we made sail, the canoes left us; but others came off, as we proceeded along the coast, bringing with them roasting pigs, and some very fine potatoes, which they exchanged, as the others had done, for whatever was offered to them.”

“Several small pigs were purchased for a sixpenny nail; so that we again found ourselves in a land of plenty; and just at the time when the turtle, which we had so fortunately procured at Christmas Island, were nearly expended.”

“We passed several villages; some settled near the sea, and others farther up the country. The inhabitants of all of them crowded to the shore, and collected themselves on the elevated places to view the ships.”

“The land upon this side of the island rises in a gentle slope, from the sea to the foot of the mountains, which occupy the centre of the country, except at one place near the east end, where they rise directly from the sea, and seemed to be formed of nothing but stone, or rocks lying in horizontal strata.”

“We saw no wood, but what was up in the interior part of the island, except a few trees about the villages; near which, also, we could observe several plantations of plantains and sugar-canes, and spots that seemed cultivated for roots. …”

“… I dispatched one of (the boats) to lie in the best anchoring-ground; and as soon as she had got to this station, I bore down with the ships, and anchored in twenty-five fathoms water; the bottom a fine grey sand.”

“The east point of the road, which was the low point before mentioned, bore S. 51° E; the west point, N. 65° W; and the village, behind which the water was said to be, NE by E, distant one mile.”

“But, little more than a quarter of a mile from us, there were breakers, which I did not see till after the Resolution was placed. The Discovery anchored to the eastward of us, and farther from the land. …”

“It is worthy of observation, that the islands in the Pacific Ocean, which our late voyages have added to the geography of the globe, have been generally found lying in groups or clusters …”

“… the single intermediate islands, as yet discovered, being few in proportion to the others; though, probably, there are many more of them still unknown, which serve as steps between the several clusters.”

“Of what number this newly-discovered Archipelago consists, must be left for future investigation. We saw five of them, whose names, as given to us by the natives, are Woahoo (O‘ahu,) Atooi (Kauai,) Oneeheow (Ni‘ihau,) Oreehoua (Lehua) and Tahoora (Kaula.)”

… Contact …

(The entire text here is from ‘The Voyages of Captain James Cook.’)

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Moment_of_Contact-(HerbKane)

January 16, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“Do not forsake me and let me perish”

Gerrit P Judd was a physician with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM.) He later left the mission to accept an appointment serving the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Simon P Kalama, a land surveyor by profession, and also later an elected representative to the legislature, earlier served as an assistant to Dr Judd.

On January 16, 1841 Kalama saved Judd from death in the crater of the volcano Kilauea. (Twain)

“The visit of the United States Exploring Expedition in 1840, ’41, and ’42, with sixty officers and a scientific corps, men of rare talents and polished manners, was no common event in our isolated kingdom.”

“Commander Wilkes set up his observatory on shore and occupied for some months the house and premises of the Premier. The scientific gentlemen pursued their researches in their several departments with indomitable energy …”

“… surveying our coasts and harbor, measuring the heights of the mountains, penetrating the deep glens of the forests for rare plants, scaling precipices for birds, and diving into ocean’s depths for specimens of its varied and beautiful tenantry.”

“The crowning exploit of the expedition was the ascent of Mauna Loa on Hawaii, for making observations on the vibrations of the pendulum. Choice and heavy apparatus, house material and food for the party were transported sixty miles on men’s shoulders, and up a high mountain of rugged lava. Dr Judd accompanied the expedition as interpreter and overseer of the natives.” (Laura Judd)

“So striking was the mountain, that I was surprised and disappointed when called upon by my friend, Dr. Judd, to look at the volcano of Kilauea; for I saw nothing before us but a huge pit, black, ill-looking, and totally different from what I had anticipated.”

“There were no jets of fire, no eruptions of heated stones, no cones, nothing but a depression, that, in the midst of the vast plain by which it is surrounded, appeared small and insignificant.”

“We hurried to the edge of the cavity, in order to get a view of its interior, and as we approached, vapor issuing from numerous cracks showed that we were passing over ground beneath which fire was raging. The rushing of the wind past us was as if it were drawn in wards to support the combustion of some mighty conflagration.” (Wilkes)

“We pitched our tents in full view of the volcano … At the edge of the pool, or lake of fire, the light was so strong that it enabled me to read the smallest print.”

“The day we remained at the volcano was employed by the natives in preparing their food, by boiling it in the crevices on the plains from which the stream issues: into these they put the taro, &c., and closed the hole up with fern-leaves, and in a short time the food was well cooked.”

“About four o’clock a loud report was heard from the direction of the boiling lake, which proved to have been caused by a large projecting point of the black ledge near the lake which we had visited the evening before, having fallen in and disappeared.”

“The crater of Kilauea offered one of the most interesting scenes witnessed during the voyage; and after our long residence in the cold regions, we enjoyed the prospect of fully exploring it in the actual survey of its limits.”

“The large sulphur bank to the north was the first to claim our attention. We descended into the chasm of some forty feet in depth, out of which steam and the vapors of Sulphur were issuing, as far as the heat would permit, and in the cavities we
obtained some beautiful specimens of crystallized sulphur of large size.”

“Dr. Judd volunteered to head a party to go in search of some specimens of gases, with the apparatus we had provided, and also to dip up some liquid lava from the burning pool.” (Wilkes)

“I went down into Kilauea on the 16th to collect gases, taking a frying pan, in hopes of dipping up some liquid lava. Kalama went with me to measure the black ledge, and I had five natives to carry apparatus and specimens.” (Judd)

“After making various unsuccessful attempts to collect gases and obtain specimens, he came to one of the small craters, and thence passed up a considerable ascent, towards the great fiery lake, at the southern extremity, which had been formed by successive overflowings of the lava.”

“This rock, or rather crust, was almost black, and so hot as to act on spittle just as iron heated to redness. On breaking through the upper crust, which was somewhat brittle, and two or three inches thick, the mass beneath, although solid, was of a cherry red.”

“The pole with which the crust was pierced took fire as it was withdrawn. It was not deemed prudent to venture nearer; although the heat might have been endured, yet the crust might have been too weak to bear the weight, and to break through would have been to meet a death of the most appalling kind ; they were therefore compelled to return and seek another spot.”

“We descended the black ledge, placed the tube for gases, and went in search of liquid lava. As we passed a small crater, quite cool apparently, I observed a quantity of ‘Pele’s hair’ on the sides, and stopped to gather it. I stepped by degrees from one stone to another, gathering and handing the specimens to Kalama, till I had passed quite under the ledge.” (Judd)

“While thus advancing, he saw and heard a slight movement in the lava, about fifty feet from him, which was twice repeated; curiosity led him to turn to approach the place where the motion occurred.”

“In an instant, the crust was broken asunder by a terrific heave, and a jet of molten lava, full fifteen feet in diameter, rose to the height of about forty-five feet, with the most appalling noise.”

“He instantly turned for the purpose of escaping, but found he was now under a projecting ledge, which opposed his ascent, and that the place where he descended was some feet distant.”

“The heat was already too great to permit him to turn his face towards it, and was every moment increasing; while the violence of the throes, which shook the rock beneath his feet, augmented. Although he considered his life as lost, he did not omit the means for preserving it, but offering a mental prayer for Divine aid, he strove, although in vain, to scale the projecting rock.” (Wilkes)

“The heat was intense. I could not retrace my steps and face the fire, so I turned to the wall, but could not climb over the projecting ledge. I prayed God for deliverance, and shouted to the natives to come and take my hand, which I could extend over the ledge so as to be seen.”

“Kalama heard me and came to the brink, but the intense heat drove him back. ‘Do not forsake me and let me perish,’ I said.” (Judd)

“(He) saw the friendly hand of Kalumo (Kalama,) who, on this fearful occasion, had not abandoned his spiritual guide and friend, extended towards him.”

“Ere he could grasp it, the fiery jet again arose above their heads, and Kalumo (Kalama) shrunk back, scorched and terrified, until, excited by a second appeal, he again stretched forth his hand, and seizing Dr. Judd’s with a giant’s grasp, their joint efforts placed him on the ledge. Another moment, and all aid would have been unavailing to save Dr. Judd from perishing in the fiery deluge.”

“The rest of the natives were some hundred yards distant, running as fast as their legs could carry them. On calling to them, they returned and brought the frying-pan, by which time the crater was full of lava, and running over at the northern side, where Dr. Judd was …” (Wilkes)

“The crater filled up in a few minutes, and I took the frying pan, which was lashed to a long pole, and dipped it full, but finding it imperfect, emptied it, procured another …” (Judd)

“He now found he had no time to lose; the lava was flowing so rapidly to the north, that their retreat might be cut off, and the whole party destroyed. Dr. Judd was burned severely on each wrist and on his elbows, and Kalumo’s (Kalama) face was one blister.”

“The eruption from Judd’s crater was great in the evening; the lava was flowing as fluid as water over the whole of the northern portion of the bottom. The most brilliant pyrotechnics would have faded before it.” (Wilkes)

Here is a brief video showing Moses Goods portraying Kalama and describing his rescue of Judd:

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Kilauea-Wilkes-Expedition-1845

January 14, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Timing

Scorning the opinions and advice of all the best men of the Islands, both of her own race and the whites, she finally united her political fortunes with the opium ring and those who were leagued to carry through the Legislature a sweeping lottery charter of the Louisiana type …”

“This was Saturday, January 14, 1893. From that hour the Hawaiian monarchy was dead, and no restoration is possible, except by the exercise of some outside and foreign force. At the date of her downfall Lili‘uokalani was without the sympathy and aid of the best of the native Hawaiians and of nearly all the respectable and responsible white residents of the Islands.”

“Amid the exciting events in Honolulu following the revolutionary attempts of Lili‘uokalani to proclaim a despotic constitution, by which she flung away her crown …”

“… a small force of marines and sailors was landed from the United States ship Boston, as a precautionary step for the protection of American life and property, and as a safeguard against night incendiarism stimulated by the hope of plunder, greatly feared by many of the best citizens.” (Stevens, The North American Review, December 1893)

“The cabinet was voted out on January 12 (by a vote of 25 to 16;) another was appointed on January 14, on which date the Queen prorogued the legislature and attempted to proclaim new constitution. At 2 pm on January 16 the citizens met and organized a committee of safety.”

“On Monday, January 16, there was a large and enthusiastic mass meeting, composed of the representative men of Honolulu, held in the largest hall in the city, at 2 pm. On the same day I received from the United States minister a request to land the sailors and marines of the Boston to protect the United States legation, consulate, and the lives and property of American citizens. … At 4:30 pm landed force in accordance with the request of the United States minister plenipotentiary.” (Wiltse, January 18, 1893, Blount Report)

“At the time the Provisional Government took possession of the Government buildings, no troops or officers of the United States were present or took any part whatever in the proceedings.”

“No public recognition was accorded to the Provisional Government by the United States minister until after the Queen’s abdication and when they were in effective possession of the Government buildings, the archives, the treasury, the barracks, the police station, and all the potential machinery of the Government.”

“Then, and not until then, when the Provisional Government had obtained full de facto control, was the new order of things recognized by the United States minister, whose formal letter of recognition was promptly followed by like action on the part of the representatives of all foreign governments resident on the Hawaiian Islands.” (John Foster, State Department, February 15, 1893, Blount Report)

“As soon as the Provisional Government was in possession, it sent notifications of the situation to all the representatives of the foreign powers. Recognitions began to pour in as soon as it became clear that the Government was a genuine de facto one, until all the powers had accepted the situation.”

“The list includes Sweden, Germany, the United States, Austro-Hungary, Belgium, Russia, Peru, Italy, the Netherlands, France, England, Japan, China, Portugal, Chile, Denmark, Spain, and Mexico.” (Wiltse, February 1, 1893, Blount Report)

“(T)he cabinet came to the conclusion that it was absurd to think of resisting the United States, and waited only until Mr. Stevens formally notified them of his recognition of the Provisional Government, which he sent us in answer to a letter from us. This letter in answer to ours reached us before 4 o’clock and less than an hour after the issuing of the proclamation by the Provisional Government.” (AP Peterson, July 13, 1893, Blount Report)

US recognition of the Provisional Government was made in a statement on United States Legation stationary dated January 17, 1893; it states, “A Provisional Government having been duly constituted in the place of the recent Government of Queen Liliuokalani …”

“… and said Provisional Government being in full possession of the Government Buildings, the Archives, and the Treasury and in control of the capital of the Hawaiian Islands, I hereby recognize said Provisional Government as the de facto Government of the Hawaiian Islands.” (Stevens, January 17 1893)

“As to the precise time when the letter of recognition was received from American Minister Stevens I can not be positive. My recollection is that it was about the time that Messrs. Damon and Bolte returned from the police station with the four ex-ministers …”

“… but the records of our proceedings at the time, kept by the secretary, place it after the return of Mr. Damon and the ex-ministers from their visit to the Queen. In any event it was very late in the day, and long after Messrs. Wodehouse and Walker had called. (James H Blount, July 15, 1893, Blount Report)

However, a recent revelation (part of the Provisional Government Papers at the Hawaiian Mission Houses Archives and Historic Site) notes a January 17, 1893 ‘Private’ correspondence between Stevens and Dole that suggests that the US de facto recognition of the Provisional Government had been prepared prior to the takeover of the Government Buildings.

That note from Stevens to Dole states: “I would advise not to make known of my recognition of the de facto Provisional Government until said Government is in possession of the Police Station.” (Stevens, January 17, 1893)

Later reports note, “Then, on the 17th day of January, according to the recognition of the United States, from which there has been no dissent or departure, the interregnum ceased, and the executive head of the Government of Hawaii was established.” (Morgan Report)

“The recognition of the Provisional Government was lawful and authoritative, and has continued without interruption or modification up to the present time. It may be justly claimed for this act of recognition that it has contributed greatly to the maintenance of peace and order in Hawai‘i and to the promotion of the establishment of free, permanent, constitutional government in Hawaii, based upon the consent of the people.” (Morgan Report)

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Provisional Government – Letter from United States Minister, John L. Stevens to Sanford B. Dole – January 17, 1893-1

Provisional Government – Letter of recognition from United States Minister, John L. Stevens – January 17, 1893

January 13, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Māhukona

Māhukona (lit., leeward steam or vapor,) a seamount on the northwestern flank of the island of Hawai‘i, is the most recently discovered shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands.

A ‘gap’ in the chain of regularly-spaced volcanoes in the sequence of younger shield volcanoes forming on the southernmost portion of the Hawaiian-Emperor chain was first noticed in 1890. Māhukona filled that gap.

Māhukona is one of the smallest Hawaiian volcanoes – it grew to at least about 1,000-feet below sea level, but never formed an Island and went extinct prematurely. (Garcia, et al)

But this is not about a lost volcano; this is about harbor that the volcano was named, Māhukona, the nearby port on the Island of Hawai‘i. Let’s look back …

Māhukona Harbor was developed and expanded as a port for the sugar plantations in Kohala and as a landing for interisland steamers. (Pukui)

Competitors Wilder Steamship Co (1872) and Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co (1883) ran different inter-island steam ships routes between the Islands, but decided to not engage in head to head competition, here.

Wilder’s steamers left Honolulu and stopped at the Maui ports of Lāhainā, Māʻalaea Bay and Makena and then proceeded to Māhukona and Kawaihae.

From Kawaihae, the steamers turned north, passing Māhukona and rounding Upolu Point at the north end of Hawaiʻi and running for Hilo along the Kohala and Hāmākua coasts, stopping at Laupāhoehoe. (Visitors for Kīlauea Crater took coaches from Hilo through Olaʻa to the volcano.)

The Treaty of Reciprocity (1875) between the US and the Kingdom of Hawai‘i eliminated the major trade barrier to Hawai‘i’s closest and major market. Through the treaty and its amendments, the US obtained Pearl Harbor and Hawai‘i’s sugar planters received duty-free entry into US markets for their sugar.

In the late nineteenth century, sugar plantations were prospering on the Big Island. Six plantations in North Kohala, the area that includes the island’s north shore, used a couple of crude landings along that rugged coastline for exporting their products.

Steers would pull heavy wagons full of sugar or molasses to the landings where, braving high surf and swell, men loaded the cargo onto flatboats, which would transport the goods offshore to awaiting steamers.

In winter, the use of the landings was often too risky due to large breakers, so the sugarcane byproducts were transported over the hill to Māhukona, a protected small cove on the leeward side of the island.

Then, Samuel G Wilder secured a charter for a narrow gauge railroad from the port of Māhukona for 20-miles along the north coast of Hawaii in Niuliʻi. Wilder, who was the minister of interior of the Kalākaua government at that time, signed his own charter on July 5, 1880.

An amendment signed by King Kalākaua on August 13 gave the company a subsidy of $2,500 per mile on the completion. Wilder left the government the following day and organized Hawaiian Railway on October 20. Construction started April 1881. (Hilton)

Wilder also started with improving Māhukona port through the addition of numerous wharfs and a storehouse. By March of that year, the first section of ties and tracks had been laid.

In January 1883, the tracks covered almost twenty miles, reaching the northernmost sugar mill at Niuliʻi, and the Hawaiian Railroad was complete.

Raw sugar manufactured in the Kohala mills was bagged, transported by rail to Māhukona, and stored in warehouses until the arrival of a freighter. When a freighter moored offshore, lighters carried out the bags. (Pukui)

In May 1883, the Hawaiian Railroad Company earned a claim to fame hosting a ceremonial train ride for King Kalākaua. The original statue of King Kamehameha I which had been lost at sea, then found and restored, was waiting in Kapa‘au to be unveiled.

Kohala outdid itself in preparation for the King’s stay. The King thrilled Kohala by arriving in a Russian gunboat which fired him a royal salute. King Kalākaua and his entourage rode the first Big Island train. The teak passenger cars in which they were seated earned their new name, the ‘Kalākaua cars.’ (Schweitzer)

The steam locomotives traveled twelve miles per hour; the train was a novelty for locals, and tourists were visiting from Hilo to take a ride. Plantation owners were also pleased with the new railroad as their revenues started to surge. (LighthouseFriends) (Samuel Wilder died in 1888.)

In 1889, Charles L. Wight, president of the Hawaiian Railroad Company, noted “Foreign vessels call here about every three weeks and they often lose much time not knowing where to come in. In thick weather it is also hard for steamers to find the place. In addition it will be of material assistance to the vessels bound up the channel.” (LighthouseFriends)

In 1897 the rail name was changed to the Hawai‘i Railway Company. In 1899, during the first year of existence of the Territory of Hawaii, the Wilder family withdrew from the railroad and shipping business and sold the Hawai‘i Railway to the four principal plantations it served: Union Mill Co, Hālawa Plantation, Kohala Plantation and Niuliʻi Plantation.

In April of 1937, Kohala Sugar Co bought out the other plantations, acquired all of the stock in the Hawai‘i Railway Company and reincorporated (September 30, 1937) as Māhukona Terminals Inc.

Kohala Sugar laid spur tracks to the mills and their corresponding fields. This marked the first physical connection of the railroad to the sugar cane operations. Previously, trucks hauled the raw cane to the mills where the sugar cane was processed and put in sacks which were then loaded onto trains.

The Māhukona harbor was closed when the US declared war against Japan on December 8, 1941. Business gradually declined and in 1945 the Hawai‘i Railway was abandoned. (OAC)

Māhukona Harbor was the major port serving the Kohala Sugar Company and North Kohala people until it closed in 1956. Houses, a store and recreational facilities stood near the harbor.

Until the mid-1960s, the regional highway system left North Kohala as one of the most physically isolated places on the island. The only highway into or out of North Kohala was the 22-mile road over the Kohala Mountain into Waimea.

A 6-mile road from Hawi to the Māhukona harbor was the only penetration into the dry side. On the other side, the highway stopped at the Pololu Valley lookout. North Kohala formed an ‘end at the road community’ in all respects. (Community Resources) Kohala Sugar closed in 1973.

North Kohala legislator (from 1947 to 1965) Akoni Pule advocated strongly for a second access road into his district. The Akoni Pule Highway (named for him) was dedicated in 1973. (South Kohala CDP) (In 1975, the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway was completed from the Keāhole Airport to Kawaihae Harbor.)

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