Economy | Page 37 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 8, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keanakolu

Aia i ka lai o Keanakolu,
Kuu lei mamane lu‘a i ke anu.

There in the calm of Keanakolu,
Is my garland of mamane blossoms that droop in the cold.
(“Ka Pua Mamane” Ka Hoku o Hawaii (November 23, 1938) (Maly)

Keanakolu (‘Three Caves’) is named for a cluster of lava-tube caves nearby that likely provided shelter well before the cattle arrived, when the mountain was roamed by bird-catchers collecting feathers for Hawaii’s dramatic royal cloaks. (Patel)

“Rockshelters in gulches and lava tubes were regularly used throughout the period of ranching, and one identified cave complex, Keanakolu (literally: the three caves), was likely used in the precontact era as well as throughout the ranching period.” (Peter Mills)

The caves, “one supposed to go Hilo, one Kona, one Hāmākua” (Johnny Ah San; Maly) are located between the 5,300 ft. and 6,400 ft. elevation on the slopes of Mauna Kea near the border of the North Hilo and Hāmākua Districts. (Mills; UH Maunakea Stewardship)

“So the three caves…actually what they call Keanakolu now, is not where the caves are eh?… The caves are above. You know where Douglas Pit? … Yes. … On the…well, we call it the Hāmākua side. There’s a little gulch, then you go up.”

“Oh, so from Douglas Pit, Hāmākua side, there’s a gulch, and you walk up the gulch? … Yes, the old Russian camp [On October 9th, Mr. Ah San reconfirmed that it was his understanding, as told by L. Bryan, that there had been a Russian settlement in the area as well.].” (Exchange between Kepa Maly and Johnny Ah San)

“Well, they tried to build something. That’s why they have stone walls and little shacks like up here. But nobody knows who put this. The Russians or what… It’s all gone now, the building. And there is the stone corral up there.”

“So we’re just a short distance away from the three caves? … Yes, just down the slope [to the north]. … And we’re here by the stone corral and the old stone house? …”

“Yes, the corral. And the house, nobody knew. A shack, nobody knew what it was. Then there are more stone walls, like Robinson Crusoe shelter. Maybe the people built that so the pigs don’t get in. But no more door, so how did the people get in and out? The four corners are all closed.” (Exchange between Kepa Maly and Johnny Ah San)

Cattle were introduced to Hawai‘i in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver; Kamehameha immediately instituted a kapu on the animals for a period of ten years. The animals became a serious problem, as they survived and reproduced handsomely in the wild

Ellis (1825) writes that the cattle “resorted to the mountains and became so wild and ferocious that the natives are afraid to go near them.” By the 1820s, cattle hunting was an industry, for salted and barreled beef was a valuable commodity for the growing provisioning trade related to Pacific whaling.

A trade in hides and tallow also developed and by the 1830s was the primary focus of cattle hunting; an article in the July 1, 1843 Friend reported that 10,686 bullock hides were exported from Hawai‘i. (Tomonari-Tuggle)

The trade of bullock hunting began in the early 1800s and by mid-century had developed into formal cattle ranching, with dire results in some areas from overgrazing. (“The forest on this area is doomed ⎯ only a matter of a few years of persistent grazing.”) (Tomonari-Tuggle)

During the early historic period, the upland section of the Laupāhoehoe forests were impacted by herds of wild sheep and bullocks. By 1825, foreign bullock hunters had established camps on the outer edges of the forest, in the region where Laupāhoehoe and neighboring lands are cut off by the ahupua‘a of Humu‘ula. (Maly)

By the 1830s, cattle ranching, as opposed to hunting, was developing in the Waimea area. Much of the initial stock of the cattle herds was the wild cattle, although by mid-century, there was a movement to improve the stock by importing purebred cattle.

By 1859, the wild cattle were hunted almost solely for their hides, which being unbranded brought a higher price than branded tame cattle.

Like cattle, sheep were introduced to Hawai‘i in the closing years of the 18th century and became a serious threat to the health of the forest. In 1856, an informal sheep station was established near Humu‘ula on the Mauna Kea-Mauna Loa saddle to take advantage of the feral sheep population. (Parker Ranch acquired the sheep station in 1914). (Tomonari-Tuggle)

In Humu‘ula, the Waimea Grazing and Agricultural Company first established ranching stations at Kalai‘ehā, Laumai‘a, and Hopuwai, and possibly also Keanakolu and Lahohinu, where cattle were raised. These stations represent the first significant capital investments in commercial enterprises in the Humu‘ula region. (Peter Mills)

“In 1876, WGAC sold its lease of Humu‘ula to James W. Gay of Honolulu for a 25-year term. Gay established the Humu‘ula Sheep Company, and his headquarters were at Keanakolu.”

“The lease was underwritten by Paul Isenberg, a Hawaiian senator who also served as a manager of the German-run merchant firm, H. Hackfeld & Company.” (Mills)

In the 1930s, there was an estimated 40,000 sheep around the summit of Mauna Kea. A major project of the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was the construction of a stock-proof fence encircling the entire mountain, combined with systematic hunting to reduce the population of wild cattle, sheep, and pigs. (Tomonari-Tuggle)

By the 1880s, the original sheep ranch station at Keanakolu (in the original place of that name, near the Laupāhoehoe-Humu‘ula boundary), was built, and historic photos from 1885 depict ranch buildings made of koa logs.

There remain on the land in the present-day, the ruins of stone shelters, pens, and foundations on the upper Laupāhoehoe-Humu‘ula region. Noted places such as Keanakolu (not the same location of the present-day cabin of that name), Lahohinu, and Keahua-ai (Douglas Pit), are considered significant features of the historical landscape. (Maly)

“There were three, four stations, Keanakolu, Hopuwai, Laumai‘a and Kalai‘eha. And the best pasture was on the Keanakolu side. But when there was good pasture on this side, you would move them out. And we would take those cattle up as old yearlings, I guess you would call them. We’d wean them from their mother’s, take them to Pā‘auhau, hold ‘em there.”

“These are all heifers, we’re talking about. Then they got to be a certain age, then we’d take ‘em to Keanakolu, and we might take, oh eight, nine hundred, a thousand head at a crack.”

“And we’d time it, so that the Humu‘ula cattle… We’d pick Humu‘ula cattle out that grew up there. And they’d stay there until they grew out, and when they came back they’d either go into the breeding herd, if they were good, or the junk one’s would be sent to market.”

“in the olden days, they never moved cattle from Humu‘ula, that’s Kalai‘eha, what I’m calling Humu‘ula, Kalai‘eha to Waiki‘i. They always used to go around Keanakolu side.” (Leonard Radcliffe “Rally” Greenwell; Maly)

The Rev. Mr. J. M. Lydgate “visited an abandoned fruit orchard at Keanakolu, which is situated on the southern slope of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii at an elevation of about five thousand feet.”

“This orchard was planted about twenty-five or more years ago close to where the Humu‘ula Sheep Ranch house was then situated. The headquarters at Keanakolu were afterward abandoned and the fruit orchard was left uncared for.”

“Very fortunately, however, a fence strong enough to prevent cattle, wild goats, and other animals from damaging the trees had been erected, and it is because of this that we are enabled to judge of what results might have been obtained in other places had the same condition prevailed.”

“Mr. Lydgate found apple, plum, pear, apricot, cherry, and peach trees, and several varieties of each. He states that the apple trees run mostly to whips, causing a meager crop of fruit, but Mrs. Lydgate claims that those she saw were of excellent quality.”

“The fine crop of Bartlett pears and the cherries and peaches were, at the time of their visit, too green to eat, though the cherries, which were few, are probably ripe by this time. There were but few peaches, but those seen were of good size.”

“The plum and apricot crops had already matured and there was no fruit left by which one might form an opinion, but it is said that the fruits have been gathered by those who have visited the orchard during the past few years, and have been found equal to those grown on the mainland.”

“One peculiarity that Mr. Lydgate could not explain was the ripening of the apricots long before the cherries. The opposite condition prevails in California, apricots coming into market there some weeks after the close of the cherry season.” (Mesick, Paradise of the Pacific, September 1909)

November 4, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Commercial Fishing in Hawai‘i

In traditional times in Hawai‘i, most of the makaʻāinana (‘common people’) were farmers, a few were fishermen. Tenants cultivated smaller crops for family consumption, to supply the needs of chiefs and provide tributes.

“The land area with which the Polynesian migrant first became familiar was of necessity that along shore, wherever his voyaging canoe made its landfall.”

“This area he termed ko kaha kai (place [land] by the sea). This might comprise a broad sandy beach and the flats above it, or the more rugged shore of cove or harbor with its rocky terrain-in fact many and varied descriptions might fit, according to locale.” (Handys & Pukui)

“The people had ample cultivable land in the moist upland from two to four miles inland at altitudes of one thousand to twenty-five hundred feet. … The soil is most fertile, being formed from the decay of recent lava flows.”

The food plants of Hawaiʻi can be divided into three groups: those known as staple foods (the principal starchy foods – kalo (taro,) ʻuala (sweet potato,) ʻulu (breadfruit,) etc;) those of less importance (to add nutrients and variety to the diet;) and those known as famine foods. (Krauss)

“For every fisherman’s house along the coasts there were hundreds of homesteads of planters in the valleys and on the slopes and plains between the shore and forest.”

“The Hawaiians, more than any of the other Polynesians, were a people whose means of livelihood, whose work and interests, were centered in the cultivation of the soil. The planter and his life furnish us with the key to his culture.” (Handys & Pukui)

“Fishermen and their families living around the bays and the beaches, or at isolated localities along the coast where fishing was practicable, led a life that was materially simpler than that of planters who dwelt on the plains.”

“Their life was less diversified. Many fishermen had not even a patch of ‘uala [sweet potato], for their dwelling places were too windy, too dry, too sandy, and too rocky to support even the hardy sweet potato.”

“They did not have access to pandanus for mat making, nor to wauke or other bark for tapa making, therefore their women had no need for sheds for such work.”

“The fishermen, however, did have halau or sheds for their canoes, nets, and other equipment, and undoubtedly put in as much time in working on hooks, lures, lines, and nets as the farmer gave to his plants. The planter, whose only tool was the digging stick, was not a craftsman as was the fisherman.”

“[T]he harvest festival known as the Makahiki … was the time when food, including hogs and sweet potato (the staple in this dry southern area), were laid on altars (ahu) dedicated to Lono, in tribute to the god who returned each year in the form of rain.” (Handys & Pukui)

“Following a strict code of conduct, which was based on ceremonial and ritual observances, the people of the land were generally able to collect all of the natural resources, including fish – and other marine and aquatic resources – for their own sustenance, and with which to pay tribute to the class of chiefs and priests, who oversaw them.”

“Shortly after the arrival of foreigners in the islands, the western concept of property rights began to infiltrate the Hawaiian system.”

“In the transition from a cultural subsistence-based system to the commercial economy, fish and other harvestable marine organisms went from being perceived and valued in a complex way that was embedded in nature and culture – one fostered through long-term stewardship – to fish as primarily being a commodity or simply food items.”

“What evolved in Hawai‘i under western influence … was the development of a ‘commercial’ fishing industry, involving significant trading centers and a market economy.” (Maly)

“Commercial fishing became important in the Hawaiian Islands with the arrival of the British and American whaling fleets during the early nineteenth century. [They] made Hawai‘i their provisioning and trading headquarters.” (Schug)

“[T]he systematic development of commercial fishing in Hawaii really was started by Japanese immigrants to the Islands.”

“Adapting techniques and vessel design brought from Japan to specific ocean conditions found in Hawaii, the Japanese longline fishermen virtually dominated the industry, as fishermen, auctioneers, and fish dealers, by the beginning of the twentieth century.”

“Gorokichi Nakasuji, often called the ‘father of commercial fishing,’ arrived in Hawaii in 1899. … Nakasuji was responsible for introducing the Japanese sampan to Hawaii waters; it soon became the prototype of Island fishing vessels.”

“Later Nakasuji installed the first gasoline engine in an aku sampan. These developments greatly expanded the ability of Japanese; fishermen to tap the resources of Hawaii’s deep sea fisheries.”

“Marketing of fish catches, however, proved a major impediment to the development of the industry. Because of the difficulties of keeping fish in fresh condition for market, catches were limited not by the amount of fish available, but by the amount a fisherman felt could easily be sold that day.”

“However, as transportation between the islands improved and as marketing advanced, the commercial fishing industry began to expand. In 1917, the MacFarlane Tuna Canning Company later called Hawaiian Tuna Packers opened for business, and canned tuna became a major outlet for surplus fresh catch.” (Nakayama, Menton)

November 3, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Molokai

It used to be referred to as ʻĀina Momona (the bountiful land,) reflecting the great productivity of the island and its surrounding ocean.

It is about 38-miles long and 10-miles wide, an area of 260-square miles, making it the 5th largest of the main Hawaiian Islands (and the 27th largest island in the US.)

The island was formed by two volcanoes, East and West, emerging about 1.5-2-million years ago. The cliffs on the north-eastern part of the island are the result of subsidence and the “Wailua Slump” (a giant submarine landslide – about 25-miles long that tumbled about 120-miles offshore – about 1.4-million years ago.)

In separate volcanic activity about 300,000-years ago, Kalaupapa Peninsula was formed. Penguin Bank, to the west of the island, is believed to be a separate volcano that was once above the water, but submerged within the last 100,000-years.

Molokai is divided into two moku (districts,) Koʻolau on the windward side and Kona on the leeward side. (These are common district names that are universally used across of the Hawaiian archipelago (“Koʻolau,” marking the windward sides of the islands, and “Kona,” the leeward sides of the islands.))

Archaeological evidence suggests that Molokai’s East end was traditionally the home of the majority of early Hawaiians; large clusters of Hawaiians were living along the shore, on the lower slopes and in the larger valleys. Productive, well-kept fishponds were strung along the southern shoreline.

The water supply was ample; ʻauwai (irrigation ditches), taro loʻi (ponded terraces) and habitation sites were found in every wet valley. ʻUala (sweet potato) and wauke (paper mulberry) were cultivated in the mauka areas between long shallow stone terraces which swept across the lower kula slopes.

The windward valleys developed into areas of intensive irrigated taro cultivation and seasonal migrations took place to stock up on fish and precious salt for the rest of the year.

The drier coastal regions of the West end were sparsely populated on a year-round basis, although they were frequently visited for extended periods of fishing during the summer months. (Papohaku on the west shore is the longest stretch of white sand beach in Hawaiʻi (3-miles long and 300-feet wide.))

East end’s Pukoʻo had a natural break in the reef, good landing areas for canoes and nearby fishponds built out over the fringe reef. Archaeological evidence suggests it was a heavily populated area; it was also destined to become the first town in the western tradition on the island of Molokai.

When the American Protestant missionaries arrived on Molokai in 1832, they settled at nearby Kaluaʻaha. The first church was made of thatch (1833,) a school soon followed. By 1844, a stone church was built.

It was not long before a small community was forming around the church buildings. It became the social center of the entire island, with people coming from as far away as the windward valleys, over the pali and by canoe, just to attend church sermons on Sunday and socialize.

In the 1850s, Catholic priests began to visit the island; during the 1870s, Father Damien, who had come to Molokai to serve the patients at Kalawao, traveled top-side to gather congregations of Catholics. He built four Catholic churches on the East End of Molokai, at Kamaloʻo, Kaluaʻaha, Halawa and Kumimi.

In later years they built a wharf at Pukoʻo – it became the center of activity for the island and the first County seat. However, with economic opportunities forming on the central and west sides of the Island, Pukoʻo soon lost its appeal (there is no commercial activity there, today.)

Like Pukoʻo, Kaunakakai had a natural opening in the reef. In 1859, Kamehameha IV established a sheep ranch (Molokai Ranch) and built his home, Malama, there. “It is a grass hut, skillfully thatched, having a lanai all around, with floors covered with real Hawaiian mats. The house has two big rooms. The parlor is well furnished, with glass cases containing books in the English language.”

“On the north west side of the house is a large grass house, and it seems to be the largest one seen to this time. The house is divided into rooms and appears to be a place in which to receive the king’s guests.” (SFCA)

Rudolph Wilhelm became manager of Molokai Ranch for Kamehameha V in 1864. However, Kamehameha V was probably best known on Molokai for the establishment of the Leprosy Settlement on the isolated peninsula of Kalaupapa in 1865.

Meyer started to grow sugar shortly thereafter (1876.) By 1882, there were three small sugar plantations on Molokai: Meyer’s at Kalaʻe, one at Kamaloʻo and another at Moanui.

Meyer also served as the Superintendent of the isolated Kalawao settlement (Kalaupapa) (serving with Father Damien and Mother Marianne Cope (now, both are Saints.))

Kaunakakai Harbor was an important transportation link and key to these various activities. After 1866, it became vital to bringing in supplies for the Kalaupapa Settlement. Goods, personnel and visitors were landed at Kaunakakai then transported by mule down the pali trail.

During the 1880s, sugar and molasses from the Meyer sugar mill were loaded onto carts and taken to the harbor where they were transferred into small boats. These boats came up to the sand beach and take the sugar and molasses to larger ships anchored in the harbor. By 1889 a small wharf had been built at Kaunakakai.

After Molokai Ranch was sold to the American Sugar Company in 1897 a new, more substantial stone mole with a wooden landing platform at the makai end, was put up next to the old wharf to service their expected sugar shipments.

Finally in 1909, a political division of the island was made incorporating Molokai into Maui County and excluding the State Health Department administered area of the Kalaupapa Settlement. This district became known as Kalawao County.

During the 1920s Kaunakakai first began to develop as the main business center of the island. Several stores were built along either side of Ala Malama Street indicating the sense of prosperity of the times. This activity continued well into the 1930s, a period that corresponded to the largest increase in population on Molokai.

At that time and into the early-1930s, Kaunakakai gradually became the main hub of activity, partially due to its central location and increased population. It was here that a larger, improved wharf had been developed for the pineapple plantations and for the shipment of cattle.

Another major change occurred when the Government passed the Hawaiian Homes Act in 1921. Seventy-nine Hawaiian homesteading families moved to Kalamaʻula in 1922 and in 1924 the Hoʻolehua and Palaʻau areas were opened for homesteading on lands previously under lease from the government to the American Sugar Company Limited. The homestead population rose from an estimated 278 in 1924 to 1,400 by 1935.

In 1923, Libby, McNeil & Libby began to grow pineapple on land leased from Molokai Ranch; their activities were focused primarily in the Kaluakoʻi section of the island. Lacking facilities and housing, the plantation began building clusters of dwellings (“camps”) around Maunaloa. By 1927, it started to grow into a small town – as pineapple production grew, so did the town.

In 1927, California Packing Corporation, later known as Del Monte Corporation, leased lands of Naʻiwa and Kahanui owned by Molokai Ranch to establish a pineapple plantation with headquarters in the town of Kualapuʻu. The town takes its name from kaʻuala puʻu, or the sweet potato hill, the hill to the south where sweet potatoes were grown on its slopes.

The town was first created when Molokai Ranch (American Sugar Company) moved their ranch headquarters from Kaunakakai to Kualapuʻu after the demise of their sugar enterprise.

After the Hoʻolehua homesteads were opened up by Hawaiian Homes Commission in 1924, the ranch headquarters began to take on the character of a real town. However the real change came with the arrival of California Packing Corporation in Kualapuʻu to grow pineapple for shipment to the Oʻahu cannery.

In 1968, there were 16,800 acres of pineapple under cultivation on Molokai. The Libby plantation was sold to the Dole Pineapple Corporation in 1970, which very soon closed down the plantation when they determined it was no longer a profitable venture. After fifty-five years of operation, Del Monte began a phased shut down operation in 1982 which terminated in 1989.

Maunaloa and Kualapuʻu were towns created expressly for agriculture. Kaunakakai came into its own due to its harbor, central location, and the shift of population from the east end of the island. It gradually became the administrative and business center of Molokai, much as Pukoʻo had been many years before.

The image shows an 1897 map of Molokai. (Lots of information here is from Curtis.)

November 1, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Some Hawaiʻi Aviation History

Bud Mars was the first man to fly an airplane in Hawaiʻi, on December 31, 1910. Piloting a Curtiss B-18 biplane, he flew to 500-feet over Moanalua Polo Field, Oʻahu. He repeated the flight the next day to the thrill of thousands of spectators.

The first aircraft accident in the Islands was on the Big Island, dating back to June 10, 1911 when Clarence H Walker came to Hilo for an exhibition flight in his Curtiss Biplane. There were no airports on the island, so Hoʻolulu Park was selected for the runway.

Walker was able to get a few feet off the ground in his trial flight. Later Walker attempted to fly over the city. The engine began missing and he lost altitude. He crashed minutes later into a lauhala tree as he attempted to land, destroying the plane but surviving the crash.

On August 31, 1925, John Rodgers (Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station at Pearl Harbor from 1923 to 1925) and his crew left San Francisco to attempt the first flight across the Pacific Ocean from the Mainland US to Hawaiʻi. The seaplane was forced to land in the ocean after running out of fuel, about 365 miles from Oʻahu.

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

Lieutenant Lester J Maitland (pilot) and Lieutenant Albert F Hegenberger (navigator) were selected to fulfill the Army’s dreams to successfully cross the Pacific Ocean to Hawai‘i. Shortly after 7 am on June 28, 1927, the Army pair shook hands with their crews and climbed into positions in the airplane. 25-hours and 49-minutes later the three-engine plane touched down at Wheeler.

That year, Hawaiʻi’s first airport was established in Honolulu and dedicated to Rodgers. When Inter-Island Airways (now Hawaiian Air) began the first commercial passenger flights between islands in 1929, their hangar was one of two on the airport.

“Honolulu has seen the evolution of transportation from the Chinese junk and the Yankee clipper in ye olden days to the palatial liner, the fast freighter – and now the airplane. The dedication of the John Rodgers airport near Honolulu is a significant milestone in Honolulu’s transportation history.”

“The event virtually signalizes the inauguration of commercial aviation in Hawaiʻi. At least, it makes possible the innovation and symbol of twentieth century progress. In years to come it is destined to become a center in this new era.”

“It is the pioneer of the many big commercial stations that will ultimately be located in Hawaiʻi. And because of that fact, it will find its rightful place in history—not only of Hawaiʻi—but of the American nation as well. That aviation will enter the commercial life of Hawaiʻi, there is no doubt. Definite steps to that end are already being taken. The John Rodgers airport is one of these steps.” (Editorial, Honolulu Advertiser, March 22, 1927)

Immediately after the Pearl Harbor Attack (December 7, 1941) all airports were taken over by the US armed forces. Some of these airfields were considered vulnerable to attack and unusable, and the others were placed under strict control of either the Army or Navy (the US Air Force didn’t start until after the war when it was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947.)

All civilian aircraft in Hawaiʻi were grounded. Within a few days, Hawaiian Air was approved by the Military Governor to make emergency flights under military direction, carrying engineers, medicines, munitions, etc to the neighbor islands.

During the early days of the War, Hawaiian’s Sikorsky planes were converted to cargo planes, carrying critical medical supplies and equipment to the other islands and bringing back cargo of fresh vegetables and beef. Thus began the first US air-freight service.

The military began to construct airfields for its own use, for seaplane and land plane operations, across the Islands. Following the war, many of these facilities were returned/turned over to the Territory for commercial and general aviation.

On December 13, 1955 Honolulu International Airport became the first civilian airport in the nation to get a preview of commercial jet aircraft operation when the British DeHavilland Comet III jet-liner arrived on a good will flight around the world.

1959 brought another welcomed change. Scheduled service with the Boeing 707 started in June 1959 by Qantas Airlines; flying time from California to Hawaiʻi was cut by nearly a half, from 9 hours by propeller to less than 5 hours by jet.

Pan American Airways followed in September and United Airlines jet service arrived at Honolulu in January 1962. In October 1962, all airline operations moved from the Honolulu terminal building built by the Navy during World War II on Lagoon Drive to new passenger terminal buildings on the North Ramp of the airport.

Planning for the Reef Runway at Honolulu International Airport began in 1967; its primary purpose was to mitigate noise during aircraft takeoffs.

Work began on phase 1 the Reef Runway on May 7, 1973 (dredge, fill and protection structure;) it was completed in August 1976. Subsequent phases included paving, taxiways, etc; the Reef Runway was completed and dedicated for use on October 14, 1977. It was later, May 1989, chosen as one of several emergency landing sites NASA’s space shuttle program. (Information in this summary is from hawaii-gov.)

As the biplane with its gigantic winds swept over the grass field and rose into the air there was a general whoop of exultation and spontaneous applause from spectators.

Biplane flown by Clarence H Walker-1911

Curtis B-18 biplane made of spruce, ash, bamboo, steal tubing and silk; piloted by J. C. Bud Mars. Took 9 seconds to get airborne and climbed to 500 ft before landing safely.

Honolulu Airport, 1947, with Keehi Lagoon Seadrome at top

Honolulu Airport, 1947. Seadrome is at top of photo

JC Bud Mars’ biplane was christened Skylark after its maiden flight.

John_Redgers_Airport 1928

October 1928 West Section

John_Rodgers_Airport-1928

Rodgers and the PN-9 No. 1 taxis in San Pablo Bay near San Francisco on August 31, 1925

Navy PN-9 No. 1, resting in Nawiliwili’s waters, Kauai, after first attempted flight from the mainland to Hawaii (1925)

JohnRodgersAndPN-9Crew

Lieutenant Lester J. Maitland, pilot, and Lieutenant Albert F. Hegenberger-srriving in Hawaii-1927

US Army Fokker C-2 Bird of Paradise at Wheeler Field after completing first mainland to Hawaii flight June 29, 1927.

Lieutenant Lester J. Maitland, pilot, and Lieutenant Albert F. Hegenberger_congratulations-1927

Naval Air Station Honolulu (John Rodgers Airport), April 1945

Pan American Airways China Clipper, 1947

Pan American China Clipper at Keehi Seadrome, Honolulu Airport, 1946

Reef_Runway

Reef_Runway_Under_Construction 1970s

Reef_Runway_Under_Construction-1970s

Reef_Runway-Completed

October 29, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pratt, The Land Man

“[T]hey gave Ainahau to the city and the city wouldn’t take it, which would have been one of the glamorous tourist sites. [In a letter to Governor Lucius E. Pinkham, dated January 30, 1914, J, M. McChesney, Chairman of the Committee on Parks Civic Federation, states:

“A Resolution introduced in the last [Seventh] legislature [1913] to accept this munificent gift [Ainahau] was defeated by a majority of two; the general belief being that many of the legislators were influenced by the fact that if accepted by the [Territorial] government the heirs would be deprived of the property …”

“… and others voted against it on account of the cost of maintenance and still others on account of the conditions imposed [in A. S. Cleghorn’s will] that the grounds be closed nights.” (Thomas Alexander Kaulaahi Cleghorn oral history)

Then it was reported, ‘Āinahau has been sold “to James W Pratt and other interests and will immediately be cut up into building lots.” The price for the 11 2/3 acres was $60,000. The new owners plan to subdivide the property into forty lots and develop it into “an exclusive residence section. . . .”

“Only the trees necessary to make the roads are to be cut down, which will leave all the rare plants, flowers and trees, with which the grounds abound, for the new owners to dispose of as they see fit.”

The lots will be priced at $3,500 up. For the past three years the house and land have been leased by Mrs. E. H. Lewis and used as a hotel and she is “to continue with the hotel without interference.” (Star Bulletin, Jan 19, 1917; Thomas Alexander Kaulaahi Cleghorn oral history)

So, who is Pratt? … “James William Pratt [was] familiarily known to Honolulans as ‘Pratt the Land Man.’” (PCA, Dec 8, 1919)

“It is best to consult some one who knows the land and the climate before selecting a building site in Honolulu, or on the islands at large. The land office can put you right, or there is Pratt, the land man …”

“Mr. Jas. W. Pratt was for many years Land Commissioner, and he can tell you just where it is best to build.” (Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

Pratt was “Son of Horace C and Susan M McCue Pratt. [He was born December 9, 1861 in Greenbush, NY.] James W Pratt moved from New York to California in 1874, when he was a boy of 13. He attended public schools in Rotterdam, New York and Oakland California.”

“In 1878 he was employed at Oakland by the Western Union Telegraph Company, remaining there until 1881, when he joined the California Electric Works at San Francisco, staying with that concern until 1884, when he came to Honolulu as superintendent of the Mutual Telephone Company, holding the position for nine years.”

“In 1893, following the overthrow of the monarchy, James W Pratt became prominently identified with the military department of the Provisional Government.”

“Two years later he became assistant superintendent of the Honolulu water works, and from 1901 to 1903 he was assessor and collector of tazes for Oahu.”

“For six years, from 1903 to 1909, he held the office of commissioner of public lands, after which he went into business for himself in real estate. …”

“One of the last projects of ‘Pratt the Land Man’ in Honolulu was the cutting up of the Ainahau tract for sale of lots, but his health was such that he left the work for others to take up.” (PCA, Dec 8, 1919)

Pratt married Ellen M. Torbert in Honolulu. December 2, 1895; they had three children, Susan Adelaide, James William, Jr, and Linton Torbert. (Siddall)

With respect to Ainahau, “on May 1, 1919, Percy M Pond, Honolulu real estate man, advertised 46 lots for sale, mostly at $1,400 to $2,200, representing a price of about 32 cents a square foot.” (Star Bulletin, June 2, 1956)

Pratt died December 6, 1919 in Berkley, CA, of heart disease. “Mr Pratt left the Islands for the mainland about 18 months ago hoping to benefit his health.” (PCA, Dec 8, 1919)

“[The house at Ainahau burned to the ground on August 2, 1921 while it was occupied by W. F. Aldrich, a motion picture producer, and his wife Peggy. The fire was said to have originated from an automatic gas heater next to Aldrich’s darkroom, which had been the old kitchen.]”

“[An account of the fire in the Honolulu Advertiser on August 1, 1921 states that the banyan tree saved the bungalows on the grounds, one owned by Samuel Parker and another occupied by Mr. McElroy being the only ones scorched. The article also mentions that the house had been used as a hotel at one time.]” (Thomas Alexander Kaulaahi Cleghorn oral history)