Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Village Green

“This is, then, a complicated problem.” (Adv, June 8, 1965)

In 1924, Robert Hind purchased 2,090-acres and established the Hind-Clarke Dairy.  The Hind-Clarke Dairy was a favored stop along the road, as noted in a 1930 visitor’s guide …

“The Hind-Clarke Dairy, a short way ahead and to our left with a large sign over the entrance, is not to be passed unnoticed. The dairy is a model of its kind and well affords an opportunity to see dairying in its most scientific form. The cottage cheese on sale is, perhaps, the most delicious you have ever tasted.”  (Cultural Surveys)

(The Hind Clark Dairy operation occupied the area now used as ʻĀina Haina Shopping Center and ʻĀina Haina Elementary School.) 

In 1946, Hind sold his dairy operation to Creameries of America, and soon after that began to develop the remainder of his land for residential use.  The former cattle pasture was subdivided into lots to form a new residential community called ‘Āina Haina (which means, “Hind’s land.”)

Soon after this the Hawaiian Dredging Company filled in the old Wailupe Fishpond, forming the Wailupe Circle subdivision. A deep channel (depth of approximately 12 to 20 feet) was dredged around the pond, as well as a channel through the reef to the open ocean) and dredge material filled in the pond.

“[W]hen Aina Haina was first developed commercial zoning was asked for [the ‘village green’ strip of open space fronting Aina Haina].  But area home owners objected and it was finally agreed by all in 1948 to leave the area open space. It was put into a “residential” zoning classification because that was the only suitable category where it could be kept open.”

“The ‘village green’ at Aina Haina is used for recreation purposes, including community carnivals, Lions Club chicken barbecues, Little League practice, dog obedience club training, and just plain playing for kids while parents shop.  But it is also true that there are several other playgrounds in the Aina Haina area, including one at the nearby Aina Haina School.”

“The open view – looking across the green lawn, to the low line of shops and into the deep valley – is one of the more interesting and attractive along a highway that is becoming increasingly closed in from sight of either mountains or sea.  The alternative, no matter how handsome a structure, is hardly likely to equal the open vista.”

Fast forward, “Opinion is Aina Haina is split over the City Planning Commission’s recommendation to rezone the Aina Haina village green for commercial use.” (Adv, June 5, 1965)

“The 75,385 square feet of ‘residential’ land is a tax burden as it now stands. The comprehensive zoning plan, although parts of it can and are being speeded, is several months or more away from completion. Its adoption, however, will provide the Preservation District classification.”

“Presumably this would eliminate the economic hardship argument, although seemingly there would be more profit in commercial buildings than in tax relief.”

“The need for more commercial building in this area seems doubtful. There are four shopping centers from Waialae-Kahala to Koko Head. The neighboring Niu Shopping Center has a number of store spaces still for rent.” (Adv, June 8, 1965)

“Developer Kenneth Makinney has proposed changing the area zoning from residential to commercial, so that he can construct an addition to the Aina Haina Shopping Center.” (Adv, June 30, 1965)  The ‘Āina Haina Shopping Center was built in 1950.

“City Councilmen approved by 7 to 1 vote yesterday commercial zoning for Aina Haina’s village green. … ‘This is an old story in Honolulu.’”

“‘ This isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last time, for land developers to break faith with the City government and the gullible people who are talked int trusting and believing them.’” (said Councilman Frank Fasi, the lone negative vote; Adv, Aug 4, 1965)

One of the first businesses built on the former village green was Hawai‘i’s first McDonald’s, and Ray Kroc showed up for the opening.

“Kroc first realized the possibilities of developing a big franchise operation in the early 1950s, when he was selling mixing machines to make malted milks.”

“Two brothers named McDonald installed eight of his machines in one burger facility in San Bernadino, Calif, and Kroc woke up to the kind of volume business that was possible.”

“He said the McDonalds had developed a formula for a quality hamburger and a new way to doing business which is now the trademark of the McDonald’s chain. … In 1960, Kroc borrowed $2.7 million to buy … from the McDonalds and to buy the sole right to the use of the name and hamburger merchandising ideas.” (SB, Nov 8, 1968)

“Kroc officially opened the Aina Haina unit yesterday [November 7, 1968] but it has been open for business since last weekend.” (SB, Nov 8, 1968)

At the time McDonald’s opened in Hawai‘i with the ‘Āina Haina unit, there were about 1,100 McDonalds spread across the US; in 2023, the company operated and franchised approximately 41,000 restaurants globally (with a plan to grow to 50,000 by 2027).

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nicholas Peter Canlis

Nicholas Peter Canlis was born in Sacramento, California, in 1913. to parents Nicholas and Susan. He grew up in Stockton, where his parents opened their restaurant The Food Palace and Fish Grotto in 1910. (Nims)

Peter Canlis left Stockton in 1939, determined to make his own way in the world and not follow his parents’ footsteps into the restaurant business. He traveled from California to Hawai‘i in 1939, where he initially sold shoes and then dry goods.  (Nims)

“Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the facilities at Pearl Harbor, Schofield, Hickam and elsewhere were being bolstered, while others were being created. Barbers Point Naval Air Station was developed.”

“The radio station at Lualualei was commissioned and rest and recreation facilities set up throughout Honolulu. The Armed Services YMCA was developed.”

“Peter Canlis, an employee of a suitcase and shoe supply company … was put in charge of the food facility there. We worked with him on the design of the kitchen and dining room.” (John Lind; Ian Lind)

“That food operation became a popular spot for civilian as well as military use. It was super and Peter Canlis became popular as a result.  Following the war, Peter decided he was going to open his own restaurant.” (John Lind; Ian Lind)

“We were friends from Junior Chamber of Commerce activity and over several nights on my living room floor we made layouts of his proposed first Honolulu location in a small bungalow across the street from Kuhio Beach.”  (John Lind; Ian Lind) 

Canlis “was a guy who had a $1500 budget to convert a World War II blackout Chinese restaurant, called the Golden Palms, into an acceptable steakhouse.”

“And what do you do with $1500? You install a broiler so you don’t have to enlarge the kitchen. You push out and build a wall along the sidewalk so you can put in more tables which you protect with a striped awning. You get your wife to upholster banquettes with sailcloth so you don’t have to buy too many chairs.”

“And when I asked Peter what kind of a lighting budget he had, he said zero so we lit mostly with candlelight.” (WATG)  Canlis opened The Broiler in 1947 about where the Hyatt Regency now stands. 

Finally, the place opened. Peter didn’t have a liquor license so you brought your own booze. People complained about the high prices (a filet was $2.50) but flocked there anyway.” (WATG)

“In 1950, Peter Canlis moved to Seattle and opened the restaurant that would make his mark on the nation’s emerging fine dining scene. Borrowing all he could (fifty thousand dollars) he sought to build a restaurant in the heart of the city, but as an outsider he could not break in.”

“Unknown, untrusted, and with ‘an idea so crazy that Seattle would never go for it’ Peter fought to find his start. Famed restaurateur Walter Clark took an interest in the newcomer and offered a piece of land ‘way outside the city.’ Even as young kids we could recite his answer: ‘If it’s within a dollar’s cab ride of downtown, they’ll come.’” (Canlis)

“His impossibly lofty strategy was to build the most beautiful restaurant in the world. … He bet on upstart Northwest artists (George Tsutakawa’s first sculpture is still our door handle).”

“He snuck fresh fish from Hawaii on Pan Am flights and returned the same suitcases to The Broiler with salmon and Dungeness crab.”

“He built his lounge around a piano and the first post-prohibition liquor license in the city and priced his menu twice as high as the nearest competitor.” (Canlis)

“Then he invited kings and heads of state, business tycoons and civic leaders. He invited them before ever earning the right to. His experiment in Hawaii had worked and in Seattle he would double down on it.”

“Finally, waiting to serve a city of skeptics and naysayers, was his team of women of Japanese descent who had recently endured internment, clad in their own stunning kimonos.”

“Seattle fell for the restaurant and overnight, Europe’s 200-year, influential grip on American fine dining was under legitimate siege.  In the years to follow, three more restaurants were built.” (Canlis)

The initial, rather casual, The Broiler closed in 1953; then, “In 1954, Canlis opened his iconic Canlis Broiler at 2100 Kalakaua.  As late as 1985, it was described in a New York Times story as ‘a dependable old favorite with excellent food and service at moderate prices….’” (John Lind; Ian Lind)

Peter Canlis also opened Canlis restaurants in Portland at the Hilton Hotel, and in San Francisco at the Fairmont Hotel. Those restaurants operated, respectively, from 1963 to 1979 and 1965 to 1985. The Honolulu restaurant was open until 1989.  (Nims)  Honolulu architect George James (Pete) Wimberly designed all four Canlis restaurants. (WATG)

On July 6, 1977, Peter Canlis died at the age of 64 from lung cancer. After services held at St. Mark’s Cathedral, he was buried in his hometown of Stockton, California.

Among remembrances for the man who changed the face of fine dining in Seattle (and Honolulu) was this in The Seattle Times: “Pete was a much-honored restaurateur. He set a standard of excellence from which he never deviated.”

“He was a friend whose gruff exterior couldn’t hide a soft interior. He will be sorely missed by a lot of friends, who counted any day they saw him a brighter one”. (Nims)

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Youth Developmental Enterprises

“There have been good years and bad years for hiring summer help to work the sprawling pineapple fields on [Lanai].”

“This happens to be a good year.  In fact, the past few years have been good, because Castle & Cooke Inc which owns Lanai, finally found some good summer workers. Mormon boys from the Mainland.” (Hnl Adv-Jul 15, 1976)

During the first two years the Pineapple picking program was a joint venture between the LDS Church and the Boy Scouts of America. Then, it was decided to hand off the program to a newly created independent corporation. Ross Olsen was the founder and primary leader of the new corporation. Ross called this new corporation Youth Developmental Enterprises. (Alchetron)

Youth Developmental Enterprises was a program that ran from about 1971 to 1993. During the first two years the program was a joint venture between the LDS Church and the Boy Scouts of America; then Youth Developmental Enterprises (YDE) ran the program. (Alchetron)

The primary activity of YDE was taking men and slightly older supervisors to Hawaii to work in the pineapple fields of Lanai and Maui. YDE took around 18,000 young men to Hawaii to accomplish this work; the stated goal of the organization was not pineapple production, but rather building the character of young men. (Alchetron)

“Offered by Youth Developmental Enterprises of Salt Lake City, the program boasts 800 job openings for young men between the ages of 16 and 18 desiring work such as truck drivers, cafeteria workers and general field workers.” (The Newspaper, Park City, Utah, Dec 15, 1976)

Participants pay $1,300 in advance to cover round-trip air fare to Hawaii, accident insurance, equipment (a backpack and a T-shirt), and project development (maintenance on the buildings where they live, etc).

They work five days a week, eight hours a day and gross $6 an hour; $4.25/day is taken out of their wages for room and board. Transportation to various places on the island for leisure-time activities, where the boys go as a group, is provided. (Deseret News)

“Students can opt to work from March 10 through August 27, April 22 through September 31 or June 3 through August 27. According to Youth Development Enterprises, youths can expect to save between $1,300 and $2,000 during the five month programs and $300 to $700 during the June-August stay.” (The Newspaper, Park City, Utah, Dec 15, 1976)

“While working in Hawaii, the young men from the intermountain area agree to uphold the standards of the LDS Church. Youth Developmental Enterprises, however, is not an LDS program.” (American Fork Citizen, April 1, 1976)

“‘The program is not for every young man,’ said Ross Olsen, founder and president of YDE. ‘It’s very structured. The purpose is an opportunity to work in a structured environment free of alcohol, drugs and tobacco. These young men get a sense of belonging and that they’re of value. It builds self-esteem.’

“The youthful employees start out on equal footing. The youths board in groups of about 18, with a home leader and a team leader (the team leader is in charge at work). They do everything together, including planning leisure activities.”

“The leaders are at least 21 and have proven track records as decent, law-abiding men, Olsen said. Most of them are returned missionaries for the LDS Church. But religion is never an issue, although participants are required to attend a Sunday church service of their choice.”  (Deseret News, Lois M Collins)

The program also had a school program that was linked to the local high school. Correspondence courses were also accredited through Salt Lake City’s Granite High School.

One-fourth of participants come back for more than one session. More return for schooling than for the money, according to Olsen. The program participates in an individual, self-paced learning program. Tutors, who are under the direction of certified teachers, work with the students.

The tutors don’t grade assignments; that’s done by an individual who will “probably never even meet the students but will grade him on his own merits.” Students earn credits through the Hawaii Department of Education.  (Deseret News, Lois M Collins)

“The boys from the U.S. were flown to Hawaii on a chartered aircraft and will work for 11 weeks. During the last eight days of their stay they will be taken on a tour of three of the islands and then flown back to the mainland.” (Greeley Daily Tribune, July 28, 1976)

The teens arrived with who knows what on their mind about an experience in far away Hawaii, and found themselves on a remote island, living in dorms, and out in the fields doing hoe hana (weeding with a hoe), picking and all manner of work.

Team leaders with the Mormon youth crew kept the teens organized, rising for work in the early a.m., getting to the cafeteria for meals, to the labor yard for transportation to the work sites, and made sure that the youth got down to the island beaches and swimming spots.  (Lanai Culture & Heritage)

“For several years, Dole had depended mainly on Mainland boys for most of its summer labor on Lanai and the Mainlanders had performed well, compared with ‘not so good’ experience with local youths in the 1960s”. (Hnl Adv, Sep 17, 1981)

“The Isle teenagers accounted for 21 of the 28 non-Lanai ‘gangs,’ the rest coming from the Mainland. A gang has 17 pickers who move through the field behind a truck-mounted boom, picking the fruit,  breaking off the crowns and placing both on a conveyor belt.” (Hnl Adv, Sep 17, 1981)

“For the first time ever, Dole hired non-Lanai girls – 50 in all.  The girls ‘added something we never had – a sense of stability,’ says Sakamoto, a Big Island native.  ‘During off hours, it was like a big high school, with boys and girls sitting under coconut trees talking story’ he says. A bonus for the boys: ‘The girls would teach them how to w ash their clothes.” (Hnl Adv, Sep 17, 1981)

Maui Land & Pineapple also hired through YDE.  … “Until five years ago Maui Pine recruited 100 per cent of its labor from the island. With the rapid increase in hotels and the resulting decrease in local agricultural labor the company was forced into recruiting from the off islands and finally from the Mainland.” (Hnl Adv-Jun 14, 1973)

“At 5 a.m. dawn just begins to break over the peaks on West Maui. The tourists slumber soundly in their cozy nests from Lahaina to Napili. Only the birds and crowing roosters stir in the dim light.”

“Off the coast and up a narrow, red dirt road lined by tall Norfolk pines, the pastoral scene is shattered by the crash of heavy boots and the sleepy cries of, ‘I’m hungry.’  The season has started for the summer pickers at Maui Land & Pineapple’s Honolua Plantation just outside of Napili.”

“Tumbling out of dormitories wearing clothes of all descriptions, the seasonal workers come to breakfast before heading out to the fields for a long day of picking. Hours later the scene is repeated when the night shift comes to life.”

“Several of this year’s gang are returnees from Hawaii and the Mainland. But 60 of the 110 ‘imported’ workers are 16 to 18 year olds from Utah, the home state of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.”  (Deseret News, Lois M Collins)

When Hawai‘i programs eventually ended, various negotiations were begun to work for the LDS Church Farms in Bradenton, Florida, picking tomatoes and oranges, some independent tomato and squash growers in Beaufort, South Carolina and a tree-planting effort in Mississippi. None of these programs really got off the ground and the entire YDE program ended. (Alchetron)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Snakes

Before humans came to the Islands, Hawai‛i was a bird paradise, lacking many of the types of animals found elsewhere in the world.

Due to the remote nature of these volcanic islands, organisms had to travel over 2,000 miles by wind or sea to reach these shores, and then survive and reproduce in a strange and sometimes harsh new environment.

The establishment of a species was a rare event, estimated to happen only once every 10,000-100,000 years.

Land-dwelling reptiles were among those excluded by the perilous journey (and their physiology) from starting new lives in Hawai‛i.  The geckos and lizards that are common visitors to our windows and rock walls arrived with the assistance of humans.

Fortunately, their legless cousins (snakes) didn’t make the trip, and laws were eventually put into place to prevent the introduction of snakes, recognizing the threat to our native birds.  (Big Island Invasive Species Council)

We repeatedly say, Hawai‘i doesn’t have snakes.

Then, Hawai‘i’s Department of Agriculture issued a news release stating, “A highly venomous yellow-bellied sea snake was found washed up on the shore at Honoli‘i Beach in Hilo”.

“While these sea snakes are rarely seen onshore in Hawai‘i, the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine Branch (PQB) strongly advises beach and ocean goers not to touch the venomous sea snakes which are often mistaken for eels. A sea snake is easily distinguished by the bright yellow markings on its underside.”

The yellow-bellied sea snake is the most widespread snake species on earth. It is found throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans and from the eastern coast of Africa to the western coast of Central America.

Unique among sea snakes, the yellow-bellied sea snake usually lives completely out at sea, criss-crossing the ocean by riding the ocean currents. While it is considered a pelagic (open ocean) species, it is occasionally carried into shallow water close to shore, or may even be beached during period of strong winds. (Waikiki Aquarium)

In the wild, the Yellow-bellied Sea Snake eats only fish. It hunts by stealthily approaching its prey or by waiting motionless at the surface and ambushing fish that come to shelter underneath it (small fish are often attracted to inanimate objects such as floating debris).

With its mouth agape the snake makes a rapid sideways swipe to snare any fish that comes too close. This snake can even ambush small fish behind its head by smoothly swimming backwards so that the prey then comes within range of its mouth. (Australian Museum)

“Sea snakes are distant relatives of cobras that have adapted to life in the ocean. These air-breathing marine reptiles can stay submerged for about two hours and can dive to about 300 feet.”

They catch their “prey with a sideways strike of the head. These predators quickly paralyze their prey by injecting a powerful venom through needlelike fangs. The snakes swallow their immobilized meal whole.”

“Unlike other species, they shun fresh and brackish water, and thus are not found in rivers or estuaries. Also, yellow-bellied sea snakes bear live young. Therefore, they don’t come ashore to lay eggs like other snakes.” (Susan Scott)

The yellow-bellied sea snake is reported to be among the more docile of sea snake species, but its venom is a potent nerve toxin that acts by blocking transmission of messages from nerves to muscles.

Apparently, however, sea snakes do not usually inject their toxin when biting defensively and two of three defensive bites involve no toxin. The greatest number of sea snake bites to humans are reported from the Philippines and southeastern Asia where snakes are accidentally caught in fishing nets.

Fatal bites result in death from respiratory, heart, or kidney failure. Less severe cases result in breakdown of muscle tissue and kidney damage, but victims recover without long-term effects if effective antivenom is received. (Waikiki Aquarium)

At least 52 species of sea snakes, all venomous, are found in the warm waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. Of these, the yellow-bellied sea snake is the world’s most abundant and widespread, spanning the entire tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean. (Susan Scott)

“Beaked sea snake venom, a species found in the South Pacific, is the most deadly of all: One drop can kill three adult men. The toxicity of yellow-bellied sea snake venom is about a quarter that of the beaked sea snake, meaning it is still potentially lethal.”

“Fortunately, no sea snake bites have ever been recorded in Hawai‘i. Worldwide, the incidence of bites is unclear since most bites occur in areas with little health care and no medical records. One Malaysian study showed that of 120 sea snake bites, over 50 percent occurred to fishermen sorting fish and handling nets.” (Susan Scott)

Every now and then, there are reports of individual snakes in the Islands.  Most recent captures of snakes have been in residential or natural areas, far from ports and often at sizes indicating they escaped or were released after spending some time in captivity here.

A call from an alarmed Kea‘au homeowner in 2009 led to the discovery of a 6′ boa constrictor in a garage. In 2011, a 9′ boa constrictor was captured by hunters in Waipahu, O‛ahu, and in 2013 a pedestrian found a rainbow boa cruising through the streets of Chinatown.

A 4-foot ball python was captured on a coffee farm in Kā‘anapali, Maui, in 2016. In 2017, a jogger found the body of a 5′ boa near a nature preserve in Kauai, just months after a live 7′ boa was found in a Nu‛uanu driveway.  (BIISC)

Non-venomous boas and pythons are two of the most popular kinds of pet snakes and are among the most common showing up in Hawai‘i.  These animals are likely not accidental introductions but were intentionally smuggled or shipped to Hawai‘i in violation of state law.

While snakes can make great, low-maintenance pets for responsible pet owners in other places, the risk to Hawai‘i’s already threatened ecosystems is far too great to risk the chance of any snake species establishing in the wild. (BIISC)

To encourage misguided reptile enthusiasts to do the right thing, Hawai‘i has offered an ongoing amnesty program for anyone who turns in an illegal animal.

The no-questions-asked policy allows individuals to drop off any prohibited animal for free and without fear of punishment at any zoo, Humane Society, or HDOA office in the state. This is a good deal considering that importing or owning a snake can lead to up to 3 years of jail time and fines of $200,000.  (BIISC)

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Kamalō

“As agriculture developed, the landscape began to transform and has undergone alterations throughout its history of human settlement. Polynesian voyagers stocked their canoes with pigs, chickens, and dogs as well as crops needed for colonization.”

“The native lowland forests were cleared and replaced with taro, sweet potato, yam, banana, sugarcane, breadfruit, and coconut. The land was modified with advanced farming practices that included irrigation from streams, terracing, mulching, and use of green manure.”

“Slash and burn techniques were used to clear land for crops and to encourage the growth of pili grass used in house thatching.” (Kakahai‘a NWR, FWS)

The arrival of Europeans in the 1770s brought the introduction of goats, horses, cattle, and sheep.  The Duke of Edinburgh had deer transported from Japan to Molokai as a gift to Kamehameha V in 1870.

The growing herds quickly increased and endemic plants quickly declined, leaving vast areas barren due to soil compaction that increased runoff and accelerated erosion. (Kakahai‘a NWR, FWS)

“As foreign vessels began to visit the Islands the number of imported cultivated plants and domesticated animals increased rapidly. … Provisioning of ships gave the first foreign stimulus to Hawaiian agriculture.”

“Ships stopping at the Islands during the four decades following discovery were mainly engaged in fur and sandalwood trade

between the Pacific Northwest, China, and Hawaii. … “

“Provisioning of ships gave the first foreign stimulus to Hawaiian agriculture. Ships stopping at the Islands during the four decades following discovery were mainly engaged in fur and sandalwood trade between the Pacific Northwest, China, and Hawaii.”  (Philipp)

Sugar cultivation on Molokai began commercially with the founding of the Kamalō Sugar Plantation in 1873. John C. McColgan established the plantation, leasing land from the estate of King Kamehameha V.  Shortly thereafter came Moanui Sugar Mill and Plantation (established in 1875) and Kalae Sugar Plantation (established in 1876).

The Hawaiian Gazette ran a story in 1873, “New Sugar Plantation. The steamer, on her last trip to windward, landed at Molokai seventy head of bullock, belonging to Mr. J. McColgan, who proposes to start a sugar plantation on land which he has lately leased from the administrators of the late King’s estate.”

“The tract, which Is located between Kaunakakai and Kaluaaha, comprises about four thousand acres [Kamalo Sugar Company controlled the coast from Kamalō to Mapulehu (USGS)] …

“… stretching from the sea to the mountains, and is known as Kamaloo. Of this about one hundred and fitly acres are low land, and believed to be adapted to cane growing.”

“The cane will be cultivated by a farmer who has already gone to work. The mill is the same as that used on Mr McColgan’s Ewa plantation, and will be set up in time to take off the crop, which will be ground on shares. This system divides the risk and the

profit between the planter and manufacturer.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 23, 1873)

John C McColgan (also known in the Islands as John Kamanoulu and sometimes referred to as John H McColgan) was born in Ireland on December 24, 1814. In 1849, McColgan moved to California to work in the gold mines and, on November 26, 1849, he sailed from San Francisco, California, aboard the American ship Elizabeth Ellen. He arrived in Honolulu on December 13, 1849.

Shortly after his arrival in the Hawaiian Islands, McColgan started work as a tailor. He is credited with bringing the first sewing machines to Hawai‘i on September 12, 1853, and his skill and expertise led to his becoming the personal tailor for King Kamehameha III & IV. (Lynn Kananiu Daue)

“He set up a household, part Hawaiian, part haole style. His wife was a handsome large Hawaiian woman named Kala‘iolele … [they] had 16 children in all. … The fourteenth of these hapa-haole (half white) children was Jennie, whom in Hawaiians called Kini. She grew up to be a famous hula dancer and to marry John H Wilson, mayor of Honolulu.” (Clarice Taylor)

As an infant, Ana Kini Kapahukulaokamāmalu Ku‘ululani McColgan Huhu (aka Kini Kapahu – Jennie Wilson) was adopted by Kapahukulaokamāmalu, who was an expert chanter, hula performer, and friend of Queen Kapi‘olani.  She and her adoptive mother lived on a property adjacent to the royal palace. (Imada)

By 1873, John McColgan owned a sugar cane plantation in ʻEwa on Oʻahu. Later that year, in July, he leased land from the late King Kamehameha V’s estate on Molokai to start a sugar cane plantation which would use the same milling technology employed at the ʻEwa plantation.

In about 1877, John moved to Kamalō on Molokai. His sugar cane plantation, the Kamalo Plantation, did well, producing “rattoons, six months old, from the same place, which measured eight feet in length and nine inches in circumference … “ and “stalks of cane … eleven months old, and measured 10 to 12 feet in length.” (Lynn Kananiu Daue)

In 1878 Kamalo Plantation harvested its first crop. Located on the southern slopes of the island, 44 laborers cultivated about 100 acres of cane. Its mill struggled to produce 250 tons of sugar in any one year.  (Dorrance)

By 1880, John’s cousin Daniel McCorriston (1840-1927) managed the Kamalo Plantation, and his cousin Hugh McCorriston (1836-1926) refined the sugar while John acted as the agent in Honolulu. (Lynn Kananiu Daue)

In the 1880s, nearby sugar planters would load sugarcane onto a small flatbed barge and tow the cargo by draft animals along the shallow shoreline to the mill at Kamalo. (Kakahai‘a NWR, FWS)

By 1884, the Kamalo Plantation was doing well enough to engage in the exportation of refined sugar to the United States, helping lay the foundation for the sugar partnership between California and Hawaii that exists today as C&H Sugar. (Lynn Kananiu Daue)

In 1891 the plantation harvested its last crop. (Dorrance) Kamalo Sugar Plantation, under manager Patrick McLane and Agent, Frank Hustace, started in 1899; it was short-lived and closed in 1900 – signaling the end of sugarcane plantations on Molokai. (Dorrance)

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