Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hilo Bay and Breakwater

Legendary sources indicate that Hilo (‘to braid’) was, among other things, renowned for its rain and fertility. Hilo is likely to have been one of the first Polynesian settlement areas on Hawai‘i Island; oral history and local legend indicate that Polynesians first settled Hilo Harbor around 1100 AD.

Early settlers would have found a protected bay, surrounded by fertile lands for agriculture, and well watered by regular rainfall and natural springs. Natural waterways and wetlands were modified to create fishponds and planting areas.

Early accounts of Hilo Bay describe a long black sand beach stretching along present day Bay Front from the Wailuku River to the Wailoa River. Coconut Island is just east of the Wailoa River, and Reed’s Bay and Kūhiō Bay are just east of Coconut Island.

“The romantic might easily imagine Hilo to be a very inviting location … on account of the beauty, grandeur, and wonders of nature, which are there so interesting. … even by the sober, pious mind, to be now a desirable residence, because the wonders of nature and the wonders of grace are there united and so distinguished.” (Hiram Bingham)

Hilo was a Royal Center for many of the early chiefs.

When Captain George Vancouver arrived at Hilo Bay in 1794, Kamehameha was living at Waiākea and preparing his fleet of war canoes for his coming conquest of the other Hawaiian Islands, which ultimately led to the consolidation of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Vancouver’s crew surveyed Hilo as a potential anchorage, but found the surf too problematic to effect a landing and declared the bay only marginally sufficient for anchorage.

Missionary William Ellis arrived in Hilo Harbor in 1823, when the main settlement there was called Waiākea. Christian missionaries continued to come to Hilo Harbor until the mid-19th Century. The missionaries were followed by trade ships and whalers that used the Hilo Harbor port.

Hilo Bay is partially protected by a reef located in 10 to 20 feet of water (later named Blonde Reef after Lord Byron’s vessel, HMS Blonde, which successfully anchored there in 1825.) (The Blonde had carried the bodies of Liholiho (who was born in Hilo) and Kamāmalu back from London, where they died from measles during a visit there.)

Between 1824 and 1848 Hilo became a significant center for foreign activities, primarily as a result of the establishment of religious mission stations by American missionaries.

By 1874, Hilo ranked as the second largest population center in the islands, and within a few years shortly thereafter Hilo with its fertile uplands, plentiful water supply, and good port became a major center for sugarcane production and export.

Passengers and cargo landed at Hilo in the surf along the beach until about 1863, when a wharf was constructed at the base of present day Waiānuenue Street.

At one time both cargo and passengers were hoisted in a basket-like sling out to a waiting row boat which took the goods or passengers to the waiting ship. If the weather was rough, landing took place on the beach.

The wooden wharf was replaced by an iron pile wharf in 1865, and was extended between 1889 and 1890. Raw sugar was brought by inter-island steamships from the Hāmākua coast to Hilo before being shipped overseas.

The northern side of the bay became a focal point for the community’s trade and commerce. During this time, Hilo was ranked as the third most frequented port for whaling vessels in need of repair and re-provisioning.

With its foundations in the missionary Hilo Boarding School, commercial sugarcane cultivation and sugar production became the central economic focus for the Hilo area lasting until the 1970s.

The Waiākea Mill Company, in operation between 1879 and 1948, with thousands of acres of cultivated fields, established its mill operation at Wailoa Pond.

The Reciprocity Treaty (1876) between the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the US, along with the increase in commerce associated with the growing sugar industry and improvements in transportation in the Hilo area, prompted the decision that a harbor facility should be built on the calmer Waiākea side of Hilo Harbor. The government wharf at Waiākea was constructed at Kalauokukui Point between 1897 and 1899, and was upgraded in 1902.

Hilo Bay was still unprotected from high winds and storm surges that caused ships to break loose from their moorings and risk grounding.

In the late 19th century, the growing sugar industry in East Hawai’i demanded a better and more protected port, and a breakwater was constructed on Blonde Reef to shield ships from rough waters as they entered Hilo Harbor.

In 1908, construction began on a breakwater along the shallow reef, beginning at the shoreline east of Kūhīo Bay. The breakwater was completed in 1929 and extended roughly halfway across the bay. In 1912, contracts were awarded to construct Kūhiō Wharf, to dredge the approach to the new wharf, and to lay railroad track into the new harbor facility.

Work was completed at Kūhiō Wharf, Pier 1 in 1916. Pier 1 was a 1,400-foot long by 150-foot wide wharf with a wooden storage shed. By 1917, a mechanical conveyor for bagged sugar with derricks for loading ships, was constructed.

In 1923, Pier 2 was constructed just west of Pier 1. Additional dredging was conducted in Kūhiō Bay as part of the construction. By 1927, Pier 3 was added on the west side of Pier 2.

Between 1927 and 1928, the approach to Pier 3 was dredged and the pier was widened. In 1929, the 10,080-foot long rubble mound breakwater was completed.

Contrary to urban legend, the Hilo breakwater was built to dissipate general wave energy and reduce wave action in the protected bay, providing calm water within the bay and protection for mooring and operating in the bay; it was not built as a tsunami protection barrier for Hilo.

In fact, in 1946, Hilo was struck by a tsunami generated by an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands; it was struck again in 1960 by a tsunami generated by the great Chilean earthquake – both tsunami overtopped the breakwater and Hilo sustained significant damage, including to the breakwater.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Before the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, stationed at Schofield Barracks on Oʻahu (formed in 1941,) for a while during the time of World War I (1913 – 1918) Hawaiʻi had the Army’s 25th Infantry Regiment.

The Division is known as the “Tropic Lightning;” the Regiment was known as the “Buffalo Soldiers.”

In 1866, Congress created six segregated regiments which were soon consolidated into four black regiments. They were the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry.

“The officers say that the negroes make good soldiers and fight like fiends … the Indians call them ‘buffalo soldiers’ because their woolly heads are so much like the matted cushion that is between the horns of the buffalo.” (Roe, Army Letters from an Officer’s Wife, 1871-1888)

Although African Americans have fought in America’s wars since the Revolution, they weren’t allowed to enlist in the Regular Army until after the Civil War (and, from July 28, 1866 – February 3, 1946, America’s Army was segregated.)

While the Buffalo Soldiers fought in the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars at the turn of the century, they did not see combat in World War I (1914 – 1918.)

At the time, the National Park Service did not exist, however a few National parks had been created: Yellowstone (1872,) Sequoia (1890,) Yosemite (1890,) Mount Rainier (1899,) Crater Lake, 1902,) Wind Cave, (1903,) Mesa Verde (1906,) Glacier (101) and Rocky Mountain (1910.)

Rather than fight, the Buffalo Soldiers and other Army regiments were assigned to duties at some National Parks.

The US Army served as the official administrator of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks between 1891 and 1913; Buffalo Soldiers, like their white counterparts in US Army regiments, were among the first Park Rangers, and created a model for park management as we know it today.  (NPS)

In addition to bringing law and order to the mountain wilderness, their accomplishments included the completion of the first usable road into Giant Forest and the first trail to the top of Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the contiguous United States) in Sequoia National Park in 1903 …

… and the building of an arboretum in Yosemite National Park near the south fork of the Merced River in 1904. One scholar considered the latter area to contain the first marked nature trail in the national park system.  (NPS)

Starting in 1906, George Lycurgus (operator of the Volcano House) and newspaperman Lorrin Andrews Thurston were working to have the Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes area made into a National Park.  In 1912, geologist Thomas Augustus Jaggar arrived to investigate and joined their effort.

Jaggar had tried to lead several expeditions to the top of Mauna Loa in 1914 but was unsuccessful due to the elevation (13,678 feet) and the harsh conditions: rough lava, violent winds, noxious fumes, shifting weather, extreme temperatures and a lack of shelter, water and food.  (Takara)

About 800 Buffalo Soldiers from the 25th Regiment had been assigned to garrison duty in Hawaiʻi at Schofield Barracks.  Given their experience in Parks on the continent, some of the soldiers were called upon to assist at the volcanoes on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

In September 1915, Jaggar, Thurston and a US Army representative conducted a survey to determine a route for a trail up Mauna Loa.

The following month, a local paper noted, “Soldiers Building Mountain Trail.  Negro soldiers of the Twenty-fifth Infantry to the number of 150 are at work constructing a trail from near the Volcano House to the summit of Mauna Loa. It is estimated that three or four weeks will be devoted to this work. The soldiers are doing the work as a part of their vacation exercises.”  (Maui News, October 29, 1915)

The Buffalo Soldiers built the 18-mile trail to the summit of Mauna Loa.

On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th National Park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park.  At first, the park consisted of only the summits of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi and Haleakalā on Maui.

Eventually, Kilauea Caldera was added to the park, followed by the forests of Mauna Loa, the Kaʻū Desert, the rain forest of Olaʻa and the Kalapana archaeological area of the Puna/Kaʻū Historic District.

The National Park Service, within the federal Department of Interior, was created on August 25, 1916 by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act.

The experience of working with the Army did not end with the construction of the Mauna Loa Trail, and Thurston’s energy did not seem to wane. He continued to promote the Kīlauea area to the public and the military who he thought could benefit from, and would be a benefit to Kīlauea.  (NPS)

In 1916, Thurston, recognizing the long tradition of soldiers and sailors who had visited the area, proposed the establishment of a military camp at Kīlauea. Thurston promoted his idea and was able to raise enough funds through public subscription for the construction of buildings and other improvements.  By the fall of 1916 the first group of soldiers arrived at Kīlauea Military Camp (KMC.)  (NPS)

Later, in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built research offices, hiking trails and laid the foundations for much of the infrastructure and roads within the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes and other parks across the country.

On, July 1, 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Oh, one more thing … another lasting legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers to the National Parks is the Ranger Hat (popularly known as the Smokey the Bear Hat) – with it the Montana Peak (or pinch) at the top of the hat; a recrease of the Stetson hat to better shed water when it rains.

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‘Black George’

The history of the Black presence in Hawaiʻi goes back to the sailors; Blacks were crewmembers of Captain Cook’s second and third Pacific voyages.

There is a “high likelihood” for the presence of Blacks on many of the early ships that crossed the Pacific.  Free and unfree Blacks had been serving onboard these ships in a variety of capacities.

Between about 1820 and 1880 hundreds of whaling ships annually pulled into (primarily) Honolulu and Lāhainā, and a significant number of Blacks stayed behind in the islands and became permanent residents where they worked as cooks, barbers, tailors, sailors on interisland vessels and members of musical groups.

Work on sugar plantations was considered too close to slavery that Blacks were not considered for contract labor by the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Later, however, a significant influx of Blacks to Hawaiʻi involved the migration of the first Portuguese and Puerto Rican contract laborers to work on the sugar plantations (a significant portion of these were of African ancestry.)

One of the earliest blacks in Honolulu, who first arrived in Hawaii in 1810 was Anthony Allen, from Schenectady, New York.  He was keeper of a saloon, boarding house and practiced medicine (he may have been Waikīkī’s first hotel operator on his land near the intersection of King and Punahou.)

Another of the early African Americans to Hawaiʻi was George Washington Hyatt.

He was known as “Black George.”

Born in 1815 in Petersburg, Virginia, Hyatt was a former slave who had escaped and made his way to Hawaiʻi. He had been a member of the original King’s Band under Oliver (the original leader of the King’s Band, also an African-American,) playing both the flute and the clarinet.

Four Blacks formed a royal brass band for Kamehameha in 1834, and Hyatt, organized a larger band in 1845.

Not only did Hyatt play in the band, in 1845 he became the Bandmaster.

A “contract” dated May 26, 1845 states: Know all men by these presents, that we the undersigned do agree to appoint and we do hereby appoint George Hyatt to be leader of the Band, and Charles Johnson to be Captain. …

For our services we are each to be paid not to exceed $3 for a whole day, $2 for half a day and $1 for anytime less than half a day.  (Bandy)

Hyatt remained in Honolulu following his three-year tenure as Bandmaster and lived in Hawai’i for the final 40 years of his life until his death at Queen’s Hospital on March 13, 1870 at the age of 65.  (Bandy)

He was known to many within local society: “Everybody knew him as ‘Black George’ twenty years ago, and he was a general favorite, not only because he played on the flute and clarinet at social gatherings, but because of his amiability.”  (Bandy)

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Krakatau

Krakatau (Krakatoa) was a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra in Indonesia.  In April 1883, signs of unusual volcanic activity were observed; then a series of volcanic explosions started about mid-day, with the main eruption (and island destruction) occurring about 10 am local time August 27.

The final explosion was audible nearly 2,000-miles away and it produced an infrasonic pressure pulse that was recorded by barographs around the world.

The northern two-thirds of the island collapsed beneath the sea, generating a series of devastating pyroclastic flows and immense tsunamis that ravaged adjacent coastlines.

So that’s in Indonesia, how does that relate to Hawaiʻi?

Rev. Sereno Bishop, a missionary in Hawaiʻi, was the first to provide detailed observations of a phenomenon not previously reported – he noted his observation on September 5, 1883.

“Permit me to call special attention to the very peculiar corona or halo extending from 20° to 30° from the sun, which has been visible every day with us, and all day, of whitish haze with pinkish tint, shading oft’ into lilac or purple against the blue. I have seen no notice of this corona observed elsewhere. It is hardly a conspicuous object.”  (Sereno Bishop)

“The long continuance and extending diffusion of this haze or dry fog seems to justify expectation that it may become visible around the globe, and give ample opportunity for investigation.”  (Sereno Bishop)

“Although not seen in San Francisco until November 23, it was brilliant in Santa Barbara on October 14.  A rapid upper current seems to have borne it in a belt within the tropics in a very few days, leaving a slow diffusion to extend it to the temperate zone. Australia is perhaps an example of this.”  (Sereno Bishop)

The whole world was agog with wonder and inquiry as to the cause of the phenomena. There were the usual suggestions of the approaching end of the world and endless speculations, but no theory which would hold water …

… until from far Hawaii, over the signature of Sereno E. Bishop, appeared an article, illustrated with drawings demonstrating the argument, propounding an explanation which was eventually unanimously accepted by the scientific world as correct.  (Biography of Sereno E. Bishop)

Sereno Bishop was born at Kaʻawaloa on February 7, 1827; he was son of Rev. Artemas and Elizabeth Bishop (part of the 2nd Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi (1823) and first stationed at Kailua, on the Big Island.)  His mother died at Kailua, the first death in the mission.

Sent to the continent at age 12 for education (he graduated from Amherst College in 1846 and Auburn Theological Seminary in 1851,) he married Cornelia A Session in 1852 and accepted a position of Seaman’s Chaplin in Lāhainā – he returned to Hawaiʻi in 1853.

After 10-years in Lāhainā, he moved to Hāna and later returned to Lāhainā and served from 1865 to 1877 as principal of Lahainaluna.  From there, he moved to Honolulu and became editor of “The Friend,” where he lived until his death, March 23, 1909.

But, back to the halo …

“Gigantic as were these effects, they were surpassed in strangeness and extent, by those conspicuous effects which were left upon the earth’s atmosphere causing remarkable sunset and sunrise glows which have set the world wondering.”

It is now known that this halo is caused by diffraction of sunlight around the very small spherical sulphuric acid droplets.

Since this event, it has generally been known as “Bishop’s Ring,” in honor of its first discoverer.  It is typically observed after large volcanic eruptions.

But the importance of Bishop’s observations was not just related to rings around the sun; his observations suggested the existence of the ‘Jet Stream’ (this used to be referred to as the ‘Krakatoa Easterlies.’)

“It now seems probable that the enormous projections of gaseous and other matter from Krakatoa (Krakatau) have been borne by the upper currents and diffused throughout a belt of half the earth’s circumference, and not improbably, as careful observation may yet establish, even entirely around the globe.”  (Sereno Bishop)

“This almost incredible statement implies a terrific undulation of the atmosphere, such as could only be produced by a vast and continuous jet of gas projected upwards beyond the limits of the atmosphere, and driving the air in vast waves in every direction.”

“So abnormal and gigantic a force may well have propagated not only its tidal waves as it did across the Pacific, but it may also have transmitted its portentous and lurid vapours to belt the globe with flaming skies.”   (Sereno Bishop)

In 1896 his alma mater, Amherst College, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, in recognition of his literary and scientific attainments.

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Bishop's Ring around the sun due to volcanic ash of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano on Iceland-2010
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27th May 1883: Clouds pouring from the volcano on Krakatoa (aka Krakatau or Rakata) in south western Indonesia during the early stages of the eruption which eventually destroyed most of the island. Royal Society Report on Krakatoa Eruption - pub. 1888 Lithograph - Parker & Coward (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
27th May 1883: Clouds pouring from the volcano on Krakatoa (aka Krakatau or Rakata) in south western Indonesia during the early stages of the eruption which eventually destroyed most of the island. Royal Society Report on Krakatoa Eruption – pub. 1888 Lithograph – Parker & Coward (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Rev. Sereno Edwards Bishop, D. D. (1827-1909). Photograph taken in 1902
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by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Try And Leave This World A Little Better Than You Found It

The Boy Scout movement was founded in England by Sir Robert Baden-Powell in 1908. As a military officer, he had noticed that soldiers in his regiment, while well educated in the classroom sense, were ill prepared for the field: “Tell one of them to ride out alone with a message on a dark night and ten to one he would lose his way.”

While stationed in India, he discovered that his men did not know basic first aid or the elementary means of survival in the outdoors. Baden-Powell realized he needed to teach his men many frontier skills, so he wrote a small handbook called Aids to Scouting, which emphasized resourcefulness, adaptability and the qualities of leadership that frontier conditions demanded.

Baden-Powell wanted to develop men who were more at ease in the world. “I wanted them to have courage, from confidence in themselves and from a sense of duty; I wanted them to have knowledge of how to cook their own grub; in short, I wanted each man to be an efficient all-round reliable individual.”

In August 1907, he gathered about 20 boys and took them to Brownsea Island in a sheltered bay off England’s southern coast. They set up a makeshift camp that would be their home for the next 12 days.

The next year, Baden-Powell published his book Scouting for Boys, and Scouting continued to grow. That same year, more than 10,000 Boy Scouts attended a rally held at the Crystal Palace; two years later, membership in Boy Scouts had tripled.

Because of growing demand for the scouting experience by younger boys, in 1914, Baden-Powell began implementing a program for them that was based on Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. The Wolf Cub program began in 1916, and since that time, Wolf Cubbing has spread to other European countries with very little change.

A strong influence from Kipling’s Jungle Book remains today. The terms “Law of the Pack,” “Akela,” “Wolf Cub,” “grand howl,” “den” and “pack” all come from the Jungle Book. At the same time, the Gold and Silver Arrow Points, Webelos emblem and Arrow of Light emblem are taken from American Indian heritage.

The seeds of Scouting were growing in the United States. On a farm in Connecticut, a naturalist and author named Ernest Thompson Seton was organizing a group of boys called the Woodcraft Indians; and Daniel Carter Beard, an artist and writer, organized the Sons of Daniel Boone.

But first, an American businessman had to get lost in the fog in England. Chicago businessman and publisher William D. Boyce was groping his way through the fog when a boy appeared and offered to take him to his destination. When they arrived, Boyce tried to tip the boy, but the boy refused and courteously explained that he was a Scout and could not accept payment for a Good Turn.

Intrigued, the publisher questioned the boy and learned more about Scouting. He visited with Baden-Powell as well, and became captured by the idea of Scouting. When Boyce boarded the transatlantic steamer for home, he had a suitcase filled with information and ideas.  On February 8, 1910, Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America.

That same year, a Hawaiʻi artist and outdoorsman by the name of David Howard Hitchcock discovered Scouting in California, and brought it home to Hawaiʻi.

“The boy scout movement, so popular in England, and which aims to develop patriotism, discipline, courage, thrift, helpfulness and cheerfulness in boys is described by Francis Buzzell in an illustrated article in the August Popular Mechanics.”

“He says: “The general organization, and the symbolism of the scout movement are essentially military, but the strict military discipline, and especially the routine of incessant military drill, are almost entirely lacking.”

“General Baden-Powell, chief scout of all the boys In the British Empire, appoints scout commissioners to organize branches, Inspect scout corps, and help scout masters.”  (Hawaiian Star, July 27, 1910)

“The ‘Boy Scout’ movement has spread to Hawaii. … The movement was founded in America by Ernest Thompson Seton, but did not attract much attention until the foundation of a similar organization in England by Sir Robert SS Baden-Powell, the hero of Mafeking. General Powell’s organization spread like wildfire and over 400,000 boys are enrolled in England.”

“The object of the movement, as defined by Sir Robert, “is to seize the boy’s character in its red-hot stage of enthusiasm and to weld it into the right shape and encourage and develop its individuality, so that the boy may become a good man and a valuable citizen for our country.”  (Hawaiian Star, September 3, 1910)

A newspaper article noted the first meeting: “The Boy Scout movement in Honolulu will be started tonight at the meeting at the K. of P. (Knights of Pythias) Hall. All the parents in the city are invited to hear Colonel Bullard of the regular army tell about the boy scouts of America at eight o’clock in the K. of P. Hall.”  (Honolulu Star, September 20, 1910)

Within months of returning home, Hitchcock, a Punahou School graduate, set up Hawaii’s first local troop – Scout Troop 1, the famed Rainbow Patrol (because of the wide range of nationalities represented in its membership) sponsored by Punahou and still in existence today.

The first troop included Hitchcock’s sons, Harvey (1917) and Dickson (1920) Hitchcock, Dudley Pratt (1918,) Walter (1919) and Fred (1920) Vetlesen, Ronald von Holt (1917,) Fred Waterhouse (1918,) Sam Wilder III (1917) and Donald Young (1918.)

According to Hitchcock:  “About 1910 I went to California and saw boys in pairs and in small groups camping out as Boy Scouts but with no such organization back of them as now exists.”

“Visiting such men as could be found who were interested, I obtained all the data then available with a series of photographs from the East illustrating (Boy Scout) activities and with these came back to Honolulu where I proceeded to organize a troop which at first consisted of one patrol.”

In later years the patrol was renamed Troop 1 to codify its status as Hawaiʻi’s original Boy Scout troop; it includes not only the students of Punahou, but also boys attending schools located all over the island of Oahu.

Hawaiʻi has a royal link to Boy Scouts.  In 1913, Queen Lili‘uokalani presented a silk Hawaiian flag with her royal crest “Onipaa” (Lit., fixed movement – steadfast, established, firm, resolute, determined)  and the lettering in gold “The Queen’s Own Troop,” which she had sewn herself.  That flag was recently donated to the Bishop Museum.

“This flag symbolizes the Queen’s recognition of Scouting as a positive and productive outlet to encourage young men and women to become leaders for life and contributing citizens who give back to their community,” Rick Burr, executive director of the Aloha Council said.  (Bishop Museum)

At the time of the Queen’s death, “Roger Burnham, Scout commissioner, sent a letter to Colonel CP Iaukea, stating that inasmuch as the Queen had given the Boy Scouts a flag they wanted to do what they could to help in the funeral exercises.”

“Colonel Iaukea accepted their offer and the Scouts will have a place assigned them in the funeral procession. The Scouts will doubtless also be used as messengers throughout the week.”  (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 13, 1917)

Perhaps the most unique aspect of Scouting is that – unlike many other activities –it doesn’t focus on competition – it focuses on achievement. Something everyone experiences in Scouting and strives for in their day to day lives.

To not only Be Prepared – but to do a good turn every day. To be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent – as well as to do one’s duty to God and country.

Because of this early community support Scouting was quickly organized and grew. And because of those early community leaders Scouting established a deeply rooted heritage in Hawaiʻi.

Scouting has grown in the United States from 2,000 Boy Scouts and leaders in 1910 to millions strong today. From a program for Boy Scouts only, it has spread into a program including Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, Webelos Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, and Venturers.

The Aloha Council is flourishing geographically as well – encompassing not only Hawaii, but Guam, American Samoa, Marianas, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. In all – the Aloha Council covers the largest geographical area in the world – over 8,000,000-square miles on both sides of the equator and date line.

After Baden-Powell’s death in 1941, a letter was found in his desk that he had written to all Scouts. It included this passage: “Try and leave this world a little better than you found it.”  (Lots of information here from Troop 1 and Aloha Council.)

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