General | Page 128 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 11, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sport of Kings, the King of Sports

Most horse races last about two minutes.

An average racehorse’s stride length is 20-21 feet long, while an elite racehorse may have a stride length of 24 feet. Racehorses will take up to 150 strides per minute and their stride frequency is synchronized with breathing frequency. (Kansas State University)

The heart is one of the horse’s strengths in racing. The size of a volleyball, or basketball in elite horses, the average horse’s heart weighs approximately 10 pounds. An elite racehorse’s heart may weigh more than 20 pounds and pump more than 75 gallons of blood per minute during a race. (Kansas State University)

It’s not clear when the first horse race took place – some suggest racing dates back to 4500 BC. On the continent, following the lead from our friends in the UK, horse racing dates back to 1665, with the establishment of the Newmarket course in Salisbury Plains section of the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York.

By the turn of the last century, horse racing surpassed all other spectator sports in popularity. And it grew, as noted in the headline of the April 30, 1953 New York Times, “Racing Now Virtual King of Sports, Topping Baseball in Gate Appeal; Horse Racing Tops Baseball At Gate”.

Horse racing, which used to be called the sport of kings, was threatening to become the king of sports. (NY Times, 1953) It is suggested it is nicknamed the ‘Sport of Kings’ because the original patrons of the sport in Europe were members of monarchies, or were closely related to those who were.

So, what about horse racing in the Islands? It had a kingly start here, as well.

June 21, 1803 marked an important day in Hawaiʻi horse history when the Lelia Byrd, an American ship under Captain William Shaler, arrived at Kealakekua Bay with two mares and a stallion on board – they were gifts for King Kamehameha I.

The captain left one of the mares with John Young (a trusted advisor of the King, who begged for one of the animals) then left for Lāhainā, Maui to give the mare and stallion to Kamehameha.

It’s not clear when the first horse race occurred in Hawaiʻi. An early account of a race occurred in the Polynesian on March 6, 1858, “… a horse race came off on the Waikiki race ground between Mr. MM Webster’s bay horse “Eclipse” and Mr. Kaikainahaole’s sorrel horse name unknown, for $350 aside. The outside betting was very spirited … (t)he crowd of spectators of all degrees and classes could not have been short of a thousand”. (The judges declared a “no race” and all bets were off.)

Later, King Kamehameha V, held a celebration on his birthday, December 11, 1871, to honor Kamehameha I; “a public celebration was held with horse-riding and other sports.” The date later moved to June 11, because of the better weather, and celebrated chiefly by horse races in Kapiʻolani Park, but the races eventually gave way to today’s parades of floats and pāʻū riders (that date became Kamehameha Day.)

Later, King Kalākaua dedicated Kapiʻolani Park to allow “families, children, and quiet people” to find “refreshment and recreation” in the “kindly influences of nature,” and to be a “place of innocent refreshment.”

An important part of the initial park was its oval horse race track. King Kalākaua reportedly liked gambling on horse racing and in 1872 he helped form The Hawaiian Jockey Club (this organized the sport according to the rules that governed races elsewhere.) (Kapiʻolani Park’s racetrack closed in 1926.)

This wasn’t Hawaiʻi’s only horse race track.

In the late-1800s and early-1900s there was a horse racing track (Koko O Na Moku Horse Racing Track) at Kāʻanapali Beach that stretched from the present day Kāʻanapali Beach Hotel to the present day Westin Maui Resort. Races, there, ended in 1918.

The Maui County Fair & Horse Racing Association developed the old permanent Fairgrounds on Puʻunene Avenue in Kahului; the Fairgrounds included a horse-racing track. The first County Fair was held in 1918.

In 1939, the Oʻahu Jockey Club built the Kailua Race Track, on the Windward side. In a day and age when Seabiscuit and War Admiral were stealing Mainland sports headlines, more than 6,000 fans turned out for 10 races at the brand new Kailua Race Track. (Hogue, MidWeek) Races there reportedly continued to 1952.

Colonel Zephaniah Spalding built a race track at Waipouli on Kauaʻi in about 1880. His polo playing son, James Spalding, built the polo field inside the race track about 1915. A June 1920 The Garden Island noted: “HORSE PLAY – Saturday, July 3rd will be a big day at Waipouli race track. The morning will be devoted to horse races, of which a splendid program has been arranged. In the afternoon there will be a polo game between the Reds and the Blues.”

Hilo had a track at the Hoʻolulu Park; it was started in 1900 as a horse track, with a circular half-mile loop, and used for other events such as baseball. A grandstand was built in 1925 and nighttime baseball games started in 1928. (Narimatsu) After the 1946 tsunami, it was used as an evacuation center where folks impacted by the tsunami who were tended by the Red Cross workers.

Later, the Honolulu Record noted (June 19, 1958,) “The first horse races in several years were held at the Hoolulu Park race track on Kamehameha Day. The Hawaii Paniola Club sponsored the program. A crowd of some 1,600 fans saw the 19 races run off. Proceeds from the show went to the Big Isle chapter of the Hawaii Cancer Fund.”

Finally, we cannot overlook the track and rodeo facility at Parker Ranch in Waimea on the Big Island. Parker was “importing horses from the finest Mainland and English racing lines to develop the thoroughbred breed in Hawaii … as a result, the thoroughbreds racing today in Hawaii are of the same top blood lines as the prize horses in the United States and England.”

The ranch opened its race track in about 1947; over the years, races consisted of a series of races (relays, quarter mile grade, three-eighths and three-quarter mile thoroughbred.)

Every 4th of July and Labor Day, Parker Ranch continues to host its races and rodeo for thousands of participants, as well as other events throughout the year.

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Kailua-Horse_Racing-(honolulumagazine)-Sept1945

Kahului-UH_Manoa-USGS-(4785)-1965-portion_noting-Kahului_Track

Wailua-UH-Manoa-USGS-(3148)-1950-area of Waipouli Track is noted

Waikik-(USGS-UH-Manoa)-(2420)-1952-(portion-you_can_still_see_alignment_of_the_track)

Waikik-(USGS-UH-Manoa)-(2420)-1952-(portion-you_can_still_see_alignment_of_the_race_track)

Waipouli_Race_Track_and_Polo_Field-Program-1924

Parker Ranch-Walter Stevens (out front)grabs the baton from partner, Mark Yamaguchi-(WaimeaGazette)-1997

Kapiolani-Waikiki-Kaneloa-Kapiolani_Park-Monsarrat-Reg1079 (1883)

Kapiolani-People in the stands at a horse race-(waikikivisitor-com)

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Kapiolani-Man riding a bike on the Kapi‘olani race track-(waikikivisitor-com)

Kapiolani-Horse races were a popular activity at Kapi‘olani Park-(waikikivisitor-com)

Kapiolani_Park_Association-Stock_Certificate-(kapiolani_park-a_history)

Kahului_Fairgrounds-Track-Akira Ishikawa-jockey-(star-bulletin)

Kahului_Fairgrounds-program-(wolfgangsvault)

Kaanapali's Koko O Na Moku Horse Racing Track (closed in 1918)

Hoolulu-Hilo-(USGS-UH_Manoa)-(1675)-1954-(portion_noting_Hoolulu_Track)

May 9, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

… and a Bottle of Rum

Rum is a beverage that seems to have had its origins on the 17th century Caribbean sugarcane plantations and by the 18th century its popularity had spread throughout world.

Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane byproducts such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation; it is then usually aged in oak barrels.

The origin of the word “rum” is generally unclear. In an 1824 essay about the word’s origin, Samuel Morewood suggested the word ‘rum’ might be from the British slang term for “the best”, as in “having a rum time.”

“As spirits, extracted from molasses, could not well be ranked under the name whiskey, brandy, or arrack, it would be called rum, to denote its excellence or superior quality.” (Samuel Morewood, 1824)

Captain James Cook and the crews of the HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery first made landfall on Kauaʻi in 1778. It is believed that in the holds of both ships were barrels of rum.

According to Kamakau, “The first taste that Kamehameha and his people had of rum was at Kailua in 1791 or perhaps a little earlier, brought in by Captain Maxwell. Kamehameha went out to the ship with (John) Young and (Isaac) Davis when it was sighted off Keāhole Point and there they all drank rum. …. Then nothing would do but Ka-lani-moku must get some of this sparkling water, and he was the first chief to buy rum.”

Shortly thereafter, while in Waikīkī, after having tasted the “dancing water,” Kamehameha I gained the apparent honor of having spread the making of rum from Oʻahu to Hawaiʻi island. (Kanahele)

After he saw a foreigner make rum in Honolulu, he set up his own still. Spurred by his own appetite for rum, he soon made rum drinking common among chiefs and chiefesses as well as commoners. (Kanahele)

Many of the subsequent royalty and chiefs also drank alcoholic beverages (several overindulged.)

Within a decade or so, Island residents were producing liquor on a commercial basis. “It was while Kamehameha was on Oahu that rum was first distilled in the Hawaiian group,” wrote Kamakau.

“In 1809 rum was being distilled by the well-known foreigner, Oliver Holmes, at Kewalo, and later he and David Laho-loa distilled rum at Makaho.” Several small distilleries were in operation by the 1820s.

Although both Hawaiians and foreign residents had been drinking hard liquor – either bought from visiting ships or distilled locally – for many years, no mention of bars or saloons occurs in the historical record.

The early missionaries were not teetotalers – their departure from Boston Harbor was delayed because “on the passengers examining their stores, they found a short supply of that article at day light Capt. Blanchard went up to Boston at 11 am (October 24, 1819). Captain Blanchard returned from town with a supply of bread & spirits for the missionaries.” (James Hunnewell Log)

“(I)t was ascertained that our soft bread and crackers and all the ardent spirits were left behind. Consequently, a boat was sent off for Boston that night, which did not return until the next day towards night.” (Lucia Ruggles Holman Journal)

Once they arrived, Sybil Bingham noted in her diary, “(Anthony Allen) set upon the table decanters and glasses with wine and brandy to refresh us”. They ended dinner “with wine and melons”. (June 24, 1820, Sybil Bingham)

By November 1822, Honolulu had seventeen grog shops operated by foreigners. Drinking places were one of the earliest types of retail business established in the Islands.

Whalers – primarily American vessels – began arriving in Hawai’i in the early 19th century; they were hunting whales primarily for the whale oil for heating, lamps and in industrial machinery; they usually stopped as they crossed the Pacific twice a year to restock provisions, replenish their crews and transship their whale oil cargoes.

For Hawaiian ports, especially Honolulu and Lāhaina, the whaling fleet was the crux of the economy for 20-years or more. More than 100-ships stopped in Hawaiian ports in 1824. Over the next two decades, the Pacific whaling fleet nearly quadrupled in size and in the record year of 1846, 736-whaling ships arrived in Hawai’i.

With these ships and sailors came more rum; it became one of the sought-after items the Hawaiians traded for with the Westerners.

“For some years after the arrival of missionaries at the islands it was not uncommon in going to the enclosure of the king, or some other place of resort, to find after a previous night’s revelry, exhausted cases of ardent spirits standing exposed and the emptied bottles strewn about in confusion amidst the disgusting bodies of men, women and children lying promiscuously in the deep sleep of drunkenness.” (Dibble)

Fort Kekuanohu along Honolulu Harbor served as a jail for breaches of etiquette by sailors on liberty – disorderly sailors could find themselves lodged in the Fort pending redemption at $30 a head.

In 1874, a legislative act was passed that allowed distillation of rum on sugar plantations. According to a report in ‘The Friend,’ “the only planter in the Legislature voted three times against the passage of the Act.”

The first export of Hawaiian rum was made on May 15, 1875 – the product of Heʻeia Plantation.

The post WW II years saw new rum concoctions. Reportedly, Harry Yee invented the Blue Hawaii cocktail and dropped in a tiny Japanese parasol and Vic Bergeron created the Mai Tai and opened Trader Vic’s, America’s first theme restaurant that featured the art, decor and food of Polynesia.

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Rum Ration

RUM RATION ABOARD HMS KING GEORGE V, 1940 (A 1777) Below deck, a line of seamen queue to collect the daily rum ration for their mess. Each man is holding a jug or bucket. The rum is being issued from a large barrel with ‘THE KING – GOD BLESS HIM’ on it. Royal Marines issue the rum with measuring jugs while a Royal Navy Petty Officer and Sub-Lieutenant observe. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205185139

Rum Ration

Victor_Bergeron-Trader_Vic’s_Invents_Mai_Tai-1944

Trader_Vic’s_Opens_First_Franchise_in_Hawaii-1950

Trader_Vic’s_Matchbook_cover

Trader_Vic’s_International_Marketplace

Trader_Vic’s_Denver

Trader Vic’s International Market Place

May 7, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

So Long, Snowbirds

Well, they are each not exactly snowbirds, but our winter residents are returning to their second homes.

The Kōlea, Pacific Golden Plover, is a migratory bird that comes to Hawai‘i from Siberia and Alaska at the end of August and leaves for its trip across the north Pacific in late-April to early-May.

The bird’s Hawaiian name, Kōlea, is a phonetic imitation of the sound of its flight call. One olelo no‘eau (Hawaiian proverb) states ‘Ai no ke kolea a momona hoi i Kahiki!’ (The Kōlea eats until he is fat, and then returns to the land from which he came.)

Unlike many birds capable of trans-oceanic migrations, Kōlea can neither soar nor glide; and, they can’t swim.

When Kōlea fly between Hawai‘i and Alaska, they will continuously beat their wings twice per second for about fifty hours over some 2,500 miles of open ocean—one of the most grueling non-stop migrations in the avian world.

Kōlea spend each summer on the treeless tundra of western Alaska and Siberia; there, they’ll breed and incubate a clutch of eggs—Kōlea chicks are left largely on their own once they’re born.

Chicks can fly at three weeks, though not yet as far as Hawaii; when adult Kōlea lift off for the Islands in late August, they leave the young behind to follow some weeks later.

Scientists aren’t certain how the chicks find Hawai‘i. By October the juveniles arrive on our shores.

Kōlea return to and vigorously defend the same spot in their summer and winter grounds, an extreme example of what ornithologists call “site faithfulness.”

During late winter and spring, the Kōlea eat voraciously, nearly doubling their body weight to make the demanding flight north.

Another seasonal visitor is the Koholā, the Humpback Whale (part of the North Pacific stock – whales in the North Pacific also winter in western Mexico and southern Japan.)

From mid-December through mid-May the Koholā make their home in the waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands.

The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary was created by Congress in 1992 to protect humpback whales and their habitat in Hawai‘i.

The sanctuary, which lies within the shallow (less than 600 feet), warm waters surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands, constitutes one of the world’s most important humpback whale habitats.

While they were here, the humpback whales were involved in courtship rituals, mating, calving and nursing their young (gestation lasts about 11 months.)

Both male and female humpback whales vocalize, however only males produce the long, loud, complex “songs” for which the species is famous.

In the Pacific, humpbacks migrate seasonally from Alaska to Hawaii – they can complete the 3,000-mile trip in as few as 36 days.

Humpbacks continuously travel at approximately three to seven miles per hour with very few stops; they typically stay near the surface during migration.

The humpbacks don’t eat during their stay in the Hawaiian Islands. Hawai‘i doesn’t offer their food, krill and herring; they carry their summer food supply in their fat.

During the summer months, humpbacks spend the majority of their time feeding and building up fat stores (blubber) that they will live off of during the winter. Humpback feeding grounds are in cold, productive coastal waters.

Soon, the last of the Kōlea and Koholā will be gone; to return, again, in the fall.

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May 1, 2020 by Peter T Young 12 Comments

All Pau Reminder

I joined Facebook on January 24, 2009. Then, on September 30, 2011, I posted my first message.

In doing so, I made a commitment to post something every day and I also committed to do it for a year.

Because of my work in government, as Deputy Managing Director for Hawaiʻi County and Director of the State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), I have had the opportunity to see some places and deal with some issues that many others have not had the same opportunity.

So, I planned to share some insights and places with others. In addition to those, I also planned to share some of the recent stuff we learned while working on various planning and related consulting projects across the state.

So, there is a bunch of historical stuff, including images. As time went on, this matter of making meaningful posts turned into a daily research project.

My interest turned into a passion (or obsession, as Nelia says.) It consumed all of my “spare” time – weekdays, evenings and weekends.

I have learned so much in the last few years year about the place I live; it has been a great learning experience.

OK, here’s the deal.

My “one year” is long come and gone.

Some may not realize the time commitment to research and edit these historical posts – in addition to finding images and maps to help illustrate the message.

For the past several years, it has been like another job, or two.

To those who read and appreciate these posts, thank you.

What does that mean for the future?

I’m not sure.

But, as far as posts go, for now, this is it … All Pau.

This is a reminder that I have prepared and scheduled posts up to June 1, 2020 – that could be the last day.

Some have suggested I put these together into a book. However, rather than putting these into some traditional, bound, coffee-table paperwork, I see these posts as a new form for “books” (except I have had control over what is posted each day.)

I am working on getting the posts linked into an online map (actually, I have a version of that I have been working on, it’s pretty cool) and/or an App, so these people, places, times and events can also be seen on a map/aerial image, where they happened.

It may not be completed and up and running by June 1, but I have an agreement with a programmer to get it online as soon as possible.

Anyway, thank you, again; it has been a great eight years and a wonderful ride (a virtual “E” ticket.)

We are fortunate people living in a very special place. Let’s continue to work together to make Hawaiʻi a great place to live.

I will still keep active the website where the full posts – you may continue to see images and maps and the short summaries at: www.ImagesOfOldHawaii.com. The link to the online map will also be there.

But for now, at least on June 1, 2020, the daily historical posts will come to an end.

Thank you.

Peter.

… and a fun time was had by all.

April 28, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Totem Poles

At about age 15, George Vancouver joined the navy and spent seven years under Captain James Cook when Cook commanded the first European exploring expedition to visit the Hawaiian Islands, on Cook’s second (1772-74) and third (1776-80) voyages of discovery.

Later, captaining his own expedition and charged with exploring the Pacific region of the North American continent, Vancouver surveyed what we now know as British Columbia, including Vancouver Island (named after him.)

During those expeditions, Captain George Vancouver returned to Hawaiʻi three times, in 1792, 1793 and 1794. There, he completed the charting of the Islands begun by Cook and William Bligh.

He met with Kamehameha and exchanged gifts. When Kamehameha came aboard the ship, taking Vancouver’s hand, he “demanded, if we were sincerely his friends”, to which Vancouver answered in the affirmative.

Kamehameha then said “he understood we belonged to King George, and asked if he was likewise his friend. On receiving a satisfactory answer to this question, he declared the he was our firm good friend; and according to the custom of the country, in testimony of the sincerity of our declarations we saluted by touching noses.” (Vancouver, 1798)

In the exchange of gifts, after that, Kamehameha presented four feathered helmets and other items, Vancouver gave Kamehameha the remaining livestock on board, “five cows, two ewes and a ram.”

The farewell between the British and the Hawaiians was emotional, but both understood that Vancouver would be returning the following winter.

Just before Vancouver left Kawaihae on March 9, 1793, he gave Isaac Davis and John Young a letter testifying that “Tamaah Maah, with the generality of the Chiefs, and the whole of the lower order of People, have conducted themselves toward us with the strictest honest, civility and friendly attention.” (Speakman, HJH)

During these trips, Captain George Vancouver visited Maui; he first landed in Māʻalaea Bay on the Kihei shoreline.

Vancouver described the area surrounding Māʻalaea Bay (March, 1793:) “The appearance of this side of Mowee was scarcely less forbidding than that of its southern parts, which we had passed the preceding day.”

“The shores, however, were not so steep and rocky, and were mostly composed of a sandy beach; the land did not rise so very abruptly from the sea towards the mountains, nor was its surface so much broken with hills and deep chasms…”

“… yet the soil had little appearance of fertility, and no cultivation was to be seen. A few habitations were promiscuously scattered near the waterside, and the inhabitants who came off to us, like those seen the day before, had little to dispose of. “ (Vancouver)

Fast forward to the 1960s; the 100-room Maui Lu was the only resort on Maui’s south shore. It was built by Canadian James Gordon Gibson and named after his boat (which was named after his wife, Louise.)

Gibson (November 28, 1904 – July 17, 1986 – nicknamed the “Bull of the Woods”) was a lumberman, politician, seaman, hotelier and author. In the 1920s, he and his brothers ran the Gibson Lumber and Shingle Company.

He was born in a cabin in the Yukon; at the time, his father was looking for the elusive gold. “Cash was virtually unknown to my family at this time.” (Gibson)

Gibson left school at the age of 12; “when I left school I was told I was such a dog that someone would have to feed me for the rest of my life or I would surely starve to death. It was then I determined in my mind that I would never again be at the bottom.” (Gibson)

He went to work at hand-logging, shingle milling and commercial fishing on the coast of Vancouver Island. Eventually, he made millions in lumbering. (Calgary Herald)

Later, he visited Maui and built a home in Kihei – he called it Fort Vancouver.

“As the palms grew, so did the number of guests at Fort Vancouver, as we loved to share our sunny home with our friends from the West Coast.” (Gibson) (Friends from Canada were his frequent guests.)

Planning a guest house, he arranged for sufficient lumber (5,000 board feet) to be shipped from Vancouver to Maui. When it arrived, “to my astonishment, I found not the 5,000 board feet I had expected but 50,000.” (Gibson)

This was the beginning of the Maui Lu resort. Gibson “figured that we might as well build ten guest houses, which later became known as the Maui Lu cottages in tribute to Louise. Instead of plain sloped roofs, they were built with upswung gables and peaked Polynesian eaves to salute the many Japanese Americans in Maui.” (Gibson)

By 1967, the Maui Lu Hotel was becoming very popular and Gibson built four four-plexes, naming them the Quadras as a reminder of Captain George Vancouver’s meeting on Vancouver Island with sen͂or Quadra. (Gibson)

Reportedly at his resort, Gibson had a totem pole which he had arranged to fly out from Nootka Sound, Canada to Maui. At its base was an inscription written in concrete that claimed that it was the first totem pole to fly the Pacific.

Gibson built a memorial to Vancouver near Vancouver’s reported initial Maui landing site, beachside of the entrance to the Maui Lu. (Spokane Daily Chronicle, December 19, 1969)

“The monument is an ancient boarding cannon recovered off Vancouver Island, and a giant clam shell. It is guarded by two totem poles from Vancouver Island.” (Vancouver Sun, December 19, 1969)

The totem poles are no longer at the makai memorial; they were damaged in a storm and not repairable (they were stored under one of the buildings at the hotel.)

Hilton Grand Vacations took over the Maui Lu site for the Maui Bay Villas, with work on the first phase slated for completion in the first quarter of 2021.

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Sunrise at Mai Poina Oe Iau Beach (Forget Me Not Beach) in Kihei across from the Maui Lu, where totem poles brought from Vancouver Island mark the area of Captain George Vancouver’s mooring when he visited Maui in three sucessive years (1792-94). Kihei, Maui, Hawaii