Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Invasion of Waikiki

“From the Waikiki Inn to the Seaside Hotel the beach and all available space back of it was occupied by spectators. … There were hundreds of tourists hailing from the four corners of the earth and representatives of almost every race on the globe in the crowd.” (Hawaiian Gazette, February 25, 1913)

This was Hawaiʻi’s first pageant, part of the 1913 Mid-Winter Carnival, commemorating the conquering of Oʻahu by Hawaiʻi’s first King.

“Plunging across sunlit billows and riding swiftly upon the crest of the reef-combed rollers of Waikiki Bay yesterday, a fleet of war canoes brought the conquering army of Kamehameha the Great to Oahu, the first scene in the first historical pageant ever staged in the territory.” (Hawaiian Gazette, February 25, 1913)

“Kamehameha and his warriors were late landing. It was at first intended that the canoes bearing the brown soldiers should reach the beach between the Outrigger club grounds and the Moana hotel at o’clock, but one delay after another came up …”

“… the greatest of which was the tardy arrival of, the Pacific Mail steamer Mongolia, aboard of which were 134 passengers who had come all the way from San Francisco on purpose to witness the pageant.” (Star-Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

“In all there were in the flotilla about forty canoes, big and little, and as they paddled away in the gloom of the early morning each canoe was loaded to the guards.”

Palenapa, of the Honolulu police force, portrayed Kamehameha. Seventy Kamehameha Schools boys, a large delegation from the Kamehameha Aquatic club and several other organizations took part.

“Not a phase of the old conflict had been forgotten and as many of the features that made the flotilla of Kamehameha the Great unique had been placed aboard the canoes as could be got together in the short time allowed the manager of the pageant.”

“There were the tabu sticks, carried by the Puloulou, or custodian of the sacred things, there were the feathered tufts or the kahilis, sign of royalty, there: were the pauas or bows, and the puas or arrows, the deadly little poisoned darts”. (Star Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

“Probably over seven thousand people were at Waikiki to see the spectacle.”

“It is to be regretted that there were no grandstand accommodations and I am afraid that many or our visitors did not Vet a very good view of the picturesque ceremonies carried on. I hoe that if anything of the kind is attempted again, arrangements will be for more seating.” (Chillingworth, Star-Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

“All credit to John H. Wise, chairman of the regatta committee, and his lieutenants for making the affair the undoubted success it was despite the manifold difficulties with which they found themselves confronted at every stage of the preparations.”

“All credit to Director (Charles) Chillingworth, who stood behind his assistants, directing the work, fitting the multiplicity of detail into beautiful, harmonious whole.”

“Immediately after the ceremony of landing most of the crowd returned to town, though a large number gathered on the beach around the army of natives and were awarded by witnessing the hula dance.” (Star Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

Carnival events in 1913 included the Landing of Kamehameha, special productions at the Opera House, Horse Races, Military Parade, Floral Parade, Hawaiian luau and other events around town. Publicity on the mainland is credited for bringing in more than 2,000 tourists for the activities.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Waihou Spring

Under the reign of Kaka‘alaneo, Maui was divided into twelve moku (districts.) These included Ka‘anapali, Lahaina, Hāmākuapoko, Hāmākualoa, Koʻolau, Hana, Kīpahulu, Kaupo, Kahikinui, Honua‘ula, Wailuku and Kula.

The twelve ancient districts of Maui were later reduced to four under the Civil Code of 1859, which consolidated all East Maui districts into one.

Later the Session Laws of 1909 regained two districts, which established a total of six districts. Under the Session Laws of 1909, Hāmākualoa and Hāmākuapoko were joined to make the modern district of Makawao (‘forest beginning.’)

Makawao consists of four traditional Hawaiian political districts: Honua’ula to the south, along the leeward slopes of Haleakala; Kula, which overlooks the Wailuku District and the Isthmus lands; and Hāmākuapoko and Hāmākualoa along the windward slopes of Haleakalā. (Cultural Surveys)

In traditional times, the area would have been covered in native forest including koa, ʻōhiʻa lehua, ti and kukui. Logging in the mid- to late-1800s resulted in the elimination of majority of the forest trees, which was later followed by cattle.

Clearing of the forest trees for sugarcane by Europeans in the mid- to late-1800s had altered the environment. Ranching was to eventually dominate all land use in the upland slopes of Haleakala.

Clear cutting and burning of sandalwood continued well into the mid-1800s, which greatly impacted the landscaping of the area.

By the 1870s, the Waihou Springs (‘new water’) area was probably cleared pasture land, with little to no native vegetation. The only tree indicated in the vicinity of Waihou is a ‘lone koa tree.’

The Makawao Forest Reserve was established in 1908. The forest reserve was sanctioned off for watershed protection and included approximately 2,093 acres.

The introduction of gorse as hedging material in the early-1900s added to the rapidly declining native forest. Gorse is a spiny, evergreen exotic shrub which can grow up to 15-feet tall and 30-feet in diameter.

In a single gorse plant, there can be hundreds of pods which eventually burst and expel thousands of gorse seeds. By the mid-1950s, the gorse had spread uncontrollably, killing the majority of the remaining native plants.

In an effort to eliminate the gorse, a state territorial prison camp was also established in 1953 located near the present Olinda Homesteads. Low security prisoners were brought to Maui from overcrowded O’ahu prisons, with the primary purpose of clearing the overgrown gorse areas.

The Olinda prison facility was located on 114 acres of Haleakala land and initially housed approximately 30 prisoners. In addition to clearing the gorse, prisoners grew vegetables for shipment to Honolulu.

In the early-1950s, Olinda prisoners had also undertaken the job of linking the road to Kahakuloa with the highway that extends beyond Lahaina, making it possible to circle clear around the West Maui block of mountains.

By the mid-1950s, the majority of the gorse had been eliminated. (The old Olinda minimum-security prison was transformed in the late-1980s to a refuge for endangered endemic birds.)

Unlike most Forest Reserves established by Hawai‘i’s Territorial government in the early-20th century, the land that was set aside for Waihou Spring Forest Reserve in 1909 was open grazing land rather than forested land.

The Territorial Government initially set aside land for the Forest Reserve on June 5, 1909, the object of which was to protect the sources of Waihou Spring, cited at the time as “one of the very few permanent springs on the western slope of Mt. Haleakalā”.

Even though the Reserve was created to protect the source of the spring at Waihou, the spring had already been tunneled and its water was being piped to the lower reaches of the adjacent Haleakalā Ranch to water livestock.

Once bare pasture land and in response to the declining remnant forest, the State Forestry folks began a tree-planting program. Haleakalā Ranch was contracted to build cattle fencing for the Reserve in 1913 and the Maui Agricultural Company began tree planting in 1919.

Tree planting consisted primarily of eucalyptus, various pine and tropical ash. As a secondary measure, the tree planting also served to keep the gorse weed down by shading it out of existence. It is now well forested with both native and non-native tree species.

The ‘ōpe‘ape‘a (Hawaiian hoary bat) is commonly seen both within the boundaries of Waihou Spring Forest Reserve and also in the area surrounding the Reserve. This species roosts in trees and has often been associated with non-native.

Forest birds that may be seen in the area include the ‘amakihi, ʻapapane, ‘alauahio and occasionally ‘i‘iwi. Historical records of sightings within close proximity of the Forest Reserve include two endangered forest birds: ‘ākohekohe and ‘ō‘ū.

Today, the major agricultural activities in up country Maui and are livestock grazing, truck farming, flower production and orchard crops. The forest reserve has been used in recent time for recreation and hunting.

Pig hunting is still popular within the forest reserve, although the number of pigs have declined in recent years as a result of residential developments.

Additionally, changes in weather conditions over the last fifty years have affected the flow of water in the area and majority of the gulches and natural springs are dry.

At approximately 186 acres, Waihou Spring Forest Reserve is relatively small but is a popular day-use area. It is close to residential neighborhoods and has a well-used hiking trail. (Lots of information here is from Cultural Surveys and DLNR.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Tax Maps

The earliest known tax records, dating from approximately six thousand years B.C., are in the form of clay tablets found in the ancient city-state of Lagash in modern day Iraq, just northwest of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

The king used a tax system called bala, which meant “rotation.” The assessors would focus on one area of the city-state, assessing and taxing one area each month, thereby breaking down the arduous task into more manageable components.

Ancient Egypt had a thriving culture that began around 5,000 B.C. and lasted thousands of years. Taxes were levied against the value of grain, cattle, oil, beer and land. (Carlson)

Hawaiʻi is geographically an archipelago. It consists of eight main islands, plus a chain of islands extending 1,100-miles to the northwest. Johnston Atoll (Kalama), Palmyra Island and Kingman Reef to the south of Hawaiʻi were part of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, but the Admission Act excluded these from the geographical boundaries of the State of Hawaiʻi. (Van Dyke)

Papahānaumokuākea (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands) consists of all islands, atolls, reefs and shoals in the Hawaiian Archipelago northwest of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau.

All islands, atolls, reefs and shoals in the Hawaiian Archipelago, except for the Midway Islands, are included in the State of Hawaiʻi under the Admission Act, the State Constitution and the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes.

The origin of county government within the American context is found in the Organic Act (June 14, 1900) which created the Territory of Hawaiʻi and which gave it the authority to establish municipalities.

The Territorial Legislature made a first attempt at creation of the four counties in 1903 (Act 31;) however, in 1904, the Territorial Supreme Court voided that effort on procedural grounds. The Legislature’s second attempt in 1905, “The County Act” (Act 39,) was successful, though it required an override of a veto by the Territorial Governor. (Konishi)

The City and County of Honolulu consists of the island of Oʻahu, all other islands not included in any other county and adjacent waters thereto. (Legislative Reference Bureau) Essentially, this means the City and County of Honolulu (“Honolulu”) covers all of Oʻahu (and its surrounding islets) plus the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (except Midway.)

A mapping effort was initiated in 1917 with the appropriation Act. A Branch was created for the purpose of making maps for the use of the tax assessors.

In 1932, a comprehensive plan for a coordinated mapping system was adopted. Its project included the mapping of the entire land area of the Islands, drawing all tax maps on sheets of uniform size and the creation of a key system.

The key system provided for the accounting of all properties based on location, boundaries, area and ownership identified through its Tax Map Key. (In Hawaiʻi roads are not given Tax Map Key (TMK) designations.) (kauai-gov)

The state was divided and numbered into four tax districts (effectively each County) – First: City & County of Honolulu (Island of Oʻahu;) Second: Maui County, including Molokai, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe (Kalawao County, though a County, is not recognized as a tax Division;) Third: Hawaiʻi County; and Fourth: Kauai County, including Niʻihau, Lehua, Kaula. (Only the main Hawaiian Islands have Tax Maps.)

Each district is divided and numbered into zones (there are up to 9 zones in each district;) tax map zones are divided into sections (there are up to 9 sections in each zone – earlier mapping had the section represented by respective ahupuaʻa;) sections are divided into plats; finally, individual parcels are identified in each plat. (Soehren)

Generally, there is a pattern that the zone numbering follows relative to each Island. For instance in Hawaiʻi County, the zone numbering starts in Puna (Zone 1,) and the numbering is counter-clockwise around the perimeter of the Island (Zone 2 is South Hilo, Zone 3 is North Hilo, Zone 4 is Hāmākua, etc.)

Likewise, generally, the sections follow a numbering pattern starting with Section 1 at zone boundary nearest the prior numbered zone and section numbers sequentially increase across the zone to the next zone common boundary.

The Tax Map Key is a sequence of numbers representing the respective district – zone – section – plat and parcel (with subsequent legislation and creation of condominiums, these are followed by the assigned condominium unit number.)

While driving in rural areas, you might notice the multiple digits in hyphenated street addresses – two digits, a hyphen separator, followed by up to four digits.

The preceding 2-digits represent the zone and section (respectively) of the tax map that the property is situated in. I grew up at 44-453 Kāneʻohe Bay Drive on Oʻahu – that means the property is in zone 4, section 4 of the First District.

The property Tax Map Key is typically written as: (1) 4-4-006:014 (District 1; Zone 4; Section 4; Plat 6; Parcel 14 – if this was a condominium, the sequence would be followed by the assigned tax map unit number.)

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by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Kona Coast

“Her name was Woman … Her other name was Excitement … She belonged to Hawaiʻi’s Kona Coast like the surf riders and the beach bums.”

Whoa, let’s look back …

Richard Allen Boone was born June 18, 1917 in Los Angeles County, California; his father was a descendant of Squire Boone who was the younger brother of frontiersman Daniel Boone. Like Daniel Boone, Richard Boone had a heroic side: was an aerial gunner in the Navy during World War II. (Bloom)

Following the war, he studied with the New York Actors Studio on the GI Bill. In 1947 he made his Broadway debut with Judith Anderson’s Medea, and made his motion picture debut in 1951 in The Halls of Montezuma.

His career in motion pictures, often cast as a western badman (City of Badmen, The Siege at Red River, Man Without a Star, Robber’s Roost, Ten Wanted Men, Star in the Dust, The Tall T, Big Jake, The Shootist and Hombre) or the good guy (Dragnet, The Alamo, The War Lord and The Raid.) (ancestry)

In 1957, Have Gun-Will Travel (with Boone as Paladin) made its TV debut, and soon became one of the most popular programs of the fifties. It ranked in the top five almost immediately and after that trailed only Gunsmoke and Wagon Train for the rest of its run. The theme song, co-written by star Boone, even became a hit single.

Boone moved to and became a permanent resident of Honolulu in 1965 and was a regular commuter between Honolulu and Hollywood. He “considers himself the world’s most satisfied actor – because he can afford the luxury of living in the Hawaiian Islands and working in Hollywood”. (Chicago Tribune, October 35, 1968)

While living on Oʻahu, it was Boone who helped persuade Leonard Freeman to film Hawaiʻi Five-O exclusively in Hawaiʻi. Prior to that, Freeman had planned to do “establishing” location shots in Hawaii but principal production in southern California.

Boone and others convinced Freeman that the islands could offer all necessary support for a major TV series and would provide an authenticity otherwise unobtainable. (Correa)

Then, in 1967, Boone (with Vera Miles, Joan Blondell, Kent Smith, Duane Eddy and a bunch of folks from Kona) filmed ‘Kona Coast,’ a pilot that he hoped CBS would adopt as a series.  (Instead, CBS chose Hawaii Five-O.) (It was released in 1968 – with its premier in the Kona Theater.)

“Kona Coast” was an adventure story about a Honolulu charter-boat captain (‘Sam Moran,’ played by Boone) who leads fishing expeditions and later hunts down the man responsible for his daughter’s death.

It did not receive favorable reviews; “… most of Kona Coast utilizes actual locations and this is the film’s single greatest asset.” (Pfeiffer)

Kona Coast Movie Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCim30-EaMg

Kona Coast Movie Preview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x-8MoFLabY

The story often takes you to a bar, Akamai Barnes (run by a man of the same name – in real life it was later the Red Pants; today, it’s a vacant lot under the banyan tree on Aliʻi Drive in the middle of Kailua Bay.)

In 1971, Richard Boone moved to his wife’s hometown of St Augustine, Florida where he taught acting classes at Flagler College. Richard Boone died January 10, 1981 in St Augustine of throat cancer. At the time of his death, he was serving as cultural ambassador for the State of Florida.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Pulu

Hāpuʻu is an endemic tree fern found in wet forests in association with mature ʻōhiʻa at elevations from about 1,000-feet to 6,000-feet.

The tree can range from heights to about 7-35 feet. The fronds rise up high to about thirty feet or more and are 3-9 feet in diameter. The long green fronds of the tree grow to be about 12 feet long.

Young stems were formerly used to make hats; the starchy core has been used for cooking and laundry, the outer fibrous part to line or form baskets for plants. (Pukui) The edible starch in the core of the trunk and the young leaves were eaten during the time of famine. (KSBE)

The young unfurled fronds are densely covered with soft golden colored, wool-like fibers called pulu; Hawaiians stuffed bodies of their dead with pulu after removing vital organs. (Pukui)

Later, pulu became a commodity, “Pulu, or fern down, is also an important and staple article of export. This soft, yellow, silken down, gathered from the exhaustless fern fields of Hilo and Puna, is much used in California for upholstery as a substitute for feathers, wool and hair.” (Titus Coan, March 5, 1858)

“The pulu of commerce is obtained from this fern, and is extensively used … in the making of beds and mattresses, and stuffing of sofas and chairs.” (Baxley, 1865)

“More than two hundred thousand pounds of this article has been shipped from Hilo during the past year. Men, women, and children engage in collecting it, and many of our usual villages are deserted for months at a time while the people are collecting pulu in the jungle.” (Titus Coan, March 5, 1858)

“(O)nly a small quantity, a few ounces, is found on each plant, the growth of about four years. The labor of gathering pulu was slow and tedious. When picked it was wet and had to be brought down to the lowlands to be dried. The natives were employed in gathering it, men, women and children, living for weeks at a time in the mountains, in crude shelter huts.” (Thrum, 1929)

“In the early sixties (1860s) the business of picking and packing pulu had become so important that trails cut by the many natives thus employed opened the crater country far more than ever before.” (Bingham; Holmes)

“In the natural state the pulu forms a snuff-colored silken envelope for the young and tender branches of the fern, which grow from the top of the stalk or trunk, forming beautiful scrolls until of sufficient strength to supersede the older branches and leaves that droop on all sides like graceful plumes.”

“In gathering pulu the natives cut from the top of the fern trunk the tender scrolls in mass, then strip off the soft fibrous wrapper that protects them, which they loosen by picking, and expose for several weeks on platforms to the rain and sun.”

“From two to four pounds are gathered from a full-sized tree. When perfectly cleansed and dry, it is bagged and sometimes baled for shipping, and is much sought after for the California market.” (Baxley, 1865)

“I have ridden through vast fields of this species of fern in the vicinity of the volcano Kilauea, that extended as far as the eye could see.”

“On the edges of these fields nearest the volcanoes the lava has flowed and covered large tracks, forming plateaus upon which the natives have built pleasant hamlets, and are carrying on a lucrative business in gathering and drying the pulu for shipment to San Francisco, where it is extensively used for filling mattresses.”

“From a single fern they gather a tuft about the size of a man’s hand and spread it on the grass and lava banks, where it is thoroughly dried, then bagged and transferred on the backs of mules to the sea coasts. There it is pressed in bales for shipment like cotton.” (The Pulu for Mattresses, Scientific American, August 23, 1862; Uyeoka)

“The most remarkable of the gigantic ferns of this belt are the great tree-ferns, with branches four or five feet long. At the foot of these trees is found a soft, feather-like substance, called pulu which forms an article of considerable trade. It is used extensively in California for bedding …” (The Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review, October 1, 1864; Uyeoka)

“(P)ulu gatherers, who are scattered through the forests in all directions, from one to three miles from the volcano;” making “the wilderness of Kilauea”” one of his “stations in pastoral tours.”

“From Kilauea I went about ten miles, into the highland forests of Hawaii, where there was another camp of about sixty pulu gatherers. This camp is a romantic one. It is a little opening of field lava and sand, one-fourth of a mile in diameter, nearly circular, and surrounded by tall forests and jungle.” (Coan, Missionary Herald, 1864-1865)

Pulu picking could be dangerous, “As I followed a path made by the pulu-pickers through the dense forest, I came upon a large hole on the edge of the path which proved to be the entrance to a cave of great depth.”

“The path had been turned to one side to avoid it, and in the dark it would be exceedingly dangerous. Such holes are common in this part of Puna, and natives occasionally disappear mysteriously. Brushing through the bushes I came to a precipice forming the edge of a crater nearly three quarters of a mile in diameter and seven hundred feet deep.” (Brigham, 1868)

Likewise the market for pulu changed, “Those who have used it, however, are substituting hair or straw on account of the unhealthiness of the pulu, which, from its heat, has the same ill effects as feathers, and it popularly thought to increase rheumatism.”

“It has been recently exported to China in considerable quantities, and it is not improbable that as the demand from California decreases that from China will increase. The natives are largely engaged in gathering it, and are employed more or less by the Chinese merchants of Honolulu …” (The Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review, October 1, 1864; Uyeoka)

“According to the customs tables, the last year of pulu exports was 1884, with but 465 pounds, the two years previous being without any, so that practically the life of the industry had an existence of but thirty-one years (with exports) ranging generally from 200,000 to 649,000 pounds.” (Thrum, 1929)

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