Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Land Sampans

A shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge.  The only answer was imported labor.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

The first 943-government-sponsored, Kanyaku Imin, Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi arrived in Honolulu aboard the Pacific Mail Steamship Company City of Tokio on February 8, 1885.  Subsequent government approval was given for a second set of 930-immigrants who arrived in Hawaii on June 17, 1885.

With the Japanese government satisfied with treatment of the immigrants, a formal immigration treaty was concluded between Hawaiʻi and Japan on January 28, 1886. The treaty stipulated that the Hawaiʻi government would be held responsible for employers’ treatment of Japanese immigrants.

Iwaji Minato “was among 1,500 contract laborers who came to Hakalau from Japan on the Niikemaru … he was employed at Hakalau Plantation as a day laborer.”

“As soon as his three-year contract expired, Minato bought a mule and began his transportation career.  For the first two years he was his own boss, but later he worked under Jack Wilson of the Volcano Stables as mail carrier on the Hilo-Hakalau route.” “Minato was a mule-driver …  carrying passengers and express on his carriage between Hilo and Hakalau.”

“This he continued for 16 years until he acquired the new conspicuous bus in 1913. ‘My license number 161,’ said Minato smilingly. ‘Me first man in Hilo get license.  Plenty me drive before, but no more license.’” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, July 24, 1932) “Minato’s bus became the oldest ‘Land Sampan’ or cruising bus in Hilo.” (Warshauer)

“Traveling at a rate of 70 miles per day for the last 19 years, and not missing a day, is a record of Iwaji Minato, owner of Hilo’s oldest ‘sampan,’ or cruising bus. … In 1913 Minato bought this relic for $500.  It was then a shiny second hand Ford, the envy of all his comrades,”

“Today, in that same car, which has traveled more than 485,000 miles. He makes seven trips a day to and fro between Hilo and Hakalau.”

“Young and old patronize his bus, regardless of its nondescript air and old-fashioned rear entrance. When anyone teases him about his keeping the old sampan and suggests a new one he shakes his head negatively and thereby ends the conversation.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, July 24, 1932)

“‘What’s a Sampan?’ … ‘It’s one of those taxi-cabs that looks like a bathtub gone wrong.’ … ‘You’re nuts. It’s a boat. Say, guys, this mug thinks a Sampan is a taxi-cab!’”

“Well, an argument started and the air was full of sneers and jeers, and somewhat confused nautical terms.  But it just so happens that, here in the islands. They both are right, for a Sampan is either of two things: a taxi-cab or a boat.”

“The land Sampan was originated here in the islands some years ago and is seen nowhere else. Looking, indeed, like bathtubs with a cover and wheels, they’ll take you almost anywhere you want to go – on land.”

“The seagoing Sampan is something else again. In peace time, they were just plain fishing boats, but since the war began, they have been taken over by the Navy and are used for in-shore patrol duty.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, May 16, 1942)

“The sampan was born in the blacksmith shops of Hilo to meet the city’s need for mass transportation. Turning a Ford Model T or Model A sedan or coupe [and then subsequent car makes and models] into a bus that could carry 10 or more passengers entailed removing the body aft the cowl and building a longer, open body with bench seats along the sides.” (Lee)

“One of the few oldtime blacksmiths still plying his unique trade, Teiji Kamimura of the Kamimura Blacksmith Shop, 864 Kilauea Avenue, recalls that the very first sampan built in Hilo was at the old Von Hamm Young Co. by a first class carpenter named Miwa. He recalls that incident back in 1922 since he did all of the blacksmith work for it.”

“Some of the pioneers in the sampan construction business (sampan busses are unique to Hilo) were Shigeyoshi Kamada of the Kamada Blacksmith Shop, Hisagoro and Akira Yasukawa – Yasukawa Blacksmith Shop, Otomatsu Enseki – Enseki Blacksmith Shop, Toshio Aramori, and few others.”

“One of the first sampan operators was Fukumatsu Kusumoto.  [He] recalls that it took them three months to construct the first bus … when he started his own business”.

“Almost all of the sampan operators in the early 1920s to 1935 were Japanese. Since then others and especially Filipinos got into the business. … Yasukawa and Aramori used to construct one sampan a month.”  (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Feb 29, 1976)

“‘Sampan’ was the name previously given to small, flat-bottomed boats that provide personal transportation in the harbors and along the coasts of Southeast Asia. Since Japanese and Filipino residents of Hilo were the first to use similar construction techniques to convert motor vehicles to ferry passengers around the city, they also adopted the sampan name.” (Lee)

“Some of the early bus operators who were first to pioneer Hilo’s sampans included … Minato who used to service passengers up to Hakalau from Hilo, Dosaku Chonan, Taigeki Tamane Kuba, and many others in Hilo.”

“[B]ack in the early 1920s the bus fare from the then Waiakea Town to Hilo railroad depot formerly located makai of present Koehnen’s in downtown Hilo was just 5 cents.” This led to them being referred to as the “five cents” busses.

“During the heyday of the busses – 1930 to 1941, there were approximately 200 sampans in operation giving door to door services.”  (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Feb 29, 1976)

“By the 1930s, sampan buses formed the backbone of the island’s early transit system, with some two hundred in operation. “Hilo’s motor transportation facilities are generally conceded to be unsurpassed in the islands, both in cheapness and in service,” the Honolulu Star-Bulletin declared three years later.”  (Hana Hou)

Several associations were formed including Hilo Bus, Union Bus, Aloha Bus and Hawaii Bus.  It was viewed as a “cut-throat” business (there was a price war in 1936 when there was “dissatisfaction and strained feelings among the local sampan bus drivers over the appearance of the Red Checker Bus Service, which is operating eight busses at a lower rate that the prevalent bus charges.”  (HTH July 20, 1936)

In 1938, bus tariffs were arbitrated through the Hilo Chamber of Commerce and the agreed upon price schedule was tacked on the busses and drivers signed an agreement that they would abide by the new prices. (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Mar 30, 1938)

“But soon the personal vehicle was on the rise. Demand dwindled. By 1969, only a dozen drivers were left in Hilo. Six years later, the county council wanted safer alternatives.”

“Buses with the long, familiar boxy shape were rolling out, but one reluctant councilman deplored their look, calling for an option ‘other than one with a distinctive Mainland flavor.’ In December 1975, the county bought out the last five sampan drivers in Hilo.” (Hana Hou)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Missionaries Lay The Foundation for a System of Public Instruction

Merze Tate, Professor of History at Howard University, wrote a 1961 article titled, The Sandwich Island Missionaries Lay the Foundation for a system of Public Education in Hawaii. The following is taken from that article.

“Aside from conversions, one of the most notable achievements of the Congregational and Presbyterian missionaries sent to the Sandwich Islands under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the development of an educational system for the nation.”

“A broad enlightenment program for the islanders depended upon instruction in the indigenous tongue and this, of necessity, was delayed until the pioneer teachers had learned the language and reduced it to a written form. Nevertheless, before the evangelists were well settled at [Kailua-Kona], on Hawaii, and Honolulu and Waimea, on Oahu, they made a start in English.”

“The missionaries reasoned that if the masses were to be made literate within a reasonable period they would have to be taught in their own tongue.”  (Merze Tate)

The cycle of missionary educational endeavor divides itself roughly into three periods: first was a decade of establishment and experimentation, lasting from 1820 to about 1831. Here the language was reduced to a written form, teaching materials were printed and adults learned the rudiments of reading and writing.

The second period, from 1831 to 1840 was characterized by a shift from adult to child education. By improvement in training teachers to teach.

Finally, the following two decades where the missionaries gradually relinquished their control of educational activities; this saw the establishment of public education under governmental control in 1840, and lasted to 1863 when the ABCFM ended the mission in Hawai‘i. (Whist)

“After the first printed sheets came from the press in the Hawaiian language, on January 7, 1822, and all were able to see their own words in print, learning to read, write, and spell was comparatively easy”.

“After the chiefs beheld their language in print they began to manifest a more lively interest in education for themselves and for their children and in the establishment and maintenance of schools for their people.”

“After the public advocacy of instruction by the highest chiefs, in April 1824, similar action came from all parts of the kingdom.  Learning also received a great impulse from the personal tours of the vigorous Kaahumanu, who went all through the islands commanding the people to listen to the Kumus, or missionary teachers, and the chiefs to provide facilities for schools.”

“Because of the lack of paper and slates, writing was taught only to a very limited extent, and arithmetic hardly at all until an eight-page pamphlet on the subject was published at the beginning of 1828.”

“By 1825 the people stood waiting for instruction while the missionaries were endeavoring to bring out a new supply of spelling books, which would make possible the doubling of the number of schools.”

“Between April 1 and October 15, 1825, the mission station on Oahu distributed 16,000 copies of their Elementary Lessons [Pi-a-pa], nearly all of which were used in schools. Outside these, however, there were multitudes anxious to learn but could not be furnished with competent teachers or palapala.”

“Men and women as well as children, requested enrollment in the first schools and eagerly sought the materials of instruction by bringing at different times in the course of the season sugar cane, taro, a bunch of bananas, a fowl, or a kid, a bundle of sticks for firewood, a ball of native cord, or the offer of some kind of work to exchange for a spelling book.”

“Obviously, the few missionaries in Hawaii could not, in addition to their primary evangelical duties, personally instruct the multitude of pupils seeking education or give adequate supervision to numerous schools scattered throughout the islands.”

“It was necessary to utilize the services of Hawaiian teachers. For the periodic inspection of the numerous schools two methods were used: quarterly examination (hoike) of as many as possible of the pupils of a whole district in a convenient place, and tours throughout a district or about an island by one or more missionaries or Hawaiians appointed for that purpose.”

“The first method, however, stimulated community interest, made the youth more eager in their pursuit of the new learning, and became gala occasions, ending in a feast.”

“The evangelists’ initial educational work, despite its limitations, produced important and enduring results and laid the foundation upon which they were able to intensify their educational efforts and to establish permanent educational monuments in the 1830’s.”

“There was continued increase in the number of people receiving instruction.  In 1828, 37,000 were in school, while two years later the number stood at 41,283, with 20,000 scholars on Hawaii, 10,385 or Maui, 6,398 on Oahu, and about 4,500 on Kauai.”

“The following year there were 1,100 common schools in operation with a pupil enrollment of 52,000. By the close of that year the Pi-a-pa had gone through nine editions to place a total of 190,000 copies in circulation.”

“However, at times during this period of educational expansion schools in some districts were practically deserted for work on the land or in collecting sandalwood in the forests.”

“After the heaviest pressure of adult education was over, the missionaries, realizing that the hope of the nation lay in its children, gave more attention to teaching youngsters.”

“The first school built exclusively for Hawaiian children met in 1832 in a large, badly constructed, unfurnished building which used adobe bricks for seats and desks, and had no glass windows.  But even this ‘step in the ladder of progress’ was demolished in an autumn storm.”

“The Sandwich Islands Mission, in June 1831, however, resolved to establish a high school to ‘instruct men of peity and promising talents’ in order that they might become assistant teachers.”

“The school, with Rev. Lorrin Andrews as principal and sole instructor, was delightfully located at Lahainaluna, or Upper Lahaina, on a high elevation about two miles back from the port of Lahaina, on Maui. Governor Hoopili made a grant of land of one thousand acres, which concession was later confirmed by King Kamehameha III.”

“Although started as an experiment to qualify Hawaiian teachers in ‘the best methods of communicating instruction to others,’ the first twenty-five students had already taught and had had some training at the mission stations.  Moreover, almost all were married men who brought their wives with them.”

“In 1833, the missionaries resolved to initiate a manual labor system in connection with the studies at the high school and in the following year decided to enlarge and put the institution on a permanent basis/”

“From Lahainaluna, on February 14, 1834, was issued the first Hawaiian newspaper, in fact the first paper west of the Rocky Mountains in the North Pacific, Ka Lama Hawaii, or Hawaiian Luminary, which contained miscellaneous instruction for the school.”

“In addition to Lahainaluna, several other educational institutions were established during the decade of the 1830’s.”

“In 1839, at the request of the chiefs, a family or boarding school was opened in Honolulu for the education of their children [Chiefs’ Children’s School, Royal School]. That these young chiefs should be in school under systematic instruction was considered of immense importance, both for their and the Hawaiian kingdom’s welfare and future.”

“The old chiefs were rapidly disappearing and if their heirs were to fill their places, they must be well prepared. They must either acquire a good education or become extinct as chiefs.”

“Up to 1840, when the mission surrendered the administration of the common schools to the government, the major share of the responsibility for the education of Hawaiian youth was in the hands of the American Protestant missionaries.”

“After that date, as we have seen, they established and continued to operate more select and boarding schools for an increasing number of Hawaiians who were able to pay something toward the education of their children.”

“The station and boarding schools for native Hawaiians which the missionaries founded were their pride, their joy, their hope, and their stronghold of the nation.”

“Through their instrumentality the evangelists expected to raise and influence an intelligent and somewhat educated people, and in this aspiration they were not disappointed.”

“Initially, the Sandwich Islands Mission – for both humanitarian and selfish reasons – resisted the proposal to make English the language of the nation and to teach the subject in all the mission schools.” (Merze Tate)

In a letter to the Sandwich Island Mission, Rufus Anderson, corresponding secretary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM) in Boston, wrote on April 10, 1846: “I trust you will not fall in with the notion, which I am told is favored by some one at least in the government, of introducing the English language, to take the place of the Hawaiian.”

“I cannot suppose there is a design to bring the Saxon race in to supplant the native, but nothing would be more sure to accomplish this result, and that speedily.” (Hawaiian Language Policy and the Courts, Lucas)

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries in Hawai­ʻi in 1820 marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

John Laimana tells us that by 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiians had built 1,103 schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major Islands and serviced an estimated 52,882 students.

The proliferation of schoolhouses was augmented by the printing of 140,000 copies of the pī-ʻāpā (elementary Hawaiian spelling book) by 1829 and the staffing of the schools with 1,000-plus Hawaiian teachers.

By 1832, the literacy rate of Hawaiians (at the time was 78 percent) had surpassed that of Americans on the continent. The literacy rate of the adult Hawaiian population skyrocketed from near zero in 1820 to a conservative estimate of 91-percent – and perhaps as high as 95-percent – by 1834. (Laimana)

Missionary Hiram Bingham stated that the rise in literacy and education, “was like laying a corner stone of an important edifice for the nation.”

“This legendary rise in literacy climbed from a near-zero literacy rate in 1820, to between 91 to 95 percent by 1834. That’s only twelve years from the time the first book was printed!” (KSBE)

“The Missionaries have been the fathers, the builders and the supporters of education in these Islands”.  (Lee, December 2, 1847, Privy Council Minutes)

“Thus we may conclude that the educational work of the Sandwich Islands Mission was of incalculable value in disseminating knowledge to all classes of people, in the kingdom, in planting and nurturing religious concepts and some of the better features of western civilization, and in laying the foundation for a system of public instruction”. (Merze Tate)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hawaiian Heirloom Jewelry

Among the very early examples of early Hawaiian jewelry are Queen Emmaʻs silver bracelet engraved “Aloha ia ka heiheimalie.”  (Ka-heihei-malie was a wife of Kamehameha I.)

Likewise, reportedly, a gift from Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop to Queen Liliʻuokalani was a bracelet using Victorian scroll, yet traditionally Hawaiian with the word “Aloha” and wrapped with a band of human hair.

Some have suggested (reportedly, incorrectly) that the Hawaiian heirloom jewelry (primarily the gold bracelets with black/raised lettering) started as gifts to Queen Kapiʻolani and Princess Liliʻuokalani when they attended Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887.

Gold jewelry adorned with black enamel was already traditional in England when Queen Victoria turned it into “mourning jewelry” after the death of her husband, Prince Albert, in 1861.

It turns out Princess Liliʻuokalani had the English-style mourning jewelry at least 20-years before she traveled to England in 1887 to attend the Jubilee.

In Hawaiʻi, Crown Princess Liliʻuokalani, perhaps empathizing with the widow Victoria, took a liking to the jewelry style and had bracelets made for herself.

In the early-1860s, Liliʻuokalani wore a bracelet that was a precursor of the Hawaiian heirloom jewelry worn by women in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere today.

Its textured surface is embellished with the Hawaiian phrase, “Hoomanao Mau” (Lasting Remembrance,) which is rendered in black enamel.

But the Queen did not save these treasured bracelets for herself.  In 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani presented a gold enameled bracelet to Zoe Atkinson, headmistress at Pohukaina Girls School.

The inscription on the bracelet read “Aloha Oe” (“Farewell to Thee”) and “Liliʻuokalani Jan. 5, 1893.”

The inscription proved to be prophetic: Just days later, the Queen was forced to abdicate her thrown and the Hawaiian Monarchy had come to a sudden end.

Atkinson, who was an active socialite and the event coordinator for the Queen, became the envy of many young ladies, who then asked their mothers for engraved bracelets of their own.

However, the young girls requested from their mother that their name be placed on the bracelets instead of the phrase “Aloha Oe.”

The tradition has since continued throughout the generations. Hawaiian heirloom jewelry has been given as gifts for special occasions such as birthdays, graduations and weddings.

Over the years, the styles (and prices) changed.  By the 1980s they were manufactured using motorized cutters and raised lettering was started.

In the 1990s the engravers latched on to the idea that the designs could be extended to the edge of the bracelets and then scalloped around.

Although machinery made production more diverse and faster, many of the engraving and enameling was done by hand, as it had been done since the 1860s.

In 2008, with the advent of laser cutting machines, new lettering could be achieved, with lettering being a different color than the background.

Today, there is Hawaiian heirloom jewelry from traditional to contemporary – not just folks in Hawaiʻi, but thousands of people from all over the world embrace the Island jewelry.

So, what happened to the Queen’s bracelets?

It was the Queen’s wish that when she died, that her jewelry was to be sold and the proceeds used to fund an orphanage.  The “Hoomanao Mau” bracelet and another marked “R. Naiu” were inventoried after her death and auctioned for $105 in 1924.

In 2009, Abigail Kawananakoa purchased and donated the “Hoomanao Mau” bracelet to the Friends of ʻIolani Palace; it is part of the display in the Palace Gallery.

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Four Miles

Nā pana keia ō Keaukaha
Mai Ka Palekai ā I Leleiwi
P`̄ mau I ka meheu ā nā Kūpuna …

Au aʻe ʻoe e pa mokumoku
ʻO Peiwe pili me Lokowaka
Kapaʻia o Kealoha Paka, Mile Eha

These are the famous places of Keaukaha
From the Breakwater all the way to Leleiwi,
Resounding to the footsteps of our ancestor …

You walk along the seashore and see the islets.
This is Peiwe, close to Lokowaka
Called today ‘Kealoha Park’ and ‘4-Miles’

(Edith Kanaka’ole; translation Kalani Meinecke; noted in Downey)

The shoreline lands of the Waiakea peninsula and Keaukaha contain fourteen fishponds, the largest of which is Lokowaka (at 60 acres in area), located directly across Kalaniana’ole Ave from a beach park.  (John Clark)

Then, a tsunami hit the area … “In 1946, there was no tsunami warning system. In Hawaii, no one saw or felt anything that presaged the coming disaster. The tsunami was caused by a M8.6 earthquake centered in the Aleutian Islands more than 2,300 miles from Hilo. Needless to say, no one in Hawaii felt the shaking.”

“There were seismographs in 1946. The University of California at Berkeley had a network in Northern and Central California, including a station in Ferndale. Caltech had stations that covered the southern part of the State.”

“There were instruments elsewhere in the world including a pair in Hawaii, but earthquake investigations of that era relied on analyzing data after the event. It was often weeks until magnitude and location had been hammered down.”

“The 1946 tsunami killed 96 in Hilo, 158 throughout the Hawaiian Islands, five in Alaska, one in Santa Cruz and three elsewhere in the Pacific.”  (Dengler, Times Standard)

During the tsunami of 1946 … “in the Keaukaha area east of Hilo, witnesses described the arrival of a wave from the north simultaneously with one from the northeast, which built up a very high crest at the place of juncture.” (Macdonald etal)

“A drive along the Keaukaha coast beyond Hilo today will leave you with a terribly depressed feeling. The tidal wave of April 1 in a few short minutes wiped the shoreline bare of once swanky homes and destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property.”

“As soon las the road was repaired sufficiently to make the trip, Lorrin Thurston and your correspondent drove out with Police Lieutenant De Mello to view the damage. What was once the show place of the district was the home of the Wendell Carlsmiths.”

“Today nothing remains but the chimney of the house and the tennis court. Redwood beams from the house have been found miles away down the coast.  Attorney Carlsmith was viewing his loss as we drove by. He told of the miraculous escape of himself and his family.”

“‘When I built this home,’ [Carlsmith] said, ‘I had a possible tidal wave in mind and constructed the foundation accordingly.  As you can see it is 11 feet above sea level and I figured any wave coming in this far (the home was about 200 yards from the coastline) would not be above the level of this foundation.’”

“‘On the morning of the fatal wave I happened to look out my bedroom window and saw the first one coming.  It wasn’t very big but it must have been traveling in about 40 miles an hour.’”

“‘I grabbed a robe and put it on and then ran down and released one of our dogs. Mrs Carlsmith in the meantime got the children out and into the car. I ran around the house with the water lapping at my heels. The dog refused to follow and that’s the last I saw of her.’”

“‘I dashed up the steps and into the garage and we started the car out. We got down as far as the tennis court and saw the water receding. We then walked back to see if any damage had been done.’”

“‘While we were examining the premises,  we saw another wave coming and ran back to the tennis court. This wave was higher and washed up over the foundation of the house and into the pond in front but didn’t come up to the tennis court. We made our way then to the Laura Kennedy home which is on high ground and from there saw another wave coming from an opposite direction.’”

“‘This wave collided with another wave rolling in a different direction causing a huge water spout and then both of them rolled in over our house and across the highway. An old Japanese who had climbed a coconut palm when the first wave came had gotten down on the ground. He tried to shinny up again and was about 15 feet up the tree when the big wave got him. He disappeared.’”

“‘When the wave subsided, we could not see anything of our house except the naked chimney. There wasn’t even a stick of furniture. I lost the collection of a lifetime. And as you can see the grounds have been completely destroyed.’”

“‘Several thousand yards of dirt l had had hauled in have been washed completely away. I also have a valuable stock of liquor and wines and most of this is being salvaged. It had washed into the pond in front of the house. The children are digging it out now.’” (Advertiser, Coll; April 9, 1946)

Then, again … on May 22, 1960, a 9.5 earthquake – the largest ever recorded – hit southwest Chile, generating a tsunami that struck the Hawaiian Island in about 15 hours.

Hilo Bay area on island of Hawai‘i was hit hard by the 35-foot wave, which destroyed or damaged more than 500 homes and businesses. Sixty-one people died. Damage was estimated at $75 million.

In the vicinity of the Carlsmith property was a beach park; with several additions, the park properties in this area fell under different names. In 1963, Leleiwi Beach Park was renamed James Kealoha Beach Park, in honor of the former County Chairman who became Hawai‘i’s first elected Lieutenant Governor.

In 1972, Hawai‘i County Council adopted resolutions to acquire property for park expansion.  Part of that package was the 1.92-acre ‘Carlsmith’ property. By that time Carlsmith had sold and San Francisco financier owned it and was planning an 8-story condominium. (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Jan 14, 1972)

By the end of the year the County had acquired the ‘Carlsmith’ (~2-acres) and ‘Richardson’ (~1-acre) properties for $2.42-million; the Parks Director, Robert Fukuda, said the additional acquisitions “would greatly enhance our program for providing recreational and regional park facilities in the Keaukaha area.” (HTH, Nov 12, 1972)

The park area makai of Lokowaka became known as Carlsmith Beach Park (in and around the Leleiwi/James Kealoha parks).  More informally, it is known as Four Miles – it’s four miles away from downtown Hilo. Richardson’s Beach Park is just down the way.

An interesting side note, Carl and Nelle Smith, married in Atlantic, Iowa, left aboard the ‘Martha Davis’ from San Francisco and arrived in the Islands on December 27, 1897; Carl was 27 and his new bride was 26.

In Hilo he was associated in the practice of law with various partners, including DH Hitchcock (father of artist D Howard Hitchcock) and Charles F Parsons. In 1911, Carl sought to change his name.

Notices for “the Matter of the Petition of Carl Schurz Smith for Change of Name” were published in the newspaper Dec. 12, 19, 26 (1911), Jan. 2, 12 (1912).  Those notices stated that Governor Walter F Frear “ordered and decreed that the name of Carl Schurz Smith hereby is changed to Carl Schurz Carlsmith”. (Hawaiian Star, December 19, 1911)

Carlsmith inherited the firm upon Hitchcock’s death in 1890. The firm was renamed to Carlsmith in 1911; his two sons Wendell and Merrill joining him in 1920, and his grandson, Donn, joined the staff in 1953. The Carlsmith law firm has had several names; it is now named Carlsmith Ball LLP.

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Pua Akala

The Polynesian settlers of Hawai‘i brought with them their primary plants used for food and other uses, and four animals, the moa (chicken), ‘īlio (dog), pua‘a (pig), and, inadvertently, the ‘iole (rat). The first three animals were the primary meat of the Hawaiians.

It wasn’t until the arrival of Captain Vancouver in 1793 that cattle were introduced to Hawai‘i. Vancouver dropped one bull and one cow at Kawaihae, and took the remaining five cows to Kealakekua as a gift for King Kamehameha I. The bull died, so it was lucky that a year later Captain Vancouver returned with more cattle, four bulls and eight cows.

A 10 year kapu (taboo) was placed on introduced cattle to feed on the rich green grasslands of Hawai‘i Island. These first cattle, or bullocks, were longhorn cattle and soon grew very wild. The first “ranchers” were bullock hunters, who rode to the uplands of Mauna Kea to shoot cattle or trap them in pits. (DLNR) The meat was used for food and the hides for export.

By the 1820s, there were as many as 30,000 head of cattle on the islands.  Historically, agriculture has played a large role in the economy of the island, and the Islands as a whole. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the main industries were sugar cultivation and cattle ranching. (FWS)

As early as 1831, portions of the land on the slopes of Mauna Kea and neighboring forest lands were being worked by Daniel Castle; and, later, by the Castle and Hitchcock brothers for lumber milling and bullock hunting operations. (Kumu Pono)

The Hitchcock brothers, David Howard Hitchcock and Edward Griffin Hitchcock, were the sons of Harvey Rexford and Rebecca (Howard) Hitchcock, American Protestant missionaries who arrived with the 5th Company of ABCFM missionaries.

In 1875, the Hitchcock brothers purchased the ‘O‘ōkala sugar plantation.  In addition, DH Hitchcock was a land surveyor whose work focused not only on parcels of land being sold, but also on land divisions.

In 1883, the Hitchcock brothers built a house at Puakala at the upper boundary of the ahupua‘a, described as being “heavily timbered with ohia, koa, and other Hawaiian woods.  Wild cattle and hogs abound in the upper woods”. (Tuggle)

“The house is built almost entirely of Koa sawed in the neighborhood … it was put up by Messrs. Devereaux and Tenny, and was finished in July”. (Pua ‘Ākala Guest Book, Oct 16, 1883)

“But Puakala – what of that? It is situated in the hollow of an amphi-theatre of hills. The hills to the west are mostly barren of trees, but well covered … Puaakala grows the finest of koa wood found on the islands. It is far handsomer than mahogany, some of it beautifully dark, some knotted and some curly.”

“The cattle are fast destroying the koa trees with other trees of the original forests … Of this wood, then, the house is built. The boards were sawed by hand and excellently well done, straight and true.”

“There has been no attempt at planing the lumber except for the doors, and this little handwork sends the polish out and shows the hard smooth grain of the wood. The wide boards are battened to keep out the cold, but cracks enough are left to keep the air always fresh and sweet.”

“At one end of the living-room is a capacious stone fire-place 3 x 4 feet. The opposite end of the building is divided into two sleeping rooms.”

“But the sleeping capacity of the house is not limited to these two bed-rooms, for there is an attic and the living room has lounges and a cot-bed to be used in emergencies. In the fire-place a fire is kept burning day and night.” (Paradise of the Pacific, January 1890)

The private koa-plank cabin known as Pua ‘Ākala (also referred to as Puakala) was used as an aristocratic hunting retreat. (Mills) The cabin was in the area known as Puakala or Kapuakala, a place at the upper edge of Papa‘ikou and is also the name of a watercourse in the area.  The Hitchcock family mountain home eventually became known as Pua ‘Ākala Ranch. (Tuggle)

When staying at their mountain home at Pua ‘Ākala, the Hitchcocks hunted wild cattle and pigs, and “the occasional bills of fare written in the [guest] book by appreciative guests always included roast beef, usually pork as well”. (Tuggle)

As described by Kingdom land surveyor, ED Baldwin, “we … headed for Puu Oo, where we found the trail leading around the mountain towards Waimea, which we followed, reaching Puakala – Hitchcock’s mountain house – at five o’clock P.M.”

“This house is sixteen and a half miles in a direct line from Hilo, but about thirty-five by the trail. The Hitchcocks had kindly invited us to make this point our headquarters.”

“What a surprise it was to find, at this distance, such a large comfortable house, built of solid koa, all of which had been sawed out by hand! It was surely mountain luxury to lay off in comfortable rocking chairs before the large, open, old-fashioned fireplace. The elevation at this point is 6,325 feet. …”

“We lived high and well at Puakala; neither did our six cooks spoil the broth; but a specialty from each one helped to swell the bill of fare each meal. One made such fine biscuit, another such soup, another veal pies, another oyster fritters, and another still hit the climax by making akala (wild raspberry) pies.” (Baldwin, Kumupono)

An 1887 entry in the guest book of their mountain house recounts: “A series of hunts ⎯ all successful ⎯ gave the usual spice to the stay here of a short nine days.”

“No thrilling encounters with wild bulls this time but several racy runs after cattle resulted in a total of four bulls, three cows, three yearlings, killed ⎯ two heifers and two small bulls captured ⎯ (one since escaped) with a boar or lean sow shot here and there.” (D Howard Hitchcock, Tuggle)

By the end of the century, there were at least two major ranches in the upper Hakalau Forest area.  Kukaiau Ranch was started by Charles Notley in 1887 and was shortly thereafter sold to John M. Horner.  By 1929, it covered 35,000 acres between 2,300 to 7,600 feet.

The other ranch was Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch, which covered 23,000 acres between 5,000 to 6,500 feet.  John Baker started the ranch in 1896. (Tuggle)

In 1902, William ‘Willie’ Herbert Shipman secured leases on the lands of Pāpa‘ikou, Makahanaloa and other Hilo District lands, which were incorporated into the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō ranching operation.  (Kumu Pono)

WH Shipman was born on December 17, 1854, at Lahaina, Maui to William Cornelius Shipman and Jane Stobie Shipman. Willie’s parents had signed up as missionaries destined for Micronesia. They stopped over at Lāhaina, Maui because his mother was due to deliver within 2 months. His parents then took a mission station in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, based in Waiʻōhinu.

In 1920, WH Shipman, leasing Pi‘ihonua and operating out of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, extended his lease on Makahanaloa, and added the uplands of Pauka‘a and Pāpa‘ikou (the Pua‘ākala house and ranch of the Hitchcocks), to his Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch operation. (Kumu Pono)

Pua ‘Ākala Ranch served as a satellite operation to Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch. (Roy Shipman Blackshear, Tuggle) WH Shipman, Ltd sold its interest in the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō parcel in the 1970s. (Kumu Pono)

Pua ‘Ākala cabin and the surrounding property are now part of the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge.  The Refuge notes “The cabin is well-suited as a location for interpreting the refuge’s forest resources and Hawaii’s unique history.”

“The cabin’s ties with the land survey and divisions, missionary families, politicians, hunting, Koa forests, birds of the forest, and current management strategies provides a wealth of interpretive materials. It is frequently visited by special use permit holders as they lead guided tours on the refuge.” (Messer)

David Howard (D Howard) Hitchcock, son of David Howard (David) Hitchcock and grandson of American missionaries, has ties to Pua ‘Ākala.  He is perhaps one of the most important and loved artists from Hawaiʻi. Although born and raised in Hawaiʻi, he left the islands to study art in San Francisco and Paris.

Before his formal training abroad, Hitchcock was inspired by other Volcano School painters and was encouraged by Jules Tavernier to endeavor life as an artist. Hitchcock admits to following Tavernier and Joseph Strong around, ‘like a parasite.’  (NPS HAVO)

“Hitchcock was early hailed as ‘our island painter’ and his early canvases met an enthusiastic reception in Hilo and Honolulu. The Honolulu press commented on them at length. His early work, up to his European trip in 1890, shows great indebtedness to (Jules) Tavernier…” (Forbes)

He spoke fluent Hawaiian and traveled extensively throughout the islands, documenting the natural and cultural features in a sketch book and photographs, which he converted into paintings. During his long career he completed more than 1200 paintings, published 700 photographs. (Messer)

D Howard Hitchcock’s lasting mark at Pua ‘Ākala Ranch was a “charming study of akala berries” on a door which survives, well-preserved, in the possession of one of the Shipman descendants. (Roy Shipman Blackshear, Tuggle)

As described 1922 by Charmian London, wife of Jack London, “Puaakala, roofed in red corrugated iron, was otherwise even more picturesque, more hand-made in appearance than the PuuOO eyrie, even the washing-bowl and the bath-tub being dubbed out of koa. …”

“That night, when I shut the koa panel that was my bedroom door, I became aware that Gauguin had not been the only young painter who left his mark upon wood.”

“I found on the inner side an oil, manifestly not new, of a spray of akala berries and leaves. It had been done … by Howard Hitchcock, who has since attracted much attention by his fine canvases of Hawaii.” (Our Hawaii, London) (D Howard Hitchcock painted it on July 13, 1885.)

Click the following link for additional information on Pua ‘Ākala:

Click to access Pua_Akala-Hakalau_Forest_National_Wildlife_Refuge.pdf

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