Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu Described in the First Decade of the Unified Hawaiian Islands

1810 marked the unification of the Hawaiian Islands under single rule when negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i of Kauai and Kamehameha I at Pākākā took place.  Kaumuali‘i ceded Kauai and Ni‘ihau to Kamehameha and the Hawaiian Islands were unified under a single leader.  There was peace in the Islands.

On the American and European continents, war was waging.  Twenty-nine years after the end of the American Revolution, conflict between the new US and Britain flared up, again – it lasted until 1815.

A lasting legacy of the War of 1812 was the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the US national anthem. They were penned by the amateur poet Francis Scott Key after he watched American forces withstand the British siege of Fort McHenry, Baltimore (named for James McHenry, Secretary of War, 1796 – 1800.)

In Europe, in 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France.  In 1815, as part of ongoing series of conflicts and wars in Europe, African and the Middle East, Napoleon was defeated by the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo (in what is now present-day Belgium.)

Back on the American continent, later in the decade (1818,) the US and Canada came to an agreement on their common boundary and used the 49th parallel to mark their border.  The next year, Spain ceded Florida to the US.

In the Islands, Kamehameha I, who had been living at Waikiki, moved his Royal Residence to Pākākā at Honolulu Harbor in 1809.

That year, Archibald Campbell described the Honolulu surroundings:  “Upon landing I was much struck with the beauty and fertility of the country … The village of Hanaroora (Honolulu,) which consisted of several hundred houses, is well shaded with large cocoa-nut trees.”

“The king’s residence, built close upon the shore, and surrounded by a palisade upon the land side, was distinguished by the British colours and a battery of sixteen carriage guns …”

“This palace consisted merely of a range of huts, viz. the king’s eating-house, a store, powder magazine, and guard-house, with a few huts for the attendants, all constructed after the fashion of the country.”

Kamehameha’s immediate court consisted of high-ranking chiefs and their retainers.  Those who contributed to the welfare and enjoyment of court members also lived here, from fishermen and warriors to foreigners and chiefs of lesser rank.

Today, the site is generally at the open space now called Walker Park at the corner of Queen and Fort streets (there is a canon from the old fort there) – (ʻEwa side of the former Amfac Center, now the Topa Financial Plaza, near the fountain.)

ʻEwa side of Pākākā (where Nuʻuanu Stream empties into the harbor) was the area known as Kapuʻukolo.  This is “where white men and such dwelt.”  Of the approximate sixty white residents on O‘ahu at the time, nearly all lived in the village, and many were in the service of the king.

Among those who lived here were Don Francisco de Paula Marin, the Spaniard who greatly expanded horticulture in Hawaiʻi, and Isaac Davis (Welch,) friend and co-advisor with John Young (British) to Kamehameha.

Campbell noted, “(Isaac Davis’) house was distinguished from those of the natives only by the addition of a shed in front to keep off the sun; within, it was spread with mats, but had no furniture, except two benches to sit upon. He lived very much like the natives, and had acquired such a taste for poe (poi,) that he preferred it to any other food.”

In those days, this area was not called Honolulu.  The old name for what is now the heart of downtown Honolulu was said to be Kou, a district roughly encompassing the present day area from Nuʻuanu to Alakea Streets and from Hotel to Queen Streets.

Honolulu Harbor, also known as Kuloloia, was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794.  He named the harbor “Fair Haven.”  The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

A large yam field (what is now much of the core of downtown Honolulu – what is now bounded by King, Nuʻuanu, Beretania and Alakea Streets) was planted to provide visiting ships with an easily-stored food supply for their voyages (supplying ships with food and water was a growing part of the Islands’ economy.)

A couple years later, John Whitman noted in his journal (1813-1815,) “… Honoruru is the most fertile district on the Island. It extends about two miles from the Harbour where it is divided into two valleys by a ridge of high land. The district is highly cultivated and abounds in all the productions of these Islands.”

“The village consists of a number of huts of different sizes scattered along the front of the Harbour without regularity and the natives have lost much of the generous hospitality and simplicity that characterize those situated more remotely from this busy scene.”

Whitman goes on to note, “… everything necessary for the subsistence and comfort of man is found in the (Nuʻuanu) valley, watered by a rivulet it produces the best taro in great abundance, the ridge dividing the taro patches are covered with sugar cane.”

“The high ground yields sweet potatoes and yams and all the other productions of the Island are found in the various situations and soils adapted to their nature.”

In 1816-1817, Otto Von Kotzebue in command of a Russian exploratory expedition spent three weeks in the “Sandwich Islands.”  He gave a description of the loʻi kalo in the Nuʻuanu area:

“The valley of Nuanu (Nuʻuanu,) behind Hanarura (Honolulu,) is the most extensive and pleasant of all. … The cultivation of the valleys behind Hanarura is remarkable.  Artificial ponds support, even on the mountains, the taro plantations, which are at the same time fish-ponds; and all kinds of useful plants are cultivated on the intervening dams.”

In 1818, Peter Corney, who resided on O‘ahu as a representative of the Northwest Company and engaged in the sandalwood and other trade, noted:

“The Island of Woahoo (Oʻahu) is by far the most important of the group of the Sandwich Island, chiefly on account of its excellent harbours and good water. It is in a high state of cultivation; and abounds with cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, horses, etc., as well as vegetables and fruit of every description.”

“The ships in those seas generally touch at Ohwhyhee, and get permission from Tameameah (Kamehameha,) before they can go into the harbor of Woahoo.”

“He sends a confidential man on board to look after the vessel, and keep the natives from stealing; and, previous to entering the harbor of Honorora (Honolulu), they must pay eighty dollars harbor duty, and twelve dollars to John Harbottle, the pilot…”

“The village consists of about 300 houses regularly built, those of the chiefs being larger and fenced in. Each family must have three houses, one to sleep in, one for the men to eat in, and one for the women, – the sexes not being allowed to eat together.”

“Cocoanut, bread-fruit, and castor-oil-nut (kukui) trees, form delicious shades, between the village and a range of mountains which runs along the island in a NW and SE direction.” (Corney)

Jacques Arago, who visited Hawai‘i in 1819 with Captain Louis Claude de Saulses de Freycinet on the French ships L’Uranie and L’Physicienne, described some of the daily activities:


“At sunrise, men, women, and children quit their dwellings; some betake themselves to fishing (chiefly the women) on the rocks, or near the shore; others to the making of mats …”

“… the rest offer their little productions to, or solicit employment from, strangers, in exchange for European articles; while the masters of families repair to the public square, to witness or participate in amusements, of which they are astonishingly fond…”

The first decade of the Islands under single rule ended with the death of Kamehameha.  Prior to his death (May 8, 1819,) Kamehameha decreed that that his son, Liholiho, would succeed him in power; he also decreed that his nephew, Kekuaokalani, have control of the war god Kūkaʻilimoku.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

King of Laysan

Kauō (Laysan Island) is the second largest land mass in the NWHI (1,015 acres) just behind Sand Island at Midway Atoll. It is about 1 mile wide and 1-1/2 miles long and roughly rectangular in shape (shaped like a poi board).

Laysan Island is a member of the Hawaiian archipelago situated 790 sea miles to the northwest of Honolulu, latitude 25” 2’ 14” N, longitude 170” 44’ 06” W.

The island has a maximum elevation of about 30 feet. A fringing reef surrounds the island protecting its shores from violent wave action.  (Baldwin)

Kauō (egg) describes both the shape of this island and, perhaps, the abundant seabirds that nest here. The island also previously harbored five Hawaiian endemic land birds, of which two, the endangered Laysan finch and the endangered Laysan duck, still survive. (PMNM Management Plan)

In the Main Hawaiian Islands, sugar‐cane farming proved to be a crop that could be grown profitably under the severe conditions imposed upon plants grown on the lands which were available for cultivation.  (HSPA 1947)  A century after Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawaiʻi, sugar plantations started to dominate the landscape.

“After the experiment station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association was started in 1895, analysis of soils and fertilizers became one of its major functions. On the basis of the chemical analyses. fertilizers were prescribed, and when necessary specially compounded to suit the requirements of each plantation.”

From 1890 two local fertilizer companies started: The North Pacific Phosphate and Fertilizer Company (when first organized in 1890 by George N Wilcox and later called the Pacific Guano and Fertilizer Company); and The Hawaiian Fertilizer Company (started by Amos F Cooke).  (Kuykendall)

This leads us to Maximilian “Max” Joseph August Schlemmer (April 13, 1856 – June 13, 1935).  Max was born in the French province of Alsace Lorraine to German parents. In 1871, as the Prussian army crossed the French border, Max set sail for New York.

After traveling on whaling ships for several years, in 1885, he settled in Hawaii.  He lived and worked on Kauai at a sugar mill and applied his mechanical skills to a small railroad system for transporting material at the mill.

Max later got a job with the North Pacific Phosphate and Fertilizer Company which extracted nitrate from the guano obtained from islands where birds nested in large numbers, particularly Laysan Island.

In his early years in Hawaii, he gained “squatter’s rights” to Laysan Island. Later he established his home on this tiny, distant, and isolated island. (Unger)

Max lived and worked on the island intermittently from 1893-1915. He became known as the “King of Laysan Island.” As the company he worked for began to turn elsewhere for fertilizer, he took full charge of the mining of guano on Laysan.

Japanese pirates began visiting this island and neighboring Lisianski Island to kill the birds for their skins, which brought a hefty profit. Max also tried to use the birds for profit, but all his attempts failed. (Smithsonian)

The island’s easy access and large number of seabirds made it a base for traders of guano (bird droppings used as fertilizer) and feather harvesters in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

In addition, approximately two million seabirds nest here, including boobies, frigatebirds, terns, shearwaters, noddies, and the world’s second-largest black-footed and Laysan albatross colonies. (PMNM Management Plan)

Laysan has a large saltwater lagoon occupying about one-fifth of the island’s central depression. It is well vegetated (except for its sand dunes) and contains a hyper-saline lake, which is one of only five natural lakes in the State of Hawai‘i. (PMNM)

In February of 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt declared Laysan and the other islands in the Hawaiian archipelago to be the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation, thus hoping to stop the destruction of the feathered inhabitants. However, bird pirating continued.

“The Hawaiian Islands Reservation was established by Executive order in 1909 to serve as a refuge and breeding place for the millions of sea birds and waders that from time immemorial have resorted there yearly to raise their young or to rest while migrating.”

In 1909 a party of feather hunters landed on Laysan, one of the twelve islands comprising the reservation, and killed more than 200,000 birds, notably albatrosses, for millinery (women’s hats – feathers for hats were popular at the time) purposes.”

“Through the prompt cooperation of the Secretary of the Treasury, the revenue cutter Thetis, under the command of Capt. W. V. E. Jacobs, was dispatched to the island and returned to Honolulu in January, 1910, with 23 poachers and their booty, consisting of the plumage of more than a quarter of a million birds.” (Expedition to Laysan, 1911)

Max introduced rabbits to the isolated island as a potential source of food, and as amusement for his children while he was overseeing guano extraction activities. (PMNM) (Max married a daughter of German immigrants, who bore three children. After she died, he married her 16-year-old sister, who bore fourteen more children (17 children total.))

By 1918 the rabbits had eaten nearly everything on the island and only a few hundred rabbits remained. Over the course of 20 years the rabbits wiped out 26 species of plants and the once abundant Laysan Millerbird, which became extinct around this time. By 1923 Laysan had become a wasteland. (PMNM)

Schlemmer was indicted for poaching of bird feathers, and other dealings with Japanese feather hunters; he did not return to the island.  (Lots of information here is from Alchetron, Unger and Papahānaumokuākea MNM.)

A lot of good work by many people eliminated pests, rats, rabbits, and weeds, and restored native vegetation. As a result, finch and duck populations are increasing.  Folks at the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument say Laysan is the poster child for restorative island efforts, is considered one of the “crown jewels” of the NWHI.

Access is limited in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, including Laysan – rather than having people come to the place, here is a link that helps to bring the place to the people:

https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7731755,-171.7407481,3a,75y,336.77h,81.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s48tjtFdMGKDiUKc_IOKPYg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Buffalo Soldiers Trail

In early 1911, geologist named Thomas A Jaggar convinced Frank A Perret, a world-famous American volcanologist he had met on Vesuvius Volcano in Italy, to travel to Hawai‘i to begin the observations of Kīlauea’s volcanic activity.

From July to October 1911, Perret conducted experiments and documented the lava lake activity within Kïlauea’s Halema‘uma‘u Crater, paving the way for Jaggar to pursue his life’s goal of using multiple scientific approaches and all available tools for the observation and measurement of volcanoes and earthquakes.

In 1911, the first scientific laboratory at Kilauea consisted of a crude wooden shack constructed on the edge of Halema‘uma‘u that was called the Technology Station. The next year saw the construction by Jaggar of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. 

When Jaggar came to the Islands, he joined the efforts of George Lycurgus (operator of the Volcano House) and newspaperman Lorrin Andrews Thurston who were working to have the Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes area made into a National Park. 

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)

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)

Immediately after the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, many African Americans found themselves newly freed from bondage. In 1866, congress created four military regiments made up of Black troops, the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry – they were known colloquially as the Buffalo Soldiers. (NPS)

“Although Native Americans bestowed the name upon the troopers, there are differing accounts as to the reason. One account suggests the name was acquired during the 1871 campaign against the Comanches, when Indians referred to the cavalrymen as “Buffalo Soldiers” because of their rugged and tireless marching.”

“Other accounts state that Native Americans bestowed the nickname on the black troopers because they believed the hair of the black cavalrymen resembled the hair of the buffalo.”

“Another suggests that the name was given because of the buffalo-hide coats worn by the soldiers in cold weather. The troopers took the nickname as a sign of respect from Native Americans, who held great reverence for the buffalo, and eventually the Tenth Cavalry adopted the buffalo as part of its regimental crest.” (Plante)

“The generous cooperation of the United States Army has made the trail to the top of Mauna Loa and the rest houses at the top and midway thereto a certainty.” (Hawaiian Gazette, Sep 24, 1915)

“The overpowering feature of the landscape, however, is the immediate foreground to the north and east. The trail up to Red Crater is through ordinary and rather monotonous lava flows; but from the top of the hill there literally bursts into view a scene of most violent volcanic activity that I have seen anywhere.”

“It is similar to the interior of Haleakala crater; and the top of Hualalai, but while those are old and faded, this is fiery red and inky black.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, Nov 11, 1915)

“During the past summer [in 1915] the promotion committee and Research Association formulated and presented its plan to the authorities of the County of Hawaii and the newly created Hawaii Publicity Committee …”

“… proposing that these two organizations with the assistance of private subscriptions should furnish the money necessary for the material involved, the work to be done by the county prisoners.”

“The county authorities and the publicity committee each agreed to contribute $500 toward the enterprise.  Then the Governor came in with a contribution of $500 from the contingent fund and private subscriptions have been received in excess of $1000.”

“No decision had been arrived at concerning the availability of the county prisoners, however.” (Hawaiian Gazette, Sep 24, 1915)  (The practice in Hawai‘i and elsewhere was to use prison labor for public works projects, including road building.)

(Later Territorial law stated, “All prisoners sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor shall be constantly employed for the public benefit, on public roads or other public works or other wise, as the high sheriff, with the approval and subject to the control of the board of prison directors, may deem best.”)

Then the military offered aid in the form of a “tentative proposition that, if transportation was furnished from Honolulu to Hilo and return, Company E of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, consisting of between 140 and 150 men would volunteer to go to Volcano, and do the work of building the trail and erecting the rest houses without further expense to the promoters or enterprise.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, Sep 24, 1915)

Building the Buffalo Soldiers Trail (now called Mauna Loa Trail) from the 4,000-ft. summit of Kīlauea to the 13,677-ft. summit of Mauna Loa was no easy task. (NPS)

“The soldiers are constructing a trial three feet wide across the a-a, crushing it down with twelve pound hammers, filling in hollow, cutting down ridges and putting on a finish of fine a-a and earth, quarried along the line or parked in gunny sacks, carried on the men’s backs – in some places being carried as far as a quarter of a mile.”

“The Mauna Loa trail and rest house project is making steady and substantial progress. It must be remembered that it is through a section of territory never before inspected, much less traveled over, except the lower portion thereof, and that only by a few surveyors, cattle men and catchers of wild goats.”

“No one wants to run away with the idea that the job which the men of Company E of the Twenty-fifth Infantry have volunteered to do is all picnic. They are having a picnic all right; but incidentally they are doing a lot of good hard work in a pure pro bono publico spirit.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, Nov 11, 1915)

The Buffalo Soldiers built the 18-mile trail to the summit of Mauna Loa. They also built the ten-man Red Hill Cabin and a twelve-horse stable, so scientists could spend extended periods of time studying the volcano.

“[D]uring the period of 1915 to 1921, the trail was managed and maintained by a loose consortium consisting of Hawaii Volcano Research Association, Lorrin Thurston, Hilo businessmen, and Thomas Jaggar, then it was managed by the National Park Service.” (Tuggle)

Between 1930 and 1932, the National Park carried out major improvements and realignments of the Mauna Loa Trail to fall completely within the park boundary. Over the past century, the evolving needs of the National Park and changes in available

technology have resulted in ongoing modifications to the physical footprint of the trail.

The uppermost portion of the original trail footprint has been nearly obliterated since the 1970s by a series of large lava flows in 1975, 1984, and 1985. (Tuggle)  (The inspiration and sources to information here came primarily from a study by Myra Tomonari-Tuggle.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘We stopped, and trembled’

“Messrs (William) Ellis, (Asa) Thurston, (Artemas) Bishop and (Joseph) Goodrich made a tour round the island of Hawai‘i, examining its various districts, conversing with the natives, and preaching the gospel 130 different times.”  (History of ABCFM)

“Hitherto we had travelled close to the sea-shore, in order to visit the most populous villages in the districts through which we had passed. But here receiving information that we should find more inhabitants a few miles inland, than nearer the sea, we thought it best to direct our course towards the mountains.”

Makoa, their guide, “objected strongly to our going thither, as we should most likely be mischievous, and offend Pele or Nahoaarii, gods of the volcano, by plucking the ohelo, (sacred berries,) digging up the sand, or throwing stones into the crater, …”

“… and then they would either rise out of the crater in volumes of smoke, send up large stones to fall upon us and kill us, or cause darkness and rain to overtake us, so that we should never find our way back.”

“We told him we did not apprehend any danger from the gods … If we were determined on going, he said, we must go by ourselves, he would go with us as far Kapapala, the last village at which we should stop, and about twenty miles on this side of it …”

“… from thence he would descend to the sea-shore, and wait till we overtook him. The governor, he said, had told him not to go there, and, if he had not, he should not venture near it, for it was a fearful place. … [W]e proceeded on our way, leaving Makoa to wait for them, and come after us as far as Kapapala, where we expected to spend the night.”

In 1823, they were the first Westerners to visit Kilauea volcano.  Ellis describes his first impressions, “After walking some distance over the sunken plain, which in several places sounded hollow under our feet, we at length came to edge of the great crater, where a spectacle, sublime and even appalling, presented itself before us“.

“‘We stopped, and trembled.’”

“Astonishment and awe for some moments rendered us mute, and, like statues, we stood fixed to the spot, with our eyes riveted on the abyss below.”

“Immediately before us yawned an immense gulf, in the form of a crescent, about two miles in length, from north-east to south-west, nearly a mile in width, and apparently 800 feet deep.”

“The bottom was covered with lava, and the south-west and northern parts of it were one vast flood of burning matter, in a state of terrific ebullition; rolling to and fro its ‘fiery surge’ and flaming billows.”

“Fifty-one conical islands, of varied form and size, containing so many craters, rose either round the edge or from the surface of the burning lake.”

“Twenty-two constantly emitted columns of grey smoke, or pyramids of brilliant flame; and several of these at the same time vomited from their ignited mouths streams of lava, which tolled in blazing torrents down their black indented sides into the boiling mass below.”

“The existence of these conical craters led us to conclude, that the boiling caldron of lava before us did not form the focus of the volcano; that this mass of melted lava was comparatively shallow; and that the basin, in which it was contained was separated, by a stratum of solid matter, from the great volcano abyss, which constantly poured out its melted contents through these numerous craters into this upper reservoir.”

“We were further inclined to this opinion, from the vast columns of vapour continually ascending from the chasms in the vicinity of the sulphur banks and pools of water, for they must have been produced by other fire than that which caused the ebullition in the lava at the bottom of the great crater …”

“… and also by noticing a number of small craters, in vigorous action, situated high up the sides of the great gulf, and apparently quite detached from it.”

“The streams of lava which they emitted rolled down into the lake, and mingled with the melted mass there, which, though thrown up by different apertures, had perhaps been originally fused in one vast furnace.”

“The sides of the gulf before us, although composed, of different strata of ancient lava, were perpendicular for about 400 feet, and rose from a wide horizontal ledge of solid black lava of irregular breadth, but extending completely round.”

“Beneath this ledge the sides sloped gradually towards the burning lake, which, was, as nearly as we could judge, 300 or 400 feet lower. It was evident, that the large crater had been recently filled with liquid lava up to this black ledge, and had, by some subterranean canal, emptied itself into the sea, or upon the low land on the shore.”

“The grey, and in some places apparently calcined, sides of the great crater before us; the fissures which intersected the surface of the plain on which we were standing; the long banks of sulphur on the opposite side of the abyss; the vigorous action of the numerous small craters on its borders …”

“… the dense columns of vapour and smoke, that rose at the north and south end of the plain; together with the ridge of steep rocks by which it was surrounded, rising probably in some places 300 or 400 feet in perpendicular height, presented an immense volcanic panorama, the effect of which was greatly augmented by the constant roaring of the vast furnaces below.”

“After the first feelings of astonishment had subsided, we remained a considerable time contemplating a scene, which it is impossible to describe, and which filled us with wonder and admiration at the almost overwhelming manifestation it affords of the power of that dread Being who created the world, and who has declared that by fire he will one day destroy it.”

“We then walked along the west side of the crater, and in half an hour reached the north end.”  (All here is from William Ellis’ Narrative of a Tour Through Hawaii.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Captain William Brown is Killed

A Post Script in a March 3, 1810 letter from Kamehameha to England’s King George III only starts to tell a story …

“PS. My removal from Owyhee to this Island was in consequence of their having put to death Mr. Brown & Mr. Gordon, Masters, (of the Jackall & Prince Le Boo, two of you [sic] merchant vessels.) I have sent by Mr. Jno. Gl Spence Commander of the Ship Duke of Portland, a feather’d cloak & beg your acceptance.”

Kamehameha had been on the Island of Hawai‘i and came to O‘ahu – what happened … ?

These were interesting and turbulent times.

At the time of Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Following Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death in 1782, the kingship was inherited by his son Kīwalaʻō; Kamehameha (Kīwalaʻō’s cousin) was given guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.

Civil war broke out between Kīwalaʻō’s forces and the various chiefs under the leadership of Kamehameha. At the Battle of Mokuʻōhai (just south of Kealakekua) Kīwalaʻō was killed and Kamehameha gained control of half the Island of Hawaiʻi

On Maui, Kamehameha also battled Kahekili and Kalanikūpule’s forces at a battle at ʻIao (1790).  It was described, “They speak of the carnage as frightful, the din and uproar, the shouts of defiance among the fighters, the wailing of the women on the crests of the valley, as something to curdle the blood or madden the brain of the beholder.” (Fornander)

The Maui troops were completely annihilated and it is said that the corpses of the slain were so many as to choke up the waters of the stream of ʻlao, and that hence one of the names of this battle was “Kepaniwai” (the damming of the waters).  (Fornander)

Kamakahelei was the Queen of Kauai and Niʻihau, and her husband (Kāʻeokūlani (Kā‘eo) was a younger brother to Kahekili.  (With Kāʻeo, Kamakahelei had a son Kaumualiʻi.) Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokai, and the queen of Kauai assisted him.

By 1791, Kahekili, King of Oahu, Molokai and Maui, was on Maui with his brother Kā‘eo, King of Kauai, preparing to resist the threatened invasion of Maui by Kamehameha of Hawai‘i.

Kahekili agreed with Kā‘eo that after his death Kā‘eo was to be regent of Maui and Molokai while Kalanikūpule, the son and heir of Kahekili, was to be King of Maui, Molokai, and Oahu, but was to reside on O‘ahu and allow Kā’eo to govern Maui and Molokai for him.

In 1793, Captain Brown was a British trader, “one of that numerous group of commercial adventurers who flocked into the north Pacific Ocean in the wake of Cook, drawn thither by the chance discovery, as one result of the last expedition led by that great navigator, of the possibilities of wealth in the fur trade between China and the coast of America.”  (Kuykendall)

Brown’s three-vessel trading squadron included the ‘Butterworth’ (under Captain Brown,) ‘Prince Lee Boo’ (under Captain Gordon) and the ‘Jackal’ (under the command of Captain Alexander Stewart.)

At Maui Captain Brown seems to have entered into some sort of a politico-commercial agreement with Kahekili. Brown “had left the Isld, only a fortnight before we arrived had given them a number of Muskets, a very large quantity of Powder, and two pieces of Cannon (4 pounders)”.  (Boit)

However, for these weapons, Boit says that Kahekili had “given to him the whole right & property of the Islands Woahoo (O‘ahu) & Atooi (Kauai)”.  Later, Kamakau notes Kalanikūpule bargained for Brown’s assistance for “four hundred hogs”.

In July 1794, Kahekili died and, according to the prior arrangement, Kalanikūpule took control of O‘ahu and Kā‘eo ruled over Maui and Kauai.

Kā‘eo, who was residing on Maui, decided to return to Kauai. On the way he stopped with a considerable force on the northeast coast of O‘ahu, across the mountains from Waikiki, the capitol of the island.

Some fighting took place between his followers and those of Kalanikūpule, but this trouble was settled by a personal conference between the two chiefs, and Kā‘eo continued on around the island to Waianae, the usual point of departure for Kauai.

While resting here Kā‘eo learned of a plot among his warriors directed against himself. In this emergency he resorted to a measure not infrequently used by more civilized generals. He proposed an immediate attack on Kalanikūpule and the conquest of O‘ahu.

The plot collapsed and his followers rallied about him with enthusiasm, augmented in numbers by several bands of disaffected Oahuans. The advance toward Waikiki was begun at once and within a few days the two armies were in contact west of Honolulu.  (Kuykendall)

Kalanikūpule at once engaged Captain Brown to aid him in this war (in return for four hundred hogs.) A battle was fought on the plains of Puʻunahawele in which some foreigners were killed by Mare Amara. Kalanikūpule was forced to retreat. Six days later, another battle was fought in which Kāʻeo was again victorious.

On December 12, 1794, a great battle was fought; Kalanikūpule himself with the main army held the middle ground between ʻAiea and the taro patches; Captain Brown’s men were in boats guarding the shoreline.

Thus surrounded, Kāʻeo with six of his men escaped into a ravine below ʻAiea and might have disappeared there had not the red of his feather cloak been seen from the boats at sea and their shots drawn the attention of those on land. Hemmed in from above, Kāʻeo was killed.  (Kamakau)

Toward the end of December a plot was formed among the natives for the seizure of the two vessels (Jackal and Prince Lee Boo.) On the first day of January, 1795, the plan was put in place.

The Englishmen being thus scattered and the vessels almost deserted, except for the two captains, who remained on board.

“Capt. Brown was walking the poop, by himself, when one of ye Savages gets up on the poop, & made a pass at the Good old Captain with an Iron dagger, which he fend’d of, & seizd a Swivell worm & drove the fellow of, he was soon followed by a number more which the captain likewise beat of …”

“… but at last he was overpower’d by numbers, & receiv’d a fatal stab in the back of the neck and was pitch’d from the poop on to the main deck where he soon expir’d, & so by there savage artfulness they got possession of both Vessells without the loss of a man on there side, in the mean time they had seiz’d the Boats & People that where on shore”.  (Boit; Kuykendall)

Being in possession of the two ships, with a large quantity of arms and ammunition, Kalanikūpule and his advisers conceived this to be an opportune moment for striking a decisive blow at Kamehameha.

The surviving members of the crews were compelled, under guard, to fit the vessels for sea, and when all was ready the king and his chiefs went on board and the ships were warped out of Fairhaven harbor and anchored in Waikiki bay.

The next day Mr. Bonallack, mate of the Prince Lee Boo, and Mr. Lamport, mate of the Jackal, agreed upon a plan for retaking the vessels that night. It was a desperate venture but the attempt was entirely successful, the natives on board being killed or driven off, with the exception of the king, queen, and three or four of their personal attendants.

The ships immediately put to sea, but at daybreak they again came near the shore and, after placing the king and queen in a canoe with one attendant, made all sail for the island of Hawaii, and from there, after procuring supplies, took their departure for Canton.

In 1795 Kamehameha sailed from his home island of Hawaiʻi with an army of thousands of warriors, including a handful of non-Hawaiian foreigners to battle Kalanikūpule.

The war apparently ends with some of Kalanikūpule’s warriors pushed/jumping off the Pali.  When the Pali Highway was being built, excavators counted approximately 800-skulls, believed to be the remains of the warriors who were defeated by Kamehameha.

Within less than five months after the death of Captain Brown, Kamehameha over-ran Maui and Molokai, defeated Kalanikūpule in the great battle of Nuʻuanu, and became ruler of all the islands except Kauai. (Kuykendall)

Kamehameha launched his first invasion attempt on Kauai in April of 1796, having already conquered the other Hawaiian Islands, and having fought his last major battle at Nuʻuanu on O‘ahu in 1795.

Kauai’s opposing factions (Kaumuali‘i versus Keawe) were extremely vulnerable as they had been weakened by fighting each other (Keawe died and Kaumuali‘i was, ultimately, ruler of Kauai and Ni‘ihau.)  Kamehameha’s two attempts at invading Kauai were foiled (by storm and sickness.)  The island was never conquered.

Then, on March 3, 1810, Kamehameha wrote his letter to King George – this summary explains how/why he moved to O‘ahu.

Then, in April of 1810, at Pākākā, Kamehameha’s compound at Honolulu Harbor, negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i and Kamehameha I took place; facing the threat of a further invasion, Kaumualiʻi yielded to Kamehameha.  The agreement marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the islands.

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