Prominent People | Page 145 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 31, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Poisoned

“Scrawls on a hand-drawn map by Brintnall told of the murder of his officer Elihu Mix, who died aboard the Triumph in Honolulu Harbor after allegedly eating a poisoned fish dinner sent to the ship.” (Cook)

Family tradition suggests Mix was not the target – rather, the Triumph’s ship captain, Brintnall was intended to be killed; “Luckily for Brintnall, he was ashore and missed the dinner.” (Cook)

Let’s take a closer look …

“My father traced his descent back to Caleb Mix, one of the founders, or at least earliest settlers, of New Haven. Caleb, the second, born 1687, had a son Thomas, who in 1770 married Mehitable Beecher.”

“They had six children, the eldest being Elisha. He was, I judge, a man of means and a merchant, trader, etc. His eldest son, Elihu, was my grandfather; he married Nancy Atwater, of New Haven.”

“They had three children: Edward H, Elihu L Mix, and Margaret M Mix; Mr Elihu Mix, of Westville, only surviving at this time.”

“My grandfather (Elihu) was engaged in the shipping business at early part of this century and sailed from New Haven in the little ships of those days, circumnavigating the globe.”

“In one of these adventurous voyages, in the seal fishery and China trade interest, in 1808, his ship touched for stores at the Sandwich Islands, and while there he was poisoned by the Queen of the Islands (Kaʻahumanu.)”

“The king (Kamehameha I) wished his young sons to come and it was understood the queen, to defeat their object, caused the baked fish she had sent to the officers to be poisoned. Accidentally the others were absent and Captain Mix only partook of the fatal dish.” (Jonathan Mix of New Haven, 1886-Appendix)

It seems, in January 1808, Kamehameha made arrangements with Captain Caleb Brintnall, Master of the Triumph out of New Haven, to take his 12-year old son and heir apparent, Liholiho, to New England for his education.

A few years earlier, Kaumuali‘i of Kauai had sent his son Humehume to New England for school and Kamehameha wanted his heir to equal to his rival’s in Western education.

However, Kaʻahumanu saw Kamehameha’s plan for the boy as a threat to her influence and political hold. So she sent an outrigger canoe with a mullet dinner out to Brintnall’s ship in Honolulu Harbor – a gift for the Captain and his officers.

In the Hawaiian tradition of ‘apu koheoheo (the poison cup) the fish had been basted with the deadly toxins of the keke (puffer fish.) However, Brintnall and most of his officers were on shore at Honolulu. Mix was the only officer on board who had dinner and then died from the poisoning. (Wehrheim)

This may have changed the course of history in the Islands.

Following this, Brintnall sailed on to Kealakekua, the same place where Captain Cook landed on the Island of Hawaiʻi; across the bay from Hikiʻau Heiau is where Cook was later killed.

Brintnall met ʻŌpūkahaʻia. Both of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s parents had been slain during the battles on the island. The only surviving member of the family, besides himself, was an infant brother he hoped to save from the fate of his parents, and carried him on his back and fled from the enemy.

But he was pursued, and his little brother, while on his back, was killed by a spear from the enemy. Taken prisoner, because he was not young enough to give them trouble, nor old enough to excite their fears, ʻŌpūkahaʻia was not killed.

He was later turned over to his uncle, Pahua, who took him into his own family and treated him as his child. Pahua was a kahuna at Hikiʻau Heiau in Kealakekua Bay.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s uncle, wanting his nephew to follow him as a kahuna, taught ʻŌpūkahaʻia long prayers and trained him to the task of repeating them daily in the temple of the idol. This ceremony he sometimes commenced before sunrise in the morning, and at other times was employed in it during the whole or the greater part of the night.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was not destined to be a kahuna. He made a life-changing decision – not only which affected his life, but had a profound effect on the future of the Hawaiian Islands.

“I began to think about leaving that country, to go to some other part of the globe. I did not care where I shall go to. I thought to myself that if I should get away, and go to some other country, probably I may find some comfort, more than to live there, without father and mother.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

He boarded Brintnall’s ‘Triumph’ in Kealakekua Bay; also on Board was Hopu. They set sail for New York, stopping first in China (selling seal-skins and loading the ship with Chinese goods.)

Russell Hubbard, a son of Gen. Hubbard of New Haven, Connecticut was also on board. “This Mr. Hubbard was a member of Yale College. He was a friend of Christ. Christ was with him when I saw him, but I knew it not. ‘Happy is the man that put his trust in God!’ Mr. Hubbard was very kind to me on our passage, and taught me the letters in English spelling-book.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

In 1809, they landed at New York and remained there until the Captain sold out all the Chinese goods. Then, they made their way to New England. “In this place I become acquainted with many students belonging to the College.”

“By these pious students I was told more about God than what I had heard before … Many times I wished to hear more about God, but find no body to interpret it to me. I attended many meetings on the sabbath, but find difficulty to understand the minister. I could understand or speak, but very little of the English language. Friend Thomas (Hopu) went to school to one of the students in the College before I thought of going to school.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was taken into the family of the Rev. Dr. Dwight, President of Yale College, for a season; where he was treated with kindness, and taught the first principles of Christianity. At length, Mr. Samuel J. Mills, took him under his particular patronage, and sent him to live with his father, the Rev. Mr. Mills of Torringford.

By 1817, a dozen students, six of them Hawaiians, were training at the Foreign Mission School to become missionaries to teach the Christian faith to people around the world.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia improved his English by writing the story of his life in a book called “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” (the spelling of his name prior to establishment of the formal Hawaiian alphabet, based on its sound.) ʻŌpūkahaʻia died suddenly of typhus fever in 1818. The book about his life was printed and circulated after his death.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired 14-missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawaiʻi.)

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)

There were seven couples sent to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity. These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

Among the other Hawaiian students at the Foreign Mission School were Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauai’s Kaumuali‘i.)

After 164-days at sea, on April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Hawai‘i’s “Plymouth Rock” is about where the Kailua pier is today.

By the time the Pioneer Company arrived, Kamehameha I had died and the centuries-old kapu system had been abolished; through the actions of King Kamehameha II (Liholiho,) with encouragement by former Queens Kaʻahumanu and Keōpūolani (Liholiho’s mother,) the Hawaiian people had already dismantled their heiau and had rejected their religious beliefs.

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Mullet-cooked

December 29, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Wounded Knee

Nearly two centuries before the trouble at Pine Ridge, South Dakota began, the Sioux tribes left their historical homelands at the headwaters of the Mississippi River and moved westward to the great plains of Nebraska and the Dakotas.

One reason for their departure was that their enemies, the Ojibwas, had obtained firearms from the French and thus made life uncomfortable for the Sioux.

Another reason for the move to the great plains was the abundance of buffalo discovered there. In the early 1700s, the Sioux acquired the horse and this gave them great mobility, especially for hunting and war-making activities and their territory extended from Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Yellowstone River to the Platte River.

The Sioux were quick to see the value and potential of the hundreds of miles of open range available to them. They were proud and powerful warriors and maintained their mastery over the region. (Alexander Kelley)

In 1868, government policy was implemented that was designed to bring all Plains Indian tribes under direct control of the government in Washington. In April of that year, the Sioux signed a treaty which stated optimistically at its outset, “From this day forth, all wars between the parties of this agreement shall cease forever.”

The treaty required the Sioux to give up a large part of their land in return for a guarantee that the rest of their land (portions of South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming) would be “set apart for their absolute and undisturbed use and occupation.” The government abandoned three forts on the Bozeman Trail, but established Indian agencies and agents. (Alexander Kelley)

In December of 1890, approximately 350 to 375 Sioux men, women, and children under the leadership of Chief Big Foot journeyed from the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation at the invitation of Chief Red Cloud to help make peace between the non-Indians and Indians.

The journey of Chief Big Foot and his band of Minneconjou Sioux occurred during the Ghost Dance Religion period when extreme hostility existed between Sioux Indians and non-Indians residing near the Sioux reservations, and the US Army assumed control of the Sioux reservations.

Chief Big Foot and his band were intercepted on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation at Porcupine Butte, surrendered unconditionally under a white flag of truce, and were escorted to Wounded Knee Creek, on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the US state of South Dakota. (Congress)

However, Sitting Bull, “being in open rebellion against constituted authority, was defying the Government, and encouraging disaffection, made it necessary that he be arrested and removed from the reservation.”

At daybreak, a force of thirty-nine policemen and four volunteers (one of whom was Sitting Bull’s brother-in-law, ‘Gray Eagle’) was dispatched to the Standing Rock Reservation.

Sitting Bull accepted his arrest quietly at first, but then got stubborn and refused to accompany them. The policemen took him out of the house; but, getting outside, they found themselves completely surrounded by Sitting Bull’s followers, all armed and excited. (Eye witness account by McLaughlin, Indian Agent, 1891)

“While the troops were searching for arms among the Indians’ tepees at Wounded Knee, Dec. 29 (1890,) the Indians suddenly attacked them. The soldiers turned on them with machine guns and rifles, almost abandoning tactics in their wrath at the treachery of the savages.” (Daily Bulletin, January 9, 1891)

“The wounded Indians lying on the battle-field fought like fiends. They continued shooting until they were killed or their ammunition was exhausted. There were many single-handed ferocious combats between wounded soldiers and Indians.” (Daily Bulletin, January 9, 1891)

A few minutes later, the plain was covered with the dead and dying. More Indians had been killed there than in any fight for the thirty years preceding. (Alexander Kelley)

“The result was the killing of thirty men and three officers and about 160 Indians. The fight was a hot one and no mercy was shown on either side. It is now reported that the Sioux tribe numbering about 3,000 warriors has left the Agency and gone on the warpath, notwithstanding, a dreadful blizzard is and has been raging for some days past.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 9, 1891)

Historians regard the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre as the last armed conflict between Indian warriors and the US Cavalry which brought to a close an era in the history of this country commonly referred to as the Indian wars period characterized by an official government policy of forcibly removing the Indian tribes and bands from the path of westward expansion and settlement through placement on reservations. (Congress)

As a time comparison (and not associated with Wounded Knee,) failing health for some months made it seem advisable that King Kalākaua should seek to regain it by a voyage to the more bracing climate of California, and inspired with this hope, he left his kingdom in November (1890.) The voyage and change of circumstances at first seemed to benefit him. (Privy Council)

“The United States steamer Charleston, with King Kalākaua, of Hawaii, on board, entered the harbor at 11 o’clock this morning. Colonel McFarlane, chamberlain to King Kalākaua, stated that the king visited California for the benefit of his health and eyesight, which is somewhat impaired.”

“The king would probably remain in California five or six weeks, and during that period would visit the southern part of the state, but would not go east. The king is accompanied only by Colonel McFarlane and a few servants.” (Los Angeles Herald, December 5, 1890)

On December 18, the Daily Alta California announced that local favorites from San Francisco and Oakland would be competing in the baseball game, which would be held December 20 at the Haight Street grounds, where the bleachers could seat 14,000 fans.

The king and his party arrived at 2:15 pm. The band played ‘Hawaii Ponoʻi’ and the game began. Despite a triple by Picked Nine right fielder Ebright, the All-Californians won 12-8. The king did not stay for the whole game. He was a sick man suffering from kidney disease. (San Jose Mercury News)

Then, the sad news …

“The announcement yesterday of the death of King Kalākaua fell like a clap of thunder from the skies. Although we all knew that he was not a well man when he left here and that he had in his system a most insidious disease …”

“… yet the reports of the decided improvement in his health from the voyage over and the bracing climate of California deceived us as to his frail hold on life.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 30, 1891)

“He passed away at exactly 2:35 pm of Tuesday, January 20, 1891 … Kalākaua I was buried with great state on February 15th, 1891, another guest in that mausoleum which is so fast filling with the mortal remains of Hawaiian royalty. His sister Liliʻuokalani reigns in his stead”. (Gowen)

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View-of-survivors-of-the-Wounded-Knee-Massacre-surrendering-to-the-U.S.-Army-Jan.-1-1891

Gen Brooks camp at Pine Ridge Agcy S.D.

Sioux camp scene, ca. 1880 (National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution – P22843)

Photograph of the Mass Burial at Wounded Knee, January 1, 1891

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Wounded Knee sign

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December 28, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Basket Ball

“A very interesting game is indulged in during an intermission, which is taken for rest and amusement combined. It is basket ball. A small wire basket is fastened to the wall on either end, about twelve feet from the floor.”

“Sides are chosen and each attempt to land a small rubber ball in the goal of the other team. The tactics involved in football are used with the exception that there is no kicking of the ball or tackling of players.” (Hawaiian Star, December 3, 1896)

“In the winter of 1891, Luther Gulick, the head of the physical education department at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, persuaded a young instructor named James Naismith to create an indoor game that could be played during the off-season.” (Basketball Hall of Fame)

Gulick’s first intention was to bring outdoor games indoors, namely, soccer and lacrosse. These games proved too physical and cumbersome.

At his wits’ end, Naismith recalled a childhood game, that he had referred to as “Duck on a Rock”, that required players to use finesse and accuracy to become successful. (SONAHR)

Gulick and Naismith developed the game we now call Basketball. The first formal game was played on December 29, 1891.

That day, 18 men at the School for Christian Workers (later the International YMCA Training School, now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts played a match in the Armory Street court: 9-versus-9, using a soccer ball and two peach baskets. (SONAHR)

“A major force in the early development of the sport, Gulick oversaw Naismith’s creation of the game, led basketball’s move to the national and international level, and in 1895 became the chairman of the Basketball Rules Organization.”

“Among his other achievements, Gulick developed the YMCA triangle symbol (signifying the YMCA’s physical, emotional, and intellectual pursuits that still remain today), served on the Olympic Committee for the London Games in 1908 …”

“… and is credited with forming such notable youth organizations as the Public School Athletic Leagues (PSAL) in New York, the Boy Scouts and the Camp Fire Girls.” (Basketball Hall of Fame)

Luther Halsey Gulick was born on December 4, 1865 at Honolulu, Hawai‘i, the fifth of seven children of Congregationalist missionaries, Luther Halsey Gulick and Louisa Lewis Gulick.

Young Luther spent the first fifteen years of his life abroad in Hawai‘i, Spain, Italy and Japan. Upon return to the US in 1880, he enrolled in the preparatory department of Oberlin College until 1882.

Luther was enrolled in Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire, from 1882 to 1883. In 1884, he returned to Oberlin, where he studied physical education.

However, plagued throughout his life with heart problems and chronic headaches, Gulick had to leave Oberlin due to illness in 1885. He resumed his education the same year, however, when he joined the Sargent School of Physical Training, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The following year, Gulick became a student at the Medical College at the City University of New York where he was awarded the MD in 1889. He married Charlotte Emily Vetter on August 30, 1887. Together they had six children, Louise, Frances, Charlotte, Katharine, Luther, and John Halsey.

Throughout his life and career, Luther Halsey Gulick was greatly interested in physical education and hygiene. He also kept himself intensely busy.

While pursuing his medical degree between 1886 and 1889, he began his career as the physical director of the Jackson, Michigan YMCA in 1886.

In 1887, Gulick became head of the gymnasium department of the Young Men’s Christian Education’s Springfield Training School. It was there, in 1891, that the game of basketball was created. (Winter)

“He was recognized as an authority upon physical training in the public schools and the author of many books on this subject. A series of lectures at the St Louis Exposition in 1904 won him international recognition as an expert in such matters.”

“He was Chairman of the international Committee on Physical Recreation of the War Work Council of the YMCA until he had to give it up on account pf his health.” (NYTimes)

Luther’s sibling Edward Leeds Gulick and his wife Harriet Marie Gulick settled in Vermont and started the “Aloha Camp” there in 1905.

Fifteen years before women were allowed to vote, when floor length skirts and lace up boots were mandatory for playing any sport; when popular conduct books for girls encouraged a “retiring delicacy” …

… and declared that “one of the most valuable things you can learn is how to become a good housewife” – Harriet and Edward Gulick created a world in which every girl could discover her most adventurous self.

Aloha Camp afforded young women the knowledge, skills and freedom to explore wild nature on foot and on horseback, by skiff and by canoe; to kindle campfires in the woods and cook meals in the open air; to pitch tents over rough ground and sleep out of doors under the stars.

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Basketbal-equipment used in 1892

Naismith with what is believed to be the first US Basketball Team

James Naismith-Canadian physical education instructor who with Luther Gulick invented basketball in 1891

December 26, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Remembering, Through Street Names

People, places, events and times continue to live through various symbols found around us. One such reminder of the past can be found by the name on a street sign; they help us remember people and places of the past.

As an example, Waikiki is rich in history, pre-contact and modern – as George Kanahele once noted, “Waikīkī’s significance is as a place of history, not destination.”

Because Waikīkī is predominantly built-up, some may suggest that we are past our time and opportunity to share this past, and the stories they tell, with others.

While many of the sites and structures are gone, there are numerous reminders of Waikīkī’s and Hawai‘i’s past, even in this modern constructed environment.

Several Waikīkī streets remind us of Place Names and carry the names of the ʻili in Waikiki, as illustrated by:
• Kālia Road
• Helumoa Road
• Hamohamo Street
• Kāneloa Road
• Kapuni Street
• Pa‘ū Street & Pa‘ū Lane
• Uluniu Avenue

Waikīkī was Home to Hawaiʻi’s Ali‘i and Chiefs (street names call attention to these people:)
• Kalākaua Avenue (King David Kalākaua)
• Lili‘uokalani Avenue & Nohonani Street (Queen Lydia Liliʻuokalani and reference to Lili‘uokalani “sitting beautifully”)
• Kapiʻolani Boulevard (Queen Ester Kapiʻolani)
• Kūhiō Avenue (Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi)
• Prince Edward Street (Prince Edward Abnel Keliʻiahonui Piʻikoi)
• Koa Avenue (Prince David (Koa) Kawānanakoa Piʻikoi)
• Kaʻiulani Avenue (Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani Cleghorn)
• Kapili Street (Princess Miriam Kapili Likelike – Sister of King Kalākaua & Queen Lili‘uokalani and mother of Princess Kaʻiulani)
• Pākī Avenue (Chief Abner Pākī – High Chief of Maui and father of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop)
• Kuamoʻo Street (Mary Kuamoʻo Ka‘oana‘eha – Niece of Kamehameha I and wife of John Young)
• Kalanimōku Street (Chief William Pitt Kalanimōku – Prime minister under King Kamehameha I, II & III)

Llikewise, some streets names remind us of the names of royal residences:)
• Ke‘alohilani Avenue (Queen Liliʻuokalani’s residence at Kūhiō Beach & earlier Kamehameha V’s beach home at Helumoa)
• Paoakalani Avenue (Queen Liliʻuokalani’s residence)

We are reminded of Prominent People through names of streets:
• Cartwright Road (Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr.; “The father of Modern Baseball”)
• Cleghorn Street (Archibald Scott Cleghorn – Father of Princess Kaʻiulani and Governor of O‘ahu)
• Duke’s Lane, Kahanamoku Street & Paoa Place (Duke Paoa Kahanamoku – Father of Modern and International Surfing; Olympic Gold medalist)
• Don Ho Lane (Don Ho – Entertainer)
• ‘Olohana Street (John Young – Advisor to Kamehameha I and Grandfather of Queen Emma)
• Keoniana Street (John Young II – also known as Keoni Ana ʻOpio) – Kuhina Nui under Kamehameha II and Minister of Foreign Affairs under Kamehameha IV)
• Makee Road (Captain James Makee – Scottish rancher and developer)
• McCully Street (Lawrence McCully – Associate Justice during the reign of Kalākaua)
• Tusitala Street (Robert Louis Stevenson- His Samoan name – writer)

Other People and Places are remembered in Waikiki Street names:
• Dudley Street (Battery Dudley at Fort DeRussy – General Edger S. Dudley)
• Dudoit Lane (Captain James Dudoit – French Consul, founder of Catholic Mission)
• ‘Ena Road (John ‘Ena – Member of Queen Lili‘uokalani’s staff)
• Hobron Lane (Captain Coit and Thomas Hobron – Property owners)
• Lemon Road (James Silas Lemon – French land developer)
• Lewers Street (Robert Lewers formed Lewers and Cooke, they supplied lumber for construction)
• Monsarrat Avenue (Judge James Melville Monsarrat – Advisor to the monarchy)
• Ala Wai Boulevard (Ala Wai Canal)
• Ala Moana Boulevard (Coastal trail then road)
• Royal Hawaiian Avenue (Royal Hawaiian Hotel)
• Seaside Avenue (Waikiki Seaside Hotel, which preceded the Royal Hawaiian Hotel)
• Saratoga Road (Saratoga Bathhouse)

Of course, it is not just Waikīkī street names that remind us of stories about people, places, events and times – look around you, the signs noting stories of history and remembering the past are everywhere.

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Uluniu-Koa

December 22, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Dickie Cross

“Nobody went to the North Shore.”

Until the 1930s, modern surfing in Hawaiʻi was focused at Waikīkī; there the waves were smaller. Then, in 1937, Wally Froiseth and John Kelly, reportedly on a school trip, witnessed the large break at Mākaha and later surfed its waves. They were later joined by George Downing and others.

Riding at an angle to the wave, rather than the straight to shore technique, on the new “hot curl” board, with narrower tails and V-hulled boards, allowed them to ride in a sharper angle than anyone else.

Mākaha became the birthplace of big wave surfing. Even before Oʻahu’s North Shore, Mākaha was ‘the’ place for surfing – especially big-wave surfing.

In January 1955, the first Mākaha International Surfing Championships was held and for the next decade was considered the unofficial world championships of surfing.

“We were the first ones to go (to the North Shore.) Wally and John Kelly told me, they said, ‘Oh, there at (Sunset Beach,) there’s big waves over there.’” (Quotes in this summary are from an account by Woody Brown in Legendary Surfers.)

On December 22, 1943, Woody Brown and a young friend named Dickie Cross paddled out at Sunset on a rising swell. Up to this time, Sunset had rarely been ridden.

“Oh well, it’s winter time. There’s no surf in Waikiki at all, see. So, we got bored. You know how surfers get. Oh, let’s go over there and try over there. That’s how we got over there and got caught, because the waves were 20 feet.”

“Well, that wasn’t too bad, because there was a channel going out, see. The only thing is, when I looked from the shore, I could see the water dancing in the channel … the waves are piling in the bay from both sides, causing this narrow channel going out.”

“There were 20 foot waves breaking on each side. We went out to catch these waves and slide toward the channel. The only trouble was, the surf was on the way up. We didn’t know that. It was the biggest surf they’d had in years and years, see, and it was on the way up.”

“So, we got caught out there! It kept getting bigger and bigger and, finally, we were sitting in this deep hole where the surf was breaking on two sides and coming into the channel. The channel opened up into this big deep area where we were and the surf would break on two sides”.

“Then, all of a sudden, way outside in the blue water, a half mile out from where we were – and we were out a half mile from shore – way out in the blue water this tremendous wave came all the way down the coast, from one end to the other.”

“It feathered and broke out there! We thought, ‘Oh boy, so long, pal. This is the end. … 20 feet of white water, eh? Rolling in and just before it got to us, it hit this deep hole and the white water just backed-up. The huge swell came through, but didn’t break.”

“Oh, boy! Scared the hell out of us! Well, there was a set of about 5 or 6 waves like that. So, after the set went by, we said, ‘Hey, let’s get the hell inside. What are we doing out here? This is no place to be! Let’s get in!’”

“You have to be very careful of these channels. When the waves get big, the rip current just pours out of there, out of the bay. You can’t get in. Anyway, we didn’t know what to do.”

“So, finally, we decided, ‘Well, there was only one thing to do. We gotta wait until that huge set goes by’ … ‘then, we’ll paddle like hell to get outside of ’em and then paddle down the coast and come in at Waimea.

“By the time we got there, it kept getting bigger and bigger. It went up on the Haleiwa restaurant and it wiped out the road at Sunset. It was the biggest surf they’d had in years and we were stuck out there.”

“Then what I was afraid might happen did happen. In other words, a set came where we were — a big, tremendous set. Boy, outside of us there was just a step ladder a far as you could see, going uphill.”

“(W)e had agreed we’d go out in the middle of the bay, where it was safe, and sit there and watch the sets go by and see what it looked like. Then we could judge where to get in and what.”

“But, no! (Cross) starts cutting in, and I hollered at him, ‘Hey, hey, don’t go in there. Let’s go out in the middle!’ “‘Nah!’ ” “He just wouldn’t pay any attention.”

“So, he was going in and I would see him go up over these swells and come back out off the top. The next one would come and he’d disappear and then I’d see him come up over the top and it looked like he was trying to catch ’em.”

“I told him, ‘Come out, come out!’ It sounded like he said, ‘I can’t, Woody, I’m too tired.’ That’s what it sounded like. But then, he started swimming out towards me, so I started paddling in to catch him to pick him up on my board.”

“Well, you know, at a time like that, in that kind of big waves… you’re watching outside all the time … So, I’m paddling in and one eye’s out there and one eye’s on him to pick him up.”

“All of a sudden, his eyes see the darn mountains coming way outside in the blue water, just piling one on top of another, way out there. I turned around and started paddling outside for all I’m worth”.

“I started looking for Dickie, cuz he’s been inside of me. Oh, boy. I hollered and called and looked, swam around, and there was no more Dickie anywhere. It’s getting dark, now, too! The sun’s just about setting.”

“So, I’m swimming and I think, ‘Well, I’m gonna die, anyway, so I might just as well try to swim in, because, what the hell, I’m dead, anyway, if I’m gonna float around out here.'”

“I’ll swim out to the middle of the bay and I’ll wait and watch the big sets go by and after a big set goes by, then I just try swimming and hope to God I can get in far enough that when another big set comes in I’ll be where it isn’t so big and strong.”

“And that’s what I did. I was just lucky when the first one came. I’m watching it come, bigger and higher and higher and it broke way outside, maybe 4-5 hundred yards outside of me. I said, ‘Well, maybe I got a chance.’”

“So, I figured, ‘Man, if I lived through this one, I got a chance!’ Cuz each one, I’m getting washed in, eh? So, each time I dove a little less deep and I saw it was washing me in.”

“So, they washed me up on the beach. I was so weak, I couldn’t stand up. I crawled out on my hands and knees and these army guys came running down.”

“The first thing I said to them was, ‘Where’s the other guy?’ They said, ‘Oh, we never saw him after he got wrapped up in that first big wave.’”

“If he got ‘wrapped up’ meant that he was up in the curl, right? How else would you express it? So, I figured he tried to bodysurf in.” (Legendary Surfers)

Census records show Dickie Cross (born in 1925) was son of William and Annie Cross who emigrated from England in 1902. His father was a brick mason; they lived in Waikiki on Prince Edward Street, about a block mauka of what is now the Hyatt Regency.

Honolulu-born Dickie, along with older brother Jack, was a fixture on the Waikiki surfing and paddleboard-racing scene in the late-1930s and early-40s. While still in middle school, the two boys made a sailing canoe in their backyard, and sailed it, alone, from Waikiki to Molokai, a distance of 40 miles.

Cross’s death contributed greatly to what California big-wave rider Greg Noll later described as the ‘Waimea taboo’ – a general fear that kept surfers from riding the break until 1957.

As part of the Sunshine Freestyle Surfabout, there is the Dick Cross Memorial Distance Paddle that sends surfers on their boards from Carmel River Beach, around Carmel Point, California, all the way to the judges’ stands at Eighth and Scenic. Top paddlers do the distance in about 15-minutes.

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