Place Names | Page 112 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

August 30, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Luali‘iloa Pond

Nāpō‘opo‘o and Ka‘awaloa represent the two major settlements along the northern and southern sides of Kealakekua Bay with continuity in occupation from the pre-contact period, around 1600 and earlier, into the 20th Century.

At the time of Cook’s arrival in 1779, high chief Kalani‘ōpu‘u had his chiefly residence at Ka‘awaloa while the priests associated with this chiefly complex had their residences across the bay at Kekua (Nāpō‘opo‘o). Kamehameha I was also residing at Nāpō‘opo‘o in 1779.

The priestly compound at Nāpō‘opo‘o consists of Hikiau Heiau, Helehelekalani Heiau, the Great Wall, the brackish pond to the north of Hikiau Heiau, and the housesites of the priests, including Hewahewa, high priest to Kamehameha I.

Hikiau Heiau was the state-level religious center for this chiefly complex at Kealakekua Bay. The Great Wall marks the mauka (eastern) boundary of this priestly compound. The annual tour of the island associated with the Makahiki season began and ended at Hikiau Heiau. (DLNR)

“During the time when Kalaniʻōpuʻu was in the process of building the Hikiau Heiau, he asked Hewahewa to build him a fish pond. Hewahewa gathered certain men of the ali‘i clan than had his fish pond build.”

“Hewahewa lived across the pond. This pond was filled with fish for only the ali‘i to eat. (The name of the ‘old fishpond’ is Li‘iloa and/or Luali‘iloa.)

“‘Ala rocks (dense waterworn volcanic stones) were gathered from across the bay and was used to cover the bottom of the pond. Every rock was set in place and fitted a certain way until it was completed.” (‘Aunty Mona’ Kapapapkeali‘ioka‘alokai Kapule-Kahele, Maly; DLNR)

“West (north) of the morai (heiau) was the residence of the priest that conducted the ceremony. It consisted of a circle of large cocoanut and other trees that stood upon the margin of a pond of water in the center of which was a bathing place.”

“Upon the north (east) side of the pond were a row of houses standing among the trees and were most delightfully situated. These houses extended almost to the morai, nearest which was that of the priest who was the lord of this beautiful recess.”

“Between the houses and the pond were a number of grass plots intersected by several square holes with water in them which were private baths. On the east (south) side under the wall of the morai was a thick arbour of low spreading trees …”

“… and a number of ill carved images interspersed throughout, to this retreat we were all conducted, and Capt Cook was placed by one of those images which was hund round with old pieces of their cloths and some viands.” (Ledyard – Cook’s crewman)

Vancouver arrived at Kealakekua in 1793 and also noted the priest’s settlement around Hikiau Heiau and the pond. He recorded 200 houses along the 0.5-mile of beach at Nāpō‘opo‘o, as well as, the residence of Kamehameha I located behind the pond.

But by 1814, Kamehameha’s residence was reported as empty and “uncommonly filthy”. Four years later, in 1818, Capt. Golovnin of the Russian ship Kamchatka visited Kekua and “near the pond we saw the ruins of the former houses of the King surrounded by tall shady trees”. (Golovnin; DLNR)

The missionaries arrived at Kealakekua Bay in 1824 and established a mission at Ka‘awaloa Flat. Because of the heat, the missionaries moved the mission upslope to Kuapehu in 1827. However, many of the Hawaiians continued to live along the coast and Rev. Forbes decided to move the mission station to Nāpō‘opo‘o in 1838 and constructed the first Kahikolu Church in 1840.

In the 1850s, the government leased land behind the pond and restored the stone prison originally built by Kapi‘olani in the 1830s. Deputy Sheriff Preston Cummings leased the pond and the adjacent land to support the prison population in the late 1850s.

In the mid 1860s, Mr. Logan purchased the ahupua‘a and developed a sugar plantation while the makai lands and 5 coconut trees were leased by S. Kekumano, the jailer. Pineapple and sugarcane were planted and cultivated by the prisoners. The prison was used until around 1875.

By 1875, the ahupua‘a had been bought and sold a number of times. J.D. Paris, Jr. was the owner of the ahupua‘a, leasing the flat around the bay, the pali, and coconut trees to H. Haili, grandson of konohiki Nunole. Jailer Kekumano still held the pond lease, even though the prison was seldom used by this time.

An 1883 map by George Jackson recorded both ocean depths and land features. Jackson’s map shows the pond and Hikiau Heiau as the prominent features of Nāpō‘opo‘o.

There are 3 houses and numerous coconut trees around the pond (Photo 8). The map also shows the wall defining the southern and eastern boundaries of the subject parcel adjacent to the heiau.

In 1881, H.N. Greenwell purchased the land from Paris and began cattle ranching in the area. H. Haili retained the lease on the flat land around the bay, the pali, and the pond. Evidently, Greenwell had an interest in the pond as “they had kept it stocked with fish and used it”.

However, as a result of cattle overrunning the pond and spoiling it for raising fish, Haili paid a reduced rent for the pond (Haili 1892: 69). In 1892, the lawyer for the Greenwells wrote that the pond was valued as a watering hole. (DLNR)

“(A) Japanese couple had come here. They built a house on the north side of the fishpond. This pond was than neglected. This Japanese family cleaned It up and raised shrimps in it.”

“They kept the pond clean. Shrimps were many were many. I remember the Japanese women going from house to house with her bucket of shrimp to sell. For ten cents you got a bowl full of shrimps. My tutu use to dry them and only eaten when there were no fish in the house.” (‘Aunty Mona’ Kapapapkeali‘ioka‘alokai Kapule-Kahele, Maly; Louis)

The Greenwells gave the pond the name Kalua‘opae and that name became a part of the collective memory of the community. (Louis)

“Soma years ago, some people wanted to dredge that pond but instead the heavy equipment got stuck in the sand and mud that they had to get another machine to pull the other out. What is the mystery, nobody knows. Only the people of the past knows what and how it was built.”

“Perhaps it is better that way for people to see or for those who remember seeing the fishes there.” (‘Aunty Mona’ Kapapapkeali‘ioka‘alokai Kapule-Kahele, Maly; Louis)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Napoopoo Pond-Lualiiloa Pond-DLNR

Napoopoo Pond-Lualiiloa Pond-Old Prison in Background-DLNR

Napoopoo Pond-Lualiiloa Pond-HMCS-1906

Napoopoo Pond-Lualiiloa Pond-1890s-DLNR

Napoopoo Pond-Lualiiloa Pond-McFarlen’s Hse in Background-1920-DLNR

Lualiiloa Pond – Kealakekua-Napoopoo-Jackson-Reg1324-1883 (portion)

Lualiiloa Pond – Kealakekua-Jackson-Reg1324-1883 (portion)

Napoopoo-Stoke’s Map-early-1900s-DLNR

Kealakekua Bay-Henry Roberts with Cook expedition-1779-portion

August 28, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kauai Coffee

The first reference to an attempt to cultivate coffee in Hawai’i was made by the Spaniard, Don Francisco de Paula y Marin, who recorded in his journal dated January 21, 1813, that he had planted coffee seedlings on the island of O’ahu. Evidently his planting was not successful.

When H.M.S. Blonde was bringing the bodies of Liholiho and Kamāmalu, they stopped in Rio de Janeiro Brazil and brought 30 live coffee plants in May, 1825, this introduction was referred to as the first successful introduction of coffee plants into Hawai’i, with an additional remark that ‘if the plant had been introduced before, it had become extinct.’

These live coffee seedlings were brought by John Wilkinson, an Englishman who was commissioned by Governor Boki of O‘ahu to develop and supervise a plantation type of farming in Hawai’i. (Goto)

In 1842, to encourage the production of coffee, the government enacted a law to allow payment of land taxes in coffee as well as in pigs, which had been the common tax payment up to that time. The Act also imposed a three percent duty on all foreign coffee imported into the Kingdom. (This tax was increased to five percent in 1845.)

Response to the government’s policy of encouraging coffee growing was good. Small areas of coffee were planted wherever possible, even in remote and neglected ravines and valleys on O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i. But it was on Kauai where the most impressive development took place.

Godfrey Rhodes, an Englishman, and John Bernard, a Frenchman, started the first large-scale coffee plantations in the beautiful valley of Hanalei. Eventually, when Titcomb also moved to Hanalei, the plantations in the valley became a continuous planting of a thousand acres of coffee trees. (Goto)

“This was a new industry for Kauai, although coffee berries had been brought to Honolulu from Brazil in 1825 on the British frigate Blonde, and a few plants had then been started in Mānoa Valley on Oahu.”

“Four or five years later the missionaries at Hilo and other planters in Kona on the island of Hawaii had begun to grow coffee around their houses, but it was from the original source in Manoa Valley that the seed and young were obtained for Hanalei.”

In October of 1845, Godfrey Rhodes and John von Pfister formed a partnership. By 1846, the Rhodes and Company Coffee Plantation covered seven hundred and fifty acres, so that the two plantations counted over one hundred thousand trees and “a great part of the valley, at least to the extent of a thousand acres, was under cultivation in coffee at this time.” (Damon)

But after a promising start a series of misfortunes in the next decade doomed the Hanalei coffee enterprises.

The first major set-back came in 1846 when, through lack of planning, a shortage of coffee pickers to harvest that year’s huge crop caused a disastrous financial loss.

“In May, 1847, just as the trees were in good condition of full bearing, they had “severe rains for two weeks which did much damage to the valley, flooding the coffee plantations.”

“Masses of rock, trees and earth were loosened and carried by force of water, crushing several hundred trees and doing much other damage.”

“Recovering from this pullback another difficulty was met with the following year by the California gold fever, rendering labor scarcer and dearer.” (Thrum)

Left behind were the aged and crippled, who took advantage of the labor shortage and demanded wages as high as five dollars a day.

The year 1852 was the beginning of the end of the coffee plantations at Hanalei. The drought-weakened coffee trees were attacked by the white scale and its companion, the black fungus smut, which lives on the secretion of the scale.

At that time, there were no control measures for the infestation and the damage continued unabated, spreading throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

In 1856, Rhodes and his associates finally sold their interest in the coffee plantations to RC Wyllie, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom. He abandoned the entire coffee planting of Hanalei and planted the land in sugar cane.

Ultimately, others shifted their interest from coffee to the more secure sugar industry. By 1860, coffee literally disappeared from Kauai and the decline continued in the other islands in the Kingdom. Sugar took its place. (Goto)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Godfrey Rhodes and his daughter-TGI

August 26, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Barony de Princeville

Kauai is the oldest of the eight main Hawaiian islands, and the island consists of one main extinct shield volcano( estimated to be about 5-million years old), as well as numerous younger lava flows (between 3.65-million years to 500,000-years old). The island is characterized by severe weathering. (DLNR)

Historically, the Island was divided into several districts and political units, which in ancient times were subject to various chiefs – sometimes independently, and at other times, in unity with the other districts. These early moku o loko, or districts included Nāpali, Haleleʻa, Koʻolau, Puna and Kona (Buke Mahele, 1848; Maly)

Located along the north coast of Kauai, Haleleʻa today is commonly referred to as the Kauaʻi “north shore”, which today encompasses the communities of Kilauea, Kalihiwai, ‘Anini/Kalihikai, Princeville, Hanalei/Waiʻoli, Wainiha and Haʻena.

Some suggest Hanalei ahupua‘a extended up onto the bluff to the east; others suggest Pupoa appears as the ahupua‘a in this area (between ʻAnini Beach to the east and Hanalei Bay to the west).

In 1831, Richard Charlton, British Consul to the Hawaiian Islands, leased lands between Hanalei and Kalihiwai from Governor Kaikioewa of Kauai to be used as a cattle ranch. Charlton brought in longhorn cattle from “Norte California,” and by 1840 the herd numbered 100 head.

In 1842, British sea captain Godfrey Rhodes (1815-97) and his partner, Frenchman John Bernard, established the first commercial coffee plantation on Kauai at Hanalei, on 150 acres of government-leased land along the banks of the Hanalei River. (Soboleski; TGI)

By 1846, Rhodes’ plantation and Yankee Charles Titcomb’s neighboring plantation had more than 100,000 coffee trees in cultivation. (Soboleski; TGI)

Yet, beginning in the late-1840s, coffee production suffered. Flooding damaged the coffee crop in 1847, workers were lost to the California Gold Rush beginning in 1848, a severe drought struck in 1851 and epidemics killed Native Hawaiian laborers.

By the time the rains finally returned and immigrant Chinese had eased the labor shortage, a blight caused by aphids ruined the coffee crops in Hanalei. (Soboleski; TGI)

In 1845, Charlton sold the ranch to the Dudoit family (later French consular agent). By this time, the number of cattle increased to an impressive 1800 head. The Dudoits salted beef locally to sell to whalers as well as shipped cattle to Honolulu for beef.

In 1855, Robert Crichton Wyllie (a Scottish physician who served as foreign minister under Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V) bought the Rhodes Coffee Plantation, which included 1700 acres in Hanalei.

He continued to acquire land and in 1862 purchased the remaining ranch lands as well as Titcomb’s Hanalei Sugar Plantation. (PrincevilleRanch) Wyllie abandoned the entire coffee planting of Hanalei and planted the land in sugar cane.

By 1860, coffee literally disappeared from Kauai and the decline continued in the other islands in the Kingdom. Sugar took its place. (Goto)

In 1860, Robert Crichton Wyllie, hosted his friends King Kamehameha IV, Queen Emma and their two-year-old son, Prince Albert at his plantation estate for several weeks.

In honor of the child, Wyllie, founder of the plantation, named his estate the “Barony de Princeville,” the City of the Prince (Princeville on Kauai.)

Alexander Liholiho and Emma had hoped to have Albert christened by a bishop of the Church of England. However, the prince became ill. As Albert became sick, and the bishop’s arrival was delayed; he was baptized on August 23, 1862 by Ephraim W. Clark, the American minister of Kawaiahaʻo Church. (Daws)

On the 27th of August, 1862, Prince Albert, the four-year-old son of Alexander Liholiho and Emma died, “leaving his father and mother heartbroken and the native community in desolation”. (Daws)

Albert Spencer Wilcox (1844-1919, son of eighth company of missionaries Abner Wilcox (1808-1869) and Lucy Eliza (Hart) Wilcox (1814-1869) was born in Hilo on Hawai‘i Island and grew up at Waiʻoli in Hanalei, Kauai.

He worked with his brother George Norton Wilcox (1839-1933) in a sugarcane business in Hanalei, before working as the manager of Hanamāʻulu Plantation; for many years (1877-1898) he managed that section of Līhuʻe plantation.

In 1892, Albert purchased an interest in the Princeville Plantation, and by 1899 had complete ownership; he sold the Princeville lands in June of 1916.

Līhuʻe Plantation expanded in 1910 with the purchase of controlling interest in Makee Sugar Company. Expansion again occurred in 1916 when Līhuʻe Plantation and WF Sanborn purchased the 6,000-acre Princeville Plantation.

Today, Princeville is a 2,000-acre resort and residential community along the sea cliffs between ʻAnini Beach to the east and Hanalei Bay to the west.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

The-Prince-of-Hawaii-Albert-Edward-Kauikeaouli-_by_Enoch_Wood_Perry-_Jr.-_1865

August 23, 2018 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Niu

Past cultural practices along the region of Wai‘alae to Kuli‘ou‘ou are generally associated with habitation, farming, fishing, gathering, religious activities and burials. During the early post contact period, this area was well-populated and several settlements, fishing villages and fishponds lined the coast.

Niu was noted in early records for a number of inland caves used for burials. “Sometimes the bodies of chiefs were placed in small canoes, or parts of a canoe, and hidden in roomy caverns, watched over by devoted guards.”

“This was done at Niu, where decayed remnants of canoes can still be seen. … On O‘ahu the caves of Niu … were abundantly used for burial.” (Westervelt; Thrum)

Here, areas along streams and springs were used for taro patches while other areas were used for dry land cultivation or pasture. Cultural practices associated with former fishponds in the region were significant prior to development of the area.

Fishponds played an important role in Hawaiian culture, providing a definite supply of food. Hawaiian fishponds were usually constructed in estuaries where freshwater streams flowed into the ocean.

Kūpapa Pond or Niu Fishpond (the former fishpond at Niuiki Circle) had water-worn walls 3-feet high and 8-feet wide that formed a 2,000-foot long semicircle around several acres. (By 1933, the pond had been filled and used for agriculture. In 1953, the pond was filled and developed for residential use.)

In 1826, the missionary Levi Chamberlain took a tour of the island of O‘ahu, traveling through the southern coast of O‘ahu westward from Makapu‘u.

He recorded a settlement of eighteen houses at Maunalua, with three additional settlements between Maunalua and Wai‘alae. These settlements were probably at Kuli‘ou‘ou, Niu and Wailupe.

In 1828, Chamberlain made a second tour of southeastern O‘ahu, this time traveling eastward from Waikiki. He arrived at Wai‘alae, reporting a school with at least 30 scholars. The next stop was at Niu.

“At a quarter before 9 o’clock we arrived at the pleasant settlement of Wai‘alae, distant on a straight line from Waikiki in a NE direction, about 4 miles, but much farther following the circuitous path along the sea shore.”

“This place is rendered agreeable by a grove of cocoanut trees and a number of branching kou trees, among which stand the grass huts of the natives, having a cool appearance, overshadowed by the waving tops of the cocoanuts, among which the trade winds sweep unobstructed.” (Cultural Surveys) This is Niu.

Niu literally means “coconut”; it was named for a woman who husked coconuts (He ‘o niu kana hana). Niu is variously described as an ‘ili in the ahupua‘a of Waikīkī or an ahupua‘a in the district of Kona. It extends from the border with Wailupe on the west to the border with Kuli‘ou‘ou on the east, and from the sea to the Ko‘olau Mountains.

Niu is divided into two valleys, separated by Kūlepeamoa (flapping of chicken) Ridge. On the west is Pia (arrowroot) Valley and on the east is Kūpaua (upright clam) Valley. The two streams of these valleys merge into Niu Stream near the coast.

This was the home of Alexander Adams. Kamehameha had awarded Adams control of over Niu Valley (much of which is still under the control on his descendants).

It is part of a tract of 2,446-acres that was once a summer home of Kamehameha I and which later claimed by Alexander Adams under Claim No. 802 filed February 14, 1848, with the land commission at the time of the Great Māhele.

The claim states: “From the testimony of Governor Kekūanāoʻa … it appears that the claimant was created lord or konohiki of this land, in the time of Kamehameha I, and that he has exercised the konohikiship of the same without dispute ever since the year of Our Lord 1822.”

It further appears that the claimant obtained his rights in this land, in the same way that he obtained his rights in the land comprised in the Claim No. 801 (in Downtown Honolulu,) namely in remuneration for services rendered the king as sea captain or sailing master.”

Captain Alexander Adams was born December 27, 1780; he left Scotland in 1792 to begin a life of working on the sea. This eventually led him to Hawaiʻi, where he arrived in 1811 on the American trading ship the ‘Albatross’ from Boston.

He became an intimate friend and confidential advisor to King Kamehameha I, who entrusted to him the command of the king’s sandalwood fleet. He became the first regular pilot for the port of Honolulu.

Adams is credited with helping to design the Hawaiian flag – a new flag for Hawaiʻi was needed to avoid confusion by American vessels (prior to that time, Hawaiian vessels flew the British Union Jack.)

“The Hawaiian flag was designed for King Kamehameha I, in the year 1816. As the King desired to send a vessel to China to sell a cargo of sandal-wood, he in company with John Young, Isaac Davis and Alexander Adams …”

“… made this flag for the ship, which was a war vessel, called the Forrester, carrying 16 guns, and was owned by Kamehameha I.” (Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, January 1, 1862)

On March 7, 1817, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi sent Adams to China to sell the sandalwood. When he sailed to China, it was the first vessel under the flag of Hawaiʻi.

To enter the Chinese harbor, the ship was heavily taxed in port charges. Upon returning October 5, 1817, at Hilo and hearing of the amount Adams had to pay, King Kamehameha decided Hawaiʻi should also generate revenue from port charges. This was the origin of harbor dues in the islands.

Captain Adams was sent to Kauai by Kamehameha I to remove the Russians from Fort Elizabeth that had been set up in 1817. His words reportedly were, “upon arriving they were soon dispatched”. Adams raised the Kingdom of Hawai‘i flag over the fort in October 1817.

Adams stood on the shore with John Young at Kailua-Kona when the first American Christian missionaries anchored off shore on April 4, 1820. He helped convince the King to allow the missionaries to come ashore and take up residence in Hawaiʻi.

When the HMS Blonde arrived in 1825, Adams helped the Scottish naturalist James Macrae distribute some plants he thought would be commercially successful in the tropical climate.

In 1828, Queen Kaʻahumanu gave Adams over 290-acres of land in Kalihi Valley (on the island of Oʻahu) in connection with and in gratitude for his services. The area was called Apili.

Adams married three times, his first was to Sarah ‘Sally’ Davis, daughter of Isaac Davis; two of his wives were the Harbottle sisters (Sarah Harbottle and Charlotte Harbottle,) who were reared by Queen Kaʻahumanu and were favorites at court. According to his personal account, he was the father of 15 children, eight of whom were by his third wife.

After 30 years of piloting, Adams retired in 1853, grew fruit on his land in Kalihi Valley, and was great host to visitors. He also had a home on what was named Adams Lane (in 1850,) a small lane in downtown Honolulu off of Hotel Street named after him (near the Hawaiian Telephone company building.)

Adams died October 17, 1871. He is buried next to his friend and fellow Scotsman Andrew Auld in the Oʻahu Cemetery. Their common tombstone contains the following inscription in the Scots dialect: “Twa croanies frae the land of heather; Are sleepin’ here in death th’gether.”

His estate in Niu Valley was held by his granddaughter Mary Lucas, who started subdividing it in the 1950s. The area created by the filling of Kūpapa Fishpond is now the site of numerous oceanfront homes.

Niu Valley used to house the Dairyman’s (later known as Meadow Gold) dairy in the Niu Shopping Center area, and was the home of “Lani Moo,” their mascot. Most of Niu valley was dairy pasture with some small ranches and nurseries in the interior.

Prior to 1954 when the first residents of the Niu Valley subdivision moved into their new homes, Kalaniana‘ole Highway was a three lane road (one lane was for turning) leading to pig and cattle farms and fishponds. Niu Valley used to be a dairy farm and back then was considered the ‘country.’

Niu Valley Middle School first opened its doors in 1955 with just a seventh grade and a staff of only six members. Since then, it has grown from one building to 15 and now accommodates almost 800 students in grades sixth, seventh and eighth. Niu Valley Middle School is the only middle school in the Kaiser Complex (pop. 30,670). (Niu Valley Playground)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Niu_Valley-Kalanianaole_Highway-(maunalua-net)-1900s

Kupapa-Fishpond-1925-and-Coastline

Kupapa_(Niu)_Fishpond-StateArchives-1925

Kuapa-Fishpond

Alexander_Adams-(WC)-1870

Downtown_Honolulu-Land_Commision_Awards-Map-1847-(portion-Note-Adams_’Branch’-Homesite_is_#801))

Oahu_Island-Alexander-1902-(portion-Niu_Valley-LCA_802)

Map of the island of Maunalua, O’ahu from 1938

Adams-Auld-Tombstone_Oahu_Cemetery

August 22, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Manduke

The first Baldwin on Maui, Rev. Dwight Baldwin was with the Fourth Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi; he arrived at Honolulu, June 7, 1831. Though not a cowboy, he set out on a mule to treat those in the far reaches of Maui. (Equitrekking)

On September 1, 1888, Haleakala Ranch was incorporated in the Kingdom of Hawaii during the reign of King David Kalakaua. Shortly following incorporation, Henry Perrine Baldwin, co-founder of Alexander & Baldwin, became a shareholder and was also elected as the Ranch’s president. (Haleakala Ranch)

As the Ranch moved into the 20th century, Harry Baldwin became the Ranch’s president and his brother Sam was manager. In 1925, the two consolidated ranch ownership.

Until the 1920s Haleakala Ranch extended to the summit, and cattle were driven up the steep slopes and into the crater to graze on the grass at Paliku, near the eastern crater wall. (Decker, Dartmouth)

In 1927 the Baldwin brothers agreed to a land exchange that would allow the Territory of Hawaii to acquire Haleakala Crater from the Ranch to create Haleakala National Park. (HR) In exchange, the ranch received land in lower Waialua and lower Kama‘ole on an acre-for-acre basis.

“Shipping cattle to market back in the 1930s also involved long rides, mostly in the dark early morning hours. Loading them from the wharf onto the Humu‘ula, the Hawaii Meat Company’s cattle boat, and especially getting the first ones started up the gangplank, presented a problem. … Once started, the rest of the group followed the tracks of those on board, and it didn’t take long to finish loading.”

“Following the end of World War II, the ranch purchased surplus equipment, including a bulldozer and four-wheel-drive trucks, from the military. From this time on, ranch cattle work became more mechanized, with less dependence on horses and the associated long rides.”

“The bulldozer made short work of clearing the lower lantana and panini land, including creation of a system of dirt roads helpful in maintaining pastures and water systems.” (Baldwin)

Samuel Baldwin was manager of Haleakala Ranch for most of his life and president for the last three years, before he died in 1950, his son, Richard, the third-generation member of the Baldwin family to run Haleakala Ranch, took over as president in 1968. (Advertiser)

Richard Hobron Baldwin was born on a koa table at the family home in Mānoa Valley, the oldest son of Samuel Alexander and Kathrine Baldwin, and grandson of Henry P. Baldwin.

“My first experience with ranch work, aside from riding mostly around the yard at the ranch house on my pony named Jack, was branding some calves, offspring of the milk cows at ranch headquarters.”

“This was about 1918 or 1919, and it was exciting when, with the help of a cowboy, my rope got on the neck of a calf. Nothing much happened because these dairy calves just stood there”.

“Aside from the milking herd, which I believe produced milk for all employees, most of the cattle were not too tame. My earliest recollections of cowboy work involved cattle drives in nearby pastures, the biggest event being rounding up half-wild cattle at Pi‘iholo.”

“Following this came branding drives at Olinda, then later drives higher on the mountain at ‘Ukulele, which served as a base camp, with four old houses and corrals for our horses.”

Baldwin married Harriet Barbara ‘Haku’ Damon in May 1936 (they shared the same birth day, August 21; Baldwin in 1911, she in 1913).

The consummate horsewoman, Haku was intimately involved in racing and training the ranch’s thoroughbreds, including many champions who won at the Maui Fair track. (Notes son Peter, the word haku means ‘boss’ in Hawaiian – she earned this nickname while she was growing up.)

“Besides being an aggressive sportsman – he was proficient in golf, tennis, polo, fishing and hunting – he was a winner. … On the ranching side, he was one of the best pasture men we ever had here. He taught me that we were not really raising cattle, we were raising grass, and cattle were the harvesting machines.” (Rice)

Early visitors to the ranch included writer Jack London, General George Patton and Olympic swimmer and surfing pioneer Duke Kahanamoku. (Siler) It’s the latter that leads to the nickname for Baldwin …

He acquired his nickname at an early age, recounts his son Peter. Richard was about three years old when legendary Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanamoku was gaining worldwide fame as an Olympic gold medalist and record holder.

As Richard dog-paddled across a swimming pool, an onlooker exclaimed, ‘There goes the man, Duke!’ The name ‘Manduke’ stuck, and all who knew him used it. “He was even listed as Manduke in the Maui phone book.” (Peter Baldwin, Harrison)

‘Cattleman of the Century’ is how the Hawai‘i Cattleman’s Association honored Manduke Baldwin in 1988. (Harrison) Consummate rancher, fisher, polo player, Manduke Baldwin died on Christmas Day 2002. He was 91. (Lots here from Anchval and Harrison.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger