Place Names | Page 121 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 15, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Samuel and Nancy Ruggles Getting Acquainted with Kauai

Samuel and Nancy Ruggles were part of the Pioneer Company of missionaries to Hawai‘i, he was a teacher. On May 3, 1820, Ruggles and Samuel Whitney brought Humehume home to Kauai.

Later, they moved to Kauai and set up a mission station there. The following is from the journal of Samuel and Nancy Ruggles.

June 15th. – I must commence writing in my Jour, with an apology for past neglect though I am persuaded that my dear mother would think I had an ample excuse if but one half were told here.

In addition to our own personal concerns after so long a voyage, we have been employed a considerable part of the time in making garments for the chiefs and nobility and in teaching them to read. Besides we have a little flock of children which we instruct daily.

We met with a very favorable reception at this Island found the chiefs and people friendly and desirous to receive instruction. We found several American people residents here, who have been of very material service to us. Every day we receive some testimonies of their kindness.

A black man who has been on the Island several years, and collected some property has been our constant friend. I believe scarcely a day has passed over our heads but what he has sent us something, either milk or provisions of some kind. — N. W. R

Sat. 17th. – The week past I have spent principally in visiting the different parts of Wimai; believe there is scarcely a house that I have not entered and my friendly Aloha.

The more I visit and become acquainted with this people, the more I feel interested in them, and the more I desire to spend my strength and life in endeavoring to secure to them the eternal welfare of their souls.

I sometimes feel almost impatient to know the language that I may explain to them the way of life and salvation. What’ little I can say they will listen to with the greatest attention, but their answer will be, “I want to know more, by and by I shall understand”.

One said yesterday, “the God of America is good but the Gods of Attooi are good for nothing; we throw them all away; by and by the American God will be the God of Attooi”.

The King appears more & more desirous for instruction; complains that he cannot spend time enough with his book, but says it is & time of unusual hurry at present, and he is soon to give his- mind more thoroughly to it.

He with his Queen and several servants are able to read in words of four letters. Neither of them knew the alphabet when we arrived.

Says the King at one time when I visited him, “Hoomehoome says you no tell lie like some white men, now you must not tell lie when you go Woahoo, but you must come back and live with me”.

The week past has been a busy time with the natives. The King’s rent has been brought in from all parts of the Island and from Onehow (Niihau) a small Island about 15 miles to the westward.

It consisted of hogs, dogs, mats, tappers, feathers, pearl fishhooks, calabashes and paddles. This rent is to go to Owhyhee (Hawaii) as a present to the young King.

It was interesting to see the natives come, sometimes more than a hundred at a time, with their loads on their backs and lay down their offerings at the feet of their great and good Chief as they call him.

When will the time, arrive that they shall come and bow down to Jehovah, and give themselves living sacrifices to Him who has purchased them -with His blood. I trust the day is at hand. — S. R.

20th. – Mr. Ruggles was called in the Providence of God about two weeks after we landed to accompany George P. Tamoree to his native Isle. When he will have an opportunity to return is very uncertain. His absence so soon after landing has rendered my situation trying, but by the friendly assistance of the brethren, I have been able to accomplish all my washing and other work.

I have also done sister Holman’s, and sent her clothes to Owhyhee (Hawaii). I hope that which to me is now a trial, will be the means of great good to that poor people -who are destitute of the knowledge of God, and of his son Jesus Christ.

22nd. – We still experience the continual kindness of both white and tawny friends. The King has ordered the chiefs of this island to build three houses for our use, and enclose them in a yard of about 5 acres.

He has also given us a tarro patch, and says when we have eat out all the tarro he will give us another. Hanoore lives in our family, is a dear brother to us; he has had a piece of good land given him, with three houses upon it! We cannot help enjoying ourselves when the Lord is doing so much for us. —- Nancy.

June 27th. – This morning I arrived from Attooi (Kauai) having been absent eight weeks found my dear companion and friends in health and prosperity, busily engaged in the work of the Lord …

… found the Levant from Boston which will sail for A. in a few days, and offers to carry our letters and Journals. I must therefore improve my time in writing. I shall here transcribe some part of my Journal kept during my absence from Woahoo (Oahu). — S. R. (All is from the Ruggles journal.)

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Samuel and Nancy Ruggles

June 2, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oregon Territory

The Sandwich Islands, from 1778 on, figured in all the voyages of exploration to the Northwest Coast of America. Going out from England or from Boston and New York, ships took in supplies at Hawaii. Likewise, on the return trip.

Captains Portlock and Dixon in the King George and Queen Charlotte (they were on Cook’s voyage) made the trip to explore the fur trading country, sailing from England in 1783.

In 1786-74 John Meares made a trip from India to the coast of America, probably Alaska, and returned to Canton by way of Hawaii. He then planned a second voyage for the fur trade and other purposes.

Early on, no permanent settlements were made on the northwest coast; but a lively exchange of commodities took place on the decks of the trading vessels.

They took knives, iron, copper pans, and trinkets from Boston, got furs for them on the Northwest Coast, completed their cargoes with sandalwood from Hawaii and exchanged everything for teas, silks, etc in Canton.

John Jacob Astor was long engaged in this trade, and in 1810, for the purpose of securing such a control of that trade as to lessen the danger of rivalry by the Northwest Fur Company, he organized the Pacific Fur Company, and planned a permanent American settlement at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Shortly thereafter, he went to the Islands and brought a supply of hogs, several goats, two sheep and some poultry to stock his base at Astoria – likewise, twelve Hawaiians signed on to work for three years.

Vancouver, on his way out to explore the western coast of North America, provisioned at the Hawaii in 1792.

From this time onward, American vessels, in their voyages to/from the Northwest Coast, frequently stopped at Hawaii for refreshments and repairs, and for the restoration of health to their crews, who became worn out by the long and stormy passage around Cape Horn and by the watchfulness and anxiety in guarding against the Indians when the ships were trading along shore.

By 1840 there were between 150 and 250 English and American residents of Honolulu alone. There were a number of whites outside of this town. The Oregon country contained about a hundred families in the same year.

Considerable trade between Oregon and Hawaii developed, the former sending wheat, beaver skins, salmon, and lumber to the islands and receiving in return sugar, molasses, tea, coffee and commodities brought there from China, England and the Eastern US.

As an example of the business carried on, there appeared in the Honolulu Polynesian of August 31, 1844, an advertisement of Albert E Wilson, general commission merchant, Astoria, mouth of the Columbia River, offering to buy the products of the Hawaiian Islands and to sell merchandise and products from the Oregon country.

On September 28, 1844, the same paper states: “The riches of the Sandwich Islands lie in the soil. A continent lies near us, rapidly filling with Anglo-Saxon sons.”

“Sugar, coffee, indigo, tobacco, cotton and cabinet lumber will be the staple articles’ the islands would produce for export, along with yams, arrow root, hemp and raw silk.

“These islands will become the West Indies of the Northern Pacific; the trade will naturally go forward to Oregon, and if we do not hasten operations the demand will exceed our means of supplying it.”

The existing trade between the Columbia River and the Sandwich Islands was evidenced by an advertisement in that week’s sale of the arrival for sale of 107,000 feet of lumber, 300 barrels of superior flour, 300 barrels of Columbia River salmon, etc.

Coral brought from the Islands were used in constructing the ‘fort’ established at Vancouver on the Columbia River and in building chimneys for the settlers.

Honolulu became a depot for fresh supplies, repairs, and after whaling began (1819), for temporary storage of whale oil. In 1820 the United States appointed John C. Jones as an agent for commerce and seamen. (All here is from a summary by Bennett.)

The Oregon Territory stretched from the Pacific coast to the Rocky Mountains, encompassing the area including present-day Oregon, Washington, and most of British Columbia.

Originally Spain, Great Britain, Russia, and the US claimed the territory. In 1819, under terms of the Transcontinental Treaty, Spain ceded its claims to the territory to the United States.

Shortly thereafter the United States contested a unilateral Russian move to grant its citizens a fishing, whaling, and commercial monopoly from the Bering Straits to the 51st parallel.

In 1823 President Monroe promulgated his doctrine, which put Russia on notice that the United States did not accept Russian attempts at monopoly.

The US claim was based on the explorations of Lewis and Clark and on the establishment of trading posts set up by John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company, such as Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River. Great Britain based its claim, in part, on James Cook’s exploration of the Columbia River.

By 1843, increased American immigration on the Oregon Trail to the Territory made the border issue a burning one in Congress, where jingoists raised the slogan of “54 degrees 40 minutes or fight.”

President James Polk, a supporter of Manifest Destiny with an eye also on the Mexican Southwest and California, was eager to settle the boundary of the Oregon Territory and proposed a settlement on the 49 degree line to Great Britain. (State Department)

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Oregon_Country

May 5, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

E Nihi ka Helena i ka Uka o Puna

Walk carefully in the uplands of Puna (Kumupaʻa)

Walking in the mauka regions of Puna can be extremely hazardous because of the numerous lava cracks hidden by vegetation in the forest (some with over 30-feet vertical drops and 30+ feet wide).

Sometimes, when walking in the mauka forests of Puna, there is abundant uluhe fern; you effectively walk ‘on’ uluhe, not ‘through’ it. You could find yourself walking over the edge of a crack, before you know it.

Local residents have reported numerous incidents in which individuals and dogs have fallen into the lava cracks and suffered serious injury. In addition, in the event of an emergency, there is no cellular phone service, and difficulty of emergency rescue, etc.

It is not just cracks from old flows that are a problem. Starting in June 27, 2014, lava from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent had been over-running Wao Kele o Puna.

We must also be cognizant of the ongoing eruption; the flow that headed to Pāhoa ran through Wao Kele o Puna. While the flow is not causing problems in Pāhoa at this time, outbreaks recently covered portions of Wao Kele o Puna.

The flow has since been redirected makai of the vent and not affecting Wao Kele o Puna. (Information in this section is from the USGS website, searched December 27, 2016)

Kīlauea’s ongoing Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption, which began in January 1983, ranks as the most voluminous outpouring of lava from the volcano’s East Rift Zone in the past five centuries.

By December 2012, flows had covered 125.5 km2 (48.4 mi2) with about 4 km3 (1 mi3) of lava, and had added 202 hectares (500 acres) of new land to Kīlauea’s southeastern shore. Lava flows had also destroyed 214 structures, and resurfaced 14.3 km (8.9 mi) of highway, burying them with as much as 35 m (115 ft) of lava.

The eruption can be roughly divided in to five time periods. From 1983 to 1986, a series of short-lived lava fountains built a cinder-and-spatter cone later named Puʻu ʻŌʻō.

In 1986, the eruption shifted 3 km (1.8 mi) northeastward along Kīlauea’s east rift zone, where a nearly continuous outpouring of lava built a broad shield, Kupaianaha, and sent flows to the coast for more than five years.

In 1992, the eruption moved back uprift and new vents opened on the southwestern flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Over the next 15 years, nearly continuous effusion of lava from these vents sent flows to the ocean, mainly within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

The most significant change during the 1992–2007 interval was a brief uprift fissure eruption and the corresponding collapse of Puʻu ʻŌʻō’s west flank in January 1997.

In June 2007, an hours-long, unwitnessed eruption uprift of Puʻu ʻŌʻō led to renewed collapse within the cone and a brief hiatus in activity.

When the eruption resumed in July 2007, new vents opened between Puʻu ʻŌʻō and Kupaianaha, sending flows to Kīlauea’s southeastern coast until early 2011.

This activity was terminated by another short-lived eruption uprift of Puʻu ʻŌʻō in March 2011. Activity at Puʻu ʻŌʻō then resumed with a brief breakout from the western flank of the cone in August 2011, followed by the opening of a new, persistent vent on Puʻu ʻŌʻō’s northeast flank in September 2011. Flows from this latter vent remained active on Kīlauea’s southeastern flank as of December 2012.

On June 27, 2014, new vents opened on the northeast flank of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone that fed a narrow lava flow to the east-northeast.

On August 18, the flow entered a ground crack, traveled underground for several days, then resurfaced to form a small lava pad. The sequence was repeated twice more over the following days with lava entering other cracks and reappearing farther downslope.

In this way, the flow had advanced approximately 8.2-miles from the vent, or to within 0.8-miles of the eastern boundary of the Wao Kele o Puna Forest Reserve, by the afternoon of September 3, 2014.

Lava emerged from the last crack on September 6, 2014, forming a surface flow that initially moved to the north, then to the northeast, at a rate of 1,300-ft/day). This flow advanced downslope before stalling in Pāhoa on October 30 about 170-yards from Pāhoa Village Road. Breakouts upslope continued to widen the flow within the Wao Kele o Puna property.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō continues to erupt, but the lava flow from it has stopped running through Wao Kele o Puna, but remains as a reminder of the risks associated with the nearby Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption. The present volcanic activity in the uplands of Puna remind us of the message and warnings of the ‘Ōlelo No‘eau.

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Upland Puna Crack

PuuOo-eruption-flow-USGS

PuuOo eruption-flow

Lava_Flow-Former_Geothermal_Site-BigIslandVideoNews

Puu_Oo_Eruption-06-30-15-USGS

Leilani Estate fissure-eruption-flow on roadway

Leilani Estate fissure-eruption on roadway

USGS Mapping of Rift Zone-fissures in Leilani Estates-05-04-18

April 28, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Artesian Way

Actually, a lot of streets fit into the telling of this story: Marques Street, Evelyn Lane, Oliver Street, and Artesian Way. They are all associated with Auguste and Evelyn Oliver Marques and, the drilling of the first artesian well in Makiki, Honolulu.

A plaque marks the spot – I’ve been by it too many times to count, and never noticed it – and as the plaque notes, “This Means the Promise of Beauty and Fertility For Thousands of Acres.”

Most of the early water wells were drilled in and around Honolulu. It was James Campbell who furnished the first conclusive demonstration of the practicability of artesian wells in Hawaii, when on the summer of 1879, on the plain near his ranch house in Ewa, a good flow of water was obtained. (Kuykendall)

Success of this experiment created intense interest and a group of men in Honolulu brought over from California another well-driller, AD Pierce, with better equipment, and in the spring of 1880 a flowing well was completed (April 28) on the land of Auguste Marques near Punahou.

Subsequently, many other wells were drilled, and it became evident that a large supply of water could be obtained by this method. Early in the 1880s, the McCandless brothers (James S., John A., and Lincoln L.) began their long career as artesian well drillers in the islands. (Kuykendall)

“The first artesian well bored in Honolulu was marked in appropriate ceremonies yesterday on the premises of the Marques home on Wilder avenue near Metcalf street.”

“The first shaft tapping Honolulu’s subterranean water supply was marked with a bronze plaque which reads, “Site of Honolulu’s Pioneer Artesian Well, brought in on April 28, 1880 for Dr. Augustus Marques. ‘This means the promise of beauty and fertility for thousands of acres’ —King Kalakaua. Sealed August, 1938—Board of Water Supply.” (Nippu Jiji, June 21, 1939)

Doctor Marques lived much of his Hawaiian life at 1928 Wilder Avenue (now the site of a small apartment building). He originally owned about 30 acres of land, most on the slope below Vancouver Place.

Immediately Ewa side of it is Punahou School. The eventual tract (of about 30 acres, one supposes) was complete by 1880, at a cost of perhaps $10,000.

The area was called ‘Marquesville.’ He “was instrumental in bringing a colony of Portuguese to Honolulu … and sold lots on long term credit to encourage them to become home owners.” (Bouslog) Later, there was also a Catholic Church, with services in English and Portuguese.

“When asked to what nationality he belongs, Dr. A. Marques replies that he Is a true cosmopolitan”. (Hawaiian Star, March 9, 1899) Marques Auguste Jean Baptiste Marques was born in Toulon, France, on November 17, 1841.

His father was French and Spanish and was a general in the French Army. His mother, of English an Scotch descent, was the daughter of General Cooke of the British Army. Auguste’s boyhood was spent in Morocco, Algiers and the Sahara.

His early ambition was to become a doctor, but his mother wanted him to become a scientist. As a compromise, he acquired a medical and scientific education but agreed not to take a diploma or to practice medicine.

After four years of medical training, he was valedictorian of his class at the University of Paris, but, true to his agreement, never accepted his diploma. For some years following his graduation he was connected with the Bureau of Agriculture in Paris.

Shortly after his mother’s death in 1875, Dr. Marques started on a trip around the world. Arriving in Honolulu Christmas Eve of 1878, he decided to stay over between steamers, and so liked Hawaii that he cancelled his passage and from then on made his home in Honolulu and later became a naturalized citizen.

From 1890 to 1891 Dr. Marques served in the Hawaiian legislature. In 1893 he organized the Theosophical Society in Honolulu and six years later went to Australia to serve as General Secretary of the Society for that country.

From Australia he was sent to India as a delegate to the Theosophical Society convention, representing both Australia and the United States. In 1900 he returned to Honolulu.

On June 7, 1900, Dr. Marques married Evelyn M. Oliver, manager of the Woman’s Exchange in Honolulu. (Mamiya Medical Heritage Center)

Born in Canada in 1863, Evelyn Oliver had come to Hawai’i from Canada in 1889 as a publisher’s representative. She soon became interested in providing a sales outlet and a source of income, for Hawaiian women’s handicrafts.

“This institution served a double purpose, it preserved the old arts and it enabled native women to profitably market their products.” In 1899, her store was at 215 Merchant Street, which was also her residence.

The 1905-6 Directory describes her business as “South Seas Curios, hats and calabashes.” Women of Hawaii thought her noteworthy because of her joining the struggle for women’s suffrage, as “an active worker in the Women’s League of Voters of Hawaii…” (Bouslog)

As with her husband, Mrs. Marques is also remembered by a street name or two. Across from their home on Wilder Avenue is Artesian Street, commemorating the “pioneer artesian well.” East of Artesian is Evelyn Way, then Oliver Lane.

Both first appear in the City Directory of 1914. And so for her last 25 years she lived across from street signs displaying her maiden names. (Bouslog)

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April 17, 2018 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Pahua Heiau

“The ships were very light, having such a quantity of water expended, and our rigging fore and aft stood much in need of repairing and overhauling …”

“… so that we thought it prudent to quit our present situation and proceed for King George’s Bay (Maunalua Bay,) Woahoo, where we could lie well sheltered from the prevailing winds, and do every thing necessary both to the hulls and rigging of the ships …” (Portlock)

Accounts of early western visitors to the southeast coast of O‘ahu suggest that the area from Waikīkī to Maunalua Bay, including Wai‘alae, Wailupe, Niu and Kuliʻouʻou was well-populated and that food resources were more than sufficient. Anchoring his ship, the King George, in Maunalua Bay in 1786, Captain Nathaniel Portlock reported:

“Soon after our arrival, several canoes came off and brought a few cocoa-nuts and plantains, some sugar-cane and sweet root; in return for which we gave them small pieces of iron and a few trinkets.” (Portlock)

“… as the people now brought us plenty of water, I determined to keep my present situation, it being in many respects an eligible one; for we hitherto had been favoured with a most refreshing sea breeze, which blows over the low land at the head of the bay …”

“… and the bay all around has a beautiful appearance, the low land and vallies being in a high state of cultivation, and crowded with plantations of taro, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, &c, interspersed with a great number of cocoa-nut trees, which renders the prospect truly delightful. (Portlock)

The name Maunalua (two mountains) is said to have been attributed to Ka Lae o Koko, also known as Kuamo‘okāne (today known as Koko Head), and Kohelepelepe (today known as Koko Crater.) (Coleman)

Pahua Heiau is one of dozens of recorded archaeological sites and one of four confirmed heiau sites in Maunalua and is one of the most significant sacred sites remaining in Maunalua (now known as Hawai‘i Kai) on the southeastern shore of the island of O‘ahu.

Consisting of stacked stone terraces arranged in a rectangular shape, Pahua is a heiau (temple or shrine, place of worship.) It measures 68 by 40 feet and is set against the base of the ridge dividing the Kamilonui and Kamiloiki Valleys. (Coleman)

“The heiau sits high on the hillside above the far inland head of Kua-pā Pond, also known as Keahupua–o–Maunalua Fishpond… In former times one could look out from this vantage point over the broad plain surrounding the pond below and stretching eastward across the “saddle” behind Koko Crater to Kalama and Wāwāmalu beyond.” (Bertell Davis; Coleman)

Archaeologists suggest that Pahua was once an agricultural heiau, constructed between the fifteenth and eighteenth century, although there are many theories surrounding its traditional usage and function. (Coleman) Some suggest I may be a ko‘a (fishing shrine.)

The interpretation of the word pā–hua as “an enclosure of fruits” has been used as a support the thought that it was an agricultural heiau.

The word hua not only has meanings associated with fruit, ovum and seeds, but also with general fertility and fruitfulness (particularly as applied to a high agricultural yield; the verb hua means to sprout. (Coleman)

When the archaeologist J Gilbert McAllister first documented Pahua as a field site in the 1930s, the heiau had been abandoned for some time; he was unable to definitively ascertain its function and significance, either from previously published works or from interviews with kamaʻāina living in the area.

If Pahua was an agricultural heiau, it is likely that the kapu surrounding it were not exceedingly strict, and it is possible that low-ranking ali‘i of the area may have constructed the site and worshiped there.

Pahua was the only name recorded for the heiau as given by a native Hawaiian informant to McAllister in the early 1930s. Despite the possibility that Pahua was not the original or proper name for the site, limited historical evidence suggests that it was.

For example, Pahua is also documented as a name for the area in nūpepa (Hawaiian language newspapers) during the early and mid-1800s.

Reference to Pahua as a place is found in one of the first kanikau (chant of mourning) ever printed in the nūpepa. In the August 8, 1834 issue of Ka Lama Hawai‘i, David Malo used the phrase “noho anea kula wela la o Pahua,” (tarrying in the vibrating heat of the hot plains of Pahua.) (Coleman)

One meaning of the word pahua is “down–trodden,” which can be used to describe grass that has been flattened. Although rare, this understanding of pahua correlates to the description of Pahua as a kula (plain) that is found in the kanikau (laments) printed in the nūpepa.

Maunalua was also known for cattle in the 1880s. Other variations of pahua also suggest a link to cattle; the meaning of the word pāhu‘a is similar to that of kīpuka (a clearing, an oasis, a change in form.)

And it especially refers to an area that is free of brush and vegetation, such as a pasture where it was easy to rope cows. The word pahu‘ā, (pahu, to push; ‘ā, to drive, as in cattle) also suggests a strong association with cattle. (Coleman)

Pahua Heiau was excavated and restored during a volunteer community service project directed by Bertell D Davis with the Outdoor Circle and others in 1985.

Excavation uncovered evidence that the heiau was constructed in several stages, but Davis was not able to determine the chronology of the construction sequence. (Jordan)

Pahua heiau sits on land gifted to Office of Hawaiian Affairs by Kamehameha Schools in 1988, OHA’s first land holding. The site is located on the slope at the south end of the ridge between Kamilo Nui and Kamilo Iki Valleys, overlooking the top end of Makahuena Place.

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