Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pāpōhaku

A chief from east Molokai and a few of his people boarded canoes and set off around the island. They found themselves on the southwest coast of Molokai.  They paddled up to some fishermen who had a large catch of opelu. Hungry, they began to eat.

As they were all eating with great satisfaction, another group of fishermen came by and cried: “Stop. Do not eat the opelu. This is the season of opelu kapu.” However, the visiting chief only had a kapu for eating turtle, so they continued eating.

The fishermen attacked the visiting chief and his men. Overpowered, they were brought before the kahuna. The visiting chief became very ill, and the only way to make things right was a human sacrifice to save the chief from death. One of his men offered himself as a sacrifice and the chief recovered.

The kahuna ordered a tree planted on the grave of the willing victim. The grave was on shore; when the tide was high, the waves would wash sand from the grave. Thus, in a very short time, the body would be exposed.

In respect and remembrance, the chief ordered his men to build a stone wall.  The chief himself put the last stone on the wall, saying as he did so, “I call this place Pāpōhaku, ‘Stone Wall.’” (DLNR)

Today, the sandy beach is seen as the primary feature here (it’s over 2-miles long and 300-feet wide, the largest on the island and one of the largest in the Islands.)  It lies between two headlands, Puʻu Koaʻe to the south and Puʻu o Kaiaka to the north.

The sand caught people’s attention.

First, folks looked to replenish eroding beaches by harvesting sand from one area and filled in at another (primarily at Waikīkī.)  Reports from the 1920s and 1930s reveal that sand was brought to Waikīkī Beach, via ship and barge, from Manhattan Beach, California.

As the Manhattan Beach community was developing, it found that excess sand in the beach dunes and it was getting in the way of development there.  At the same time, folks in Hawai‘i were in need for sand to cover the rock and coral beach at Waikīkī.

Later, Waikīkī’s sand was trucked from various points around Hawai‘i including O‘ahu’s North Shore – in particular, Waimea Bay Beach, a sand bar off the town of Kahuku and Pāpōhaku Beach on Molokai.

Reportedly, before sand mining operations removed over 200,000 tons of sand at Waimea Bay to fill beaches in Waikīkī and elsewhere, there was so much sand that if you would have tried to jump off Pōhaku Lele, Jump Rock, you would have jumped about six feet down into the sand below.

Then came statehood, and the building boom of the following decades.

“Increased use of concrete by building contractors resulted in more output of sand required for blending with crushed basalt fines used in concrete aggregate.  A substantial gain was noted in the use of coral dune sands from the north shores of Oʻahu Island.  By yearend, Honolulu Construction & Draying Co Ltd (HC&D) was prepared to barge sand from Molokai Island to supply some of Oahu’s requirements for the critical material.”  (Minerals Yearbook, 1959)

(HC&D was formed in 1908 by a quarry owner, three construction men and a retired sea captain. The base of the business was the draying (hauling) of construction materials by horse-drawn wagons. In late-1967, HC&D became a wholly owned subsidiary of American Pipe and Construction Co of Monterey Park, California (now it’s known as Ameron Inc.))

In the 1950s, a harbor was dredged and a wharf constructed at Hale O Lono by B&C (Brown and Clewitt) Trucking to ship out sand from Pāpōhaku (B&C also owned Seaside Inn and Pau Hana Inn.) A 1957 contract between Molokai Ranch and HC&D allowed for sand to be removed from a 297-acre southern parcel of Pāpōhaku Beach.

“Sand and gravel was produced at 16 principal beach, dune, and stream deposits. The largest operation was the Molokai sand facility of HC&D Ltd, Hawaiʻi’s major producer, consumer, and supplier of sand, cinder, and crushed stone.”  (Minerals Yearbook, 1964)

“Some of the land out on the western tip of the island is leased to Honolulu Construction and Draying Company Ltd, which mines something like 200,000-yards of sand a year from Pāpōhaku Beach for shipment to Oahu for use in making concrete.”  (Away From It All)

“All day long, every day, had trucks going back and forth from Pāpōhaku to Hale O Lono.”  From the early 1960s to 1975, this massive cache of sand was the site of the largest sand-mining operation in the state.

Some of the sand was drawn from below the high water mark, which was public land and required a government permit; at times the dredge bucket even drew the sand out of the ocean.

This was not legal and HC&D was caught and reportedly fined, resulting in a million-dollar settlement.  In lieu of payment of the fine, reportedly, Molokai Ranch gave the land at Ala Mālama in Kaunakakai.

Even with the decades of sand removal, Pāpōhaku Beach remains one of the longest white sand beaches, and the Pāpōhaku Dune system associated with the beach is among the largest in Islands.

Pāpōhaku Dune (like other sand dunes) is the first and last line of defense against coastal erosion and episodic high waves for the existing structures located behind it.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ana Huna

Native Hawaiians believe ʻiwi (the bones) to be the primary physical embodiment of a person. Following death, ʻiwi are considered sacred, for within the bones reside the person’s mana (spiritual essence.) Mana was greatly valued, and native Hawaiians spent their lives maintaining and enhancing their mana. (Halealoha Ayau)

For native Hawaiians, it was important for the bones of a deceased person to complete their journey and return to the ground to impart their mana.

From island to island, community to community and family to family, there were many different ways to prepare bodies for burial. Each method was appropriate for the individual and his or her status.  Burial locations were one of the most secretive traditions in a culture over a thousand years old. (DLNR)

Sometimes the bones of the dead were dug up out of the burial grounds to be used for arrows for rat shooting and for fishhooks, and the bones and bodies of the newly buried were dug up for food and bait for sharks.

For this reason, surviving family members sought places of concealment for the bones of their grandparents, parents, children, chiefs and relatives. They searched for deep pits (lua meki) in the mountains, and for hiding pits (lua huna) and hiding caves (ana huna) along the deep ravines and sheer cliffs frequented by koa‘e birds.  (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

For some, including the high aliʻi, often their ʻiwi were placed in secret burial caves (ana huna.)

A few of the notable areas burial areas with secret burial caves include, ʻIao Valley, Pohukaina, Pali Kapu o Keōua and the reported cave burial of Kahekili and Kamehameha at Kaloko.

ʻIao Valley (Maui)

For centuries, high chiefs and navigators from across the archipelago were buried in secret, difficult-to-access sites in the steep valley walls of ʻIao on Maui.

‘Iao Valley became a “hallowed burying place for ancient chiefs” and is the first place mentioned in the historical legends as a place for the secret burials of high chiefs.

Because this was sacred ground, commoners were not permitted to enter the valley, except for the Makahiki festival.  Some suggest the last burial was in 1736, with the burial of King Kekaulike.

Pohukaina (Oʻahu)

“There is only one famous hiding cave, ana huna on Oʻahu. It is Pohukaina… This is a burial cave for chiefs, and much wealth was hidden away there with the chiefs of old … Within this cave are pools of water, streams, creeks, and decorations by the hand of man (hana kinohinohiʻia), and in some places there is level land.”  (Kamakau)

Pohukaina involves an underground burial cave system that connects with various places around O‘ahu and is most notable as the royal burial cave at Kualoa. The opening in the Honolulu area is in the vicinity of the Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) residence (the grounds of ʻIolani Palace,) where also many of the notable chiefs resided.  (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

The opening on the windward side on Kalaeoka‘o‘io faces toward Ka‘a‘awa is believed to be in the pali of Kanehoalani, between Kualoa and Ka‘a‘awa, and the second opening is at the spring Ka‘ahu‘ula-punawai.

On the Kona side of the island the cave had three other openings, one at Hailikulamanu – near the lower side of the cave of Koleana in Moanalua—another in Kalihi, and another in Pu‘iwa. There was an opening at Waipahu, in Ewa, and another at Kahuku in Ko‘olauloa.

The mountain peak of Konahuanui was the highest point of the ridgepole of this burial cave “house,” which sloped down toward Kahuku. Many stories tell of people going into it with kukui-nut torches in Kona and coming out at Kahuku.  (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

Pali Kapu O Keōua (Kealakekua, Hawaiʻi Island)

Keōua (father of Kamehameha I) and Kalaniʻōpuʻu (aka Kaleiopuʻu & Kalaiopuʻu) were half-brothers, sons of Peleioholani.  During the illness of Keōua, at his residence in Hilo, a messenger was sent to Kaʻū to notify Kalaniʻōpuʻu of his brother’s illness; he immediately started for Hilo.

Keōua said to Kalaniʻōpuʻu, “Brother, I cannot live long, for our uncle Alapaʻinui has an evil disposition and is praying me to death. My only request to you is to take my young son Kamehameha and keep him with you, for some day he will become famous and will add luster to our lineage; do not neglect him.”

Kalaniʻōpuʻu sent for their kahuna; as soon as the kahuna saw Keōua he advised Kalaniʻōpuʻu to return home, as it was impossible for his brother to live.  (He died shortly thereafter; his remains were transported to Kona.)

On arriving at Kailua great preparations were being made for the mourning ceremonies. Wailing, removing the teeth, shaving the head, etc, took place. After these ceremonies Kalaniʻōpuʻu headed for Kaʻawaloa to await the remains of his brother Keōua from Hilo.

On their arrival they were deposited in a cave three-fourths of the way up the pali, whence it was called “Ka Pali Kapu O Keōua (at Kealakekua Bay.”)  (Diary of George Hueu Davis, the Son of Isaac Davis; Henriques)

Later, in 1829, Kapiʻolani “and Kaʻahumanu removed the bones of (Kapiʻolani’s) father, and more than a score of other deified kings and princes of the Hawaiian race, from their sacred deposit, – may be the “House of Keave” at Honounou, – placing them out of the way, in one of the caves high in the precipice at the head of the bay where she resided.”  (Anderson, 1864)

(A little side note on Pali Kapu O Keōua … while I was at DLNR, the 2006 Kohala earthquakes exposed a previously unknown burial cave on the side of the Kealakekua cliff.  Because we had concerns about keeping the cave secret, I asked FEMA to document this new cave in a separate, non-public report, aside from the general (public) earthquake damage report.  They agreed; the cave was subsequently sealed.)

Kaloko (Kona, Hawaiʻi Island)

An early traditional reference to the area in the late eighteenth century mentions the burial of Kahekili, the ruler of Maui, in a hidden cave at Kaloko. However, the most significant burial ceremony traditionally reported to have taken place there is that of Kamehameha, although there is no firm proof of this.  (NPS)

Following his death, Kamehameha’s bones were supposedly transported by canoe from Kailua to Kaloko, where the bearers of the royal remains met the man in charge of the secret burial cave, and together they placed the bones in the same depository used for Kahekili.

“Kaloko (pond) is another famous burial area; it is in Kekaha, Hawaii. (In a cave that opens into the side of the pond) were laid Kahekili, the ruler of Maui, his sister Kalola, and her daughter, Kekuʻiapoiwa Liliha, the grandmother of Kamehameha III. … This is the burial cave, ana huna, where Kameʻeiamoku and Hoapili hid the bones of Kamehameha I so that they would never be found.”  (Kamakau; NPS)

In 1887 King Kalākaua designated a man named Kapalu, who had guided him to a burial cave at Kaloko in which he supposedly beheld Kamehameha’s bones, as overseer and keeper of the “Royal Burial Ground” at Kaloko.

A year later Kalākaua wrote that he ordered Kapalu to retrieve the bones, which the king took to Honolulu and deposited in the Royal Mausoleum in Nuʻuanu Valley.  (Barrère; NPS)  (Questions remain as to where Kamehameha was buried.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oregon Ducks

Before Oregon was the 33rd state admitted to the United States in 1859, it was known as the Oregon Territory, and before that, the Oregon Country.  On February 14, 1859, Congress granted Oregon statehood.

Edwin Battistella, a professor of English at Southern Oregon University says the name Oregon dates back to a written record of at least 1765, credited to a British soldier named Major Robert Rogers.

“He was a colonial soldier in 1765 who wrote up a proposal to King George III to fund an expedition to find the northwest passage by way of the river the Indians call Ouragon,” Battistella said.  King George III denied that request.   “For now, we can safely say that the name originated from Major Robert Rogers’ rendering of a Native word for the water route to the Pacific.” (KGW)

The origin is unknown. It may have come from the French word Ouragan (which means Hurricane) and was a former name of the Columbia River.

Other say the word “Oregon” is derived from a Shoshoni Indian expression meaning, The River of the West, originating from the two Shoshoni words “Ogwa,” River and “Pe-on,” West, or “Ogwa Pe-on.” (Rees)  That river as we know it today is the Columbia River.

In the word “Ogwa” the syllable “Og” means undulations and is the basis of such words as “river,” “snake,” “salmon,” or anything having a wavy motion. The sound “Pah” means water. Therefore, a river is undulating water. “Pe-on” is contracted from the two syllables, “Pe-ah,” big and “Pah,” water or Big Water meaning the Pacific Ocean. (Rees)

The use of the word webfoot associated with Oregon has a long history.  Webfoot was first used by Californians to express their satirical dislike of the Oregonian and his rainy county and was brought to Oregon by California miners settling in or traveling through the territory during the various gold rushes of the late 1850s into the Pacific Northwest.

“In fact, it seems quite probable that webfoot began as a derisive epithet in California during the gold rush of 1848-1849. The Oregonians were among the first to reach the California gold fields, were not beloved by the Californians.”

“The first discovered printed usage in California pf the word webfoot in the sense of Oregon or Oregonian is in the San Francico Sun on May 19, 1853. The writer of the item requested that ‘if you have any web-foot friends bound this way, dissuade them from putting in here, as nothing in the way of supplies can be obtained but water.’”  (Mills)

In describing a coming football game between the University of Oregon and Pacific University, the Eugene Guard noted, “The grounds will be somewhat muddy tomorrow, but that never stops an enthusiastic football player. In fact Webfoot boys would rather play on a muddy field than one that is dry and solid.” (Eugene Guard, Nov 28, 1894)

Webfoot caught on and ‘Webfoot State’ became a nickname for the State of Oregon.   When the University of Oregon began searching for an athletic nickname in the late 1800s, the name “Webfoots” was the obvious choice.  (White) By 1907 statewide sentiment had turned sour toward the term Webfoot, and the 1907 yearbook would adopt the name “The Beaver”.

Through the first two decades of the 20th century, there remained no officially sanctioned mascot for the university. Even as the use of mascots became commonplace at universities around the country, the Oregon teams that went to the Rose Bowl twice in four years after the 1916 and 1919 seasons traveled to Pasadena without one of their own to cheer them on. (University of Oregon)

The word “Web-foot” made its reappearance in print in January 1922 thanks to Oregon Daily Emerald reporter Ep Hoyt, who bestowed the name upon the Oregon Agricultural College football team during its postseason tour of Hawai‘i. (Oregon Alumni)

Oregon’s football team  played two games in Hawai‘i – the Star Bulletin stated in a headline, “Webfooters Shut Out Pearl Harbor Navy Team”. The accompanying articles stated, “The Navy put up a good brand of football but the webfooters put up a brand that was better.” (Star Bulletin, Jan 3, 1922) Final score 35 to 0.

The Oregon Webfoots previously beat the University of Hawai‘i 47 to 0. Otto Klum was the new football coach at University of Hawai‘i that year – he had arrived from Portland a couple months before the Oregon game. (Oregonian, Sept 10, 1921)

Later that year, an Emerald editorial argued for the necessity of adopting a team name for University of Oregon sports teams and solicited names from readers.

Professor WG Thatcher argued in favor of Pioneers, while other suggestions included Condors, Eagles, Hawks, Vultures, Bulls, Wild Cats, and Fighting Drakes. Another professor, Jim Gilbert, favored Skinners in tribute to the founder of Eugene. (University of Oregon)

The Chamber of Commerce later stepped in and noted, “Oregon’s misnomer, ‘Webfoot State’ will be discarded”, stating, “that the term ‘webfoot state’ is poor advertising for the state, leading many eastern people to believe that Oregon is a swampy country, deluged by rain winter and summer.” (The Bulletin, Nov 17, 1923)

The debate surrounding the adoption of an official mascot raged for five years from 1922 to 1926.  On November 6, 1926, the Eugene Guard and Oregon Daily Emerald jointly announced a new naming contest for the University of Oregon’s sports teams.

Webfoots and Ducks were viewed as “inadequate names” that impute “the harmlessness of doves” on the school’s squads. But the newspaper contest did not end the debate. It wouldn’t be until 1932 that students and alumni voted to confirm Webfoots as the official school mascot. (University of Oregon)

Even after Webfoots was officially adopted by the school in 1926, according to Douglas Card in “The Webfooted Ducks,” “Sportswriters gradually shortened the moniker to Ducks.” (Caputo)

Oregon’s first live mascot had surfaced in the 1920s when “Puddles,” a resident duck of the nearby Millrace, was escorted to football and basketball games by his fraternity-house neighbors.

Puddles and his various offspring were part of the Duck sports scene until the early 1940s when repeated complaints from the Humane Society finally sucked the fun out of bringing a live duck to games. (University of Oregon)

However, Puddles’ memory was preserved in 1947 when Oregon’s first athletic director, Leo Harris, struck a handshake arrangement with Walt Disney.  Donald Duck’s likeness could serve as the mascot, as long as it was done in good taste.

The unique deal stood for 20 years, with Walt Disney Productions providing several versions of the duck for Oregon’s use, until the cartoonist’s death in 1966. That’s when both parties realized no formal contract existed granting the University the right to Donald’s image. (University of Oregon) They later formalized the association.

Another Hawai‘i connection, at least for me … when we were kids, our family hosted a couple of the Oregon Duck women’s swim team, when they came to the Islands for UH swim meets.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sherwood Forest

“Far-famed Waikiki is vastly inferior to Waimanalo as a pleasure ground in every feature save surf riding … those who have tried the water on the windward side, and completion of the Waimanalo road will render this beach almost as accessable, as Waikiki.” (SB Jan 1, 1921)

“Different areas of Oahu differ widely in flavor and atmosphere. No part of the island is any more individualistic than the Waimanalo section on the windward side.  Verdant, rolling fields stretch from a rugged coastline up to the sheer wall of the Koolau mountains.”

“Waimanalo lies between Makapuu point at the northeast tip of the island and the Kailua-Lanikai district. The highway runs close to the shore for several miles, at one point passing under a huge arch of stately ironwood trees.” (Advertiser, August 12, 1956)

It’s not clear who planted or when the ironwoods were planted at Waimanalo. But in the late-1800s and early-1900s Ironwood was one of the favored trees for windbreaks, shade and buffers because of its fast growth and resistance to adverse environmental conditions. (Iwashita)

As examples, Kapiolani Park was dedicated in 1876; Archibald Cleghorn, Governor of Oʻahu and father of Princess Kaʻiulani, was the park’s designer. Cleghorn planned the park’s landscaping, including the ironwood trees along Kalākaua Avenue.

On the windward side in 1906, many rows of ironwood trees were planted in Kailua as a windbreak and a fence had to be built to keep cattle out of the ‘Coconut Grove’.

“Ironwood trees dominate the shoreline. Here is a whole forest of them on and around Bellows Air Force Station, a small air base that cuts off much of the town’s beach frontage. The trees grow so thickly that the area outside the base has been used for a while as a hiding place for a den of young thieves and was nicknamed, not surprisingly, Sherwood Forest.” (Advertiser, April 21, 1968)

Immediately following statehood, the State was looking to provide more beach access … “The State emphasizes: Residents outnumber servicemen and their dependents four to one. Yet the public is confined to four miles of beach while 11 are open to servicemen.”

“Seven miles out of a total 11 miles of beach deemed ‘safe and sandy’ on Oahu are military-controlled.  This is one of the key points in a State document loaded with statistical evidence to demonstrate that residents aren’t getting a fair share of Island recreational space.”

“The report is aimed at getting back from the Federal Government two of three miles of choice beach at Bellows Field and a 1.66-acre piece in front of Fort DeRussy.” (SB Feb 25, 1962)

“The Federal Government has held Bellows since 1900 when it was ceded by the Republic of Hawaii. The State has long agitated for its return.” (SB March 4, 1965)

“At Bellows, the Department of the Air Force has admitted that 77 acres will no long be needed after relocation of certain facilities. (Adv August 5. 1961)

“The State began moving 32 old buildings this week off the 77 acres of Bellows Air Station it expects to obtain from the Air Force later this year. The 77 acres includes 2,650 feet of beach frontage already open for public use. … The old Non-Commissioned Officers Club will be left where it is for public use”. (SB March 4, 1965)

“The Federal government is returning 77 acres of valuable Bellows Field land to the State of Hawaii, including about a half mile of precious Windward Oahu beach frontage.

“Signing of the fee simple deed by the Federal government climaxes seven years of negotiations between the Federal and State governments for the return of the Waimanalo area land … no longer needed by the Federal Government.”

“‘The 77 acres of Department of Defense land which will be transferred to the State will provide much needed land for development on the Windward side of Oahu.’” (Inouye) (SB, July 26, 1966)

Shortly after the transfer, “The area has been described as a ‘Sherwood’s Forest’ – a hang-out for hoodlums.” (Adv, June 14, 1967)

“There are several versions of the Robin Hood story. … Legend has it that Robin Hood was an outlaw living in Sherwood Forest with his ‘Merry Men’. … One certain fact is that he was a North Country man, with his traditional haunts as an outlaw in Sherwood Forest and a coastal refuge at Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire.”

“Robin became a popular folk hero because of his generosity to the poor and down-trodden peasants, and his hatred of the Sheriff and his verderers who enforced the oppressive forest laws, made him their champion.” (Historic-UK)

“ls a 77-acre portion of Bellows Field, now owned by the State, being used as a hideout for thieves, car strippers and drug pushers?  The president of the Waimanalo Council of Associations the Rev. Jack Hedges, says it is.”

“Hedges made his charges on Wednesday during a visit to Waimanalo of the Mayor’s annual Windward Safari. He claimed that crime as rampant in the bushes and abandoned buildings in the State-owned strip and that nearby beaches were unsafe at night”

“He said that burglars used the bushes for their headquarters, while organized gangs roamed out of the thick ironwood jungle to strip cars, peddle dope and look for new crimes to commit.”

“‘It’s a wonderful place for hoodlums to hide out in. They practice car-stripping in the bushes. It’s quite a hide-out area . . . It’s become a sanctuary for these people.’”

“He also claimed that ‘no one dares to walk on Waimanalo Beach after dark anymore’ and that residents have been so intimidated by the gangs that they are afraid to call the police. … He compared it with the Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood’s days”. (Adv. May 12, 1967)

“The principal difference between Robin Hood’s forest and the ’forest’ at Waimanalo lies in the cast of characters. Robin Hood’s band was composed of essentially ‘good’ men, while the delinquent and dope addicts who populate the ‘forest’ are a menace to society.” (SB May 10, 1967)

“At least 59 houses along the short Laumilo Street near the ‘forest’ have been broken into since January. Many residents of the area have been ‘intimidated’ by the gangs so much that they are afraid to call the police.”

“Police Chief Dan Liu said the department is adding 18 new patrolmen to the Windward area this year. This will provide two beat patrolmen day and night for Waimanalo. Liu told the Mayor his men will work on clearing the area of crime and protecting the houses.”

“‘The best solution is to remove the hazard rather than creating a larger police problem,’ the Mayor said. He promised to talk with State officials in an effort to clear the area of the protective undergrowth and abandoned buildings.”  (SB, May 10, 1967)

First used by the State as the ‘Waimānalo State Recreation Area’, managed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of State Parks for outdoor recreational uses for the public including camping and picnic areas, in 1992, the Park was transferred to the City and County of Honolulu and was the Waimānalo Bay Beach Park.

The City later renamed it Hūnānāniho, that archaeological reports noted was “a small hill said to have been famous in olden days as a place of refuge (puuhonua)” from battle and that “all the chiefs recognized the sacredness of this hill and the lives of those who reached this elevation were spared”. (C&C Resolution 21-132)

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Koholālele Landing

“The slopes of Mauna Kea Volcano steepen near the town of Ookala and the entire coast between Koholalele Landing and Niu Village is lined by steep sea cliffs ranging 50-300 ft high. Only a few foot trails enable access to the shoreline from the headland bluffs above.”

“Periodically the cliffs become saturated with heavy rainfall and may develop landslides. Several streams cut across the Ookala coastal plain creating deep gulches, beautiful waterfalls, and boulder beaches at their terminus. This region receives moderate to high wave energy from north swell and trade wind waves, limiting reef development.” (USGS)

The sugar companies began clearing the fertile lowlands of Koholālele, like much of Hāmākua, in the mid to late-1800s, to make way for the expansion of sugarcane production on the island of Hawai‘i. (Peralto)  (Koholālele (leaping whale) is a land division and landing, Hāmākua and Mauna Kea, and a former steamer landing for sugar plantations.)

“The entire coast line, excepting where the big gulches break through is sheer cliff of varying height up to 400 ft and behind the land, which is cut by frequent gulches, rises with gentle even slope to the mountain: every available bit of land, from the actual cliff edge to the timber line, is cane covered.”

“A fringe of evergreens will be seen along cliff edge in places. These were planted to protect the cane from the NE trade. No off lying dangers were found in the steamer track: they generally pass close in. The landings however should be approached with caution”. (Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1913)

“At one time there were 26 sugar plantations along the [Hamakua Coast]”. (LA Times) “Over the Big Island, with Hawaiian Air Lines – ‘You’re now flying over the Hamakua coast … said our purser. ‘Below us is the most productive soil in the world.  As much as 300,000 pounds of sugar cane have been grown per acre on these plantations.’”

“He could have added that from an 18-mile square area, slightly larger than that of New York City, Hawaii produces over a 1,000,000 tons of sugar, manufactured in the US,’ pointed out my fellow passenger, Roy Leffingwell, of the Hawaii Sugar Plantations association. ‘It’s Hawaii’s main industry ….’” (Burns; Medford Mail Tribune)

Francis (Nelson) Frazier assembled some ‘Notes’ that her father, Richard Nelson, wrote; they were reminiscences of his years at sea and on the inter-island steamers. “The following excerpt describes the method used to transfer cargo and people ashore along the Hamakua Coast, noted for its steep cliffs.”

“I spent three very happy years on the SS Hawaii with Hilo as the home port, learning how to handle the steamers and the wire at the wire landings. Our duty in those years was to act as tenders to the Matson sailing ships.”

“There were two steamers, the Hawaii and the Kaiulani, in this trade, and our work was to tow the sailing ships in and out of Hilo Bay and to place them at their moorings under the direction of the Pilot.”

“We then came alongside the sailing ships and took their cargo on board for the various ‘outside’ plantations and then brought sugar in from those plantations and delivered it to the ships to take to San Francisco.”

“Most of the places we went to had wire landings, but there were a few derrick landings, which were mostly disliked by the Captain and crews of the steamers as they were more dangerous in rough weather than the wire landings, which could be worked in most any kind of weather except when the wind was from the north, when even they were unsafe.”

“The coast of Hawaii known as the Hamakua Coast was a stretch of about 50 miles running north from Hilo to {Kukuihaele]. The shore was a continuous bluff from 100 to 400 feet above sea level.”

“All the plantations were on the top of the bluff, and the reason for the wire landings was that the shore line was so rough and dangerous for boat work most of the time that some means had to be found to enable the loading to be carried on in all kinds of weather.”

“The idea of loading by wire was imported from the Pacific Coast when lumber from the redwood forests had been shipped that way for many years. As the trade winds blow almost constantly from the east north east all the landings and moorings were laid out so that the steamer would lay head to the wind and sea.”

“There were four (4) mooring buoys with heavy anchors and chains to them at all wire landings, and a small buoy with a light chain only a few feet longer than the depth of water was fastened to the end of the sea wire, which lay on the sea bottom all the time when there was no steamer using it.”

“There was also a permanent wire from the top of the bluff leading down to an anchor not very far from the shore. This wire was used when first getting the hauling rope from shore. A weight was slid down this wire with the end of the hauling rope attached to it.”

“The ship’s boat would go in to this wire and pick up the end of the hauling rope that came down from the top of the bluff. This end they took back to the ship, and this way the connection with the landing was established.”

“In coming to a wire landing, the steamer was taken in between the two head buoys and one or two anchors let go and enough chain payed out to allow the ship to turn around head to the wind, with the small ‘wire buoy’ alongside the off shore side of the ship near the fore hatch.”

“The ship was then approximately in the right position but not yet secured, so the two boats with the stern lines already coiled in them were lowered, and the stern lines (2) run to the buoys and secured there. When all was connected up and ready the work began.”

“If we had cargo, that was first hoisted up out of the hold and landed on deck or on the half of the hatch cover that was always left on for the crew to stand on. “

“After all the cargo was ashore, the process was reversed and the [bagged] sugar was sent down on the carriage and landed on the ship’s hatch and then tumbled down for the rest of the crew to stow away in the hold.” ((Nelson) Frazier)

“There is an excellent landing at Koholalele Landing, small boats lie at the derrick pier and have a lee from the NE trade. This is an excellent place for getting ashore since the inclined c.r. cut offers easy access to top of cliffs. One mooring buoy, red can.”

“There is a rumor that this landing will be abandoned, because the railroad is going to handle all freight. The Hilo Railroad traverses entire sheet.”

“Paauilo is the terminus. there is no present intention of extending it farther, one reason being that the plantations beyond could give no business, having contracts with the Inter Island SS Co for several years ahead.” (Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1913)

The old Koholālele Landing on the Hāmākua was once considered for use as an emergency airplane landing field. This land, owned by the Hāmākua Mill Company, was not particularly good cane land and that Company was agreeable to exchanging it for other territorially-owned property. (Territorial Aviation Commission, March 4, 1931)

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