Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pahukanilua

Kamehameha I granted an ahupua’a called Kawaihae Hikina (also referred to as Kawaihae 2) to John Young for his invaluable service. The John Young Homestead was part of the ‘ili‘aina (or estate) known at one time as Pahukanilua.

Young was given the Hawaiian name of “Olohana,” which was the “Hawaiian language imitation of his boatswain’s call ‘All Hands’ during the battles of conquest.”

Young is credited with introducing cattle and goats to the island because of his relationship with Captain Vancouver, and he supported the introduction of Christianity to Hawaii and the establishment of missions.

He operated the kingdom’s warehouse at Kawaihae, where meats and hides were stored, and oversaw the sandalwood trade. Young’s influence is so great that he “seems to have been present and involved in every event of lasting importance in Hawaii from 1790 through 1820.” (Durst)

The John Young Homestead served as Young’s principal residence from 1798 until his death in 1835, at which time it appears to have been essentially abandoned. In 1929, AP Taylor, librarian with the archives of Hawaii, began advocating for the restoration and preservation of the site because of Young’s significant role in Hawaiian history.

Young’s property was actually divided into the lower homestead, near Kawaihae Bay and now underwater, and the upper homestead, which is now part of Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site.

The site was organized in a typical Hawaiian manner as a cluster of eight residential structures serving various functions.  Five of these structures as “Hawaiian-style,” meaning they were built using traditional Hawaiian construction techniques like dry-set masonry, and three as “Western-style,” meaning mortar and coral lime plaster were utilized.

The distinguishing feature between Hawaiian and Western construction techniques at this site was not the absence or presence of plaster but whether or not the stones were set in mortar. Thus, the John Young Homestead represents a transitional period in construction methods on the Hawaiian islands.

“… coral blocks brought by canoe from reef at Puako. Coral blocks were burnt. Mortar and plaster were made from sand, burnt coral and mixed with poi and hair.”  “I finish plastering all houses and have whitewashed the fences around the animal pens. It is as in Wales.”  (Young Diary 1798-1799) (abstracted from Young Diary 1798-1799; Apple)

Young wrote in his diary in 1798 about the establishment of his homestead and indicated the closeness of his relationship with Kamehameha I:

“Have begun four buildings. My house, the cook house, and storage room, the house for the child and tahus [guardians] and near the small temple [perhaps referring to Mailekini Heiau] a house for storage.”

“My house at the small rise below the great temple [referring to Pu‘ukohola Heiau] more suitable than the ravine which washes away with Whymea floods [perhaps referring to the Makeahua gulch]. The great one [Kamehameha I] comes to use my cook house several times. I make biskits and cook a lamb. Have all enjoyed feast.”

The John Young Homestead is described in many contemporary travel accounts … “The house of this interesting old man, was located at the top of a small hill which overlooks the village of Kawaihae, built of stone, well ventilated and sanitary.”  (Freycinet, 1829)

“The north point of Owhyee consists of low land, which rises in a strait line under an acute angle, into the region of the clouds.  As soon as you reach these parts, the monsoon has no longer any effect, and you may expect sea and land winds frequently interrupted by total calms, and light breezes from every point of the compass; this was our case near Tocahai [Kawaihae] Bay, where the wind entirely died away.”

“We now saw Young’s settlement of several houses built of white stone, after the European fashion, surrounded by palm and banana trees; the land has a barren appearance, and is said to be little adapted to agriculture, as it consists, for the most part, of masses of lava.” (Kotzebue 1821)

“From out at sea, we could see the European built houses of John Young towering above the grass shacks of the natives.  The whole beach is encircled by settlements of the people but wholly without any shade.”

“Only towards the south, along the coast, are cocoanut trees found scattered amongst the houses. The woods that occupy a higher zone on the mountain are not found in the valleys. Columns of smoke were to be seen in different parts of the island.”  (Chamisso 1939)

At Kawaihae, “we were entertained by old John Young, an English runaway sail or, who had been many years on the islands, and had assisted Kamehameha in bis conquests. He had married a native woman of rank, has a fine family of sons and daughters, and is considered a chief.”

“He lived in a dirty adobe house adorned with old rusty muskets, swords, bayonets, and cartridge boxes. He gave us a supper of goat’s meat and fried taro, served on old pewter plates, which I was unfortunate to see his servant wipe on his red flannel shirt in lieu of a napkin.”

“We were sent up a rickety flight of stairs to sleep. I was afraid, and requested Dr Judd to look around the room carefully for concealed dangers, and he was heartless enough to laugh at me.”

“Sleep was out of the question; I was afraid of the wind, which sometimes sweeps down the gorge of the mountain, and got up at midnight, and went down to the grass house of Mrs. Young, which was neat and comfortable.” (Laura Fish Judd, Honolulu: Sketches)

“Mr. Young, taking a female of rank for a wife, was himself promoted to the rank of a chief, partly in consequence of the services he had rendered in the wars of conquest, his strong attachment to the king, and his ability and readiness to serve him. He officiated for a time, as governor of Hawaii.”

“Though at first detained there against his will, he at length preferred to stay rather than to return to England. He had two sons and three daughters, who at length came under the instruction of the missionaries.” (Bingham) Young would spend the rest of his life in Hawai‘i; he died in Honolulu on December 17, 1835.

John Young and his granddaughter Queen Emma are buried at Mauna ‘Ala (the Royal Mausoleum on O‘ahu,) the final resting place of the high chiefs and royalty of the Kamehameha and Kalākaua dynasties.

In John Young’s last will and testament of 1834, bequeathed lands were divided between John Young and Isaac Davis’ children and John Young’s surviving wife Ka‘oana‘eha (Mary Kuamo‘o). Legal separation of the upper and lower portions of the John Young Homestead occurred under the Mahele and Land Commission Awards.

In 1848, Ka‘oana‘eha and Isoba Puna (konohiki) applied for ownership of the lower portion of the John Young Homestead. In 1851, LCA 4522 was awarded to Ka‘oana‘eha and Puna thereby creating the formal separation of the upper and lower portions of the Homestead. (Durst) (Lots of information here is from Apple, Durst, NPS, HABS, Judd, and Bingham)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Gooneyville Lodge

Midway is an atoll in the middle of the northern Pacific. It is about 3,200 miles west of San Francisco, about 3,600 miles east of Shanghai, China, and approximately 1,300 miles northwest of Oahu. (HABS UM-1)

(An island is a body of land surrounded by water.  (Continents are also surrounded by water, but because they are so big, they are not considered islands.) An atoll is a ring-shaped coral reef, island, or series of islets. The atoll surrounds a body of water called a lagoon. (National Geographic))

In January 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt placed Midway Atoll under the control of the U.S. Navy. A few months later, the Commercial Pacific Cable Company brought in the first permanent residents of Midway Atoll.

Their mission was to install and maintain a trans-Pacific telegraph cable as part of the first round-the-world communications system. The cable company constructed four two-story buildings. (Friends of Midway)

Midway Atoll’s three small islands (Sand, Spit, and Eastern (W2E)) provide a virtually predator-free safe haven for largest nesting colonies of Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses in the world.  (FWS)

Beautiful in flight, but ungainly in their movement on land, the albatrosses were called “gooney birds” (or just “gooneys”) by the men stationed on the islands during World War II. (Marine Conservation Institute)

Midway’s gooneys did not become widely known until Pan American Airways built a base for its transpacific clippers on the mid-Pacific atoll in 1935.

Pan American Airways pioneered the transpacific air route between the US mainland and China, using US jurisdictions and territories across the Pacific as “stepping stones.” This extended the American Home Front westward, and sparked Americans’ imaginations and their excitement for the Airline. (NPS)

These large flying boats flew from San Francisco to China, marking the fastest and most luxurious route to the Orient at that time.  This service not only connected distant regions but also brought tourists to Midway, operating until 1941​​.

Pan Am’s establishment of Midway Island as a stopover was part of a larger strategy to set up refueling stops across the Pacific, which included locations in Hawai’i, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines.  (Midway-Island)

In April 1935 Pan Am began the construction of an intermediate base at Midway for their air route from the U.S. mainland to the Orient. Their air route across the Pacific used seaplanes, so no runways were needed, but a wooden dock and a mooring barge in the lagoon were constructed. (HABS UM-1)

The latter is where the seaplanes discharged cargo and passengers; they were then carried to the dock in small boats. Carrying air mail had been the first intended use for the Pan American planes, but demand for passenger service became so great, plans were drawn up to includes hotels at the isolated bases.  (HABS UM-1)

A prefabricated hotel building was sent out. It was Y-shaped, with the lounge and dining room in the center and 20 rooms in each of the two flanking wings. Other prefabricated buildings were erected for the permanent base crew.

In 1938 the Pan American Airways settlement consisted of some 20 frame buildings, including “a machine shop, refrigerator plant, radio station, radio beacon, offices, and power plant”.

In 1939, “There are three ‘towns’ on this island: Cable City [for Commercial Pacific Cable company], Gooneyville [Pan Am’s facilities] and Used [the US Engineering Department] …”

“… but there are no boulevards, no street lamps, no telephone poles, no fire hydrants, no dogs, no traffic cops, no neon signs, no drug stores, no theaters, no daily newspapers (except a couple of sheets of news furnished by courtesy of the cable company). no post office, no almost anything!”

Buildings were “amidst a multitude of nesting white gooneys the Pan American Airways people staked claim and moved in on April 7, 1935. Neat, huff-colored cottages and work shops, all red-roofed, are scattered over the sandscape …”

“… unpainted board walks run along the cottage side of ruts in the sand which mark the main thoroughfare, while the PAA hotel – the first and only one of the island – sprawls apart by itself, a huge blue-trimmed ivory Y surrounded by wide-eyed gooneys and recently planted shrubbery.” (Adv, Apr 3, 1939)

During WWII, the military took over Midway … the Pan American Airways hotel was taken over as a recreation and recuperation center for the submariners, and its name changed to “Gooneyville Lodge” (HABS UM-1) A golf course received world-wide billing as the only one with gooney birds nesting on fairways. (Aldrich)

The Japanese planned to assault and occupy the atoll in order to threaten an invasion of Hawaiʻi and draw the American naval forces that had survived the attack on Pearl Harbor out into an ambush against the brunt of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Midway was of vital importance to both Japanese and American war strategies in World War II, and the raid on the atoll was one of the most significant battles of the war, marking a major shift in the balance of power between the United States and Japan.

As dawn approached at around 0430, June 4, 1942, the American carriers (Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown) were about 300 miles north north-east of Midway. Their Japanese counterparts (Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū and Hiryū) were 250 miles northwest of the atoll.

In their attack, the Imperial Japanese Navy lost two thirds of its fleet aircraft carriers (four Japanese aircraft carriers and their accompanying aircraft and crews.) The loss of USS Yorktown was a major blow to the US, but the American wartime production of men and materiel would soon make up the difference and outpace that of the Japanese.

While the primary carrier fleet engagement occurred well to the north of Midway Atoll, much of the “secondary” action occurred within or originated from the atoll.

The Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942) is considered the most decisive US victory and is referred to as the “turning point” of World War II in the Pacific.  The victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position.

Then, in 1950, “Midway atoll, the United States’ oldest off-shore possession and once a bristling sentinel of the North Pacific, is being turned over to its first settlers, Gooney Birds.”

“The navy has ordered its personnel out by June 30, and long before then Pan American Airways and Civil Aeronautics administration employes will have packed up and left. … The navy’s deserted submarine base and two strategic airfields will be only symbols of America’s Pacific war strength.” (Adv, Apr 30, 1950)

“One navy wife explained the sentiments of the islands’ departing residents: ‘They must have called it Midway because its halfway between Heaven and Earth.’” (Adv, Apr 30, 1950)

Today, the US Fish and Wildlife Service staff, volunteers and contractors live on Midway to support the recovery and integrity of wildlife habitat and species while balancing their own human impact on the land and seascape, and protecting historical resources.  (FWS)

While in the chain of islands, atolls, and seamounts of the Hawaiian Islands Archipelago, Midway is part of the US but not part of the State of Hawai‘i. (The Hawai‘i Admission Act (Public Law 86-3, March 18, 1959) excluded Midway – “The State of Hawaii shall consist of all the islands … but said State shall not be deemed to include the Midway Islands …”)

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xrFBTvL3miZPr84R8

A little personal side story … When Pan Am used Midway and Wake as stopping points for flights across the Pacific, my grandmother (Laura Sutherland) was Assistant Head Librarian for the Library of Hawai‘i in charge of the “Extension Department.”

My grandmother took advantage of these flights and expanded the reach of her “Extension Department” by supplying reading material to residents on Midway and Wake, with the cooperation of Pan Am.  Each week, a new supply of books was added to the flights in what is believed to be America’s only Flying Library Service.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Maui

Kalaniʻōpuʻu was born about 1729, his brother was Keōua; his son was Kiwalaʻō; he was the grandfather of Keōpūolani.

At the death of Alapaʻinui, about 1754, a bloody civil war followed, the result of which was that Alapaʻi’s son Keaweopala was killed, and Kalaniʻōpuʻu, descended from the old dynasty, became king of Hawaiʻi. (Alexander)

Kalaniʻōpuʻu, from the very beginning of his reign, made repeated attempts to conquer the neighboring island of Maui. He held portions of the Hāna district and the Kaʻuiki area in 1775, when, in the war between Hawaiʻi and Maui, he commanded a raid in the Kaupō district. (Thrum)

While Kalaniʻōpuʻu was at Hāna he sent his warriors to plunder the Kaupō people. Kahekili was king of Maui at that time, when Kahekili’s warriors met those of Kalaniʻōpuʻu at Kaupo, a battle developed between the two sides. It was known as the Battle of Kalaeokaʻīlio; Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s army was routed and returned to Hāna.

Kalaniʻōpuʻu promised revenge and, in 1776, he again went to battle against Kahekili. This battle (known as the Battle of Sand Hills or Ahalau Ka Piʻipiʻi O Kakaniluʻa) was recorded as one of the most bloody.

Unfortunately, Kalaniʻōpuʻu was not aware of the alliance between Kahekili and the O‘ahu warriors under Kahahana, the young O‘ahu chief, and these numerous warriors were stationed at the sand dunes of Waikapū and also at a place close to those sand dunes seaward of Wailuku.

Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s army was annihilated as they entered the sand hills of Wailuku. In a desperate act to save what was left, Kalaniʻōpuʻu requested that his wife, Kalola, plead for peace from her brother Kahekili.

However, knowing that Kahekili would not look upon her with favor, Kalola suggested their son, Kiwalaʻo be sent instead. Kahekili welcomed Kiwalaʻo; for a time, after the great Sand Hills battle in Wailuku, peace and tranquility returned.

Although often defeated, Kalaniʻōpuʻu managed to hold the famous fort of Kaʻuiki in Hana for more than twenty years. (Alexander)

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

At that time, Kalaniʻōpuʻu was on the island of Maui. Kalaniʻōpuʻu returned to Hawaiʻi and met with Cook on January 26, 1779, exchanging gifts, including an ʻahuʻula (feathered cloak) and mahiole (ceremonial feather helmet.) Cook also received pieces of kapa, feathers, hogs and vegetables.

In return, Cook gave Kalaniʻōpuʻu a linen shirt and a sword; later on, Cook gave other presents to Kalaniʻōpuʻu, among which one of the journals mentions “a complete Tool Chest.”

After the departure of the Resolution and Discovery, Kalaniʻōpuʻu left the bay and passed to Kaʻū, the southern district of Hawaiʻi, having in his charge the young Kaʻahumanu. (Bingham)

Back on Maui, Kahekili asked “How can the fortress of Kaʻuiki become a level plain?” “The fortress of Kaʻuiki depends upon its water supply. Cut that off and Kaʻuiki will surrender for want of water.” “What is the best way to do this?”

“Let the chiefs, guards, and fighting men cut off the springs of Punahoa. … Let them cut them all off at night. When the people are dying of thirst and can get no water, then they may be slaughtered.” (Kamakau)

In about 1781, Kahekili was able, by a well-planned campaign, to regain possession of the Hana district and this marked the beginning of the disintegration of Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s kingdom. (Kuykendall)

Kalaniʻōpuʻu died shortly thereafter (1782.) Before his death, Kalaniʻōpuʻu gave an injunction to Kiwalaʻo and Kamehameha, and to all the chiefs, thus: “Boys, listen, both of you. The heir to the kingdom of Hawaii nei, comprising the three divisions of land, Kaʻū̄, Kona and Kohala, shall be the chief Kiwalaʻo. He is the heir to the lands.” (Fornander)

“As regarding you, Kamehameha, there is no land or property for you; but your land and your endowment shall be the god Kaili (Kūkaʻilimoku.) If, during life, your lord should molest you, take possession of the kingdom; but if the molestation be on your part, you will be deprived of the god.” These words of Kalaniʻōpuʻu were fulfilled in the days of their youth, and his injunction was realized. (Fornander)

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

Kiwalaʻō and his chiefs were dissatisfied with subsequent redistricting of the lands; civil war ensued between Kīwalaʻō’s forces and the various chiefs under the leadership of Kamehameha (his cousin.)

In the first major skirmish, in the battle of Mokuʻōhai (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 at Keʻei, south of Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawaiʻi,) Kiwalaʻo was killed.

By 1790 Kamehameha I had gained enough control of the island of Hawaii that he could leave to join the war parties on Maui. Their canoe fleet ‘beached at Hana and extended from Hamoa to Kawaipapa” to battle Kalanikupule, son of Kahekili, and ruling chief of Maui while his father was on and ruled Oʻahu.

Later, Kamehameha, through the assistance of the Kona “Uncles” (Keʻeaumoku, Keaweaheulu, Kameʻeiamoku & Kamanawa (the latter two ended up on the Island’s coat of arms;)) succeeded, after a struggle of more than ten years, in securing to himself the supreme authority over that island (and later, the entire Hawaiian Islands chain.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hakipuʻu

The nine ahupuaʻa of Kāneʻohe Bay, beginning at the boundary between Koʻolauloa and Koʻolaupoko Districts (west) and moving eastward, are Kualoa, Hakipuʻu, Waikāne, Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Waiheʻe, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāneʻohe.

The ahupuaʻa of Hakipuʻu (Broken Hill – referring to the jagged ridge top) is located at the northern end of Kāne’ohe Bay, between Kualoa and Waikāne.

Paliuli (green cliff,) a “legendary paradise of plenty” with many proclaimed sites throughout the islands, was said to have existed in the mauka regions of Hakipuʻu.

The legendary and historic navigator Kahaʻi a Hoʻokamaliʻi was said to have landed on the beach here, on his return trip from Tahiti. He is credited for bringing and planting the first ʻulu (breadfruit) tree, in this ahupuaʻa. (Mālama ʻĀina)

“The area is typical of Oʻahu, in contrast to Kauai, Maui, and Hawaiʻi, in combining: (a) bay and reef coast line which make cultivation feasible right to the shore where coconuts thrive; (b) extensive wet-taro plantations with ample water; (c) swampy areas where taro and fish were raised …”

“… (d) sloping piedmont and level shore-side areas well adapted to sweet-potato farming; (e) ample streams whose mouths are ideal seaside spawning pools; (f) fishponds in which systematic fish farming was practiced; (g) upstream terraced stream-side lo‘i; (h) accessible forested slopes and uplands, for woodland supplies and recourse in famine times”. (Handy; Klieger)

“The bay all round has a very beautiful appearance, the low land and vallies being in a high state of cultivation, and crowned with plantations of taro, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, etc. interspersed with a great number of coconut trees”. (Portlock, 1786)

Fishponds, loko i‘a, were things that beautified the land, and a land with many fishponds was called a ‘fat’ land (‘āina momona.) They date from ancient times. (Kamakau)

Moliʻi fishpond (within Hakipuʻu) has a pond wall about 4,000-feet in length (attributed to the work of Menehune) that separates about 125-acres of shallow water (one of the largest ever built) from the northern rim of Kāneʻohe Bay. The main species of fish raised in ponds were ʻawa (milkfish) and ʻanae (mullet.)

Handy described the taro flats at Hakipuʻu, originally more than one-half mile south from Moliʻi Fishpond, where all the level land along Hakipuʻu Stream was once in terraces.

It was especially interesting as the only swamp plantation on Oʻahu in which a marshland patch was cultivated in the old mounding method. (Devaney)

“An acre of kalo (taro) land would furnish food for from twenty to thirty persons, if properly taken care of. It will produce crops for a great many years in succession without lying fallow any time.” (Wyllie, 1848)

Based on the estimated rates of population decline due to the introduction of European disease, Hakipuʻu would have had a population of about 300 at the time of ‘contact’ in 1778, decreasing to about 225 by 1800. In the first formal census in 1832 the population of Hakipuʻu had declined to 180.

Later, in Hakipuʻu, “fields were fenced and plowed for the cane, small flumes were put up and Chinese coolies imported for laborers”; by 1867, however, it became evident that the land was poor for sugarcane and it was abandoned.

The land was later used for rice cultivation (1860s,) then pineapple. However, by 1923, it was evident that pineapple cultivation on the Windward area could not keep up with that in other O‘ahu areas.

Crops on the Windward side were not yielding tonnages as compared with the Leeward side, fields were smaller, with wilt more prevalent, and growing costs considerably higher. Plantings were therefore reduced. (Libby; Devaney)

Much of the land was converted to pasture for cattle ranching. Some of the Hakipuʻu land remains part of the Kualoa Ranch.

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Kaʻawaloa

Kealakekua translates as ‘pathway of the gods’ and is one of the most significant historic and cultural places in Hawaiʻi.

Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park is comprised of portions of the Kealakekua and Kaʻawaloa ahupuaʻa, which surround Kealakekua Bay. From Kaʻawaloa south to Palemano Point, the bay measures about one and one-half miles in length and about one mile in width.

“The Sandy beech forms the West side, behind which is a grove of Coco nut trees & a pond of indifferent water; on the N side of this beach lies a Village, & the Well we waterd at, which is close to the Sea & under the high hill.”

“At the other end of the beach is the Morai, or Oheekeeow (heiau of Hikiau.) A field of Taboo’d ground seperates the Morai from a Village to the s, or rather a continued range of Stragling houses in that direction.” (King; Maly)

Kealakekua was selected by the aliʻi as one of the seven royal centers of Kona in the 1700s, because of its sheltered bay and abundance of natural resources.

Kaʻawaloa, meaning ‘ the distant ʻawa plant’, is a flat, fan-shaped lava peninsula near sea level, which rises gradually to the edge of the 600-ft Pali Kapu O Keoua. These forty acres of land define the northwest side of Kealakekua Bay.

Historically, Kaʻawaloa was the royal burial grounds of Hawaiʻi’s rulers and their families, including Kalaniopuʻu, the ruling chief in power when Captain Cook sailed into Kealakekua Bay.

The British ships, Discovery and Resolution, under the command of Captain James Cook, sailed into Kealakekua Bay on January 17, 1779; Cook was killed at Kaʻawaloa on February 14, 1779.

In their journals, Cook’s crew recorded four “villages” of about 80 houses each along the shoreline around Kealakekua Bay. Settlements lined the bay in the pre-contact period, as do the small residential communities of Nāpōʻopoʻo and Keʻei, today.

“The Towns of the Natives are built along the Sea side. At Cari’ca’coo’ah (Kealakekua) Bay there were three, one (Kealakekua-Nāpoʻopoʻo) on the SE-tern side of the Bay which was very large extending near two miles along the shore, another (Kaʻawaloa) upon the NWtern side which was not so large, and a small Village (Palemano) in the cod or bottom of the Bay.”

“At the back of the villages upon the Brow of the Hill are their plantations of Plantains, Potatoes, Tarrow, Sugar Canes &c, each mans particular property is fenced in with a stone wall; they have a method of making the Sugar Cane grow about the walls so that the stones are not conspicuous at any distance, but the whole has the appearance of fine green fences.” (Clerke; Maly)

“Kaʻawaloa, at the landing-place on the north side of Kealakekua bay, however conveniently accessible to the people of the district, who live much along the shores, was cramped and rocky, being composed almost exclusively of lava.”

“It was hot, dry, and barren, affording neither brook nor well, nor spring of fresh water, nor field, nor garden-spot for plantation, though a few cocoanut trees, so neighborly to the sea, find nourishment there.” (Bingham; Maly)

As the west learned of Hawaiʻi, this area became known as one of the first major shipping and provisioning port for ships involved in exploration, whaling and trans-Pacific trade.

About 40-years after Cook’s visit, the missionaries arrived and established one of the earliest mission stations in Hawai‘i at Kaʻawaloa in 1824.

Access was improved to Kaʻawaloa and Nāpoʻopoʻo with the development of cart roads to transport goods from the bay to upland communities.

By the 1850s, traditional fishing and farming were giving way to ranching and coffee. Cattle were herded down the roads to wharfs at Nāpoʻopoʻo and Kaʻawaloa where they were loaded onto ships in the bay.

Nāpoʻopoʻo Light was established in 1908 at Kaʻawaloa on the north side of Kealakekua Bay (but apparently named for Nāpoʻopoʻo Landing on the south side of the bay.) The 22-foot light tower was built in 1922.

Several families remained at Kaʻawaloa until World War II, but most of the activity had shifted to Nāpoʻopoʻo by that time.

In 1969 the state set aside the entire bay as a marine life conservation district (MLCD.) The MLCD is inshore of a straight line between Kaʻawaloa point and the north end of Nāpōʻopoʻo Beach Park. The cove fronting the Captain Cook Monument is a popular snorkeling area.

On December 12, 1973 the Kaʻawaloa area was designated as the Kealakekua Bay Historical District (a District w/multiple sites) and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The obelisk monument commemorating Captain Cook was constructed in 1874, near the spot where Cook died. (Contrary to urban legend, the monument site is not owned by the British Government; ownership is in the name of the British Consul General (the individual) – a representative would check in with DLNR, from time to time.)

While at DLNR, we issued a curator agreement to Hale Mua – The Royal Order of King Kamehameha I to help protect the sites under DLNR’s jurisdiction and to help provide public access.

The photo captures the awa ceremony we participated in to commemorate the signing of the Curator Agreement. (It was a moving experience; I was proud and honored to be there.  Yes, that is me, all by myself (representing the State,) and the descendent families, members of the Order and others on the other side.)

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