Big Island | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

September 11, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Saddle Road

By the early 1800s, foreign visitors began making regular trips across the ‘āina mauna [mountain lands] and to the summit of Mauna Kea. Based on their accounts, travel in the region through the middle 1800s basically followed the old trails, or cut across new areas.

By the 1850s, the Kingdom of Hawai‘i entered into a program of improving ancient trails and identifying new routes, by which to improve travel between various locations and facilitate commerce. (Maly)

At its May 23, 1849 meeting, the Privy Council of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (a private committee of the King’s closest advisors to give confidential advice on affairs of state) sought to “facilitate communication between Kailua, the seat of the local government, and Hilo, the principal port.”

They resolved “that GP Judd and Kinimaka proceed to Kailua, Hawaiʻi, to explore a route from that place to Hilo direct, and make a road, if practicable, by employing the prisoners on that island and if necessary taking the prisoners from this island (Oʻahu) to assist; the government to bear all expenses”. (Privy Council Minutes, Punawaiola)

In planning the road, the words of the Privy Council’s resolution were taken literally, and the route selected ran to the high saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on a practically straight line between the terminal points.

What became known as the “Judd Road” (or “Judd Trail”) was constructed between 1849 and 1859; construction began at the government road in Kailua (what is now known as Aliʻi Drive) and traversed through a general corridor between Hualālai and Mauna Loa. (Remnants of perimeter walls can still be seen at Aliʻi Drive.)

“This was the road that Dr. Judd … would have built from Kona in a straight line across the island of Hawaii. It was meant, of course, as a road for horsemen and pack animals. In the generation of Dr. Judd it was a great work, and the manner of its building showed that he meant it to be a monument to him for all time.” (Ford, Mid-Pacific, 1912)

In 1859, when the road had been built about 12-miles from Kailua into the saddle between Hualālai and Mauna Loa, the project was abandoned – a pāhoehoe lava flow from the 11,000 foot-level of Mauna Loa crossed its path. Though incomplete (it never reached its final destination in Hilo,) people did use the Judd Road to get into Kona’s mauka countryside.

This road was not the only attempt of linking East and West Hawaiʻi. The western section of the trail from Waimea to Kalai‘eha (Humu‘ula Sheep Station) had become a ‘cart road’ by 1873; it was only a dirt road through the pasture then and in rainy weather it turned to mud.

There were no automobiles in 1910 and very few in the 1920s, all transportation was by foot, horse, or by wagon, carriage and buggy. In 1920, the cart road left the Waimea/Kona road at Pu’u Nohona‘ohae and went through Waiki’i village to The Saddle.

The cart road initially began a little farther north, however, the manager of Parker Ranch, AW Carter, got the entrance of the road moved so that it passed between Pu‘u Nohona’ohae lki to the north, and Pu‘u Nohona‘ohae Nui to the south. (This is the alignment of the old Saddle Road where it meets the Waimea to Kona ‘Mauka Road.’)

In the saddle area, the old cart road ran directly east from Pōhakuloa to Kalai‘eha (Humu’ula Sheep Station). The eastern section, from Kalai‘eha down to Hilo, remained a trail until World War II, except at the Hilo end. ‘Kaumana Road’ was built (paved) up to the Countly Club Road intersection in Kaumana by the “FTRA” about 1936.

Because there was no road up from Hilo, to get to Kalai‘eha (near Pu‘u Huluhulu and the present Mauna Kea Access Road) and surrounding uses. From Hilo, you had to drive all the way along the Hāmākua Coast (Mamalahoa Highway) around through Waimea and back east through the Saddle. As described by Roy Blackshear, to get to Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch (owned by his grandfather):

“The first time I went to Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō was about 1931. But at that time, of course there was no Saddle Road there, and to get to Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch we left Kea‘au before sunrise in the morning, traveled north along the Hāmākua Coast, going through all the valleys and small bridges and so on and finally we reached Waimea and had lunch at Waimea.”

“And then we continued from Waimea along the Mamalahoa Highway. Out to where, I think it was just about where the present Saddle Road takes off. … And of course any car going up at that time would have to carry chains because they did run into mud.”

[They stopped first in Waiki‘i.] “And then we headed on east from there, climbing all the time. So then we continued on and we reach Humu‘ula sheep station. And they put more water in the radiator. And then we started from, there up towards the Keanakolu road …” (Blacksher; Rosendahl)

While ‘Kaumana Road’ was built (paved) up to the Country Club Road intersection in Kaumana by about 1936, from there it was an unpaved wagon road until World War II and above that a horse trail. Above Kaumana, the eastern section (from Kalai‘eha) remained a trail until World War II.

The Saddle Road was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the US Army Engineer District, Honolulu (USED, now called the US Army Corps of Engineers) during World War II in order to provide an access route in case of Japanese invasion.

Near the top of Kaumana, the army had a camp and barred everyone who didn’t work there from traveling up into the interior of the Island.

Henry Auwae ran the lead bulldozer to clear the road in 1943, coming up from Hilo on the 1881 and 1855 lava flows and choosing a route which kept to no more than a 6% grade. Cinders were then hauled down from Humu‘ula toward Kaumana by the CCC and later the USED, then oiled to make a narrow “gravel” road.

The west section of the road was paved right after the war. The east section of the road was not paved until later, about 1949. At that time the road was moved at several points to cut off some large loops. These old loops still exist, including one north of the road around milepost 9 and another around milepost 22.

Then, starting with an accepted EIS in 1999, what is now known as Daniel K Inouye Highway (renamed on what would have been his 89^th birthday) was realigned and widened. Starting in 2007, successive phases of the improved road have been opened up.

October 30, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Moʻoheau Bandstand

It had a rough start.

The name “Moʻoheau,” which the legislature directed by concurrent resolution without consulting the people of Hilo or their representative in the Legislature, gave rise to a great deal of dissatisfaction.

Hilo papers put ballots in their papers and readers were encouraged to cut them out, note their preference and take them to the Board of Trade. (Hawaiian Star, May 7, 1904)

The namesake for the park, Chief Kaʻaiawa I Moʻoheau, is a relative of Admiral George Charles Moʻoheau Kauluheimalama Beckley. (Hawaiian Star, May 7, 1904; Boy Scouts)

Beckley was grandson of George C Beckley (one of “Kamehameha’s Haoles” and first commander of Fort Kekuanohu.) Like his grandfather, “for forty years he followed the sea” and later was decorated with the Order of the Crown of Hawaiʻi and the Star of Oceania by King Kalākaua.

Beckley also received the honorary title of “The Admiral of Honolulu Harbor” from the Association of Masters, Mates & Pilots No. 54″, of which he was a member.

Among other park names suggested were “Ocean Park,” “Seaside Park,” “Hilo Park,” “Recreation Park,” “Lihi-kai (seaside) Park,” “Ponahawai Park,” “Piopio Park” and “Liholiho.” (Hawaiian Star, May 7, 1904)

In defense of the park name, Beckley noted, “I will build in Moʻoheau park at my own expense a pavilion for the band. I claim I have an interest in Hilo second to none. I leave it to the public.”

Moʻoheau Park and Bandstand were dedicated in January 2, 1905. “The arrangements for the opening of the Mooheau Park are practically complete. … It is not expected that the park can be laid out by a landscape gardener before the opening exercises.” (Hawaiian Star, December 12, 1904)

“The trustees of the parks and public grounds of Hilo have intimated a desire to have each citizen plant a tree or shrub in the park grounds at noon, and this, too, may be a part of the program. Visitors will be requested to bring their own garden tools and trees.” (Hawaiian Star, December 12, 1904)

“The dedication of Moʻoheau hall presented to Hilo by Admiral George Beckley, was an imposing and very enjoyable affair. The pavilion was luxuriously decorated with the American and Hawaiian flags and streamers of all national colors. Forests of fern and palm adorned the Interior.” (Evening Bulletin, January 3, 1905)

A frequent user of the bandstand was the Hilo Band (later known as Hawaiʻi County Band;) Moʻoheau Park Bandstand has been the band’s performing home ever since its completion. (Wong)

The band started as a family band in 1883 by brothers, Joaquin and Jules Carvalho, immigrants from the Azores Islands, who made their living as barbers in Hilo. On concert days, they closed up the shop; Joaquin would take the baton to lead the band while Jules played the cornet. After the concert, they would re-open the barbershop and go back to cutting hair. (Wong)

In 1911, “(t)he bandstand at Moʻoheau Park has been converted into a schoolroom by the county fathers, on account of the fact that the accommodations at the Riverside School are inadequate and the County has no funds at present with which to build an addition.” (Hawaiian Star, February 27, 1911)

“This class formerly occupied the basement of the Riverside building and it was so damp in the present weather that it was thought best to make the change.” (Hawaiian Star, February 27, 1911)

A little later, the Waiolama Reclamation Project included the draining and filling of approximately 40-acres in the area between the Hilo Railway tract, Wailoa River, and Baker and Front Streets. It included diversion of the Alenaio Stream. (1914-1919)

Moʻoheau Bandstand also has an ongoing modern history.

When the Republican Party was in control of Hawai‘i from 1900 to 1954, the GOP fielded candidates of Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese and Chinese Hawaiian ancestries, particularly in racially-mixed neighborhoods. (Chou)

The goal of ethnic balance in political slates received major impetus in the Democratic Party, especially in the case of American Japanese veterans of World War II who joined under John A Burns’ leadership. (Chou)

According to Democratic Party lore, in 1954, Hawaii Republicans attempted to foil the growing Democratic Party by reserving all the large public spaces for election-eve rallies. (star-bulletin)

Reportedly, every election since 1954, Hawaiʻi’s Democrats come to Hilo and the bandstand at Moʻoheau Park for the rally to end their primary campaign. (1954 was the year they took over the Territorial Legislature from the Republicans.)

October 3, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kawaihae

Kamehameha had granted Kawaihae Komohana ahupua‘a (present Kawaihae 1) to Kalanimōku, his “prime minister;” Kawaihae Hikina (present Kawaihae 2) was one of several ahupuaʻa on Hawai‘i and other islands allocated to John Young by Kamehameha.

Kamehameha had a house here. Following his death and the succession of Liholiho to rule as Kamehameha II, Kawaihae served as the initial Royal Center for Liholiho, who sought consolidation of his forces and consecration of his leadership role, there. (Kelly)

Then, as now, the area was relatively barren and people typically lived near the shore, not up the hill. As noted in 1832, by missionary Lorenzo Lyons in his journal, “about as desolate a place as I have ever seen, nothing but barrenness, with here and there a native hut”.

The area is also generally referenced as Pelekane, which means ‘British,’ possibly named after the Young and Isaac Davis families that lived there (when Davis died in 1810, his friend and co-advisor to Kamehameha, John Young, looked after Davis’ children.)

These were not the only high-ranking people associated with Kawaihae during the first decades of the 19th century. Kamāmalu, daughter of Kamehameha and Kaheiheimālie was born at Pelekane (ca 1802.)

She would later become the wife of her half-brother Liholiho (Kamehameha II,) the son of Kamehameha and the high chiefess Keōpūolani (Kamāmalu died of measles in London with Liholiho in 1825.) Some suggest Queen Emma (granddaughter of John Young) was also born here.

Over time, Kawaihae and Waimea (up the hill) developed a synergistic relationship. The area was a canoe landing area, whether for commerce or combat. (This is where Maui’s chief Kamalālāwalu landed in his assault against Lonoikamakahiki’s Hawaiʻi forces (Lono won.) But Kawaihae’s presence was really focused on commerce as a landing site.

Archibald Menzies, reporting on Vancouver’s third layover at Kawaihae Bay in March 1793 after leaving Kealakekua Bay, recorded that Young and Davis had accompanied “us thither (i.e. to Kawaihae) on purpose to make presents of hogs and vegetables…from their plantations, which lay near this part of the island…” (Menzies, Cultural Surveys)

Young built a storehouse in his family compound. During the sandalwood trade, Young supervised royal warehouses that were the central depository for the wood brought in from the surrounding district.

William Ellis, in 1831 wrote, “Before daylight on the 22d, we were roused by vast multitudes of people passing through the district from Waimea with sandalwood, which had been cut in the adjacent mountains for Karaimoku (Kalanimōku,) by the people of Waimea, and which the people of Kohala, as far as the north point …”

“… had been ordered to bring down to his storehouse on the beach, for the purpose of its being shipped to Oahu. There were between two and three thousand men, carrying each from one to six pieces of sandalwood, according to their size and weight.”

Another early foreign visitor to Kawaihae was Frenchman, Louis Claude Desaulses de Freycinet, in 1819; he met Liholiho here. Following closely in the wake of Freycinet’s visit of 1819 were the American missionaries, who stopped first at Kawaihae on April 1, 1820 (before heading down to Kailua-Kona.) They were met by Kalanimōku and his wives and two of Kamehameha’s widows (Kalākua and Namahana.)

During subsequent decades, other missionaries visiting Hawai‘i Island would record their impressions of the life and landscape of the 19th-century Kawaihae region. According to Rev. William Ellis, who, along with other missionaries, stopped at Kawaihae in 1823, the village in the early 1820s contained one hundred houses.

Ellis noted the same salt pans mentioned by Archibald Menzies in 1793 and described the salt-making operations he witnessed: “The natives of this district manufacture large quantities of salt, by evaporating the sea water. We saw a number of their pans, in the disposition of which they display great ingenuity.”

“(T)he Sandwich Islanders eat (salt) very freely with their food, and use much in preserving their fish. … The surplus … they dispose of to vessels touching at the islands, or export to the Russian settlements on the north-west coast of America, where it is in great demand for curing fish, &c.” (Ellis)

The salt also came in handy with the region’s supplying whalers with fresh and salt beef that called to the Islands, as well as the later Gold Rushers of America. Here is where Samuel Parker (of the later Parker Ranch fame) started out as a cattle hunter to fill those needs.

Increasing demand for meat, hides and tallow prompted Kuakini, governor of Hawai‘i Island, to establish a residence (and corrals) at Waimea in 1830. After having difficulty traversing the rocky trail from Waimea to Kawaihae, he “wisely sentenced forty persons guilty of violating the seventh commandment (committing adultery”) to construct a road connecting the two.

About this time, 2-wheeled Mexican ox carts started to appear; they were used to transport the meat and other goods between Waimea and Kawaihae (lots of white and sweet potatoes were grown in Waimea for export to California during the Gold Rush.)

As the area continued to grow and develop, most of the residential and commercial buildings that comprised Kawaihae Town continued to be located close to the shoreline of the bay; the uplands of the Kawaihae region remained undeveloped pasture land. (Cultural Surveys)

The WWII years brought dramatic change. The vast isolated plains of Waimea were viewed as an ideal location for a troop training center and in the spring of 1942 an army recruit camp was built there. The recruits were followed by the Second and Fifth Marine Divisions that recuperated and trained at Waimea. At its height, the Waimea camp (later dubbed Camp Tarawa,) consisting of tents and Quonset huts set on thousands of acres, housed up to 40,000 men.

Troops were shipped in and out through Kawaihae. At the southern end of the bay, in Kawaihae 2, amphibious landing exercises were conducted and military emplacements were set up in the area of Puʻukohola Heiau.

The war in the Pacific had been over less than a year when on April 1, 1946, an earthquake off the Aleutian Islands caused a tsunami that devastated the Hawaiian Islands. Although no lives were lost at Kawaihae, its effects wiped out commercial fishing activity there and it was reported that the tsunami “…was the beginning of the end for the Kawaihae Fishing Village. People left.” (Cultural Surveys)

By the 1950s, the need for improved harbor facilities at Kawaihae was apparent. The old landing had been destroyed in the 1946 tsunami and the one built in 1937 had proven unsafe in high seas. The Kawaihae Deep-Draft Harbor project was authorized by the US Congress in 1950 and finally dedicated on October 5, 1959.

The harbor’s construction was hailed as an “economic shot in the arm,” for sugar planters in the Kohala region of the island would no longer have to ship their crops overland to Hilo or to Kailua-Kona. The harbor would serve military needs as well. The Army was about to acquire a 100,000-acre training site nearby and could unload supplies at Kawaihae Harbor. (Cultural Surveys)

On August 17, 1972, the US Congress authorized the designation of Puʻukohola Heiau as a National Historic Site. This site also encompasses Mailekini Heiau; Hale O Kapuni Heiau (a submerged “shark” heiau;) Pōhaku o Alapaʻi ku palupalu mano (a stone on the beach where chief Alapaʻi leaned against while watching sharks circling around offerings placed at the submerged heiau;) Pelekane (Kamehameha’s Kawaihae residence) and the site of John Young’s house.

December 1, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kalalea Heiau

Ka Lae is the site of one of the earliest Hawaiian settlements, and it has one of the longest archaeological records on the islands (included in the complex is the earliest recorded occupation site.) (NPS) Ka Lae (Lit., the point, commonly called South Point) on the Island of Hawaiʻi is the southernmost point in the fifty states.

Kaʻū is poetically known as “Kaʻū kua makani” (Kaʻū with windy back.) (Soehren) An offshore stone at South Point is called Pokakuokeau (stone of the current) referring to the meeting of the different ocean currents that come together here. (k12-hi-us)

Nā kai haele lua o Kalae, ʻO Kāwili lāua ʻo Halaʻea
The two sea currents of Kalae – Kāwili and Halaʻea

The Halaʻea current (named after a chief,) comes from the east to Kalae and sweeps out to sea. The Kāwili (Hit-and-twist) comes from the west and flows out alongside the Halaʻea. Woe betide anyone caught between. (Keala Pono)

Here at the point is a heiau, Kalalea Heiau, located in the ahupuaʻa of Kamāʻoa. In 1906, Stokes, in describing the heiau, said, “This heiau was … 43 by 35 ft., with platforms outside … adjoining its western wall ….” The heiau complex has a small terraced platform paved with ʻiliʻili (small, smooth pebbles.) When Stokes visited the heiau, an informant told him that the heiau was Kamehameha’s and was very sacred.

Ten years later another informant told Stokes the following: “(This is the) history of the heiau of Kalalea at Kalae, and of Kūʻula, Wahinehele and ʻAiʻai. Kūʻula (a male) married Wahine (a female) and they had a son ʻAiʻai.”

“They left Kahiki and came to these islands, settling on Kauaʻi. ʻAiʻai left his parents on Kauai and went on a sightseeing tour to the islands of Oʻahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii.”

“When he reached Kalae, he looked around and saw that it was a fine country, and a nice place to live in and well supplied with fish. He returned to Kauai and brought his parents back with him, and they all lived at Kalae. While his parents were living at Kalae, ʻAiʻai set out for Kahiki and brought back many people, — kilokilo (seers,) kuhikuhipuuone (architects who made plans in the sand) and ai puʻupuʻu (stewards).”

“He also brought back many different kinds of food, such as breadfruit, bananas, awa, cocoanuts, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, kalo, papaya, hapuʻu and pala (both edible ferns) and other foods in great quantity.”

“And when ʻAiʻai saw that the food and the men were ready, he gave commands to all the Menehune and the erection of the heiau went on until the walls were completed.”

“It was named Kalalea, which name still stands today.” Today, people reference Kalalea as a fishing heiau. There were stones that represent the fishing gods Kūʻula and ʻAiʻai.

On the main platform is a stone called Kumaiea (female), but also attributed to Kāne, and on the smaller platform just mauka is another upright stone called kanemakua (male), associated with the god Kanaloa.

Standing twelve feet to the north of the heiau are two more stones, the northerly one called ʻAiʻai, the son or Kūʻula. Within the heiau, beside the mauka wall, is a rock called Kūʻula, the god of fishermen. (k12-hi-us)

In 1953 Emory obtained the following information from Mary Kawena Pukui: “One must not wear red on the beaches at Kalae where Kalalea Heiau is located. Women never went inside the heiau. The kūʻula of this heiau is a shark. It is a heiau hoʻoulu (to increase) opelu (mackerel), malolo (flying fish), and ahi (tuna).”

Directly seaward of Kalalea Heiau is a rough ledge of lava, with low cliffs dropping into the ocean. About eighty holes (like cleats) are carved into the lava to moor canoes (either for positioning over fishing grounds or to tie-up to shore.) (Kirch) While many have suggested the heiau is fishing related, it appears to also have links to navigation.

Immediately behind the heiau is a modern navigational beacon. First proposed in 1883, a lens-lantern supported by a 34-foot wooden mast was ready for display on March 5, 1906. Its light, visible for nine miles, was produced by incandescent oil vapor.

After several modifications and improvements, the present 32-foot concrete pole was built in 1972. The automated, battery powered light is charged by solar panels.

In at least the 1940s and early-1950s, the military had a landing facility, Morse Field, in this area. There was limited infrastructure; the planes landed/took off on the grassy runway.

At a lecture at Hawaiian Mission Houses, I heard another series of stories related to Kalalea Heiau, told by John Laimana (a descendent of the area, whose family has direct association with the heiau;) while similar to much of the other explanations, he expands upon the navigational aspects of the heiau to Kahiki (Tahiti) and Rapanui (Easter Island.)

John says the heiau is actually the smaller of the structures there, makai of the larger, stonewalled rectangle (the larger he says is a fishers’ shelter.) More importantly, he notes that the heiau structure aligns east and west – and one wall aligns with magnetic north.

Equally more important, he looks beyond the heiau structure and also looks at the larger surrounding perimeter wall structure. Careful review of that shows the two walls are in precise, straight alignment.

OK, here’s another overlooked feature … extending the alignment of the walls, thousands of miles across the ocean lead you to Maupiti (in French Polynesia, near Tahiti) and Rapanui (Easter Island, Chile.)

In Hawaiian, Panana means compass, especially a mariner’s compass. Panana are also referred to “sighting walls.” The alignment of the walls (within the heiau and the perimeter walls,) may have been used for navigational purposes.

Oh, one more thing … Kaʻū is an ancient name with similar derivations in Samoa (Taʻū) and Mortlock (Marqueen) Islands (Takuu; an atoll at Papua New Guinea.) (Pukui) (This heiau may have links across the extent of the South Pacific.)

November 23, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pololū

A Prophecy of Keʻāulumoku (1716‐1784) on the Rise of Kamehameha

Exalted sits the chief and from on high looks forth;
He views the island; far down he sees the beauteous lands below.
Much sought after, hoped for, the island as sought for is seen …
Let him live forever. O let him live …
Let the little chiefs under him live.
Let the father chiefs live under his protection,
Let the soldiers live who fought in former times,
Let the mass of people live ‐ the common people …

Keʻāulumoku predicted “that Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors. (Kalākaua)

His prophecy came true. Kamehameha I is universally recognized as being the greatest figure in the history of the Hawaiian people, and as being of significance even in world history. (Hawaiian Historical Society)

Many estimate that Kamehameha the Great was born 1758 in North Kohala on the island of Hawaiʻi (the exact date of the birth is not known.) His father was Keōua; his mother was Chiefess Kekuʻiapoiwa of the Kohala district on the island of Hawaiʻi.

Fearing for her son’s life, Kekuʻiapoiwa, sent him to live with Kahanui and Kahāʻopūlani where Kamehameha grew up in seclusion. (Topolinski) Paiea, which means “hard-shelled crab,” and Kamehameha, which means “the lonely one,” literally defined Kamehameha’s isolated childhood experience.

Kokoiki, Kamehameha’s birthplace, means ”little blood,” referring to the first signs of childbirth. Hawi, meaning ”unable to breathe,” was where the child, being spirited away by a servant, required resuscitation and nursing. Kapaʻau, meaning ”wet blanket,” was where heavy rain soaked the infant’s kapa (blanket.) Halaʻula (scattered blood) was the town where soldiers were killed in anger. (Sproat – (Fujii, NY Times))

Word went out to find and kill the baby, but the Kohala community conspired to save him. The future King was carried on a perilous journey through Kohala and Pololū Valley to Awini. (KamehamehaDayCelebration) Some believe Kamehameha also spent much of his teen years in Pololū (Lit long spear.)

“Pololū is a pleasant village situated in a small cultivated valley, having a fine stream of water flowing down its centre, while lofty mountains rise on either side. The houses stand principally on the beach, but as we did not see many of the inhabitants, we passed on, ascended the steep mountain on the north side, and kept on our way.” (Ellis, 1826)

“The country was fertile, and seemed populous, though the houses were scattered, and more than three or four seldom appeared together. The streams of water were frequent, and a large quantity of ground was cultivated on their banks, and in the vicinity.” (Ellis, 1826)

Pololū is one of three primary quarry sites for the material for stone adzes on the Island of Hawaiʻi (Mauna Kea and Kilauea Volcano, the other two.) Stones beside the main stream in the valley floor were used. In general, the Pololū material is coarser grained than stone from Mauna Kea. (Withrow)

Pololū played a prominent role in Kamehameha’s later life. In 1790 (at the same time that George Washington was serving as the US’s first president,) the island of Hawaiʻi was under multiple rule; Kamehameha (ruler of Kohala, Kona and Hāmākua regions) successfully invaded Maui, Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi.

He sent an emissary to the famous kahuna (priest, soothsayer,) Kapoukahi, to determine how he could conquer all of the island of Hawaiʻi. According to Thrum, Kapoukahi instructed Kamehameha “to build a large heiau for his god at Puʻukoholā, adjoining the old heiau of Mailekini.”

“When it came to the building of Puʻukoholā no one, not even a tabu chief, was excused from the work of carrying stone. Kamehameha himself labored with the rest. The only exception was the high tabu chief Kealiʻimaikaʻi (Kamehameha’s younger brother).”

“Thus Kamehameha and the chiefs labored until the heiau was completed, with its fence of images (paehumu) and oracle tower (anuʻunuʻu), with all its walls outside and the hole for the bones of sacrifice. He brought down the ʻōhiʻa tree for the haku ʻōhiʻa and erected the shelter house (hale malu) of ʻōhiʻa wood for Kū-kaʻili-moku according to the rule laid down for the kahuna class of Pā‘ao.” (Kamakau)

It is estimated that the human chain from Pololū Valley to Puʻukohola had somewhere between 10,000-20,000 men carrying stones from Pololū Valley to Kawaihae. (NPS)

After completing the heiau in 1791, Kamehameha invited Keōua to come to Kawaihae to make peace. However, as Keōua was about to step ashore, he was attacked and killed by one of Kamehameha’s chiefs.

With Keōua dead, and his supporters captured or slain, Kamehameha became King of Hawaiʻi island, an event that according to prophesy eventually led to the conquest and consolidation of the islands under the rule of Kamehameha I.

In more modern times, Pololū played a role in other military means. During World War II, the US military established Camp Tarawa in Waimea, South Kohala, and trained over 50,000 servicemen between 1942 and 1945 – they were preparing for battle in the south Pacific (Solomon Islands, Tarawa and Iwo Jima.)

The Kohala Coast was used to simulate the coast of Iwo Jima, an island south of the Japanese main islands that would be the site of a bloody invasion and victory for the Marines. To maintain secrecy, the invasion target was called “Island X.” In addition to other training, amphibious craft staged landings in Pololū Valley, and endured live-fire training, all of which took the lives of several Marines during the Camp Tarawa years. (Paul J. Du Pre) (A remnant of a track vehicle is on Pololū Valley’s floor.)

Access into the valley is via a state Na Ala Hele trail (at the end of Highway 270;) a lookout offers spectacular views into the valley and the secluded Kohala/Hāmākua coastline.