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August 20, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Brockengespenst

And art thou nothing?
Such thou art, as when
The woodman winding
Westward up the glen
At wintry dawn, where
O’er the sheep-track’s maze
The viewless snow-mist
Weaves a glist‘ning haze,
Sees full before him,
Gliding without tread,
An image with a glory
Round its head;
The enamoured rustic
Worships its fair hues,
Nor knows he makes
The shadow he pursues!
(‘Constancy to an Ideal Object,’ Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

The Brocken is the highest peak of Northern Germany. The Brockengespenst (Brocken spectre, Specter of the Brocken) is a common phenomenon on this misty mountain, where a climber’s shadow cast upon fog creates eerie optical effects.

“This beautiful sight is rarely seen in any country, and seldom except at sunrise or sunset, during a fog or cloudy weather. For this reason, the following account of what was seen in August, 1894, on Haleakala, written by Miss Lillie A Brown, one of the ladies who witnessed it and who were accompanied with a guide, possesses great interest:”

“‘We arrived at the brink of the crater (August 20, 1894, 5pm,) just in time to witness not only a marvelously glorious sunset above the clouds, but the Specter of the Brocken as well —a wonderful phenomenon, which comparatively few have ever been privileged to behold, at least as perfect as we saw it.’”

“‘Upon our approach to the summit, we found the crater completely filled with an unbroken, sheeny, silvery, misty cloud, obliterating every physical feature, and reaching itself above the horizon to sky-clouds of the same nature, so that above and below and around us was but cloud-world.’”

“‘Directly opposite us, as we stood together on the same rock, there suddenly appeared, suspended in this cloud, a rainbow, gorgeous in color, forming a complete circle, and enclosing, as in a hanging frame, three figures, many times larger than life, which we soon discovered to be our own reflected images.’”

“‘To test the reality of the apparition, we waved our hats and handkerchiefs, and our silhouetted images waved back to us out of the centre of the gorgeous rainbow frame, our reflected motions seeming to shoot off rays of color, in effect something like that of a search light.’”

“‘Five times this phenomenon appeared and disappeared, on each successive occasion losing somewhat of its brilliancy of color. The suspended rainbow, ourselves on the crater’s edge, and the sun’s fiery ball – in our rear, were all perpendicular to the same horizontal plane.’”

“‘As the rainbow gradually faded from our vision, we turned; the sun was setting in great billowy clouds, with gorgeous masses of color above it. To our right – I can compare it only to a vast rolling Arctic plain – lay great strata of clouds as far as the eye could see …’”

“‘… so like a white frozen country that it required but a slight effort of the imagination to people it with furclad humanity, the reindeer, and the Arctic bear, or to imagine ourselves being fleetly sledged over its glistening snows.’”

“‘Above this new strange cloud world was the blue dome of heaven, making far away with the white plain, a distant elevated horizon.’”

“‘Again we turned our faces to the crater. The silvery, misty cloud had rolled partly out, giving us a glimpse of the great depth of the yawning chasm below us, several of the great blow holes, and far beyond, just for one moment, we saw the blue sea of Hawaii over the further ridge’”

“‘Then darkness enveloped the great crater in her mantle, and we groped our way down from the rocks to the overhanging cliff which was to be our shelter for the night.’” (Whitney, 1895)

Specter of the Brocken appears when a low sun is behind a person who is looking downwards into mist from a ridge or peak. The “specter” is the shadowy figure – the glow and rings are of course a glory centered directly opposite the sun at the antisolar point.

It is no more than the shadow of the person projected forward through the mist. All shadows converge towards the antisolar point where the glory also shines. (Atmospheric Optics)

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Solar_glory_and_Spectre_of_the_Brocken
Solar_glory_and_Spectre_of_the_Brocken
Brocken_Gipfelstein-summit marker
Brocken_Gipfelstein-summit marker

Filed Under: General, Place Names Tagged With: Hawaii, Haleakala, Maui, Specter of the Brocken, Brocken Spectre

March 28, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Waikamoi

The kahakai (shoreline) and the lowlands were the Wao Kanaka (the realm of people,) where fishing, farming, and activities of daily life took place. Further inland was the Wao Kele (the inland forest region) and above this was the Wao Akua (the realm of the gods.)

In ancient Hawaii, the Wao Akua was accessed only by trained professionals for specific purposes (medicinal practitioners gathered specific plants and bird men caught birds for their vibrant feathers,) after respects were paid and permission was granted.

Even then, however, entry into the Wao Akua (a dense native cloud forest) was seldom. It was recognized that the health of the watershed in the Wao Akua was essential to the health of the Wao Kanaka. (Hana Pono)

Hawaiians did not as a matter of course penetrate the Wao Akua if the trees they needed could be gotten elsewhere, because of the priority of promoting new growth through non-disturbance of seed-producing forest areas.

Hawaiians realized the importance of the food source and the regenerative energy of the forest. Therefore it was necessary to leave some areas or groves of trees as they stood originally, thus the name Wao Akua. (DLNR)

Waikamoi takes its name from a variety of taro named for a variety of fish, the moi. The moi kalo (taro) is a very nice tasty variety good for wetland, flood style irrigation taken to great heights by the Hawaiians system of aqueducts and loʻi kalo.

The naming of Waikamoi indicates that at the lower elevations, the stream fed loʻi kalo, taro patches, of moi taro which was a favorite of the people living in the area. (Hana Pono)

Roaming ungulates (typically cattle and pigs) and non-native habitat-modifying weeds/plants, insects and other invasive species took their toll on the mauka forested resources.

In 1876, the Hawaiian legislature also passed ‘An Act for the Protection and Preservation of Woods and Forests; this was the first step in creating what would later become the forest reserve program.

Then, on April 25, 1903, the legislature created Hawaiʻi’s forest reserve, sparking the largest public-private conservation partnership in the history of the state. Ralph S. Hosmer was Hawaiʻi’s first Superintendent of Forestry. (Hosmer’s Grove in Haleakala National Park adjoins the Waikamoi Preserve.)

In 1983, Waikamoi Preserve on the slopes of Haleakala on Maui became a reality when the Haleakala Ranch granted a conservation easement to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) over 5,230-acres (in 2014, Alexander & Baldwin conveyed a conservation easement over an additional 3,721-adjacent acres, bringing the total to 8,951-acres – the largest private nature preserve in the Islands.)

The preserve protects part of the 100,000-acre East Maui Watershed, which provides 60-billion gallons of clean water annually to Maui’s residents, businesses and agricultural community.

It is a sanctuary for native Hawaiian species, many of them endangered or rare (including several native birds: the rare ‘akohekohe, the scarlet ‘i‘iwi, the crimson ‘apapane, the bright green ‘amakihi, the yellow-green Maui creeper, the pueo (Hawaiian owl,) nene (Hawaiian goose) and the native ‘ua‘u (dark-rumped petrel.))

The preserve also shelters a large variety of native ferns, herbs, shrubs and trees that reflect the biodiversity of Maui; many are rare plants unique to East Maui.

The Nature Conservancy protects the native species that live in Waikamoi by managing this koa and ʻohi‘a forest against threats to this diverse forest ecosystem. Like other Hawai‘i rain forests, invasive species and feral predators threaten Waikamoi’s delicate ecosystem.

Waikamoi Preserve is managed in partnership with the State Department of Land & Natural Resources through the Natural Area Partnership Program. (TNC)

The National Park Service leads hikes through Waikamoi on Mondays and Thursdays; the hike focuses on the unique history, plants and animals of the area. Reservations are accepted up to one week in advance. Call (808) 572-4400. Please call early since there is limited space available.

While I was Director at DLNR, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to walk the boardwalk in the Waikamoi Preserve. The trail led to a deck in the middle of the forest … waaay cool.

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Waikamoi Preserve Boardwalk
Waikamoi Preserve Boardwalk
Deck at the end of the boardwalk-TNC-DLNR-2003
Deck at the end of the boardwalk-TNC-DLNR-2003
Waikamoi-TNC
Waikamoi-TNC
Waikamoi-Maui
Waikamoi-Maui
Waikamoi_Preserve
Waikamoi_Preserve
Waikamoi-'amakihi feeds from the tubular flowers of the koli'i-TNC
Waikamoi-‘amakihi feeds from the tubular flowers of the koli’i-TNC
Waikamoi-A juvenile ‘i’iwi, a native honeycreeper, feeds on the nectar of the blue ‘opelu-TNC
Waikamoi-A juvenile ‘i’iwi, a native honeycreeper, feeds on the nectar of the blue ‘opelu-TNC
Waikamoi-‘Apapane feed on the nectar of the ‘ohi‘a lehua_TNC
Waikamoi-‘Apapane feed on the nectar of the ‘ohi‘a lehua_TNC
Waikamoi- ‘alauahio, or Maui creeper-TNC
Waikamoi- ‘alauahio, or Maui creeper-TNC
Waikamoi- ‘akohekohe, a bird found only in East Maui-TNC
Waikamoi- ‘akohekohe, a bird found only in East Maui-TNC
TNC OGG, East Maui, Waikamoi, Aerial
TNC OGG, East Maui, Waikamoi, Aerial
Boardwalk, Waikamoi Preserve, East Maui
Boardwalk, Waikamoi Preserve, East Maui
Waikamoi-Sign
Waikamoi-Sign
Waikamoi_Mgmt_Units-Map
Waikamoi_Mgmt_Units-Map

Filed Under: General, Place Names Tagged With: Maui, Waikamoi, Hawaii, Haleakala

June 25, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Haleʻakala

Orphaned when young and with only an 8th grade education, Charles Reed Bishop arrived in the Islands on October 12, 1846 and became an astute financial businessman, and one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom from banking, agriculture, real estate and other investments.

In early 1847, Bishop met Bernice Pauahi Paki (she was still a student at the Chiefs’ Children’s School;) despite the opposition of Pauahi’s parents who wanted her to marry Lot Kapuaiwa (later, Kamehameha V,) Bishop courted and married Pauahi in 1850.

For the first few months of their marriage, Pauahi and Charles lived in homes of Judge Lorrin Andrews, first in his downtown residence, and later in a cottage in upper Nuʻuanu Valley, opposite the site of the present Maunaʻala (Royal Mausoleum.)

Like many Hawaiian homes of the time, this one had a name, Wananakoa, for the grove of koa trees in the yard. This was only temporary – they were building a home on property Bishop bought on the Diamond Head/Mauka corner of Hotel and Alakea Streets.

Meanwhile, Pauahi’s father, Paki, had completed the construction of his new residence on King Street (between Fort and Alakea.) (Bishop Street had not been built, yet, the property would be on the ʻEwa/Mauka corner of what is now Bishop and King Streets.)

This new home replaced Paki’s prior modest, thatched-roof home he called ʻAikupika (‘Egypt’) that had been on the same piece of property. (ʻAikupika is where Pauahi was born.)

The name Paki gave his new home has been translated by some as ‘House of the Sun’ or Haleakala, but he probably meant it to be Haleʻakala or the ‘Pink House,’ after the color of the stone used in its construction. (Kanahele)

By the standards of the day, Haleʻakala was a splendid structure that was probably the equal of any of the better homes and gardens in town.

It was a large two-story stone-and-frame building with lanai (porches), supported by pillars on both first and second floors, extending around at least three sides of the house. Its extensive gardens combined shrubbery, flowers and trees and included the special tamarind tree planted at Pauahi’s birth.

Clarice B Taylor stated that he really built the house “hoping Pauahi would marry Prince Lot and make her home with her parents.” It was bigger than he and his wife needed; Paki had sold his lands at Mākaha to raise the money for its construction. (Kanahele)

Paki and his wife Laura Konia raised Pauahi there. When Liliʻuokalani was born, she was hanai (adopted) to Paki and Konia. The two girls attended the Chief’s Children’s School (Royal School,) a boarding school, together, and were known for their studious demeanor.

The history of the home goes beyond the Paki family living quarters; some other interesting bits of Hawaiian history happened here.

Liliʻuokalani and John Dominis were married at Haleʻakala, “I was engaged to Mr Dominis for about two years and it was our intention to be married on the second day of September, 1862. … our wedding was delayed at the request of the king, Kamehameha IV, to the sixteenth of that month”.

“It was celebrated at the residence of Mr and Mrs Bishop, in the house which had been erected by my father, Paki, and which … is still one of the most beautiful and central of the mansions in Honolulu.”

“To it came all the high chiefs then living there, also the foreign residents; in fact, all the best society of the city. My husband took me at once to the estate known as Washington Place, which had been built by his father, and which is still my private residence.” (Queen Liliʻuokalani)

“There was a Baptism at the Residence of the Honorable CR Bishop, “Haleʻakala;” baptized was the child of the honorable (Princess Ruth) Keʻelikolani and JY Davis, and he was called, “Keolaokalani Paki Bihopa.”

The Honorable CR Bishop and Pauahi were those who bestowed the name, and Rev C Corwin is the one who performed the baptism.” (Hoku o ka Pakipika, February 2, 1863) (Keolaokalani was hanai to Pauahi; unfortunately, he died later that year.)

Duke Kahanamoku was born at Haleʻakala on August 24, 1890. (With respect to his name “Duke,” he was named after his father. The elder Kahanamoku was born during the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to the islands in 1869 and was named after him.)

Haleʻakala was converted to Arlington Hotel.

On the afternoon of January 16, 1893, 162 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Boston in Honolulu Harbor came ashore. The property that Liliʻuokalani was raised in (Haleʻakala) served as ‘Camp Boston,’ the headquarters for the USS Boston’s landing force at the time of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, January 17, 1893.

In 1901, Honolulu had three high-class hotels, the Hawaiian Hotel (in downtown Honolulu, now the State Art Museum on Hotel Street,) the Arlington Hotel and the Moana Hotel (in Waikiki.)

“The Arlington Hotel has, for its principal building, a house once occupied by a Hawaiian princess, by whose estate it is now leased to the hotel proprietor (Thomas E Krouse.”) (Chipman, 1901) Krouse, unfortunately, committed suicide at the Arlington the next year.

“A Mrs Dudoit ran the place for a while as a boarding house, and she was followed by a Mr Hamilton Johnson. Both these houses were, however, on a small scale. Just seven and a half years ago it became known as the Arlington, six cottages were attached, the aviary and the cages of animals so familiar to us all were added.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 6, 1900)

“The place was maintained as a chief’s residence for many years. It can only have been turned to other uses during the past fifteen years at the outside. Mrs Bernice Pauahi Bishop left the estate to her husband, who turned the property over to the Kamehameha estates.” (Sereno Bishop; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 6, 1900)

“(Haleʻakala) has a most unique and interesting history. It is one of the most historic spots in all Honolulu, embracing as it does the scenes of joyousness under royalty, through the stirring days of ’93 … the pettinesses of a boarding house and down to the present day as the Arlington Hotel.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 6, 1900)

“The estate which had been so dear to us both in my childhood, the house built by my father, Paki, where I had lived as a girl, which was connected with many happy memories of my early life, from whence I had been married to Governor Dominis,”

“I could not help feeling ought to have been left to me. … This wish of my heart was not gratified, and at the present day strangers stroll through the grounds or lounge on the piazzas of that home once so dear to me.” (Liliʻuokalani)

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Bernice Pauahi’s residence at Haleʻākala build by her father Abner Paki. The building itself is called Aikupika-1855
Abner Pākī (c. 1808–1855) was a member of Hawaiian nobility. He was a legislator and judge, and the father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop-1855
Camp_Boston_in_Honolulu_(1898)
Marines,_Camp_Boston,_1893
Haleakala-Bishop_Property-on_King_Street-1855
Haleakala_front-(DMY)
Bernice Pauahi Paki and Lydia Kamakaeha (Liliuokalani)-1859
Duke-surfing
Wedding_portrait_of_Mr._and_Mrs._Charles_Reed_Bishop,_June_4,_1850
Liliuokalani-Dominis-Wedding Certificate
Bernice Pauahi and Charles Reed Bishop
US Marines and sailors from the USS Boston during overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani-PP-36-3-003
USS_Boston_landing_force,_Arlington_Hotel-1893_(PP-36-3-002)
Downtown_Honolulu-Map-1893

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings, Prominent People Tagged With: Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Charles Reed Bishop, Liliuokalani, Queen Liliuokalani, Haleakala, Paki, Duke Kahanamoku, Hawaii

September 2, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Liliʻuokalani, Her Early Years

She was born September 2, 1838 and named Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha.   (The following is a summary of some of her early years – as told by her.)

At that time, children often were named in commemoration of an event.  Kuhina Nui Kīnaʻu had developed an eye infection at the time of Liliʻu’s birth.  She gave the child the names Liliʻu (smarting,) Loloku (tearful,) Walania (a burning pain) and Kamakaʻeha (sore eyes.)

“My father’s name was (Caesar Kaluaiku) Kapaʻakea, and my mother was (Analeʻa) Keohokālole; the latter was one of the fifteen counsellors of the king, Kamehameha III, who in 1840 gave the first written constitution to the Hawaiian people.”

“My great-grandfather, Keaweaheulu, the founder of the dynasty of the Kamehamehas, and Keōua, father of Kamehameha I, were own cousins (he was also brother of Mrs Bishop’s ancestress, Hākau,) and my great-grandaunt was the celebrated Queen Kapiʻolani, one of the first converts to Christianity.”

“As was then customary with the Hawaiian chiefs, my father was surrounded by hundreds of his own people, all of whom looked to him, and never in vain, for sustenance. He lived in a large grass house surrounded by smaller ones, which were the homes of those the most closely connected with his service.”

“But I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents. Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth, and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted.”

In her youth she was called “Lydia” or “Liliʻu.” (She was also known as Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, with the chosen royal name of Liliʻuokalani, and her married name was Lydia K Dominis.)  As was the custom, she was hānai (adopted) to Abner Pākī and his wife Laura Kōnia (granddaughter of Kamehameha I.)

“…their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi (born December 19, 1831,) afterwards Mrs Charles R Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister. … I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice.”    The two girls developed a close, loving relationship.

“(W)hen I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me.”

“My own father and mother had other children, ten in all, the most of them being adopted into other chiefs’ families; and although I knew that these were my own brothers and sisters, yet we met throughout my younger life as though we had not known our common parentage. This was, and indeed is, in accordance with Hawaiian customs.”

Liliʻu and Bernice lived on the property called Haleʻākala, in the house that Pākī built on King Street.  It was the ‘Pink House,’ made from coral (the house was named ʻAikupika (Egypt.))  (It is not clear where the ʻAikupika name came from.)

“At the age of four years I was sent to what was then known as the Royal School, because its pupils were exclusively persons whose claims to the throne were acknowledged. It was founded and conducted by Mr Amos S Cooke, who was assisted by his wife. It was a boarding-school, the pupils being allowed to return to their homes during vacation time, as well as for an occasional Sunday during the term.”

“Several of the pupils who were at school with me have subsequently become known in Hawaiian history.  There were four children of Kīnaʻu, daughter of Kamehameha I, the highest in rank of any of the women chiefs of her day; these were Moses, Lot (afterwards Kamehameha V,) Liholiho (afterwards Kamehameha IV) and Victoria”.

“Next came Lunalilo, who followed Kamehameha V as king. Then came Bernice Pauahi, who married Hon Charles R Bishop. Our family was represented by Kaliokalani, Kalākaua, and myself, two of the three destined to ascend the throne.”

“From the year 1848 the Royal School began to decline in influence; and within two or three years from that time it was discontinued, the Cooke family entering business with the Castles, forming a mercantile establishment still in existence.”

“From the school of Mr and Mrs Cooke I was sent to that of Rev Mr Beckwith, also one of the American missionaries. This was a day-school, and with it I was better satisfied than with a boarding-school.”

“I was a studious girl; and the acquisition of knowledge has been a passion with me during my whole life, one which has not lost its charm to the present day.  In this respect I was quite different from my sister Bernice.”

“She was one of the most beautiful girls I ever saw; the vision of her loveliness at that time can never be effaced from remembrance; like a striking picture once seen, it is stamped upon memory’s page forever.”

“She married in her eighteenth year. She was betrothed to Prince Lot, a grandchild of Kamehameha the Great; but when Mr Charles R Bishop pressed his suit, my sister smiled on him, and they were married.  It was a happy marriage.”

“At this time I was still living with Pākī and Kōnia, and the house now standing and known as the Arlington Hotel was being erected by the chief for his residence. It was completed in 1851, and occupied by Paki until 1855, when he died.”

“Then my sister and her husband moved to that residence, which still remained my home. It was there that the years of my girlhood were passed, after school-days were over, and the pleasant company we often had in that house will never cease to give interest to the spot.”

The comments in quotes are from Liliʻuokalani from her book “Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen, Liliʻuokalani.”

Fast forward … on the afternoon of January 16, 1893, 162 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Boston in Honolulu Harbor came ashore.  The home that Liliʻuokalani was raised in (later known as Arlington Hotel) served as the headquarters for the USS Boston’s landing force (Camp Boston) at the time of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, January 17, 1893.

The image shows Lydia Paki in her youth.

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Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Royal School, Paki, Hawaii, Konia, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Charles Reed Bishop, Liliuokalani, Ane Keohokalole, Keohokalole, Haleakala, Arlington Hotel, Chief's Children's School

July 29, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻOheʻo

Although the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi, extensive cross-country trail networks enabled gathering, harvesting other necessities for survival.

Famed for his energy and intelligence, King Piʻilani and his son Kiha constructed the legendary Alaloa or long trail known as the King’s Highway.

It was built about the time Christopher Columbus was crossing the Atlantic, before there were roads in Hawaiʻi.  Back then, they were trails and Piʻilani was ruler of Maui.

According to oral tradition, Piʻilani unified the entire island of Maui, bringing together under one rule the formerly-competing eastern (Hāna) and western (Wailuku) multi-district kingdoms of the Island.   Piʻilani ruled in peace and prosperity.

Four to six feet wide and 138-miles long, this rock-paved path facilitated both peace and war.  It simplified local and regional travel and communication, and allowed the chief’s messengers to quickly get from one part of the island to another.  The trail was used for the annual harvest festival of Makahiki and to collect taxes, promote production, enforce order and move armies.

The southeastern section of the island of Maui, comprising the districts of Hāna, Kīpahulu, Kaupo and Kahikinui, was at one time a Royal Center and central point of kingly and priestly power – Piʻilani ruled from here (he built Hale O Piʻilani – near Hāna.)  This section of the island was also prominent in the later reign of Kekaulike.

Royal Centers were where the aliʻi resided; aliʻi often moved between several residences throughout the year. The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

Long before the first Europeans arrived on Maui, Kīpahulu was prized by the Hawaiian aliʻi for its fertile land and abundant ocean.  The first written description of the region was made by La Pérouse in 1786 while sailing along the southeast coast of Maui in search of a place to drop anchor:

“I coasted along its shore at a distance of a league (three miles) …. The aspect of the island of Mowee was delightful.  We beheld water falling in cascades from the mountains,  and running in streams to the sea,  after having watered the habitations of the natives,  which  are  so numerous  that a  space of  three or four leagues (9 – 12 miles, about the distance from Hāna to Kaupō) may be  taken for  a single village.” (La Pérouse, 1786; Bushnell)

“But all the huts are on the seacoast, and the mountains are so near, that the habitable part of the island appeared to be less than half a league in depth.  The trees which crowned the mountains, and the verdure of the banana plants that surrounded the habitations, produced inexpressible charms to our senses…”

“… but the sea beat upon the coast with the utmost violence, and kept us in the situation of Tantalus, desiring and devouring with our eyes what it was impossible for us to attain … After passing Kaupō no more waterfalls are seen, and villages are fewer.” (La Pérouse, 1786; Bushnell)

With the development of the whaling industry on the island in 1880s the southeastern Maui population started to decline as people moved to main whaling ports, such as Lāhainā.  In the early-1900s, one of the regular ports of call for the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company was here at Kīpahulu. Steamships provided passenger service around Maui and between the islands.

Kīpahulu Landing also provided a way for growers and ranchers to ship their goods to markets. (Today the land where Kīpahulu Landing existed is private but protected with a conservation easement, overseen by the Maui Coastal Land Trust (now part of the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust.))

The Hāna Sugar Plantation, formed in 1864, gradually increased production by expanding cane plantings toward Kīpahulu Valley.  (Cusick)

However, shortly after World War II, Paul I Fagan, an entrepreneur from San Francisco, bought the Hāna Sugar Co, formed a ranch and started tourism on this part of Maui.

It had been only 20-years since Hāna was linked to the outside world by a rough dirt road, and it would be almost two decades more before it was paved.

In 1946, Fagan built a small six-room inn, called Kaʻuiki Inn (it was later expanding and is now the Travaasa Hotel Hana.) Fagan’s guests consisted of his friends as well as sportswriters, one of which gave Hana the current name of “Heavenly Hana.”  (Maui College)

Near here was ʻOheʻo; here was a succession of several waterfalls tumbling from one pool into another and so on up the gulch.  (One interpretation of the name Oheo is “moving origin” – suggesting all pools as one (Yardley.))

In order to entertain guests and promote tourism in East Maui, employees at Fagan’s Inn crafted a legend that these pools had been reserved exclusively for Hawaiian Royalty and, therefore, were considered a sacred site.  (Cusick)

Billed as Hawaiʻi’s “Seven Sacred Pools” to attract tourists, ʻOheʻo Gulch actually has a series of 24 bowls that carry water down the slopes of 10,023-foot Mount Haleakalā to the sea.  (NY Times)

Then in the 1960s, Kīpahulu residents Charles Lindbergh and Sam Pryor, and philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller, concerned that public use of this area may be lost, worked to protect it.  Through their efforts, Kīpahulu Valley and ʻOheʻo Gulch became the Kīpahulu District of Haleakala National Park on January 10, 1969.  (NPS)

This part of the Park is located about 15-minutes past Hāna town, near mile marker 42 on the Hāna Highway (Road to Hana) after it turns into Highway 31.   Attractions include the ʻOheʻo Pools, a car-accessible campground and several maintained trails, such as the four-mile Pipiwai Loop Trail to Waimoku waterfall.

The image shows some of the ʻOheʻo pools.  In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Place Names, Economy Tagged With: Haleakala National Park, Hotel Hana, Kipahulu, Kaupo, Oheo, Hawaii, Hana, Haleakala, Maui, Piilani, Paul Fagan, Seven Sacred Pools

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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