Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Laʻanui and Namahana

“I cannot die happy without making this reparation while the breath is in my body. Forgive me for the part I took in the wrongful measure.” (Namahana Kekuwai-Piia; Pratt)

Whoa … let’s look back.

“There were born to Nuhi and Kaohele first a daughter and then a son, the girl being named Kekaikuihala and the boy Laʻanui. Kamehameha, although fierce and cruel in war, was disposed to be conciliatory toward those he conquered, aiming to make amends in a measure for the wrongs he inflicted and to establish friendly relations with families to which he had brought misfortune.”

“He extended a welcoming hand and opened his heart to many, men and women alike, who flocked to his hospitable court. Alliances in this way were created, and one by one new homes spread over the lately deserted countryside once more, through the influence of which contentment was made to rule supreme in the land.”

“Among the visitors to the royal court was (Namahana) Kekuwai-Piia, who had just become a widow, coming as a guest of her sister, Queen Kaʻahumanu. Laʻanui was a boy growing to maturity.” (Pratt)

“The king had not forgotten the great wish of his heart, coveting possession of Waimea and hoping to gain it, if not in battle, through a matrimonial alliance. His failure to accomplish this end through Kaohele was a sting to the old warrior’s pride, and now he chose a new agent of his ambition by inviting Laʻanui to the court.”

“The invitation was gladly accepted and the visit lasted for months. Kamehameha was loath to have Laʻanui depart while he was slyly intriguing with Kaʻahumanu to negotiate a marriage between Piʻia and Laʻanui.”

“Piʻia is described as being a person heavily built and not prepossessing in appearance like her sisters Kaahumanu and Kaheiheimalie. When at last the proposition was put squarely to Laʻanui, that it was the united wish of the king and queen that the marriage should take place, for a moment he was dejected.”

“To wed a woman very many years his senior was not the desire of his heart. Yet realizing that it might be perilous to go contrary to the express desire of the powerful monarch he quietly consented ‘to take the bitter pill.’” (Pratt)

“The couple took up their residence at Waialua, permanently, upon one of the divisions of land which Piʻia had received as her portion out of her father’s large estate.” (Pratt)

Laʻanui and Piʻia were one of the first couples to be married by Hiram Bingham.

“He was an interesting young chief of the third rank, well featured, and a little above the middling stature.” (Bingham)

“I could not refrain from tears to see the happy meeting of this interesting pair, after their separation for so lamentable a cause. His protection and restoration they both now piously ascribed to the care of Jehovah – the Christian’s God.”

“After a few expressions of mutual joy and congratulation, and a few words as to the state of affairs at Kauai, at Namahana’s suggestion, with which her husband signified his concurrence, we sang a hymn of praise, and united in thanksgiving to the King of nations for his timely and gracious aid to those who acknowledge his authority and love his Word.” (Bingham)

“Laʻanui, by his correct behavior for more than five years, has given us much satisfaction. He is a good assistant in the work of translation; we consult him and others of his standing, with more advantage than any of the youth who have been instructed in foreign school.” (Bingham)

On June 5, 1825, Laʻanui, Piʻia, former Queen Kaʻahumanu and a couple others “came before the congregation (of Kawaiahaʻo Church,) the only organized church then in the island, and made a statement of their religious views, and their desire to join themselves to the Lord’s people, and to walk in his covenant.” (Bingham)

Unfortunately, Piʻia’s corpulence did not inure to healthfulness and before long, she sickened and died. On her deathbed, she said to her husband:

“Laʻanui, I wish to divulge a secret in my heart to you. It was not my work that you gave up your patrimonial inheritance to me. It was at the instigation of Kamehameha that I played coyly toward you in order to gratify his selfish motives.”

“For your cheerful sacrifice of what was so dear to your hear I feel it is my duty to repay you.”

“Therefore, in return for great kindness I leave this dear Waialua to you, as well as all the other lands, which I own, for my token of love for you. I cannot die happy without making this reparation while the breath is in my body. Forgive me for the part I took in the wrongful measure.” (Namahana Kekuwai-Piʻia; Pratt)

“Laʻanui was the paramount chief of the Waialua division from 1828 to his death in 1849, as well as the particular ‘lord’ (hakuʻāina) of Kawailoa, the district (ahupuaʻa) corresponding to the Anahulu River valley.” (Kirch)

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

‘It’s Different’

These weren’t the words expected by the questioner in my response to what I thought about my first trip into the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (now the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.)

I think she was expecting words like: spectacular, pristine, resource rich, special, abundant, etc.

Yes, it’s all those descriptors, too; and for me, therefore, “different.”

I wasn’t trying to be cute, but, rather, acknowledge the responsibility we faced in protecting this place.  (I have been to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands several times, each time reinforced the feeling.)

My first trip – a 3 ½ plane ride there, 3 ½ hours on the ground and 3 ½ hours back – was to Tern Island at French Frigate Shoals (it looks like an aircraft carrier in the reef.)

French Frigate Shoals is the largest atoll in the chain, taking the form of an 18-mile long crescent. It is estimated to be 12.3 million years old.

Tern Island (approximately 30-acres) in the atoll is the site of a Fish & Wildlife Service field station, which occupies a former U.S. Coast Guard Long-Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) station that closed in 1979.

A relatively deep (80 to 100 feet) coral reef at this atoll has been recently discovered to function as a spawning site for Ulua (the giant trevally); a rare discovery of spawning sites for top predators.

The lagoon is also unusual in that it contains two exposed volcanic pinnacles representing the last vestiges of the high island from which the atoll was derived, as well as nine low, sandy islets.

The sand islets are small, shift position, and disappear and reappear. These islets provide important habitat for the world’s largest breeding colony of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.

On a tour around Tern Island we saw monk seals and turtles resting on the sandy shore, as well markings in the sand of a turtle who laid her eggs the night before.

And lots of birds … mostly terns —> Tern Island.

On that trip, we were unexpectedly greeted by Jean-Michel Cousteau; he was on the island during his filming of “Voyage to Kure.”

Here’s a link to the Google ‘Street View’ on Tern Island.

https://goo.gl/fE0dni

I also visited Midway.  Look at a map of the Pacific and you understand the reasoning for the “Midway” reference (actually, it’s a little closer to Asia than it is to the North American continent.)

Kuaiheilani, suggested as a mythical place, is the traditional name for what we refer to as Midway Atoll.  Described in the legend of Aukelenuiaiku, the origin of this name can be traced to an ancient homeland of the Hawaiian people, located somewhere in central Polynesia.  (Kikiloi)

According to historical sources, this island was used by Native Hawaiians even in the late-1800s as a sailing point for seasonal trips to this area of the archipelago.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and in particular Midway Atoll, became a potential commodity in the mid-19th century. The United States took formal possession of Midway Atoll in August of 1867 by Captain William Reynolds of the USS Lackawanna.

Midway’s importance grew for commercial and military planners. The first transpacific cable and station were in operation by 1903. In the 1930s, Midway became a stopover for the Pan American Airways’ flying “clippers” (seaplanes) crossing the ocean on their five-day transpacific passage.

The United States was inspired to invest in the improvement of Midway in the mid-1930s with the rise of imperial Japan. In 1938 the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the lagoon during this period and, in 1938, Midway was declared second to Pearl Harbor in terms of naval base development in the Pacific.

The construction of the naval air facility at Midway began in 1940. At that time, French Frigate Shoals was also a US naval air facility. Midway also became an important submarine advance base.

Here’s a link to the Google ‘Street View’ on Midway Atoll.

https://goo.gl/NaAi28

Here’s a short video of some of the albatross on Midway.

Here’s a link to the Google ‘Street View’ on Laysan Island.

https://goo.gl/63WGFK

Here’s a link to the Google ‘Street View’ on Lisianski Island.

https://goo.gl/e8kYHW

Here’s a link to the Google ‘Street View’ on Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

https://goo.gl/9kuFWZ

While I was Chair at DLNR, we created the Refuge rules whose intent is “To establish a marine refuge in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for the long-term conservation and protection of the unique coral reef ecosystems and the related marine resources and species, to ensure their conservation and natural character for present and future generations.“  Fishing is prohibited.

This started a process where several others followed with similar protective measures.  The BLNR unanimously adopted the State’s Refuge rules, President Bush declared it a Marine National Monument and UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site.

Some ask why we imposed such stringent limitations on use in this area.  For me, it ended up to be pretty simple; it is the responsibility we share to future generations, to allow them to see what it looks like at a place in the world where you don’t take something.

Check out more on the Monument (look at the Images and Videos, you’ll see this place really is different:) http://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Taking Hawaiʻi and Oʻahu

Kamehameha was especially fortunate in securing the services of John Young and Isaac Davis, who took an active part in the campaigns of the final conquest. (Kalākaua)

They arrived in Hawai‘i at the same time (on different boats) and they served Kamehameha I as co-advisors. John Young, a boatswain on the British fur trading vessel, Eleanora, was stranded on the Island of Hawai‘i in 1790.

Isaac Davis (Welch) arrived in Hawaii in 1790 as the sole survivor of the massacre of the crew of The Fair American. He became one of the closest advisors to Kamehameha I.

When Captain George Vancouver visited Hawai‘i Island in 1793, he observed that both Young and Davis “are in his (Kamehameha’s) most perfect confidence, attend him in all his excursions of business or pleasure, or expeditions of war or enterprise; and are in the habit of daily experiencing from him the greatest respect, and the highest degree of esteem and regard.”

Because of their knowledge of European warfare, Young and Davis are said to have trained Kamehameha and his men in the use of muskets and cannons. In addition, both Young and Davis fought alongside Kamehameha in his many battles.

In 1824, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II), his wife, Kamāmalu, and a group of retainers and foreign advisors, traveled from Hawai‘i to England. Liholiho and his wife died there, and in May of 1825, their bodies were returned to Hawai‘i by Lord Byron.

One of the crew members, James Macrae, a botanist, wrote narratives of the journey and what he learned while there – the following are two accounts of battles, told by Macrae – first, the taking of Hawaiʻi and then the conquest of Oʻahu:

“Mr. Goodrich (a missionary there) informed us that it was at this ravine that Mr. Young and Mr. Davis had fought their first battle in the service of Tamahamaah (Kamehameha) and defeated upwards of 10,000 of the enemy with only 300 on their own side, before their leader came up to their assistance with the main body of the army.”

“The description related to us of this engagement was that when King Tamahamaah had conquered the south side of Owhyee (Hawaiʻi,) he soon after, with his army, marched round to the opposite side of the island by the east, taking with him Young and Davis for the first time, to whom he gave command of the chief part of his army.”

“The chief of the Heddo part of the island was prepared to meet Tamahamaah in order to defend his proportion of the island from being subjected to the other’s power, but on seeing the superior force of Tamahamaah, this chief kept retreating to the west till overtaken by Young and Davis, who were nearly a day’s journey in advance of the main body of the army.”

“The attack took place early in the afternoon from the opposite sides of the ravine in the wood, when after several hours engagement, it was decided in favor of Young and Davis, who alone had firearms.”

“These two killed the enemy in vast numbers from the crowded manner in which they stood to oppose them, being unacquainted with the destructive effects of firearms.”

“This battle gave Tamahamaah the conquest of Owhyee.”

Next, was the conquest of Oʻahu and the Battle of Nuʻuanu:

“When Tamahamaah with Young and Davis and the rest of his army had landed from their small fleet in the harbour, without opposition from Tereaboo (Kalanikupule,) they found that the latter had collected his forces above the town in Hanarura valley.”

“Tamahamaah could not have wished for a better situation or one more favourable to his purpose, the valley being overhung by ridges on each side, which were left unoccupied by the enemy.”

“Tamahamaah, without any opposition from the enemy, placed a number of his men on the side ridges, and then he himself, accompanied by Young, Davis and the greater part of his army, took up their position in the center of the valley.”

“They had with them only one small swivel and a few firearms, the rest being armed with spears and clubs. Yr. Davis, who had the swivel, somewhat singular to relate, killed Tereaboo’s general on his firing the first shot, before the engagement had scarcely begun.”

“When this happened, as is usual with these natives, they instantly got into confusion and retreated. Tamahamaah pursued them up the valley, and on coming to the precipice they threw themselves over and were found in the thousands, lifeless at the bottom of the cliff.”

“Thus did Tamahamaah, with the help of Young and Davis, and with hardly any firearms, easily conquer this important island, which may now be considered the first of the Sandwich Islands on account of its good harbour.”

“The king of Woahoo fled to the mountains, being convinced that the custom of putting the vanquished to death would be practiced upon him. ‘I must die,’ he said to one of his friend’s, ‘for I will not let Tamahamaah enjoy this triumph. I will sacrifice myself to the gods.’ His corpse was afterwards found in a cave in the mountains.”

The image shows an Herb Kane depiction of the Battle of Nuʻuanu.

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Kakela me Kuke’

In 1837 Samuel Northrup Castle and Amos Starr Cooke landed in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiʻi,) as part of the 8th Company of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Neither were missionary ministers. Castle was assigned to the ‘depository’ (a combination store, warehouse and bank) to help the missionaries pool and purchase their supplies, to negotiate shipments around the Horn and to distribute and collect for the goods when received. Cooke was a teacher.

Twelve years after Castle and Cooke had landed in the Islands, the American board decided that its purposes had been accomplished. It advised its representatives that their work was done and the board’s financial support would end.

Over the years Castle, who felt Cooke’s accounting abilities would help the depository, kept trying to convince his friend to join him. Cooke firmly declined until 1849, when his schooling of the royal children was complete. He needed to make a living since monetary support from Missions headquarters had been discontinued.

Castle and Cooke, good friends, decided they would become business partners. Many of the missionaries were planning to remain. Their needs must be met. So those of other residents and the crews of the whaling ships which wintered in Honolulu harbor.

So a business was born. On June 2, 1851, Samuel Northrup Castle and Amos Starr Cooke signed their names to partnership papers. A sign reading ‘Kakela me Kuke’ (‘Castle & Cooke’) was installed at the entrance to the Honolulu depository.

Money could be made by trading with the community at large, while mission posts could be supplied at cost. They took up the matter with the Mission Board in Boston, which, after two years, decided to release the partners from the mission and pay each a yearly salary of $500.

In 1853 a branch store was opened downtown, to be closer to the considerable action the California Gold Rush brought. Also in 1853, Castle and Cooke purchased their first ship, the Morning Star to ship produce to California. By 1856, the partners elected to sell the depository, located on the outskirts of Honolulu, to concentrate on their burgeoning downtown business.

In 1858, Castle and Cooke first ventured out of the mercantile business to make an investment in the new sugar industry. In the late 1860s they branched into the shipping business, handling shore-side business for a number of transpacific schooners and several inter-island vessels.

Despite these diversifications, however, the mercantile portion of the business continued to provide the bulk of the profits. One of the most active customers was Kanaʻina, husband of High Chiefess Kekāuluohi and father of the boy who was to become King Lunalilo.

Then, the Civil War started; goods became hard to get and sales slumped. Then, business with the whalers failed; oil found in Titusville, Pennsylvania replaced whale oil. Castle & Cooke almost went out of business. It was sugar that encouraged the partners to continue their business.

They had generally avoided the policy of investing their firm’s funds in other enterprises, but had bought personally into ventures that attracted them. This often led to relationships producing merchandise and shipping business for the firm and occasionally resulted in its appointment as fiscal agent for a company — as in the case of Kohala Sugar Company.

Kohala Sugar was founded in 1863 by the Rev Elias Bond; he organized the venture to create jobs for the Hawaiians living in Kohala. (It was not until 1910 that Castle & Cooke as a firm acquired an interest in the Kohala Sugar Company, though it had served as its agent for nearly 50 years.)

Then, in 1890, BF Dillingham’s railroad (OR&L,) started with the help of $100,000 invested by Castle, ended at Pearl City. To go further the line needed freight revenues. None were in sight – unless the Ewa land could be made to grow sugar by tapping its underlying fresh water sources to irrigate the crop.

From the organization of Kohala in 1863 until the Ewa lands were leased for sugar in 1890, Castle & Cooke at one time or another served as agent for nine plantations.

On December 28, 1894, the Castle & Cooke partnership was incorporated. The company continued to believe in the profitability of the Ewa Plantation and the risk paid off. In 1898, the original merchandise business was sold.

Diversification did not stop, however. In the ensuing years Castle & Cooke involved itself in an automobile company, the Hawaiian Fertilizer Company, and a big but short venture into the sugar refinery business with the Honolulu Sugar Refining Company.

Although Castle & Cooke had been in the shipping business for 50 years, a 1907 agreement with William Matson to be the agent for his Matson Navigation Company greatly increased the business in this area. The agreement endured for 56 years.

To insure a supply of oil for his ships, Captain Matson bought some wells in California and built a pipeline to the coast. In 1910 he founded the Honolulu Oil Corporation. Castle & Cooke, with other island firms, helped him finance his oil venture.

Pineapple cultivation on a commercial scale began in Hawaii in 1886 when Captain John Kidwell set out a thousand plants in Mānoa valley. By 1909, Castle & Cooke, as agent for Waialua, had negotiated leases of over 3,000 acres of the plantation’s upper lands to James D Dole and other growers for pineapple plantings.

Castle & Cooke had no substantial direct investment in the pineapple industry until 1932 when Hawaiian Pineapple Company (later Dole) encountered financial trouble. In that year Castle & Cooke and Waialua jointly under wrote the reorganization of the pineapple company and for a few years thereafter, Castle & Cooke served as its agent and took over the operations.

Castle & Cooke recognized the need for diversification which led to investment in tuna canning (Hawaiian Tuna Packers, 1946) and macadamia nuts (Royal Hawaiian Macadamia Nuts, 1948.)

For a time in the 1960s, Castle & Cooke were the biggest of the Big Five (C Brewer (1826;) Theo H. Davies (1845;) Amfac – starting as Hackfeld & Company (1849;) Castle & Cooke (1851) and Alexander & Baldwin (1870;)) however, Amfac later outpaced it.

Later, the company was the subject of several takeover bids; ultimately, David Murdock took firm control of Castle & Cooke (1985,) reorganized it into a holding company for three separate operations: Flexi-Van, Dole Food and Oceanic Properties, and relocated its headquarters to Los Angeles. (Lots of information is from Castle & Cooke, Greaney and FundingUniverse.)

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Aliʻiolani Hale

By 1866, the need for a new courthouse government building in the Hawaiian Kingdom was apparent. The old courthouse, completed in 1852, accommodated not only the judicial needs, but also served as the reception hall for diplomatic ceremonies and official social functions.

The legislature appropriated funds towards a new palace and a new government building. Delays ensued.  Plans for a new palace were postponed, but the new courthouse moved forward.

On February 19, 1872, Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone for the new building.

The use of concrete blocks, a fairly new building material, “infinitely superior for both durability and ornament,” was recommended and accepted by Public Works.  (The coral foundation supports concrete block bearing walls varying in thickness from 17″ to 22″.)

To increase the work force, convicts were brought from the prison and made to labor on the project. In 1874, during the reign of King Kalākaua, the building was finally completed.

Lively events characterized Aliʻiolani Hale’s first year. Already designated as the home of the Legislature, in May of 1874, the Judiciary Department also moved into the new government building.

In July, the Law Library took up residence on the second floor with “3,000 law books and 2,000 scientific books.” By September, Aliʻiolani Hale housed the first National Museum in the Hawaiian Kingdom.

An appeal made to the public requested the donation of artifacts: “Old Hawaiian ornaments and utensils, Hawaiian minerals and preserved zoological specimens are particularly desired.”

CJ Lyons made scientific use of the building late that year as an observation site for the transit of Venus. The transits of Venus occur only four times in 243 years, and at that time, this astronomical event was the best known means of determining the dimensions of our planetary system.

Aliʻiolani Hale played a role in the Wilcox insurrection. Unhappy with the changes in the constitution of 1887, the young hapa-Hawaiian, Robert Wilcox, and several hundred armed men marched into the neighborhood on the morning of July 30, 1889.

At 6 am, twelve of the men took over Aliʻiolani Hale, and the rest moved into the ʻIolani Palace yard. By noon, volleys of rifle shots were exchanged between Wilcox’s men and government forces.

Wilcox’s men, stationed in the Palace yard, were surrounded by the government troops whose sharpshooters were placed in nearby buildings, including the tower of Kawaiahaʻo church.

The rebellion came to a halt when government authorities hurled homemade dynamite bombs into the Palace yard scattering the rebellious constituent.

In the small room beneath the clock tower, often used as an artist’s studio at Aliʻiolani Hale, a sculptor was working on a bust of Kalākaua. He reported, on that day, that stray bullets created “a disturbing background” for his artistic endeavor.

Seeking to abolish the Hawaiian Monarchy, the Committee of Public Safety took over Aliʻiolani Hale on January 17, 1893. Here, was the reading of the declaration of the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands during the Revolution of 1893.

The Honolulu Rifles, a volunteer group of men who supported the Committee of Safety, assembled there in opposition to the loyalist guard stationed across King Street at the Palace.  With horse blankets and boxes of hard tack, the Honolulu Rifles camped in the halls of Aliʻiolani Hale.

Queen Liliʻuokalani, in order to avoid violence, abrogated the monarchy and the troops did not engage in armed conflict. After the establishment of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, most likely to disassociate the new government with the monarchy, the new officials renamed Aliʻiolani Hale, “The Judiciary Building.” The legislature then moved to ʻIolani Palace which was renamed the “Executive Building.”

Hawaiʻi almost lost Aliʻiolani Hale in 1937 when the territorial planning board drafted plans to demolish the structure and build a new Judiciary Building. Former Chief Justice and Governor Walter Frear strongly opposed the idea, and the Honolulu Advertiser picked up the torch in support of Frear announcing that “The Old Judiciary Building is threatened by the march of progress.”

Instead of demolition, repairs and plans for a new wing were approved. Construction began in March of 1941, but was considerably hampered by the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December. The new wing was finally completed in 1944, the same year that Martial law was lifted. In 1949, a second story was added to the new wing to complete the structure that stands today as Aliʻiolani Hale.

By 1951, the building, even with the new wing, was overcrowded and not providing adequate space for the needs of a growing Judiciary. In 1960, it was recommended that a new court building be constructed and that Aliʻiolani Hale retain the Supreme Court, the Land Court, the Administrative Offices, and the Law Library.

In 1965, the interior of the building was refurbished at a cost exceeding the total expenditures for the building in 1874.

Today, Aliʻiolani Hale houses the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi, the court administration offices, a law library and the Judiciary History Center.

While decisions are made affecting the present and future of Hawaiʻi by the Supreme Court, the Judiciary History Center interprets over 200 years of law and judicial history in the Hawaiian Islands.

From Monarchy to statehood, Aliʻiolani Hale has faithfully served the people of Hawaiʻi. Kings and queens have walked its halls. Revolutions have been lost and won around it. Sensational cases have been tried in its courtrooms. Since 1874, Supreme Court rulings affecting the future of Hawaiʻi and its people have been decided within its walls.

Open to the general public, the History Center reflects the unique legal and judicial history of our islands from the days of kapu to the present.

The inspiration and information here is from the Judiciary History Center (as well as the National Register.)  The image shows Aliʻiolani Hale in 1875 (before the Kamehameha Statue.)  In addition, I have included other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC