Hawaii Island | Page 21 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

September 6, 2018 by Peter T Young 5 Comments

Kahuku Ranch

On July 8, 1861 184,298 acres of Kahuku, the entire ahupua‘a was assigned by King Kamehameha IV to Charles Coffin Harris under Patent 2791 for $3,000. As with most grants it recognized the “ancient boundaries” and reserved “the rights of native tenants.”

Harris, a graduate of Harvard learned the Hawaiian language and set up a law practice in Hawai`i. His service to the kingdom included Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hawai`i’s first Attorney General, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and then Chief Justice, 1877-1881, police magistrate and legislative member.

Kalākaua studied law under Harris at the age of 17 making it no surprise Harris became the King’s adviser. While no record of Harris’ activities in Kahuku could be found the land may not have been used for ranching until the next owner. (Helen Wong Smith)

Ownership of Kahuku Ranch transferred from Harris to Theophilus Brown of Groton Connecticut on April 3, 1866 for the price of $5,250. Theophilus’ brother Captain Robert Brown operated the Ranch bringing his family with him.

A visitor to the ranch during these years was Mrs. Alura Brown Cutler wrote the ranch had miles of stone walls enclosing gardens, cattle yards, calf pasture, goat and pig pens.

The gardens contained fig and peach trees as well as bananas and mulberries. She reported the house was located seven miles from the sea and five stone houses for families working for the ranch were provided. (Helen Wong Smith)

Then, “On Friday, March 27, 1868, at 5:30 a.m., several whaling ships anchored in Kawaihae Harbor noticed a dense column of fume reflected by a bright light southwest of the summit of Mauna Loa.”

“An eruption near Moku`āweoweo had taken place, lasting several hours before subsiding. Pele’s hair had drifted down upon the residents of Ka‘ū and South Kona, indicating the presence of lava fountains above. (HVO; Helen Wong Smith)

“This was the scene that opened before us as we ascended the ridge on Friday (April 10, 1868). At the left were these four grand fountains playing with terrific fury, throwing blood-red lava and huge stones, some as large as a house, to £ varying from 500 to 1,000 feet.”

“The grandeur of this scene, ever changing like a moving panorama, no one who has not seen it can realize. Then there was the rapid, rolling stream, rushing and tumbling like a swollen river, down the hill, over the precipice and down the valley to the sea, surging and roaring like a cataract, with a fury perfectly indescribable.”

“This river of fire varied from 200 to 800 feet in width, and when it is known that the descent was 2,000 feet in five miles, the statement that it ran at the rate of ten to twenty-five miles an hour will not be doubted.”

“We waited till night, when the scene was a hundred fold more grand and vivid. The crimson red of the lava now doubly bright, the lurid glare of the red smoke-clouds that overhung the whole, …”

“… the roaring of the rushing stream, the noise of the tumbling rocks thrown out of the crater, the flashes of electric lightning, and the sharp quick claps of thunder – altogether made the scene surpassingly grand.” (HM Whitney, editor of the Honolulu Advertiser, April 13, 1868)

“The 1868 flow destroyed the house of Capt. Robert Brown …. The flow advanced so quickly on the house that Captain Brown and his family escaped with only the clothes on their backs.”

“Soon after the eruption, Theophilus sold the ranch to a hui (group) that included George Jones, who bought out his partners’ interests to became sole owner in 1877.”

“Another Mauna Loa eruption in 1887 produced an ‘a‘ā flow to the west of the 1868 eruption. From vent to ocean, the flow advanced 24 km (15 mi) in about 29 hours and came close – but did not damage – Jones’ residential compound.”

“The real impact of the 1887 eruption on Jones’ ranch was the flow of sightseers. George was known as a very hospitable man and, for several weeks, was forced to suspend operations in order to accommodate the hordes of curious visitors.”

“About a year-and-a-half after the 1887 eruption, Jones sold the ranch to Col. Samuel Norris. Norris, described as eccentric and peculiar, was not hospitable to his fellow Caucasians.”

“Another Mauna Loa eruption in 1907 produced lava flows to the west of the 1887 and 1868 flows, further reducing pasture lands. Tourists flocking to the new flows were not welcomed by the new ranch owner.”

“Norris was 66 when he bought the ranch. In 1910, when he realized he was dying, Norris essentially gave away the ranch, “selling” it to his long-time friend, Charles Macomber, for a dollar, complaining that lava flows had devalued the property. Norris died a few months later.”

“The upper reaches of the ranch were overrun by lava in 1903, 1916, and 1926 but these eruptions did not precipitate a sale as the earlier ones had.“

“In 1912, Macomber sold the ranch to A.W. Carter for inclusion in the famed Parker Ranch.” “During this ownership 1,200 head of cattle were largely run on the land nearest the highway, marginally using the land above the 1,400 foot elevation”

“On February 6, 1947 Parker Ranch sold Kahuku to James W Glover founder of the general construction firm bearing his name …. During his ownership Glover planted koa for logging and continued the installation of smooth wire fencing.”

“After Glover’s death, the ranch was sold under court order by the Hawaiian Trust company, the executor of his estate to pay estate debts including inheritance taxes amounting to almost a million dollars. The trustees of the Samuel M. Damon Estate made the winning bid in 1958”. (HVO; Helen Wong Smith)

On July 3, 2003, the National Park Service partnered with the Nature Conservancy to purchase the 116,000-acre Kahuku Ranch from the estate of Samuel Mills Damon as an addition to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, increasing the size of the park by 50% to 333,086 acres. (Vacation and event rentals remain for remnants of the former Kahuku Ranch, makai of the highway)

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Kahuku Ranch-NPS

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August 9, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ghosts of the Hilo Hills

One of these legends about Hina and her famous son Maui and her less widely known relates to three small hills back of Hilo toward the mountain, Halai, Opeapea and Puu Honu (not far from the Wailuku river and Rainbow Falls).

Here in a cave under the Rainbow Falls was the home of Hina, the mother of Maui. Other parts of the Pacific sometimes make Hina Maui’s wife, and sometimes a goddess from whom he descended.

Hina had several daughters, four of whose names are given: Hina Ke Ahi, Hina Ke Kai, Hina Mahuia, and Hina Kuluua. Each name marked the peculiar “mana” or divine gift which Hina, the mother, had bestowed upon her daughters.

Hina Ke Ahi meant the Hina who had control of fire. This name is sometimes given to Hina the mother. Hina Ke Kai was the daughter who had power over the sea. She was said to have been in a canoe with her brother Maui when he fished up Cocoanut Island, his line breaking before he could pull it up to the mainland and make it fast.

Hina Kuluua was the mistress over the forces of rain. The winds and the storms were supposed to obey her will. Hina Mahuia is peculiarly a name connected with the legends of the other island groups of the Pacific.

The legend of the Hilo hills pertains especially to Hina Ke Ahi and Hina Kuluua. Hina the mother gave the hill Halai to Hina Ke Ahi and the hill Puu Honu to Hina Kuluua for their families and dependents.

The hills were of rich soil and there was much rain. Therefore, for a long time, the two daughters had plenty of food for themselves and their people, but at last the days were like fire and the sky had no rain in it.

The taro planted on the hillsides died. The bananas and sugar cane and sweet potatoes withered and the fruit on the trees was blasted. The people were faint because of hunger, and the shadow of death was over the land. Hina Ke Ahi pitied her suffering friends and determined to provide food for them.

Slowly her people labored at her command. They went to the banks of the river course, which was only the bed of an ancient lava stream, over which no water was flowing; the famished laborers toiled, gathering and carrying back whatever wood they could find, then up the mountain side to the great koa and ohia forests, gathering their burdens of fuel according to the wishes of their chiefess.

Their sorcerers planted charms along the way and uttered incantations to ward off the danger of failure. The priests offered sacrifices and prayers for the safe and successful return of the burden-bearers. After many days the great quantity of wood desired by the goddess was piled up by the side of the Halai Hill.

Then came the days of digging out the hill and making a great imu or cooking oven and preparing it with stones and wood. Large quantities of wood were thrown into the place. Stones best fitted for retaining heat were gathered and the fires kindled.

When the stones were hot, Hina Ke Ahi directed the people to arrange the imu in its proper order for cooking the materials for a great feast. A place was made for sweet potatoes, another for taro, another for pigs and another for dogs. All the form of preparing the food for cooking was passed through, but no real food was laid on the stones.

Then Hina told them to make a place in the imu for a human sacrifice. Human sacrifices were frequently offered by the Hawaiians even after the days of the coming of Captain Cook. A dead body was supposed to be acceptable to the gods when a chief’s house was built, when a chief’s new canoe was to be made or when temple walls were to be erected or victories celebrated

Therefore it was in quiet despair that the workmen obeyed Hina Ke Ahi and prepared the place for sacrifice. It might mean their own holocaust as an offering to the gods.

At last Hina Ke Ahi bade the laborers cease their work and stand by the side of the oven ready to cover it with the dirt which had been thrown out and piled up by the side. The people stood by, not knowing upon whom, the blow might fall.

But Hina Ke Ahi was “Hina the kind,” and although she stood before them robed in royal majesty and power, still her face was full of pity and love. Her voice melted the hearts of her retainers as she bade them carefully follow her directions.

“O my people. Where are you? Will you obey and do as I command? This imu is my imu. I shall lie down on its bed of burning stones. I shall sleep under its cover. But deeply cover ine or I may perish. Quickly throw the dirt over in), body. Fear not the fire. Watch for three days. A woman will stand by the imu. Obey her will.”

Hina Ke Ahi was very beautiful, and her eyes flashed light like fire as she stepped into the great pit and lay down on the burning stones. A great smoke arose and gathered over the imu. The men toiled rapidly, placing the imu mats over their chiefess and throwing the dirt back into the oven until it was all thoroughly covered and the smoke was quenched.

Then they waited for the strange, mysterious thing which must follow the sacrifice of this divine chiefess.

Halai hill trembled and earthquakes shook the land round about. The great heat of the fire in the imu withered the little life which was still left from the famine.

Meanwhile Hina Ke Ahi was carrying out her plan for securing aid for her people. She could not be injured by the heat for she was a goddess of fire. The waves of heat raged around her as she sank down through the stones of the imu into the underground paths which belonged to the spirit world.

The legend says that Hina made her appearance in the form of a gushing stream of water which would always supply the want of her adherents.

The second day passed. Hina was still journeying underground, but this time she came to the surface as a pool named Moe Waa (canoe sleep) much nearer the sea. The third day came and Hina caused a great spring of sweet water to burst forth from the sea shore in the very path of the ocean surf. This received the name Auauwai.

Here Hina washed away all traces of her journey through the depths. This was the last of the series of earthquakes and the appearance of new water springs. The people waited, feeling that some more wonderful event must follow the remarkable experiences of the three days.

Soon a woman stood by the imu, who commanded the laborers to dig away the dirt and remove the mats. When this was done, the hungry people found a very great abundance of food, enough to supply their want until the food plants should have time to ripen and the days of the famine should be over.

The joy of the people was great when they knew that their chiefess had escaped death and would still dwell among them in comfort. Many were the songs sung and stories told about the great famine and the success of the goddess of fire.

The second sister, Hina Kuluua, the goddess of rain, was always very jealous of her beautiful sister Hina Ke Ahi, and many times sent rain to put out fires which her sister tried to kindle. Hina Ke Ahi could not stand the rain and so fled with her people to a home by the seaside.

Hina Kuluua (or Hina Kuliua) could control rain and storms, but for some reason failed to provide a food supply for her people, and the famine wrought havoc among them.

She thought of the stories told and songs sung about her sister and wished for the same honor for herself. She commanded her people to make a great imu for her in the hill Pun Honu.

She knew that a strange power belonged to her and yet, blinded by jealousy, forgot that rain and fire could not work together. She planned to furnish a great supply of food for her people in the same way in which her sister had worked.

The oven was dug. Stones and wood were collected and the same ghostly array of potatoes, taro, pig and dog prepared as had been done before by her sister.

The kahunas or priests knew that Hina Kuluua was going out of her province in trying to do as her sister had done, but there was no use in attempting to change her plans. jealousy is self-willed and obstinate and no amount of reasoning from her dependents could have any influence over her.

The ordinary incantations were observed, and Hina Kulutia gave the same directions as those her sister had given. The imu was to be well heated. The make-believe food was to be put in and a place left for her body. It was the goddess of rain making ready to lie down on a bed prepared for the goddess of fire.

When all was ready, she lay down on the heated stones and the oven mats were thrown over her and the ghostly provisions. Then the covering of dirt was thrown back upon the mats and heated stones, filling the pit which had been dug. The goddess of rain was left to prepare a feast for her people as the goddess of fire had done for her followers.

Some of the legends have introduced the demi-god Maui into this story. The natives say that Maui came to “burn” or “cook the rain” and that he made the oven very hot, but that the goddess of rain escaped and hung over the hill in the form of a cloud.

At least this is what the people saw-not a cloud of smoke over the imu, but a rain cloud. They waited and watched for such evidences of underground labor as attended the passage of Hina Ke Ahi through the earth from the hill to the sea, but the only strange appearance was the dark rain cloud.

They waited three days and looked for their chiefess to come in the form of a woman. They waited another day and still another and no signs or wonders were manifest.

Meanwhile Maui, changing himself into a white bird, flew up into the sky to catch the ghost of the goddess of rain which had escaped from the burning oven.

Having caught this spirit, he rolled it in some kapa cloth which lie kept for food to be placed in an oven and carried it to a place in the forest on the mountain side where again the attempt was made to “burn the rain,” but a great drop escaped and sped upward into the sky.

Whether this Maui legend has any real connection with the two Hinas and the famine we do not surely know. After five days had passed the retainers decided on their own responsibility to open the imu. No woman had appeared to give them directions.

Nothing but a mysterious rain cloud over the hill. In doubt and fear, the dirt was thrown off and the mats removed. Nothing was found but the ashes of Hina Kuluua.

There was no food for her followers and the goddess had lost all power of appearing as a chiefess. Her bitter and thoughtless jealousy brought destruction upon herself and her people.

The ghosts of Hina Ke Ahi and Hina Kuluua sometimes draw near to the old hills in the form of the fire of flowing lava or clouds of rain while the old men and women tell the story of the Hinas, the sisters of Maui, who were laid upon the burning stones of the imus of a famine. (Westervelt)

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Waiakea_USGS_Quadrangle-Waiakea-Hilo-1912-portion-Hilo Hills marked

June 27, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Nāpō‘opo‘o

“The Towns of the Natives are built along the Sea side. At Cari’ca’coo’ah [Kealakekua] Bay there were three, one [Kealakekua-Nāpō‘opo‘o] on the SE-tern side of the Bay which was very large extending near two miles along the shore, another [Kaawaloa] 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. These Plantations in many places they carry six or seven miles up the side of the hill”. (Cook’s Journal, Clerke, March 1779)

At the time of Cook’s arrival in 1779, high chief Kalani‘ōpu‘u had his chiefly residence at Ka‘awaloa while the priests associated with this chiefly complex had their residences across the bay at Kekua (Nāpō‘opo‘o). Kamehameha I was also residing at Nāpō‘opo‘o in 1779.

Nāpō‘opo‘o and Ka‘awaloa represent the two major settlements along the northern and southern sides of Kealakekua Bay with continuity in occupation from the pre-contact period, around 1600 and earlier, into the 20th Century.

Ka‘awaloa and Nāpō‘opo‘o are situated on gently sloping land around the base of the cliff called Pali Kapu o Keōua. Beyond the pali, the land slopes upward in a moderately steep fashion toward the summit of Mauna Loa, about 20 miles due east of Kealakekua Bay.

The pali is a steep, 600-foot-high sea cliff, approximately 1.5 miles long, and the most imposing geological feature in Kealakekua Bay. Above the bay, the vertical cliff edge of the northern portion of the pali above Ka‘awaloa is marked by numerous lava tubes. As the pali turns inland at the south end, it is less steep and is referred to as Pali o Manuahi.

Nāpō‘opo‘o Beach is covered entirely with basalt boulders and coral cobbles during most tide conditions. Up to and during much of the twentieth century, the beach was sand-covered. The transformation of the beach may have been due to multiple factors, including subsidence, tsunami, and earthquake events.

The priestly compound at Nāpō‘opo‘o consists of Hikiau Heiau, Helehelekalani Heiau, the Great Wall, the brackish pond to the north of Hikiau Heiau, and the housesites of the priests, including Hewahewa, high priest to Kamehameha I.

Hikiau Heiau was the state-level religious center for this chiefly complex at Kealakekua Bay. The Great Wall marks the mauka (eastern) boundary of this priestly compound. The annual tour of the island associated with the Makahiki season began and ended at Hikiau Heiau. (DLNR)

Vancouver arrived at Kealakekua in 1793 and also noted the priest’s settlement around Hikiau Heiau and the pond. He recorded 200 houses along the ½-mile of beach at Nāpō‘opo‘o, as well as, the residence of Kamehameha I located behind the pond.

The missionaries arrived at Kealakekua Bay in 1824 and established a mission at Ka‘awaloa Flat. Because of the heat, the missionaries moved the mission upslope to Kuapehu in 1827. (DLNR)

“Besides my schools and all the concerns – you see I have but little time to make tours with out neglecting important work… The consequence is I seldom get as far as Honaunau, which I might visit and return the same day …”

“… nor do I get so much among the people at Napopo & Kei [Napoopoo and Keei] as I wish. I suppose there are, something like 2000 inhabitants on that side of the bay in the villages of Kealakekua, Napopo–Keii [Napoopoo & Keei].” Forbes; Maly, 1835)

Many of the Hawaiians continued to live along the coast and Rev. Forbes decided to move the mission station to Nāpō‘opo‘o in 1838 and constructed the first Kahikolu Church in 1840. (DLNR)

In 1852 the Rev. John Paris, who had been at Waiohinu for ten years, was assigned to the Kealakekua district. He wrote that the name Ka‘awaloa was used, by the Hawaiians, more often than Kealakekua. Ka‘awaloa means the long landing place, and this bay does afford more landing space than others on the Kona coast.

In the mid-1860s, Mr. Logan purchased the ahupua‘a and developed a sugar plantation while the makai lands and 5 coconut trees were leased by S. Kekumano, the jailer. Pineapple and sugarcane were planted and cultivated by the prisoners. The prison was used until around 1875. (Restarick)

By 1875, the ahupua‘a had been bought and sold a number of times. JD Paris, Jr was the owner of the ahupua‘a, leasing the flat around the bay, the pali, and coconut trees to H. Haili, grandson of konohiki Nunole. Jailer Kekumano still held the pond lease, even though the prison was seldom used by this time.

While Ka‘awaloa remained a fishing community with a small wharf for loading cattle, Nāpō‘opo‘o was part of the larger market economy because of the more substantial landing/wharf built at Nāpō‘opo‘o in 1912. (DLNR)

“(It) is a regular steamer landing, and the village is quite a large and important one, with the largest store in South Kona. At the north end of the village is one of the very finest sand bathing beaches on the island.”

“Hackfeld & Co. branch moved into the largest and finest business block in Hilo …Hackfeld & Co., Ltd., also have branch stores at Kailua and Nāpō‘opo‘o, in the Kona district.” (Kinney, 1913)

Ships arrived here regularly to both load and unload goods. Coffee and ranching were integral to this economy in the early-1900s with coffee beans and cattle being shipped out from the Nāpō‘opo‘o landing. Unloaded at Nāpō‘opo‘o were lumber, gasoline, mail, and other goods for the Kealakekua area.

There were 3 coffee mills in the Nāpō‘opo‘o area. One was the Hackfeld/Amfac Coffee Mill operated by John Gaspar. This mill was along the lower portion of the Nāpō‘opo‘o (Government) Road and the foundation is still present within Kealakekua Bay.

The Hawaii Coffee Mill was built along the Nāpō‘opo‘o Beach Road to the south of the landing. The Captain Cook Coffee Mill is located mauka on the Nāpō‘opo‘o Road. This mill is said to have started as a pineapple cannery. The Captain Cook Coffee Mill is still operating with a museum and visitor’s center.

There were at least 3 stores in the area. One store was located on the southeast corner at the intersection of the Nāpō‘opo‘o (Government) Road and the Nāpō‘opo‘o Beach Access Road.

This store was first owned and run by a Japanese family named Arima. The store was later bought by Machado. Another store was in the vicinity of the former County park. This store was converted to a bar owned by a Korean man in the 1950s. The third store was owned by Hackfeld and located at the landing. These latter 2 stores were destroyed by the 1960 tsunami.

There were also 2 churches in the town, one Catholic and one Protestant. The Catholic church and cemetery, called St. Joseph’s, were located to the east (mauka) of the Amfac Coffee Mill.

This church was torn down sometime after 1970. The Protestant church is Kahikolu, which was first built in 1840 and built again in 1854 by Reverend Paris when the original structure was destroyed by an earthquake.

The Nāpō‘opo‘o schoolhouse is located just makai of Kahikolu Church. This one-room stone masonry structure still remains but was replaced by Konawaena School in Kealakekua town in the early 1900s. (DLNR)

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Kealakekua Bay-Henry Roberts with Cook expedition-1779-portion

Cattle Pens-Napoopoo-early 1900s-DLNR

Loading Cattle-Napoopoo-early 1900s-DLNR

Lumber floated ashore at Napoopoo-1920s-DLNR

Aerial view of Napoopoo-PP-30-5-027-1935

Ukulele player on the beach at Napoopoo-PP-30-5-028-1935

Napoopoo-PP-30-5-010-1931

Napoopoo-PP-29-11-021

Aerial view of Napoopoo-PP-30-5-021-Jan 24, 1925

Gaspar Coffee Mill-1930-DLNR

Lauhala weavers, Napoopoo, Hawaii-PP-33-6-003-1935

Napoopoo-Stoke’s Map-early-1900s-DLNR

May 24, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kawaihae – First School?

When the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries first stopped at Kawaihae, an emissary was sent into the village to learn the whereabouts of the king. Lucy G. Thurston, wife of Reverend Asa Thurston, recounted the event …

“Approaching Kawaihae, Hopu went ashore to invite some of the highest chiefs of the nation. Kalanimōku was the first person of distinction that came. In dress and manner he appeared with the dignity of a man of culture.”

Obviously familiar with western customs, the chief gallantly bowed and shook the hands of the ladies. Mrs. Thurston continued, “The effects of that first warm appreciating clasp I feel even now. To be met by such a specimen of heathen humanity on the borders of their land, was to stay us with flagons, and comfort us with apples.”

After sending gifts of hogs and sweet potatoes, Kalanimōku appeared and Bingham comments on ‘his great civility.’ “His appearance was much more interesting than we expected. His dress was a neat dimity jacket, black silk vest, mankin pantaloons, white cotton stockings, and shoes, plaid cravat, and a neat English hat.” (Bingham)

After a brief stop at Kawaihae, where they learned of the death of Kamehameha and the abolition of the old religion, they proceeded down the coast to Kailua with the chiefs on board to meet with the new king and hopefully gain permission to remain in the islands to establish a mission. (Del Piano)

Kamehameha had granted Kawaihae Komohana ahupua‘a (present Kawaihae 1) to Kalanimōku, his ‘prime minister’:

“As his principal executive officer (his kalaimoku according to the traditional scheme of government), Kamehameha appointed a young chief named (in modern writings) Kalanimōku …”

“… in his own lifetime, this chief was usually called Karaimoku by the Hawaiians, sometimes Kalaimoku; foreigners rendered his name Crymoku or Crimoku or gave it some similar form …”

“… he himself adopted the name of his contemporary, the great English prime minister, William Pitt, and he was frequently referred to and addressed by foreigners as Mr. Pitt or Billy Pitt.”

“Kalanimōku was Kamehameha’s prime minister and treasurer, the advisor on whom the king leaned most heavily. He was a man of great natural ability, both in purely governmental and in business matters. He was liked and respected by foreigners, who learned from experience that they could rely on his word.” (Kuykendall)

Kalanimōku maintained a residence at Kawaihae and was there when the first company of Protestant missionaries reached the Hawaiian Islands in 1820. (Cultural Surveys)

At Kawaihae, the missionaries took aboard a number of chiefs who sailed with them south to Kailua, Kona where they anchored on April 4, 1820. (Cultural Surveys)

“Thus to facilitate the diffusion of light over these islands, we were quickly and widely scattered’. (Bingham) They quickly set about establishing mission stations.

Reverend Asa Thurston; Mrs. Lucy Goodale Thurston; Thomas Holman, MD; and Mrs. Lucia Holman, accompanied by Hawaiian converts Thomas Hopu and William Kanui, were sent to Kailua to minister to the people of that district — teaching them literature, the arts, and most importantly, Christianity (“training them for heaven”). (NPS)

“Arrangements were made by the 23d of July, for Messrs. W(hitney) and R(uggles). and their wives to take up their residence at Waimea, on Kauai.”

“On the eve of their departure from Honolulu, eleven of our number united in celebrating the dying love of our exalted Redeemer, for the first time on the shores of the Sandwich Islands, and found the season happy.” (Bingham)

Among their first pupils were the new king and his younger brother, two of his wives, and some other youths. The king was particularly interested in having Holman present to provide medical care for the royal family. (NPS)

“Mr. Loomis hastened to Kawaihae and engaged in teaching Kalanimōku and his wife, and a class of favorite youths whom he wished to have instructed.” (Bingham)

“The first resident missionary at Kawaihae was Elisha Loomis, a 21-year old printer, who was supported by Kalanimōku. In the summer of 1820, Loomis was given two buildings (a schoolhouse and a dwelling place) and 10 youths to educate”. (Marion Kelly)

Kawaihae was the site of one of the first mission stations in the Hawaiian Islands, although it was only briefly looked after by Elisha Loomis beginning in 1821. (NPS)

Though Loomis and his pupils were moved to Honolulu in November, the schoolhouse at Kawaihae may represent the first missionary-run school in the Hawaiian Islands. (Cultural Surveys)

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May 5, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

E Nihi ka Helena i ka Uka o Puna

Walk carefully in the uplands of Puna (Kumupaʻa)

Walking in the mauka regions of Puna can be extremely hazardous because of the numerous lava cracks hidden by vegetation in the forest (some with over 30-feet vertical drops and 30+ feet wide).

Sometimes, when walking in the mauka forests of Puna, there is abundant uluhe fern; you effectively walk ‘on’ uluhe, not ‘through’ it. You could find yourself walking over the edge of a crack, before you know it.

Local residents have reported numerous incidents in which individuals and dogs have fallen into the lava cracks and suffered serious injury. In addition, in the event of an emergency, there is no cellular phone service, and difficulty of emergency rescue, etc.

It is not just cracks from old flows that are a problem. Starting in June 27, 2014, lava from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent had been over-running Wao Kele o Puna.

We must also be cognizant of the ongoing eruption; the flow that headed to Pāhoa ran through Wao Kele o Puna. While the flow is not causing problems in Pāhoa at this time, outbreaks recently covered portions of Wao Kele o Puna.

The flow has since been redirected makai of the vent and not affecting Wao Kele o Puna. (Information in this section is from the USGS website, searched December 27, 2016)

Kīlauea’s ongoing Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption, which began in January 1983, ranks as the most voluminous outpouring of lava from the volcano’s East Rift Zone in the past five centuries.

By December 2012, flows had covered 125.5 km2 (48.4 mi2) with about 4 km3 (1 mi3) of lava, and had added 202 hectares (500 acres) of new land to Kīlauea’s southeastern shore. Lava flows had also destroyed 214 structures, and resurfaced 14.3 km (8.9 mi) of highway, burying them with as much as 35 m (115 ft) of lava.

The eruption can be roughly divided in to five time periods. From 1983 to 1986, a series of short-lived lava fountains built a cinder-and-spatter cone later named Puʻu ʻŌʻō.

In 1986, the eruption shifted 3 km (1.8 mi) northeastward along Kīlauea’s east rift zone, where a nearly continuous outpouring of lava built a broad shield, Kupaianaha, and sent flows to the coast for more than five years.

In 1992, the eruption moved back uprift and new vents opened on the southwestern flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Over the next 15 years, nearly continuous effusion of lava from these vents sent flows to the ocean, mainly within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

The most significant change during the 1992–2007 interval was a brief uprift fissure eruption and the corresponding collapse of Puʻu ʻŌʻō’s west flank in January 1997.

In June 2007, an hours-long, unwitnessed eruption uprift of Puʻu ʻŌʻō led to renewed collapse within the cone and a brief hiatus in activity.

When the eruption resumed in July 2007, new vents opened between Puʻu ʻŌʻō and Kupaianaha, sending flows to Kīlauea’s southeastern coast until early 2011.

This activity was terminated by another short-lived eruption uprift of Puʻu ʻŌʻō in March 2011. Activity at Puʻu ʻŌʻō then resumed with a brief breakout from the western flank of the cone in August 2011, followed by the opening of a new, persistent vent on Puʻu ʻŌʻō’s northeast flank in September 2011. Flows from this latter vent remained active on Kīlauea’s southeastern flank as of December 2012.

On June 27, 2014, new vents opened on the northeast flank of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone that fed a narrow lava flow to the east-northeast.

On August 18, the flow entered a ground crack, traveled underground for several days, then resurfaced to form a small lava pad. The sequence was repeated twice more over the following days with lava entering other cracks and reappearing farther downslope.

In this way, the flow had advanced approximately 8.2-miles from the vent, or to within 0.8-miles of the eastern boundary of the Wao Kele o Puna Forest Reserve, by the afternoon of September 3, 2014.

Lava emerged from the last crack on September 6, 2014, forming a surface flow that initially moved to the north, then to the northeast, at a rate of 1,300-ft/day). This flow advanced downslope before stalling in Pāhoa on October 30 about 170-yards from Pāhoa Village Road. Breakouts upslope continued to widen the flow within the Wao Kele o Puna property.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō continues to erupt, but the lava flow from it has stopped running through Wao Kele o Puna, but remains as a reminder of the risks associated with the nearby Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption. The present volcanic activity in the uplands of Puna remind us of the message and warnings of the ‘Ōlelo No‘eau.

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