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January 15, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

The eruption of Vesuvius in 79 C.E. prompted the first scientific expedition (by Pliny the Elder) to study volcanic phenomena, as well as the first written eyewitness account (by Pliny the Younger) of eruptive activity.

The new science of geology emerged in the 19th century, focusing on the deduction of past events from current Earth exposures – “the present is the key to the past.” (Tilling)

The history of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) begins with a geologist named Thomas A Jaggar, who witnessed the deadly aftermath of volcanic and seismic activity during a decade-long exploration of volcanoes around the world.

The devastation he observed, particularly that caused by the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on the Caribbean Island of Martinique, led Jaggar to his vision and life-long work to “protect life and property on the basis of sound scientific achievement” by establishing Earth observatories throughout the world.  (USGS)

At that time, there was only one volcano observatory in the world – at Vesuvius, established in 1841 under King Fernando II to keep an eye on the active volcanoes near Naples. Jaggar thought America needed one.  (Apple)

In early 1911, Jaggar convinced Frank A Perret, a world-famous American volcanologist he had met on Vesuvius Volcano in Italy, to travel to Hawai‘i to begin the observations of Kīlauea’s volcanic activity.

From July to October 1911, Perret conducted experiments and documented the lava lake activity within Kïlauea’s Halema‘uma‘u Crater, paving the way for Jaggar to pursue his life’s goal of using multiple scientific approaches and all available tools for the observation and measurement of volcanoes and earthquakes.

In 1911, the first scientific laboratory at Kilauea consisted of a crude wooden shack constructed on the edge of Halema‘uma‘u that was called the Technology Station. The next year saw the construction by Jaggar of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. 

(Subsequently, the Technology Station was relocated and improved, and a structure called the “Instrument Shelter” (extending over the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu) was built with a wall open to the crater for a wide-angle view.)

Jaggar arrived at the Volcano House hotel on January 17, 1912; the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory was established by Jaggar, and for the first seven years of its existence it operated on funds provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from its Whitney Fund for research in geophysics and by the Hawaiian Volcano Research Association.

The latter is a group of persons, largely residents of Hawaii and principally businessmen, who are actively interested in the study of volcanoes.

“There is no place on the globe so favorable for systematic study of volcanology and the relations of local earthquakes to volcanoes as in Hawaii … where the earth’s primitive processes are at work making new land and adding new gases to the atmosphere.”  (Thomas A Jaggar, 1916)

Upon his arrival, he established a routine of daily observations of the ongoing eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater. “Keep and publish careful records, invite the whole world of science to co-operate, and interest the business man.” (Jaggar, 1913)

He developed uniform note pads with detachable sheets for use by all employees and insisted that anyone from the observatory who visited the crater take notes of their observations.

In 1919 the administration of the Volcano Observatory was taken over by the United States Weather Bureau, which was then charged by Congress with the responsibility for earthquake investigations in the United States.

In 1924 the Observatory passed to the US Geological Survey, in 1935 to the National Park Service, and in 1948 back to the Geological Survey. It is currently a part of the Geological Survey’s volcano investigation program.

The original location of the Volcano Observatory was the site now occupied by the Volcano House. The Whitney Laboratory of Seismology is a concrete vault beneath the western end of the Volcano House. (The vault is under the grassy mound on the Halema‘uma‘u side of the hotel.)

When the present Volcano House was built in 1941, the Observatory was transferred to what is now the Park Museum and Administration Building, and in 1948 to a building on the western rim of Kilauea caldera at Uekahuna. Dr Jaggar continued as Director of the Observatory until his retirement in 1940.

Since 1912, Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes have been under constant close observation by members of the Observatory staff. The purpose of the studies by the Volcano Observatory have two general aspects, the humanitarian or practical aspect and the strictly scientific.

The two are difficult to separate, because a phase that belongs to pure science today may become of great practical importance within a few years.

In general, the scientific aspects of the Observatory program are directed toward an understanding of the subsurface structure of the volcanoes, the nature and properties of the magma, how the volcano behaves, and why.

The humanitarian aspects include prediction of eruptions and the course of lava flows once the eruption has started and issuing warnings of danger from lava flows.

An example of one phase of the Observatory’s program that is of purely scientific importance is the investigation of the volcanic gases and their relation to the magma and effects on surrounding rocks.

The Observatory also makes visual observations of the volcanic eruptions, collects gas and lava samples, determines temperatures of liquid and solidifying lava and of the gases, measures the width of many cracks about Kilauea caldera as they open and close, operate tilt-meters and a series of magnetometer stations on Kilauea and the slopes of Mauna Loa, and a net of seismograph stations.

Very early in the history of the Observatory it was found that the ground surface on the slopes of the volcano was constantly tilting in one direction or another, and it was soon shown that this tilting correlated with activity of the volcanoes.

Preceding eruption the whole volcano swells up, as though it were being inflated like a big balloon. This produces an outward tilting on its sides. Following the eruption the volcano contracts and the slopes tilt inward.

This swelling and tilting can be measured by leveling, of the sort done in ordinary surveying. By leveling from sea-level at Hilo, it was found that during the interval from 1912 to 1921 a bench mark near the Observatory apparently rose about 3 feet.

Releveling in 1927, after the great collapse and steam explosions of 1924, showed that the same bench mark had lowered 3.5 feet, while a bench mark near the rim of Halema‘uma‘u had gone down about 13 feet.

Ordinarily, however, the tilting of the ground surface is measured not by leveling, but by sensitive pendulums known as tilt-meters. Such tilt-meters in operation by the Observatory are capable of indicating an angle of tilt of less than one-tenth of a second.  (A tilt of one-tenth of a second would displace the top of a pole ten miles high about a quarter of an inch).

Volcanic tilt of many seconds of arc has been measured on the tilt-meters. Strong outward tilting of the ground surface, especially when combined with numerous earthquakes, is a good indication of magma rising in the volcano and the possibility of impending eruption.

Magnetometer measurements by the Volcano Observatory were started early in 1950. A magnetometer is an instrument used to measure the strength of the earth’s magnetic attraction at any given locality.  The strength of the earth magnetism depends on several factors.

One cause of decrease in the strength of magnetism is rise in temperature of the underlying rock. As magma rises beneath the surface the surrounding rocks are heated up, and their magnetism decreases.  Detecting this aids in prediction of eruptions.

A seismograph is a device to record earthquakes. The essential portion of most seismographs is a pendulum. Because of its inertia, during earthquakes a freely suspended pendulum tends to stand still while the earth moves under it.

The effect is nearly the same at it would be if the earth were still and the pendulum vibrating. This apparent movement of the pendulum is recorded in various ways – by direct mechanical means, by directing a beam of light onto photographic paper, or electrically.

So long as the earth is quiet the writing point draws a straight line on the smoked paper, but when an earthquake occurs the pendulum vibrates with respect to the ground and the recording drum, and the line drawn on the smoked paper is wiggly.

By identifying the times of arrival of the different types of vibration, and measuring the interval of time between them, the distance from the station at which the earthquake originated can be calculated. Then, by using the distances of origin from several stations, the epicenter and depth of origin of the earthquake can be located.

Any marked increase in the number of earthquakes indicates a restlessness of the volcano in which the earthquakes originate, and the location of the earthquake indicates what portion of the volcano is involved. Commonly an eruption of either volcano is preceded by a series of earthquakes.

These earthquakes begin at a depth of 25 to 30 miles, but as the series progresses the places of origin get gradually closer to the surface and often shift laterally, finally centering at a place close to the site of the coming eruption. Thus, earthquakes are of great value to the volcanologist in predicting coming activity.  (Information is copied from NPS, Nature Notes May 1951)

During the past century, HVO has been at the forefront of developing and applying the modern techniques and instruments now used in volcano monitoring, including volcanic-gas monitors, satellite-based deformation measurements, networks of remote cameras recording eruptive activity, and seismic networks such as the Hawai‘i Regional Seismic Network.

The first seismic network in the USGS was installed on Kīlauea in the 1950s, and earthquake monitoring has been important both as a tool for volcano monitoring and for assessing seismic hazards in the State of Hawaii. HVO has been a training ground for volcanologists from the United States and around the world.

By December 1915, with Jaggar having worked in Hawai‘i for three years, the Research Association and MIT sent him to Washington DC to appeal to Congress to take over HVO as a government institution.  In addition, the governor of Hawai‘i and the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce asked him to continue to push for the establishment of a national park. (Moniz Namakura)

(On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill establishing Hawaii National Park as the nation’s 13th national park.  It included lands surrounding Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes on Hawaiʻi Island, and Haleakalā on the island of Maui.  In July 1961, Hawai‘i National Park was split into two distinct areas:  Haleakalā National Park and Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.)

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has operated HVO continuously since 1947.  Before then, HVO was under the administration of various Federal agencies – the US Weather Bureau, at the time part of the Department of Agriculture, from 1919 to 1924; the USGS, which first managed HVO from 1924 to 1935; and the National Park Service from 1935 to 1947.

It currently operates under the direction of the USGS Volcano Science Center, which now supports five volcano observatories covering six US areas – Hawaiʻi (HVO), Alaska and the Northern Mariana Islands (Alaska Volcano Observatory), Washington and Oregon (Cascades Volcano Observatory), California (California Volcano Observatory), and the Yellowstone region (Yellowstone Volcano Observatory).

For much of its history, HVO was perched dramatically on the rim of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit caldera inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. That ended in 2018, when – amid ash explosions and violent earthquakes accompanying onset of partial summit collapse – HVO relocated to the town of Hilo, 30 miles distant.

Due to substantial damage to the building, new facilities in Hilo and inside the national park are planned. In the meantime, most of HVO remains in Hilo in the historic Ironworks Building on Kamehameha Avenue. HVO continues to use some facilities inside the national park and a warehouse in Kea‘au.  (USGS)

© 2023 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Thomas Jaggar, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii National Park, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Frank Perret, Technology Station, Instrument Shelter

June 2, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Volcano Golf Course

The records of the Māhele ‘Āina note, Victoria Kamāmalu, a granddaughter of Kamehameha I, claimed and received the ‘ili of Keauhou during the Māhele.  Victoria Kamāmalu died on May 29th, 1866, at the age of 28 years.

Her lands were inherited by her father, Mataio Kekūanāoʻa.  Kekūanāoʻa died two years later, on November 24th, 1868. His lands – including those he’d inherited from his own children and relatives – were inherited by his daughter, Luta ‘Ruth’ Keʻelikōlani (Princess Ruth, half sister of V. Kamāmalu).

Keʻelikōlani died on May 24, 1883. Her lands – including those she inherited from her own father, siblings, husband, and relatives – were inherited by her cousin, Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Bernice Pauahi Bishop (Pauahi), daughter of Laura Konia and Abner Paki, inherited the lands of her parents – Abner Paki, who died on June 13, 1855, leaving Pauahi his six (6) Māhele lands and numerous parcels; and Laura Konia, who died on July 2, 1857, leaving Pauahi her ten (10) Māhele lands.

Pauahi also inherited the six (6) Māhele lands of her aunt, ‘Akahi, who died on October 8,1877; and the lands of her cousin, Keʻelikōlani on May 24, 1883 – these lands included the ‘ili of Keauhou, which embrace Kīlauea.

Bernice Pauahi Bishop died on October 15, 1884, her combined lands were dedicated to the establishment of the trust forming the Bishop Estate and the subsequent forming of Kamehameha Schools.

On June 4, 1920, Bishop Estate agreed to a trade with the Territory of Hawaii, exchanging approximately 12,035 acres of Keauhou for Government land at Mohokea, Ka‘ū.

The agreement excluded unrecorded leases between the Estate and the Volcano House Company; OT Shipman (for Keauhou Ranch); the Kilauea Military Camp and Territorial Guard; the County of Hawai‘i; and eleven individuals, holding leasehold residential lots.

The agreement of 1920 provided the Territory of Hawaii, with the lands necessary to form the Kilauea section of Hawaii National Park. The Territory subsequently transferred the Keauhou-Kilauea parcel to the United States Government in 1922. (Maly)

In 1863, the first formal lease of Keauhou was granted by Chiefess Kamāmalu and her father, M. Kekūanaoʻa, to F.B. Swain.  By 1865 the lease had transferred to C.E. Richardson, who with partners, Wm. Reed, Geo. Jones, and L. Kaina, who in addition to further developing ranching and a pulu harvesting business at Keauhou, also developed a new a Volcano House.

The facility served visitors to the Volcano, and those traveling between Kaʻū and Hilo or Puna. The growing facilities were made in a mixture of Hawaiian and western architecture. The first, all-wooden Volcano House, was built in 1877, and remains not far from where it was originally built, to the present-day.

In the years leading up to establishment of the National Park, the National Guard of Hawaiʻi and the United States Army established a military reserve (Kīlauea Military Camp) in Keauhou, for purposes of training, recreation and health. The Volcano House Hotel also secured a lease from the Trustees of the Bishop Estate to develop the Volcano Golf Course. (Maly)

The oldest on Hawaii island, Volcano golf course began in 1921 as three holes marked by stakes. (VGCC) “[T]he [initial] golf course was pasture.  At that time [Arthur Brown had Keauhou Ranch and they] ran the milk cows, horses and cattle and all that.  In the golf course they ran what they called their working horses and the milk cows.”

“And the golf course … the putting area was all fenced off so the cattle wouldn’t bother that.  Then of course the biggest part of the ranch ran up Mauna Loa side.”  (Morgan Arthur Brown Oral History Interview)

Then, in 1922, they constructed a 9-hole course, “a real golf course.”  “It all came to pass when the management of the Volcano House, an up-to-date hostelry, maintained for the convenience of the … tourists, suddenly realized that it was not living up to the prescribed reputation of being up-to-date inasmuch as it had failed to provide, like other first-class tourists’ hotels, a golf course.”

“True its chief reason for existence is the Volcano, but the Englishman and his sense of honor, the hotel management felt that it could not conscientiously permit the establishment to be broadcasted as a hotel of the first-class unless it sported all the emendations credited to other first-class hotels.”

“And so, in taking stock of the Volcano House’s short comings, with was disclosed that the only thing of note which appeared to be lacking was a golf course.”

“[O]n a recent Sunday a nine-hole links was formally thrown open to those who cared to risk a few golf balls.  Risk is hardly the word.  Sacrifice would be better, as the course is dotted here and there with pukas (lava holes) and, although they have been wired over, the balls have an exasperating habit of slipping under the wire.”

“Then, again, if the golfer happens to be a particularly strong-armed individual, he is apt to send one skidding into the nineteenth hole – in this instance the crater itself.”

“On the other hand, the flow of lava from the crater has provided natural hazards such as bunkers and traps and the chap engaged to lay pit the course really didn’t have such a hard job of it.  In fact, the course is the only one of its kind today and is certainly a unique one.”

“As everybody knows, golf requires keen nerves and concentration of mind and muscle and the ordinary golfer who attempts the volcano course after the first time usually encounters opposition from an unexpected quarter.  As the volcano is in a state of constant activity, gas and steam occasionally and suddenly issue from the pukas.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 11, 1922)

“The new golf links in the section adjacent to the tree-molds are already proving popular and offer a sporting nine holes that will arouse the keenest skill of the most inveterate player.”

“The golf links, which have been laid out at the expense of the Kilauea Volcano House so will not be run for profit.  A small green fee is being charged and it is hoped that in due course.”

“As the links become better known, this will be sufficient to pay the cost of a permanent attendant and to erect something in the nature of a shelter-house for the players in the event of showers.” (Star Bulletin, June 10, 1922)

From this humble beginning, the course finally grew to an 18-hole layout two and half decades later (1946). C Brewer acquired the course in 1968 and their renovations included a redesign by legendary golf course architect Jack Snyder. C Brewer also oversaw the construction of a $200,000 clubhouse, which was damaged by fire in 2019. (VGCC)

Kamehameha Schools found someone to take over the lease for the Volcano Golf Course and Country Club. In 2020, the previous lessee of the 156-acre golf course unexpectedly abandoned the property four years before the termination of the lease.  (Hawaii Tribune Herald)

© 2022 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Military, Place Names, Economy Tagged With: Volcano Golf Course, Hawaii, Volcano, Kilauea Military Camp, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Golf

November 26, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Haleakalā

On the morning of November 26, 1778, Captain James Cook awoke to the sight of the northern coast of Maui. “Next morning there lay the land, the island of Maui, with its ‘elevated saddle hill’ – the extinct 10,000 foot volcano Haleakala …”

“… rising to its summit above the clouds, and descending gently towards the deep ravines and falling waters of that steep rocky coast, where the trade wind hurled other waters into perpetual surf.” This was the first documented sighting of the island. (Fredericksen)

Haleakalā was thought to have been known to the ancient Hawaiians by any one of five names: “Haleakalā,” “Haleokalā,” “Heleakalā,” “Aheleakalā” and “Halekalā.” (Hawaiʻi National Park Superintendent Monthly Report, December 1939)

Historian Abraham Fornander wrote that “Haleakalā” was a misnomer and that the ancient name for the crater was “Aheleakalā,” which meant “rays of the sun,” and…th[o]se which the demigod Māui snared and broke off to retard the sun in its daily course so that his mother might be able to dry her kapas. Fornander further noted that Lemuel KN Papa, Jr., insisted that the correct name was Alehelā “on account of Māui’s snaring the rays of the sun.” (Fredericksen)

“Of course Haleakalā is the sacred home of our Sun, and the ancient Path to Calling the Sum as depicted in its ancient name: Ala Hea Ka La. Why is this critical to our survival?”

“The Sun’s energy is the source of all life, and governs our most basic rhythm of day and night. Ancient cultures have venerated its being, and we as a human race follow its course without thought and are insignificant in respect of its power.”

“However, our Native Hawaiian Culture praises its existence, until this very day the sun is praised for its cycle.” (Maxwell, Fredericksen)

Haleakalā is best known in stories related of the demi-god Māui; he is best known for his tricks and supernatural powers. In Hawaiʻi, he is best known for snaring the sun, lifting the sky, discovering the secrets of fire, fishing up the islands and so forth. (Fredericksen)

In addition to Māui, Haleakalā stories recall Pele who fled the Big Island and while in exile, Pele stopped for a brief time on Maui, where she dug a pit with her pāoa (divining rod) and started a fire. Haleakala is such a huge pit that she found it difficult to keep the fire going to keep warm.

Sometime later the two sisters (Pele and Namakaeha) engaged in a fierce battle, and Pele was weakened – her body torn to pieces and scattered along the coast into huge mounds of broken lava at the base of Haleakalā, on the east side, near Hāna. This place is now known as “Na Iwi o Pele”—the bones of Pele. (Fornander)

Another deity connected with Haleakala is Poliʻahu—the snow goddess and another rival of Pele. Her younger sister is Lilinoe – goddess of the mists. She is sometimes referred to as the goddess of Haleakalā. She was able to check the eruptions that could break forth in old cinder cones on the floor of the crater. Her presence is noted in heavy mists that shroud the mountain. (Fredericksen)

The slopes of Haleakalā had originally been covered with forests but had been logged out for sandalwood for the China Trade (1788–1838), then for koa, ʻōhia and other indigenous trees for uses ranging from railroad ties to firewood.

The lands were then utilized to grow sugar cane and vegetable crops, or were left as pastureland and served as the locations of a number of small plantation or ranch settlements. (NPS)

“Platforms related to traditional Hawaiian ceremony [were] predominantly found along the crater floor and at high promontory locations. Caves [were] often found on the crater rim.”

“Temporary shelters built against rock outcrops or boulders [were] found scattered along the crater rim and within the crater, but [were] concentrated on the leeward sides of cinder cones such as Pakaoa‘o. Cairns or ahu [were] scattered over Haleakalā.” (Hammatt, NPS)

The first visit to Haleakalā by non-Hawaiians occurred in August 1828 when missionaries Lorrin Andrews and Jonathan Green, along with Dr. Gerrit P. Judd, physician, visited the crater.

They were followed by a US Navy expedition led by Commander Charles Wilkes in 1841, and later, others. Significant public interest was generated by written accounts of these visits that determined that Haleakalā would eventually become a destination for tourism. (NPS)

Homesteading on the slopes of Haleakalā as well as other public lands in Hawai`i had been encouraged by the Territorial Government in 1910. This prompted a “rush for homesteads,” applications which were filed and adjudicated by a land court in Honolulu, including one petition by an unidentified applicant who attempted to acquire the entire “floor of Haleakalā Crater” (Maui News, 8 August 1910) (NPS)

The largest tracts were held by ranches, among them: Grove Ranch (Kaonoulu Ranch), owned by the Baldwins and later sold to Senator Harold W. Rice; Kaupo Ranch, owned by Dwight Baldwin; Ulupalakua Ranch, owned by J.I. Dowsett and then J.H. Raymond, then was purchased by the Baldwins; and Haleakalā Ranch, owned by Harry A. and Frank F. Baldwin and managed by S.A. Baldwin. (NPS)

Until 1935, the primary means of getting to Haleakalā was on horseback, and this continued to be the case for the first three decades of the twentieth century. As late as 1932, the Inter-Island Steamship Company and the Maui Chamber arranged trips on horseback to Haleakalā Crater. (NPS)

Thomas Vint described the trip by horseback that he made in 1930: “The trip is now made from the town of Wailuk[u] which contains the principle hotel on the island of Maui that caters to tourist travel …The combined auto and horse back trip to the 10,000-foot summit may be made from noon to noon from Wailuku, spending the night at the top.”

“Trips into the crater are made from the rim rest house as a base.” Vint concluded that “another rest house at the far end of the crater is needed. To see the crater properly, one should camp overnight, making a two-day trip from the present rest house.” (NPS)

Haleakalā Road (now known as Haleakalā Highway) was finally completed on November 29, 1935, and the number of visitors increased substantially, reaching 16,300 within a year. In 1938, the numbers decreased slightly to 14,156 because of a maritime and shipping strike, but continued to rise in the following years until reaching 29,935 in 1940. (NPS)

The increase in visitors was “greatly in excess of expectations…compared with the few hundreds who visited the crater before construction of the Haleakalā [R]oad (Hawaii National Park Superintendent Annual Report 1935, NPS)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began in 1937, succeeding the Emergency Conservation Work agency, which started in 1933. In 1939, the CCC became part of the Federal Security Agency. It was eliminated in 1943. (UH Mānoa)

From April 1934 until May 13, 1941, the CCC operated a “side camp” in the Haleakalā Section of the Hawaiʻi National Park; CCC participants were housed in tents and moved to where the work areas were. (NPS)

Major park improvements through the CCC program on Haleakalā included the construction of the approximately 11-mile Haleakalā Road, Haleakalā Observation Station, two Comfort Stations (public toilets) and the Checking Station and Office at the park entrance. Several trail projects were completed within the Park. (NPS)

On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th national park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park. At first, the park consisted of only the summits of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi and Haleakalā on Maui.

Eventually, Kilauea Caldera was added to the park, followed by the forests of Mauna Loa, the Kaʻū Desert, the rain forest of Olaʻa, and the Kalapana archaeological area of the Puna/Kaʻū Historic District.

On, July 1, 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Place Names, General Tagged With: Kaupo Gap, Hawaii, Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Gerrit Judd, Haleakala National Park, Kaupo, Ulupalakua, Civilian Conservation Corps, CCC

March 31, 2020 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

CCC

After a decade of national prosperity in the Roaring Twenties, Americans faced a national crisis after the Crash of 1929. The Great Depression saw an unemployment rate of more than twenty-five percent in the early 1930s. (pbs)

As a means to make work, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) succeeded the Emergency Conservation Work agency, which started in 1933. In 1939, the CCC became part of the Federal Security Agency. It was eliminated in 1943. (UH Mānoa)

The purpose of the CCC and its predecessors was to provide employment in forestry and conservation work. It “brought together two wasted resources, the young men and the land, in an effort to save both.” (NPS)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a program developed by Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal (1933) at the end of the Great Depression. During FDR’s inaugural address to Congress in 1933, he told the lawmakers in his first message on Unemployment Relief …

“I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps, to be used in simple work, not interfering with normal employment, and confining itself to forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control and similar projects.”

From FDR’s inauguration on March 4, 1933, to the induction of the first CCC enrollee, only 37 days had elapsed. The goals of the CCC according to the law were: “1) To provide employment (plus vocational training) and 2) To conserve and develop ‘the natural resources of the United States.’”

By the end of the third year, there were 2,158-CCC camps in the nation and 1,600,000-men had participated in the program. (NPS)

Although the Civilian Conservation Corps began on the US mainland in 1933, “it was not until one year later, [on] April 1, 1934, that the first units of this Corps began work here in Hawaii under the direction of the Territorial Division of Forestry”. The Civilian Conservation Corps was defined by nine Corps regions. The Territories of Alaska and Hawaiʻi were part of the Ninth Corps Area. (NPS)

The goal of the CCC was to provide young men with jobs during a time when many were unemployed, times were hard, and starvation was a concern. (NPS)

It was estimated that 8 to 10 percent of Hawaiʻi’s young men were enrolled by the Civilian Conservation Corps during its tenure from 1934 to 1942. There were CCC camps on Oʻahu, Maui, Kauai, the island of Hawaiʻi and Molokai. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, NPS)

Each CCC enrollee was paid $30 a month and was provided with food, clothing, shelter and free medical care (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 18, 1942). Of that amount, $25 dollars a month was automatically deducted and sent home to their families. (NPS)

There were five primary CCC camps built in Hawaiʻi (the CCC Compound at Kokeʻe State Park, the most intact today; what is now a YMCA camp at Keʻanae on Maui; a research facility on the Big Island; Hawaiian Homes Property with only two buildings remaining on the Big Island; and part of Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa on Oʻahu.) Other temporary campgrounds were spotted in work areas around the Islands.

Their projects were numerous and included road and building construction, erosion control, masonry, firefighting, trail maintenance, vegetation and insect control among many others. One of the main goals of the CCC was to renew the nation’s decimated forests, so lots of tree planting went on. (NPS)

Within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (then known as Hawaiʻi National Park,) as well as many other parks and forests, much of the work that the CCC did is still evident and still in use. From the research offices to the hiking trails, the CCC laid the foundations for much of the infrastructure and roads that we see and use today in the Park. (NPS)

The old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp in Kokeʻe State Park on Kauai is a complex of eleven wood frame buildings surrounding an open grassed quadrangle. These buildings were constructed in 1935 and are sheltered on three sides by koa/ʻōhia forest. (Hui O Laka/Kōkeʻe Museum use and operate within these structures, today.) The CCC at Kokeʻe provided forest management, building trails, roads and fences, as well as planting over a million trees on Kauaʻi.

In 1934, the CCC took over the Keʻanae prison camp (initially built to house prisoners who worked at building the Hāna Highway.) CCC assembled men from other parts of Maui and other islands to plant thousands of eucalyptus and other introduced trees throughout the Hāna coast. (McGregor) Eventually, in 1949, the camp was acquired by the YMCA. Part of the land area continues to be used as a roadway base yard.

The CCC took over the Territorial foresters’ camp at Keanakolu (on the side of Mauna Kea, near Humuʻula on the Big Island) and expanded it into a field camp. The camp consisted of a bunkhouse that housed as many as 40 teenage boys, a mess hall, foreman’s quarters, and other service buildings. Another foreman’s quarters was added next to the koa cabin. (Mills)

Major duties included maintenance of trails, developing the Mana/Keanakolu wagon road into an auto road (placing cobble stones to form a single-lane road,) construction of fences to keep cattle and sheep out of the forest, and the planting of a variety of forest and fruit trees.

In all, over 20-varieties of pear, 25-varieties of plum and 60-varieties of apple were planted. (Mills) By the 1940s, the CCC camp at Keanakolu was converted into a field station for territorial rangers and is now used by DLNR.

From April 1934 until May 13, 1941, the CCC operated a “side camp” in the Haleakalā Section of the Hawaiʻi National Park; CCC participants were housed in tents and moved to where the work areas were. (NPS)

Major park improvements through the CCC program on Haleakalā included the construction of the approximately 11-mile Haleakalā Road, Haleakalā Observation Station, two Comfort Stations (public toilets) and the Checking Station and Office at the park entrance. Several trail projects were completed within the Park. (NPS)

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CCC camp in Haleakala Crater-(NPS)-1933-1941
CCC at Hawaii Volcanoes Park
Civilian Conservation Corps Enrollers Marching In The Kamehameha Day Parade In Hilo-195455pv-1934
Construction Work, Rock-Lined Ditch, Desert Hill. Hawaii Volcanoes-195457pv-1934
Camp_Keanae-(Starr)
CCC enrollees working in the field. NPS Photo-Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park archives
Halemauu_Trail-Haleakala
Franklin Delano Roosevelt At The Rim Of Halemaumau Crafter-1934
CCC workers in Haleakala Crater-(NPS)-1933-1941
CCC builds stone walls along Crater Rim Drive-(NPS)-March 1934
CCC enrollees standing at attention. NPS Photo-Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park archives
Kamehameha Day Parade in Hilo, 1934. NPS Photo-Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park archives
Camp_Keanae
Camp_Keanae-sign
Camp_Keanae-YMCA
CCC_pillow
Kauai-Kokee-CCC-camp-(NPS)-1930s
DSC09284
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Keanae-YMCA-Camp-former_CCC-location-map
Keanae-YMCA-Camp-former_CCC
Prior_CCC_Camp-now-DLNR's-Facilities-Mauna_Kea_Keanakolu-Hawaii
One of the many legacies built by the CCC boys, Kīlauea Visitor Center today-NPS
Prior_CCC_Camp-now-DLNR's-Facilities-Mauna_Kea-Hawaii-(typical_day)
Prior_CCC_Camp-now-DLNR's-Facilities-Mauna_Kea-Hawaii
Prior_CCC_Camp-now-DLNR's-Facilities-Mauna_Kea-Keanakolu-Hawaii
Prior_CCC_Camp-now-Kokee_State_Park-Kauai-(red_roofs)
Prior_CCC_Camp-now-YMCA_Camp_Keanae-Maui-(lower_left)
Hawaii_Volcanoes_National_Park-Roads-summary
Kauai-Kokee-CCC-camp-from_original_drawings-(NPS)-1930s
Kauai-Kokee-CCC-camp-location-map(NPS)
kokee-ccc-camp-map
Kokee-State-Park-Trail-Map
Overview of Crater Rim Drive - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Overview of Hilina Pali Road - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Overview of Mauna Loa Road - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Haleakala_Park-map

Filed Under: General, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Big Island, Keanae, Civilian Conservation Corps, Keanakolu, Kokee, Hawaii, Oahu, Haleakala, Maui

March 15, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Buffalo Soldiers

Before the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, stationed at Schofield Barracks on Oʻahu (formed in 1941,) for a while during the time of World War I (1913 – 1918) Hawaiʻi had the Army’s 25th Infantry Regiment.

The Division is known as the “Tropic Lightning;” the Regiment was known as the “Buffalo Soldiers.”

In 1866, Congress created six segregated regiments which were soon consolidated into four black regiments. They were the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry.

“The officers say that the negroes make good soldiers and fight like fiends … the Indians call them ‘buffalo soldiers’ because their woolly heads are so much like the matted cushion that is between the horns of the buffalo.” (Roe, Army Letters from an Officer’s Wife, 1871-1888)

Although African Americans have fought in America’s wars since the Revolution, they weren’t allowed to enlist in the Regular Army until after the Civil War (and, from July 28, 1866 – February 3, 1946, America’s Army was segregated.)

While the Buffalo Soldiers fought in the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars at the turn of the century, they did not see combat in World War I (1914 – 1918.)

At the time, the National Park Service did not exist, however a few National parks had been created: Yellowstone (1872,) Sequoia (1890,) Yosemite (1890,) Mount Rainier (1899,) Crater Lake, 1902,) Wind Cave, (1903,) Mesa Verde (1906,) Glacier (101) and Rocky Mountain (1910.)

Rather than fight, the Buffalo Soldiers and other Army regiments were assigned to duties at some National Parks.

The US Army served as the official administrator of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks between 1891 and 1913; Buffalo Soldiers, like their white counterparts in US Army regiments, were among the first Park Rangers, and created a model for park management as we know it today.  (NPS)

In addition to bringing law and order to the mountain wilderness, their accomplishments included the completion of the first usable road into Giant Forest and the first trail to the top of Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the contiguous United States) in Sequoia National Park in 1903 …

… and the building of an arboretum in Yosemite National Park near the south fork of the Merced River in 1904. One scholar considered the latter area to contain the first marked nature trail in the national park system.  (NPS)

Starting in 1906, George Lycurgus (operator of the Volcano House) and newspaperman Lorrin Andrews Thurston were working to have the Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes area made into a National Park.  In 1912, geologist Thomas Augustus Jaggar arrived to investigate and joined their effort.

Jaggar had tried to lead several expeditions to the top of Mauna Loa in 1914 but was unsuccessful due to the elevation (13,678 feet) and the harsh conditions: rough lava, violent winds, noxious fumes, shifting weather, extreme temperatures and a lack of shelter, water and food.  (Takara)

About 800 Buffalo Soldiers from the 25th Regiment had been assigned to garrison duty in Hawaiʻi at Schofield Barracks.  Given their experience in Parks on the continent, some of the soldiers were called upon to assist at the volcanoes on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

In September 1915, Jaggar, Thurston and a US Army representative conducted a survey to determine a route for a trail up Mauna Loa.

The following month, a local paper noted, “Soldiers Building Mountain Trail.  Negro soldiers of the Twenty-fifth Infantry to the number of 150 are at work constructing a trail from near the Volcano House to the summit of Mauna Loa. It is estimated that three or four weeks will be devoted to this work. The soldiers are doing the work as a part of their vacation exercises.”  (Maui News, October 29, 1915)

The Buffalo Soldiers built the 18-mile trail to the summit of Mauna Loa.

On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th National Park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park.  At first, the park consisted of only the summits of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi and Haleakalā on Maui.

Eventually, Kilauea Caldera was added to the park, followed by the forests of Mauna Loa, the Kaʻū Desert, the rain forest of Olaʻa and the Kalapana archaeological area of the Puna/Kaʻū Historic District.

The National Park Service, within the federal Department of Interior, was created on August 25, 1916 by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act.

The experience of working with the Army did not end with the construction of the Mauna Loa Trail, and Thurston’s energy did not seem to wane. He continued to promote the Kīlauea area to the public and the military who he thought could benefit from, and would be a benefit to Kīlauea.  (NPS)

In 1916, Thurston, recognizing the long tradition of soldiers and sailors who had visited the area, proposed the establishment of a military camp at Kīlauea. Thurston promoted his idea and was able to raise enough funds through public subscription for the construction of buildings and other improvements.  By the fall of 1916 the first group of soldiers arrived at Kīlauea Military Camp (KMC.)  (NPS)

Later, in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built research offices, hiking trails and laid the foundations for much of the infrastructure and roads within the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes and other parks across the country.

On, July 1, 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Oh, one more thing … another lasting legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers to the National Parks is the Ranger Hat (popularly known as the Smokey the Bear Hat) – with it the Montana Peak (or pinch) at the top of the hat; a recrease of the Stetson hat to better shed water when it rains.

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Buffalo Soldiers-marching
24th U.S. Infantry at drill, Camp Walker, Philippine Islands
25th Infantry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia
25th Infantry Regiment enroute to Philippines July 1 1899
25th_Infantry_Regiment-Buffalo_Soldiers-while-stationed_in_Montana-1890
Buffalo Soldiers in Mariposa Grove Yosemite-(NPS)-1905
Buffalo Soldiers-National Parks-hat
Buffalo_Soldiers_in_Cuba
Buffalo_Soldiers-Spanish_American_War
yosemite-buffalo-soldiers
CCC at Hawaii Volcanoes Park
CCC builds stone walls along Crater Rim Drive-(NPS)-March 1934
Former National Park Service director Mary Bomar with her Ranger Hat
Kilauea Military Camp-(NPS)-1923
Kilauea Military Camp-(NPS)-1923
Mauna_Loa_Trail-Red_Hill
Puu_Ulaula-Red Hill Cabin
Puu_Ulaula-Red_Hill Cabin
Red Hill Cabin
Red_Hill_Cabin-(NPS)-1935
Volcano_House-(NPS)-1860
Volcano_House-1912
Thomas Jaggar (second from left) L2R Norton Twigg-Smith, Thomas Jaggar, Lorrin Thurston, Joe Monez, and Alex Lancaster-(USGS)-1916
Jack_White_(nephew)_as_Smokey-(he_spent_summer_fighting_fires)-with_niece_Molly_White
George_Lycurgus-1892
Lorrin_A._Thurston,_1916

Filed Under: General, Economy Tagged With: Kilauea Military Camp, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Lorrin Thurston, George Lycurgus, Army, Buffalo Soldiers, Civilian Conservation Corps, 25th Infantry, Hawaii National Park, Hawaii, Thomas Jaggar

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