Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Māla Wharf

“(T)he citizens of Maui in particular, and of the Territory or Hawaiʻi in general, as well as many strangers who, in the past, have visited Maui, up to the present time have been required to submit to the most unsatisfactory, antiquated, and often dangerous methods of landing”.

“After years of patient and persistent effort on the part of the citizens of this Island there has been constructed and brought to completion at Māla , one of the most modern and up to date wharves”. (Maui Chamber Resolution 1922)

Māla Pier, dedicated in 1922, planned to eliminate the inconvenience of light freighters to load/unload steamers anchored in Lāhainā Roadstead.

The Maui Chamber of Commerce went on record as strongly opposed to the use at Māla Wharf of small boats from and to the steamers Mauna Kea and Kilauea.

Nearby was the Baldwin Packers pineapple cannery, it was hoped that this new pier would facilitate transporting the pineapple.

Likewise, sugar from the upslope Pioneer Mill was expected to be run out the wharf to be loaded directly onto large ocean voyaging cargo vessels.

Building the massive wharf in those days was no minor undertaking and the army corps of engineers developed the design and erected the wharf.

It was noted at the time that Hawaiians familiar with the local tides, coastline and ocean activity recommended against its construction in that location.

The ill-fated structure was built anyway and on the very first attempt to pull a cargo ship alongside the wharf for loading the vessel crashed into Māla Wharf causing serious damage to the structure.

It was soon discovered that the ocean currents at Māla Wharf were too treacherous for the ships to navigate safely.

Strong currents and heavy surf damaged many others when they tried to tie-up there. (Reportedly, only a handful of steamers ever landed there successfully.)

Produce had to be taken by barge to awaiting ships. By 1932, the roads had been improved enough to transport the fruit by truck to Kahului Harbor.

The State closed the wharf in the 1950s. Several subsequent plans have been discussed to the pier and adjoining lands.

In 1971, proposals by the Xanadu Corp to construct a restaurant, museum, shops, offices, park, parking lot and small marina at the site were announced. (Lahaina Sun)

Initial plans called for a 193-space parking lot situated at the Kaʻānapali side of the foot of the pier. A park was planned between the parking lot and the shoreline which would block the parking area from sight while on the pier. (Lahaina Sun)

Four buildings, housing 18 shops and 10 offices would be staggered on alternate sides of the pier. Park and fishing areas would be located between the buildings. Some of the shops would be cantilevered over the water. (Lahaina Sun)

The bulk of the four buildings would be one story, with two sections of each building rising another story. Near the end of the pier, a bait and tackle shop is planned. Plans also call for construction of a one-story Hawaiiana Museum. (Lahaina Sun)

At the pier’s end would be a two-story restaurant which could seat 200. Behind the restaurant would be an art gallery. Plans also include a 40-ship marina. The marina would be situated close to shore and would require dredging operations. (Lahaina Sun)

In 2012, principals of Harbor Quest LLC discussed plans for another boat harbor at Māla.

Their testimony before the council described the details: “A channel approximately 650 feet long and 125 (feet) in width would be constructed through what is now Māla Wharf access road. The channel would transect Front Street, opening into a harbor basin with a surface area approximately three times the size of Lahaina Small Board Harbor.” (Lahaina News)

The vision is for a mixed-use, inland harbor village situated on 24-plus acres of land on the south side of Kahoma Stream between the ocean and Honoapiilani Highway. (Lahaina News)

The proposed plans for the private venture are still on the drawing board but include 143 fifty-foot slips, three anchor restaurants, 160 retail establishments, 16 residential condominiums, haul-out facility and a four-story parking garage. (Lahaina News)

Nearby, Kahoma Village, an affordable workforce housing project was recently constructed. However, the Hawaii State Supreme Court upheld a decision by a lower court invalidating a permit for Kahoma Village.

The Supreme Court agreed with the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals that the Maui Planning Commission should have allowed a group of neighboring residents to intervene on Kahoma Village, a 203-unit, $60 million fast-track affordable housing project that was approved in 2014.

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Hawai‘i Island Cession to Britain

“Tamaahmaah was exceedingly well pleased, and thankful for our exertions; (Vancouver was building him a ship) and it was extremely gratifying to my feelings to reflect, that such valuable opportunities should have offered for bestowing this gratification upon the king, and many essential benefits upon his people …”

“… all of whom were now well convinced, that these superior advantages were only to be obtained by the constant exercise of the same honesty and civility by which these had been secured to them on the present occasion.”

“Very little doubt can be entertained of the exalted pleasure Tamaahmaah would enjoy in the attainment, by honorable means, of so desirable an object as his new schooner…”

“On the evening of Sunday the 23d, agreeably to my promise, I accompanied Tamaahmaah to the morai, and submitted to all the forms, regulations, and restriction of the taboo. … “

“I was not on this, as on the former occasion, purely an idle spectator; but was in some degree one of the actors. Whilst in the morning the principal ceremonies and prayers were performing, I was called upon to give my opinion on several matters that were agitated at one time by the king, and at others by the principal priests.”

“Amongst these was the propriety of their remaining at peace, or making war against the other islands? The session of the island; and if, by that voluntary measure, they would be considered as the of Great Britain?”

“Under this impression, in what manner ought they to conduct themselves towards all strangers, as well those who might visit them from civilized nations, as the inhabitants of the neighbouring islands?”

“With these, and some, other questions of less importance, I was very seriously interrogated; and I made such answers to each as was consistent with my own situation, and, as I considered, were most likely to tend in future to their happiness and tranquillity. …”

“In the forenoon of Tuesday the 25th, the king and queen accompanied by Terry-my-tee, the king’s brother; Crymamahow, half brother to the king, and chief of the district of Amakooa; Kahowmoto, chief of the district of Poona, Tamaahmotoo, chief of the district of Koarra, Trywhookee, half brother of the king, and the most faithful protector and purveyor at the encampment …”

“… all assembled on board the Discovery , for the purpose of formally ceding and surrendering the island of Owhyhee to me for his Britannic Majesty, his heirs and successors; there were present on this occasion besides myself, Mr Puget, and all the officers of the Discovery.”

“Tamaahmaahl opened the business in a speech, which he delivered with great moderation and equal firmness. He explained the reasons that had induced him to offer the island to the protection of Great Britain; and recounted the numerous advantages that himself, the chiefs, and the people, were likely to derive by the surrender they were about to make.”

“He enumerated the several nations that since Captain Cook’s discovery of these islands had occasionally resorted hither, each of which was too powerful for them to resist; and as these visitors had come more frequently to their shores, and their numbers seemed to increase …”

“… he considered that the inhabitants would be liable to more ill treatment, and still greater impositions than they had yet endured, unless they could be protected against such wrongs by some one of the civilized powers with whose people they had become acquainted …”

“… that at present they were completely independent, under no sort of engagement whatever, and were free to make choice of that state which in their opinion was most likely by its attention to their security and interests , to answer the purpose for which the proposed surrender was intended.”

“For his own part he did not hesitate to declare his preference he entertained for the king of Great Britain, to whom he was ready to acknowledge his submission; and demanded to know who had any objection to follow his example. This produced an harangue from each of the five3 chiefs, all of whom had some ideas to offer on this important subject.”

“The warlike spirit and ambitious views of Kahowmotoo had long taught him to indulge the flattering hope, that on fame future day he should be enabled to acquire the sovereignty of Mowee.”

“This prompted him to state in a spirited and manly speech, that on their becoming connected and attached to so powerful a nation, they ought no longer to suffer the indignities which had been offered to their island, Owhyhee, by the people of Mowee …”

“…he also candidly enumerated the offences that Mowee had justly to complain of in return; but as there bore no proportion to her aggressions, he contended that she ought to be chastised, and that when a force for their protection should be obtained from England, the first object of its employment ought to be the conquest of Mowee …”

“… after which the care of its government should be intrusted to some respectable chief, whose interest and inclination could be depended upon a being friendly towards Owhyhee.”

“Kavaheeroo, a chief of very different disposition, content with the station he filled, and the comforts he enjoyed with pleasure to the consequences that were likely to result from the adoption of the measure proposed …”

“… having no doubt of its tending to their future safety and protection, which had now become highly expedient in some way to effect, and of its being the means of producing a general pacification with their relations and friends, as he termed them, on the islands.”

“Tianna, after agreeing with Kahowmotoo, that Mowee ought to be chastised; and with Kavaheeroo, in the necessity of Owhyhee being protected; proposed that some persons, duly authorized for that purpose, should reside on shore by way of guards, and stated that a vessel or two would be requisite to defend them by sea.”

“He very judiciously observed further, that so great a similarity existed between the people of the four nations with whom they were already acquainted, but more particularly so between English and the Americans …”

“… that in the event of their present surrender being accepted, and of a vessel being sent out for their protection, they should be doubtful as to the reality of such persons coming from England …”

“… unless some of the officers then present, or some of those board the vessels with whom they were acquainted, and who they were convinced did belong to King George, should return to Owhyhee with the succours required.”

“This appeared to him a measure of [so much consequence that it could not be dispensed with, for otherwise, any of the distant nations, knowing they had ceded the island to the English government, might send to them ships and men whom they had never before seen …”

“… and who, by asserting they had come from England and belonged to King George, would deceive them into the obedience of a people against whom they should afterwards most probably revolt.”

“These were the prominent features in the several speeches made on the occasion: in every one of which their religion, government, and domestic economy was noticed …”

“… and it was clearly understood, that no interference was to take place in either; that Tamaahmaah, the chiefs and priests, were to continue as usual to officiate with the same authority as before in their respective stations, and that no alteration in those particulars was in any degree thought of or intended.”

“These preliminaries being fully discussed, and thoroughly understood on both sides, the king repeated his former proposition, which was now unanimously approved of, and the whole party declared their consent by saying …”

“… that they were no longer Tanata no Owhyhee, (i.e.) the people of Owhyhee; but Tanata no Britannee, (i.e.) the people of Britain. This was instantly made known to the surrounding crowd in their numerous canoes about the vessels, and the same expressions were cheerfully repeated throughout the attending multitude.”

“Mr. Puget, accompanied by some of the officers, immediately went on shore; there displayed the British colours, and took possession of the island in his Majesty’s name, in conformity to the inclination and desire of Tamaahmaah and his subjects.”

“On this ceremony being finished, a salute was fired from the vessels, after which the following inscription on copper was deposited in a very conspicuous place at the royal residence.”

“‘On the 25th of February, 1794, Tamaahmaah king of Owhyhee, in council with the principal chiefs of the island, assembled on board his Britannie Majesty’s sIoop Discovery in Karakakooa bay, and in the presence of George Vancouver, commander of the said sloop …’”

“‘… Lieutenant Peter Puget, commander of his said Majesty’s armed tender the Chatham; and the other officers of the Discovery; after due consideration, unanimously ceded the said island of Owhyhee to his Britannic Majesty, and acknowledged themselves to the subjects of Great Britain.’” (Vancouver Journal)

According to Kekūanāo’a, Boki stated that Kamehameha stated to Vancouver, “go back and tell King George to watch over me and my whole kingdom.”

“I acknowledge him as my landlord and myself as tenant, (or him as superior and I as inferior.) Should the foreigners of any other nation come to take possession of my lands, then let him help me.” (Kekūanāo‘a in Report of the Foreign Minister, 1855)

While Kamehameha and his chiefs became willing to acknowledge King George as their suzerain, in expectation of his defending them against foreign and outside foes, they expressly reserved to themselves the autonomous government of their island in their own way and according to such laws as they themselves might impose.”

“It is not evident that Vancouver did or could hold out to the Hawaii chiefs anything more than the probability of such protection, the cession, from even his point of view, requiring the acceptance and ratification of the English Government, which it never received. “

“That Kamehameha and his chiefs did not understand the full meaning of the word cession is plain from the reservations which they made.”

“As it was, the so-called cession of the island of Hawaii was no doubt entered into by Vancouver with the very best intentions for the protection and advancement of the Hawaiians …”

“… and by Kamehameha and his chiefs with undisguised expectations of receiving material aid in their wars with Kahehili and Kaeo, and of certain commercial advantages not very well defined.”

“The cession, however, was never accepted or ratified by the English Government, and no steps were taken by emigration or colonisation to make good use of the friendly disposition of the chiefs, and to secure by stronger ties the suzerainty thus loosely acquired.” (Fornander)

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by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Three Contemporary Leaders

While not the three amigos, these were three concurrent warriors and leaders of their respective parts of the planet – Kamehameha, Washington and Napoleon.

Each came into prominence through war and each left a mark in history in civil governance.

Kamehameha I (ca. 1758 – May 8, 1819)

Kamehameha was initially known as Paiʻea, which means “hard-shelled crab;” Kamehameha means “The Lonely One.”

Raised in the royal court of his uncle, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Kamehameha achieved prominence in 1782, upon Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death.

While the kingship was inherited by Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s son Kiwalaʻo, Kamehameha was given the prominent position of guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.

In 1785, Kamehameha married Ka‘ahumanu, the daughter of one of his most trusted advisors. In 1790, he attained control of Hawai‘i Island, then he successfully invaded the Islands of Maui, Lāna‘i, Moloka‘i and O‘ahu, by 1795.

Ultimately, in 1810, Kauai‘i’s Kaumuali‘i decided to peacefully yield and unite with Kamehameha and join the rest of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

Kamehameha instituted the Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the Law of the Splintered Paddle. The law, “Let every elderly person, woman and child lie by the roadside in safety,” is enshrined in the state constitution, Article 9, Section 10, and has become a model for modern human rights law regarding the treatment of civilians and other non-combatants.

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)

The first president of the United States, George Washington, serving from 1789 to 1797, is often referred to as the Father of Our Country.

He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783.

After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to the emerging American political ideology of republicanism. Washington was elected as the first president in 1789, and re-elected 1792.

Dissatisfied with the weaknesses of Articles of Confederation, in 1787, Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution.

Napoleon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821)

Napoleon was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.

As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. He is remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars.

His legal reform, the Napoleonic Code (with enhanced civil rights, property rights and class privileges were extinguished,) has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide.

After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe and Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of extensive alliances. Ultimately, in June 1815, Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo; he spent the last six years of his life in confinement by the British.

I find it interesting to see what these three notable leaders were doing at the same time in disparate and unconnected parts of the world.

I don’t know about you, but I am curious and fascinated in looking at similar timeframes and comparing histories of different parts of the world.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Unbreakable Code

When US military codes kept being broken by the Germans in WWI a Native American tribe came to the rescue. They just spoke their own language – which baffled the enemy.

In the autumn of 1918, US troops were involved in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive on the Western Front. It was one of the largest frontline commitments of American soldiers in WW1, but communications in the field were compromised.

The Germans had successfully tapped telephone lines, were deciphering codes and repeatedly capturing runners sent out to deliver messages directly.

The solution was stumbled upon by chance, an overheard conversation between two Choctaw soldiers in the 142nd Infantry Regiment. The pair were chatting in camp when a captain walked by and asked what language they were speaking.

Realizing the potential for communication, he then asked if there were other speakers among the troops. The men knew of Choctaw soldiers at company headquarters.

Using a field telephone the captain got the men to deliver a message in their native tongue which their colleagues quickly translated back into English. The Choctaw Telephone Squad was born and so was code talking. (BBC)

Every WWII combatant appreciated the need for an unbreakable code that would help them communicate while protecting their operational plans. The US Marines knew where to find one: the Navajo Nation. (US National Intelligence)

Philip Johnston was the initiator of the Marine Corps’ program to enlist and train the Navajos as messengers. Although Johnston was not a Navajo, he grew up on a Navajo reservation as the son of a missionary and became familiar with the people and their language.

Johnston was also a World War I veteran and knew about the military’s desire to send and receive messages in an unbreakable code. (National Archives)

Johnston assembled four Navajos and on February 28, 1942, they assisted Johnston in demonstrating his idea. Prior to the demonstration, General Vogel had installed a telephone connection between two offices and wrote out six messages that were typical of those sent during combat.

One of those messages read “Enemy expected to make tank and dive bomber attack at dawn.” The Navajo managed to transmit the message almost verbatim: “Enemy tank dive bomber expected to attack this morning.” (National Archives)

Marine Corps leadership selected 29 Navajo men, the Navajo Code Talkers, who created a code based on the complex, unwritten Navajo language. (US National Intelligence)

The code primarily used word association by assigning a Navajo word to key phrases and military tactics. This system enabled the Code Talkers to translate three lines of English in 20 seconds, not 30 minutes as was common with existing code-breaking machines.

This code consisted of words, most of which were Navajo terms that had been imbued with new, distinctly military meanings in order to compensate for the lack of military terminology in the Navajo vocabulary.

The tribal languages didn’t have their own words for modern concepts such as “tanks”, “machine guns”, “battleships”, “radar”, and so on. It was at Camp Elliott that the initial recruits, along with communications personnel, designed the first Navajo code.

Instead of using the English terms, which would have rendered the “code” almost useless, the code-talkers invented their own terms for such things, for example using the Navaho words for “iron fish” for a submarine, “hummingbird” for a fighter plane, “eggs” for bombs, and so on. Apparently the Choctaw code-talkers had come up with a similar scheme during the WWI.

At first, the list of Navaho codewords had 274 entries, though this was later expanded to 508. For terms with no Navaho equivalent that weren’t covered in the list, a “phonetic alphabet” was devised, using the Navaho equivalents of English words whose first letters spelled out the phrase: “Ant” for “A”, “Bear” for “B”, “Cat” for “C”, and so on.

For example, “fighter plane” was called “da-ha-tih-hi,” which means “humming bird” in Navajo, and “dive bomber” was called “gini,” which means “chicken hawk.”

In addition, the code talkers also designed a system that signified the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet. For example, the letter A was “wol-la-chee,” which means “ant” in Navajo, and the letter E was “dzeh,” which means “elk.” Words that were not included in the 211 terms were spelled out using the alphabet. (National Archives) Some training occurred in Hawai‘i.

The first Navaho “code-talkers” went ashore with the Marines at Guadalcanal in August 1942.

The Navajo Code Talkers participated in all assaults the U.S. Marines led in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945, including Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu and Iwo Jima.

During the nearly month-long battle for Iwo Jima (February 19 – March 26, 1945), for example, six Navajo Code Talker Marines successfully transmitted more than 800 messages without error. Marine leadership noted after the battle that the Code Talkers were critical to the victory at Iwo Jima. (US National Intelligence)

No code-talker transmission was ever cracked, and in fact, during the evaluations Marine cryptologists said they couldn’t even transcribe the language, much less figure out what was being said.

It is estimated that between 375 to 420 Navajos served as code talkers. The Navajo code talker program was highly classified throughout the war and remained so until 1968.

Returning home on buses without parades or fanfare and sworn to secrecy about the existence of the code, the Navajo code talkers are only recently making their way into popular culture and mainstream American history.

The “Honoring the Code Talkers Act,” introduced by Senator Jeff Bingaman from New Mexico in April 2000, and signed into law December 21, 2000, called for the recognition of the Navajo code talkers.

During a ceremony at the US Capitol on July 26, 2001, the first 29 soldiers received the Congressional Gold Medal. The Congressional Silver Medal was presented to the remaining Navajos who later qualified to be code talkers. (National Archives)

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Lord Mayor of London

“Ship traps” describes a phenomenon where northern and southern swells, strong channel currents, strong consistent trade winds and fringing reefs force unsuspecting vessels into areas of harm – resulting in concentrated shipwrecks.

The north shore of the Island of Lānaʻi, locally referred to as “Shipwreck Beach,” is the best example of this phenomenon. Here, the channel acts as a funnel, depositing material directly onto Shipwreck Beach.

Any vessel that broke its moorings at Lāhainā would end up there; sometimes ship owners intentionally abandoned worn-out vessels there by simply casting them adrift upwind from the treacherous shore. (Naval Historical Center)

The first reported wreck occurred in 1824 when a British vessel named the Alderman Wood ran into the reef there.  It was said to be carrying a “cargo of liquors” and “became a total wreck.” (PCA, Nov. 16. 1905)

Well, maybe the liquor was lost, but the ship’s figurehead was saved …

“At first glance the figure-head presents a ludicrous picture, for upon the head has been nailed an old derby hat, entirely out of joint and time with the figure-head, which wears carved clothing of the kind prevailing in the latter part of the eighteenth century.”

“From between the wooden lips of this odd statue, once the proud monument of a time British ship’s prow, projects a cheap corn-cob pipe, placed there by a waterfront wag.”

“But a closer view shows that the figure-head must possess a history.  No figure-head of this type has adorned a ship in the nineteenth century.”

“It belonged to century when the United States was young, when George Washington was the President, and the Hawaiian Islands little known, except that some years before Captain Cook had been slain on one of them.”

“The figurehead wears a long cape, caught over the breast with a buckle.  Around the neck is a chain, hanging from this against the breast is what appears to be a large medal, but which really was the symbol of one of the highest offices in England – that of Lord Mayor of London.”

“Some time in the 20’s the British ship Alderman Wood was wrecked on the island of [Lanai]. The news was brought to Honolulu and James Robinson, father of Mark P Robinson, then head of the firm of James Robinson & Co, ship chandlers and carpenters went to Molokai to save what he could of the ship.”

“She was filled with beautiful mirrors, and was in those days reckoned a magnificent type of the merchant ships built by the British. The captain made a present of the figure-head to Mr. Robinson and he brought it to Honolulu.”

“When the new warehouse was built in the beginning of the ‘30’s, below what is now Queen street, Mr Robinson raised the figure-head up and placed it on the pulley beam as a pedestal, and there it has remained through all the vicissitudes of the elements for nearly three quarters of a century.”

“Often a workman is sent up on the building with putty, nails and pieces of wood to repair the figure-head.”

“The ship Alderman Wood was named after its owner, who was a London alderman in the latter part of the eighteenth century and Mark Robinson is of the opinion that he also became Lord Mayor of London.”

“The wooden statue evidently shows the owner in his mantle of office, either as alderman or Lord Mayor The old warehouse, too, has a history.”

“It is one of the oldest in Honolulu, and the loft was considered very large in the days when it was built and Honolulu was in its Infancy. It was a sail loft and used for general ship chandler work.”

“When Admiral Thomas, the British naval officer, restored the Hawaiian Kingdom its independence and flag in July, 1843, having been unlawfully deprived of both by the British some time previous …”

“… a grand ball was given to celebrate the event, and the sail loft of the Robinson warehouse was the place where the ball was given.  It was grand affair, attended by the elite of the city, including royal personages.”

“The old figure-head was then in position. The doors immediately below the beam and figure-head … open out from this old time ball room, now used as a storage loft.” (PCA, Feb 8, 1903)

Thrum noted that in 1911 as a “Disappearing Landmark”, “The old Robinson warehouse with its seaward-end adornment of the figure-head of Alderman Wood, from an English ship of that name which was wrecked on the Island of Lanai in 1824 …”

“… and has, as it were, welcomed the incoming and sped the outgoing shipping of Honolulu ever since the erection of the building a few years later, has fallen in decay.”

“The appearance of our waterfront will seem unnatural to many frequenters of the port who will miss the old familiar figure and once prominent building.”  (Thrum, 1912) It is not known where the figurehead is now.

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