Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pipe Line

An image posted on the ‘History of Hawaii Island (The Big Island) in photos’ Facebook page caught my eye. It is an aerial image of a portion of Hilo Bay from NARA (National Archives and Records Administration).

It showed and was labeled ‘Pipe Line, Hilo Harbor, Hawaii, TH, 6 August 1935’. It looked like a pier going out into the bay coming off of Downtown Hilo. I had never seen this before on any images or maps, and certainly did not know what it was.

The land-based connection of the pier was at the northern end of Kaipalaoa (also known as Mokupane and Isabel Point). I had just researched that area of Hilo and there was never any mention of a pier, nor any mapping or photos of it … until now.

Looking at nautical charts, the ‘pier’ extended from the fringing, shallower part of the Bay to the drop-off. Initial thoughts suggested the ‘pipe line’ may mean it was a fueling line (that offshore ships could refuel or it could be a place for ships to offload fuel for the city).

(Somewhat supporting this idea, starting in 1917, Hilo Gas had a manufacturing facility nearby on Ponahawai Street that produced liquid gas from crude oil for local industrial, lighting, and cooking needs.  By 1935, the facility could produce 120,000 cubic feet of gas in eight hours.  (The plant was destroyed by the May 22, 1960 tsunami.) (Weston))

After further review, it was clear the fuel alternatives – either supplying ships or off-loading from ships – were not viable (there was no land-based evidence of fuel storage in the vicinity).

Then, the prospect of something relating to wastewater disposal came up. Initially, a subtle reference to ‘Sewage Sys’ (and very small square near the railroad track) on the land was noted on a map.

Further investigation led to more information about the ‘pier’ and ‘pipe line’ led to the conclusion that the ‘pier’ in the image was associated with sewer improvements in Hilo.

The word “Sewer” is derived from the term “seaward” in Old English, as in ditches and ravines slightly sloped to run waste water from land to sea.

From an 1857 story in the Commercial Pacific Advertiser it appears that the first sewer facility to be constructed on Oʻahu was a storm drain located at Queen Street at the foot of Kaʻahumanu Street opposite Pier 11.  (ASCE)

Despite three outbreaks of smallpox, a typhus epidemic and two cholera epidemics between 1853 and 1895, no other serious actions were taken to improve conditions.

In Hilo, “The old system built in 1905 together with minor improvements and extensions up to 1933 was serving only 2.6 per cent of the city within the old limits (9 square miles) and 0.6 per cent within the new limits (43 square miles).”

“With the increase in population and extension of the city limits in Hilo, the old sewer system was found to be inadequate to meet the growth and expansion.”

“The low areas in the lands of Ponahawai, Waiolama, Waiakea and Kapiolani drained their sewage into the Waiolama canal, Wailoa river and the Kalepolepo and Mohouli ponds.”

“Twenty or more years of house wastes being discharged into these waterways made them dangerous open sewers. The bay areas were simultaneously greatly polluted by the discharges from these two sources.”

“Formal application for a direct grant and loan for the immediate sewerage works program for the city was made on October 19, 1933”. (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Sept 13, 1936)

On January 1, 1935, the Star Bulletin reported, “Hawaii received more than $18,000,000 in federal government’s ‘spending program’ for public works”.

With respect to the County of Hawaii, one of those projects was “A sewer system for the city of Hilo, consisting of an 1,800 foot outfall into Hilo bay, three pumping stations and the required interceptor and laterals.” (SB, Jan 1, 1935)

“The first unit consisting of a pipe 24 in. in diameter, will start near the present outfall and carry along Shipman St, then over Keawe and up Furneaux St, across three blocks midway between Kilauea and Kinoole streets, and back along Kilauea St, as far as the junction at Hualalai.”

“The purpose of this pipe will be to ‘intercept’ all the mains above coming down toward the bay; and acting as a trunk line, convey the pump-in sewage out into the bay 2,000 feet to a new outfall by force of gravity.”  (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Nov 16, 1933)

Then, information on the outfall pipeline and ‘pier,’ “Contractor EE Black, who is in charge of Job 870, outfall unit, is now working his men on a 21-hour shift. The men worked until 3 am today in constructing trussels for a distance of 1800 feet into the bay. “

“This is preparatory work for the excavating of trench and laying of 24-inch cast iron pipes.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, April 4, 1935) On September 4, 1935, the project engineer announced that the outfall was complete.

“The outfall sewer job is well-constructed, and is functioning very well … There was no sign of sewage coming to the surface.” (HTH, Sep 4, 1935)

The Hilo Chamber of Commerce recently suggested that a buoy be put up over the outfall terminal in order to prevent ships from anchoring in its vicinity.” (HTH, Oct 3, 1935)  A red buoy was placed the next month. (HTH. Nov 27, 1935)

So, the 1935 ‘Pipe Line’ image shows the brief installation and use of the ‘pier’ above the waterline, while the contractor trenched, then laid, the new sewer outfall.  There are no identifiable remnants of that ‘trussel’ structure.  There is a remnant of pumping station on the makai side of the highway, just before you get to the Wailuku River – it was completed March 13, 1936.

© 2024 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

DLNR’s Roles at the Ala Wai

During the 1920s, the Waikīkī landscape would be transformed when the construction of the Ala Wai Drainage Canal, begun in 1921 and completed in 1928, resulted in the draining and filling in of the remaining ponds and irrigated fields of Waikīkī.

“Over the decades, all sorts of pollution – pesticides, heavy metals, sediments and even raw sewage –  has flowed into the canal. As Honolulu’s upstream population mushroomed, contamination in the canal has steadily increased …”

“… and over the years levels of pollution have tested well above limits considered safe. One local man died from bacterial infections he picked up after falling in the water.” (Civil Beat)

One role DLNR plays is dealing with the trash that floats down the respective drainage ditches up mauka that make their way into the Ala Wai.

Ala Wai small boat harbor is particularly prone to collecting trash that heavy rains, such as has been experienced this summer, wash down from watershed areas of Manoa, Makiki and Palolo streams.

Trash then flows down the Ala Wai canal, where a portion is captured in a debris trap, or amid the harbor front row piers and boats that is visible to the public.

“The trap utilizes a floating boom on the makai side of the bridge span next to Ala Wai Marine boatyard that captures tons of refuse after every rainstorm. But, like any trap, once it’s filled it must be emptied before it can function again.” (Pendleton)

DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) is responsible for removing this mess from the traps. (DLNR) The trap is normally cleaned three to four times a year. The expense is paid through the Boating Special Fund (paid by boaters), not from General Funds from tax revenues.

That responsibility became more profound when, in 2006, “the city dumped 48 million gallons of untreated sewage into the canal – which flowed out into the ocean and polluted Waikiki beaches – in order to keep the waste from backing up into hotels, homes and businesses.”  (Civil Beat)

“This spill is such a large magnitude. We have never seen this before,” said state Health Department spokesman Kurt Tsue. “It’s pretty bad.”

“More than 100 warning signs to stay out of the water were posted along a 1 ½-mile stretch covering 18 beaches from Waikiki to downtown Honolulu.” (LA Times)

“Oliver Johnson, a 34-year-old mortgage broker, died April 6 from a bacterial infection after falling or being pushed into the sewage-contaminated Ala Wai Harbor on March 31.” (Star Bulletin, April 15, 2006)

DLNR had to clean up the debris trap and we viewed it as a biological hazardous waste removal/treatment and “Workers in protective gear will begin cleaning the sewage-polluted Ala Wai Boat Harbor today, under a $50,000 state contract.” (Star Bulletin, April 15, 2006)

Some may recall the ‘black noodle’ in and around the Ala Wai.  “The 5,135-foot sewage pipe that juts out of the water near community gardens on the mauka bank of the canal, has been a constant reminder of that environmental disaster.” (Civil Beat)

It took the City seven years to remove the large black sewage pipe that snaked along the bottom of the Ala Wai Canal and out toward the mouth of the boat harbor, adjacent to Waikiki’s famous beaches.

In addition to the surface collection of debris, DLNR is also responsible for periodic dredging of the Ala Wai Canal.  Just as debris comes downstream, accumulated silt and sediments come down and collect in the Ala Wai.

The Ala Wai Canal serves as an essential drainageway and sediment basin for the Ala Wai watershed. Over time, the build-up of sediments into the Ala Wai Canal has affected the canal’s sediment- and water-holding capacity, reducing the canal’s ability to temporarily contain and then release storm water when there are heavy storm events. (Army Corps)

At times, “some areas are only 4 to 6 feet deep at high tide and canoes ply inches-deep water at low tide” (Honolulu); dredging is targeted to get water levels closer to “12-6 feet below the mean lower low water mark”. (DLNR)

As reported in 2003, “The dredging is a state-financed, $7.4 million effort to restore a measure of health and self-respect to the Ala Wai, which began filling with sediment almost as soon as the Army Corps of Engineers dug it in 1927 to control floods and mosquitoes and to provide landfill for the swampland that was then Waikiki.”

“The canal, which collects runoff from streams and storm drains on the densely populated mountain slopes above Waikiki, has been dredged periodically, most recently in 1979.” (NY Times, March 3, 2003)

A challenge was that Hawaiian Electric has underground electrical cable crossing under the Ala Wai (first installed in 1956 replaced in 1990 with higher capacity cables).  “DLNR encountered Hawaiian Electric’s cables during routine maintenance dredging of the Ala Wai Canal” and “it was determined the cables were at risk of damage from dredging”.

“As a temporary solution, sections of the active cables on the makai side of the canal were covered with twelve 20-foot by 8-foot pre-cast concrete panels. The panels provided protection and allowed the dredging operations to continue in areas upstream of the cables.” (Belt Collins)

Later, “Hawaiian Electric relocated underground sub-transmission line cables that connect to HECO’s Waikiki Substation located on Kai‘olu Street.” This also shifted the alignment of the cable to the west of the existing route. New technology allowed for horizontal directional drilling to cross under the Ala Wai Canal.

In part, HECO’s action supported the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ efforts to provide continuous maintenance dredging of the Ala Wai Canal. The replacement cables also help maintain the reliability of the electrical distribution system. (Belt Collins)

DLNR Chief Engineer Carty Chang said, “The long-term benefits of this project include maintaining the ability of the canal to efficiently convey storm water flows to the ocean to reduce the risk of flooding, and to improve the aesthetics and safe use of the canal for recreational users.”

© 2024 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Henrik Christian L’Orange

L’Orange is a Norwegian family of French origin. The family were Huguenots (Protestants), and after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, members of the family had to leave France.

The first known man of the family, Jean L’Orange, who according to tradition came from St.-Quentin in Gascogne , probably came to Copenhagen at the end of the 17th century. His son Johan Gerhard L’orange (1696–1772) came to Norway and settled in Vestfold.  (Norwegian Encyclopedia)

Fast forward to the end of the American Civil War in 1865; emigration from Norway to the US increased rapidly.  But there were some who chose other destinations. 

In 1877, Hendrik Christian (Christian) L’Orange (born in Fredrikshald in 1843) married Caroline Faye (born in Drammen in 1856), daughter of merchant Hans Peter Faye and his wife Karen Sophie Knudsen in Drammen.  (Emigrantforlaget)

Following their wedding Christian and Caroline sailed for the islands of Hawai‘i in 1877.   Her cousin, Anton Faye, also sailed with them to Kauai in 1877.  Caroline’s uncle, Valdemar Knudsen, had already settled there in 1856. 

Knudsen, Faye and L’Orange got involved in the operation of a sugar plantation on Kauai. (Scandinavian Club of Hawai‘i)  Knudsen had  acquired a 30-year lease on crown lands in the Waimea district where he established a ranch. Using an old Hawaiian ditch at Waiele, he drained and reclaimed about 50 acres on which he and L‘Orange planted sugar cane in 1878. (HSPA)

In 1879 Christian purchased his own plantation on Maui. He named it Lilikoi. He later sold the plantation and moved to Kauai. There he became the director of a sugar plantation, which was also given the name Lilikoi. (Norwegian Heritage)

As early as July 7, 1878, Captain L’Orange proposed to the Bureau of Immigration of the Hawaiian Kingdom to bring Scandinavian laborers to the Islands. By mid-June of 1880 he was involved in plans to go to Norway for contract workers to fill the needs of plantations represented by the sugar factors, Castle and Cooke.  (Satrum)

By July 20, 1880, he had received his letter of appointment as agent of the Bureau of Immigration, and a few weeks later was on his way to Norway with a letter of credit for $20,000 from the firm of Castle and Cooke for expenses and advances.

Captain L’Orange had Instructions to hire not more than 400 adult workers, in a ratio of 35 to 40 women to each 100 men. These people were to be of ‘proper class’ and good workers, and no family was to bring more than two children. (Satrum)

A long depression from the mid-1870s to the early 1890s hit the Norwegian economy severely. Signs of the stagnation could be found in the large-scale immigration from Norway to North America during the 1880s. In the long-run, immigration was basically a result of increased labor productivity in the primary sector, causing surplus labor to find jobs in the New World. (Grytten)

Thousands were leaving Norway for other lands. This occurred at a time when there was actually a demand for more farm laborers in Hawai‘i. These circumstances partially determined who would be in the mix of people signing contracts as Hawaiian plantation workers. (Satrum)

L’Orange placed an advertisement in Drammen, Norway newspapers, stating, in part, “To the Emigrants for the Sandwich Islands Contracts with those who will go to the Sandwich Islands, are drawn up and signed on Wednesday, Sept. 23 … The parties must be provided with good recommendations, and attestations for good and faultless behaviour.”

“The conditions are now regulated, and thus fixed: laborers over 20 years, 9 dollars; under 20 years, somewhat less, per month, with free board, or board-money and free lodgings, families may bring two children with them. Free passage and board, which Is not to be worked out afterwards. Chr. L’Orange, Agent for the Hawaiian Bureau of Immigration, Sandwich Islands”.

The idea of a paid voyage and an opportunity to make their fortunes in a new land had an irresistible appeal to many Drammen folk that difficult year of 1880. Norwegians by the thousands were flocking to the US in response to promises of free land or jobs.

However, some were unable to raise the passage money, or unwilling to risk their savings on the gamble of a better life in a new country. To these the phrase, ‘free passage and board, which Is not to be worked out afterwards,’ had a special attraction. (Davis)

The planters were eager for the new laborers to arrive quickly, though Captain L’Orange warned that it would be impossible to find suitable ones in a hurry. The great need in Hawai‘i was for men to work in the fields. (Davis)

When L’Orange began hiring he found men with farm experience difficult to obtain. But there were plenty of artisans and industrial workers from the towns eager to sign his contracts, and from these came most of the recruits for Hawai‘i. (Davis)

Most of the recruits were from the town of Drammen or from nearby areas; but there were a few Swedes as well.  The Norwegian bark Beta, commanded by Captain Kasper Rist Christensen, was first to weigh anchor (October 27, 1880). Almost 400 people made up the passenger list – 327 adults, Including 49 married couples, and 69 children 12 years and younger. (Davis)

The ship stopped briefly at Lahaina to take on board Captain L’Orange, who had traveled by a quicker route than the emigrants, and then went on to Ma‘alaea Landing. On February 18, 1881, it let down Its anchor.

On arrival, “The physician of the Board of Health pronounces them the most healthy company of men, women, and children he has ever seen and affirms that they are without the slightest taint of infectious diseases. The planters, who are so fortunate to obtain these laborers, highly value their adaptability by skill, as well as by physical strength, for almost every kind of work of plantations.”

“There are amongst them carpenters, blacksmiths, upholsterers, harness makers, printers, and engineers, while many of the women are admirably adapted for housekeepers.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 2, 1881)

Two hundred and twenty eight adults with their children drew numbers assigning them to Maul. Passengers not included among this number remained on board to be trans-shipped at the end of the week to Hilo by the steamer Llkelike for work on the Hitchcock plantation is Pāpa’ikou. (Davis)

The German bark, ‘Musca’ sailed from Drammen for Hawai‘i, November 23, 1880. Its master was Captain DW Oltman, and it carried 237 passengers, including 29 married and 57 children 12 and under.  Arriving in Honolulu on the island of O‘ahu, most of the workers were assigned to a variety of plantations. (Satrum)

The German bark, ‘Cedar’ arrived in Hawai‘i on July 18, 1881, primarily with Germans hired to work in the plantations of Hawai‘i, although there were ten Norwegians and four Swedes on the ship as well. One child was also born during the voyage. (Satrum)

So far, it is good news for the Hawai‘i sugar planters and the Norwegian workers.  However, things soon soured …

On both Maui and the Big Island, the Scandinavians had begun complaining almost immediately: They didn’t like the food, they didn’t like their houses, they didn’t like their wages, they felt their employers violated their contracts, they found field work difficult, the Hawaiian sun burned their flesh unmercifully.

Many of the new immigrants declared, flatout, that they’d become slaves. By the time the Musca landed in Honolulu, the folks at Castle & Cooke wanted to scatter the latest contingent of Scandinavians as widely as possible so that they couldn’t band together in their complaints. … But the complaints continued. (Bowman)

For most of the Scandinavians, Hawai‘i was a place to leave as soon as it was possible. It is estimated that about 50 of the immigrants who came to the Islands aboard the Beta and the Musca remained in Hawai‘i.

Some of them stayed on the plantations and moved rapidly out of field work and into positions that took advantage of their industrial skills. Some became integrated into the fabric of Hawai‘i and led successful lives. Christian L’Orange found himself decidedly unpopular with his fellow sugar planters and disbanded his activities on Maui.  (Bowman)

Around 1885 the family moved to Florida. One of the reasons that they left Hawai‘i was, without a doubt, all the criticism he had received for having brought such ill-suited laborers to work on the plantations there.

He bought property in Florida and became a tobacco farmer. Christian died in Florida in 1916. Caroline was buried in Hawai‘i in 1935.  Their oldest son, Hans Peter Faye L’Orange (born in 1892 in Florida), became one of the administrators of O‘ahu Sugar Company. (Norwegian Heritage)

© 2024 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Eight of Oʻahu

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four chiefdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Kalaniʻōpuʻu was born about 1729; he died in April 1782.  His brother was Keōua and his son was Kiwalaʻō; he was the grandfather of Keōpūolani.  When Keōua, the father of Kamehameha, died, he commended his son to the care of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who received him, and treated him as his own child. (Dibble)

“(W)hen Captain Cook first landed on Hawaiʻi he found the (chief) of that island absent on another warlike expedition to Maui, intent upon avenging his defeat of two years before, when his famous brigade of eight hundred nobles was hewn in pieces.”  (Kalākaua)

Kahekili was born at Hāliʻimaile, Maui, the son of the high chief Kekaulike.  In 1765, Kahekili inherited all of Maui Nui and O‘ahu and was appointed successor to his brother Kamehamehanui’s chiefdom (not to be confused with Hawai‘i Island’s Kamehameha I.)

Kahahana was high-born and royally-connected. His father was Elani, one of the highest nobles in the ʻEwa district on Oʻahu, a descendant of the ancient lords of Līhuʻe. His mother was a sister of Peleioholani, Chief of Oʻahu, and a cousin of Kahekili, Chief of Maui.  (Fornander)

Kahahana had from boyhood been brought up at the court of Kahekili, who looked upon his cousin’s child almost as a son of his own.  (Fornander)

Kamakahelei was the “queen of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, and her husband was a younger brother to Kahekili, while she was related to the royal family of Hawaiʻi.”

“Thus, it will be seen, the reigning families of the several islands of the group were all related to each other, as well by marriage as by blood. So had it been for many generations. But their wars with each other were none the less vindictive because of their kinship, or attended with less of barbarity in their hours of triumph.”  (Kalākaua)

At the time of Cook’s arrival, “Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokai, and the queen of Kauaʻi was disposed to assist him in these enterprises. “  (Kalākaua)

At about that time, in 1779, Kahahana had assisted Kahekili in his wars against Kalaiopuʻu of Hawaiʻi. The rupture between Kahekili and Kahahana did not occur till afterward, in 1780-81.  (Fornander)

In the early part of 1783, Kahahana was in the upper part of Nuʻuanu valley, when the news came of Kahekili’s landing at Waikīkī, and hastily summoning his warriors, he prepared as best he could to meet so sudden an emergency.  (Fornander)

In this company there were eight famous warriors, who seemed to think themselves invulnerable: Pupuka, Makaʻioulu, Puakea, Pinau, Kalaeone, Pahua, Kauhi and Kapukoa.

They had often faced danger, and returned chanting victory.

The night shadows were falling around the camp when these eight men, one by one, crept away from the other chiefs. Word had been passed from one to the other and a secret expedition partially outlined. Therefore each man was laden with his spear, club and javelins.  (Westervelt)

With the coming of morning light they found themselves not far from the old temple, which had been used for ages for most solemn royal ceremonies, a part of which was often the sacrifice of human beings, and here, aided by their gods, they thought to inflict such injuries upon the Maui men as would make their names remembered in the Maui households.

While Kahekili and his Maui army were camped near the heiau at ʻApuakehau, they were suddenly attacked by the eight of Oʻahu.

Without authorization from Kahahana, into these hundreds the eight boldly charged.

The conflict was hand to hand, and in that respect was favorable to the eight men well-skilled in the use of spear and javelin. Side by side, striking and smiting all before them, the little band forced its way into the heart of the body of its foes.

Wave upon wave of men from Maui beat against the eight, but each time the wave was shattered and scattered and destroyed. Large numbers were killed while the eight still fought side by side apparently uninjured.

It has been said that this was a fight “to which Hawaiian legends record no parallel.” Eight men attacked an army and for some time were victorious in their onslaught.  (Westervelt)

Surrounded, they were able to escape at Kawehewehe, killing dozens of their adversaries.

Only one of the eight lived to perpetuate his name among the families of Oʻahu.  Pupuka became the ancestor of noted chiefs of high rank. The others were probably all killed in the destructive battles which soon followed.  (Westervelt)

Kahahana’s army was later routed, and he and his wife fled to the mountains.  For nearly two years or more they wandered over the mountains, secretly aided, fed and clothed by his supporters.  He was finally betrayed and killed by his wife’s brother.  (Kanahele)

Kahekili conquered Oʻahu and finally received the body of Kahahana, which was taken to the temple at Waikīkī and offered in sacrifice. After this annihilation of the Oʻahu army, no hint is given of the other members of the band of the famous eight.  (Westervelt)

Kahekili and his eldest son and heir-apparent, Kalanikūpule, conquered Kahahana, adding Oʻahu under his control.   (Kahekili’s son, Kalanikūpule, inherited his chiefdom; Oʻahu was later lost to Kamehameha in the Battle of Nuʻuanu (1795.))  The image shows the Oʻahu Eight, drawn by Brook Kapukuniahi Parker.

© 2024 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

William Twigg-Smith

He was born November 2, 1882 in New Zealand to Frederick and Alice Smith He was named William Twigg Smith. (Registration #1882/15452, New Zealand Government, Births, Deaths & Marriages Online)

He moved to the US in his late teens, living first in San Francisco, where he studied painting with Evelyn Almond Withrow, and then in Chicago, where he worked with Harry M. Walcott at the School of the Art Institute.

He was also a talented musician and supported himself by playing the flute while in Chicago. (For a number of years in Hawaii, he played second flutist with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.) He became a naturalized US citizen and visited Hawaiʻi in 1916.  (Isaacs Art Center)

He seemed to more-often-than-not go by the first name ‘Twigg’ and last name ‘Smith.’ “The exhibition of paintings by Twigg Smith of San Francisco and Chicago, which began yesterday under the auspices of the University Club, is of interest not only to the lover of art, but the student and follower of island history and development.” (Star Bulletin, Dec 9, 1916)

“This is the third time Smith has visited Honolulu, and each time his stay has been longer. Until he has become to be well known as one of the local community.”

“Honolulu is now ‘home’ to Twigg Smith, and it is his intention to return here after doing his part in the conflict [WWI], if he is one of those so lucky as to return.”

To join the American artists’ battalion in New York Smith must pay his own expenses, and all painting sold during the exhibition will help to send him on his way to aid the trench-fighters on the front in France, or wherever the American troops abroad are placed when they take their share of the fighting.” (Star Bulletin, July 16, 1917)

In WWI he used his artistic skills as a camoufleur; “‘Camouflage’ is the very latest pet word in the great world-war and a well-known Honolulan, Twigg Smith, artist, is now on the road to becoming a first-class camoufleur.”

“[I]n another month he will be on his way to France to put into operation with the American troops some of this new branch of warfare, this new and wholly unique technique of concealment against the spying eyes of the enemy.”

“Twigg Smith was about the first man on the ground, and he carries No. 1 card showing him to be the first member of Company F, 25th United States Engineers, Camouflage, the official name of the unit.”

“The camouflage unit is in camp at Camp University, Washington. Here are artists of all sorts, sculptors, scene painters, scene shifters, electricians and a host of others. … They are learning how to disguise batteries, hangers, trenches, campos, observation posts, everything that can possibly be disguised by protective coloration or screening.” (Star Bulletin, Oct 20, 1917)

“‘Another feature of the work, perhaps the most dangerous. Is to simulate some feature like a dead horse or an old tree stump out in No Man’s Land between the trenches, so that it may be used as a shelter for sharpshooters.’”

‘‘Those who are detailed for this service creep out between the lines under shelter of darkness and take measurements which enable other artists to copy the object exactly. Then the next night the false object, which is armored, is substituted and the sharpshooter is placed behind it to get as many of the enemy as he can before some of them get him.” Advertiser, July 23, 1917)

After the war, Smith returned permanently to Hawaii. “In Honolulu, July 9, 1919, Twigg Smith and Miss Margaret Carter Thurston” married. (Annual Report, Volume 68, Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, 1920) Margaret was granddaughter of missionaries Asa and Lucy Thurston.

“[H]e recognized that this field [artist] was limited here from the standpoint of income, so he obtained a position with the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association as an illustrator. His responsibility was to reproduce accurately in illustrations the various forms of insect life that affect the growing of sugar.” Advertiser, Sep 21, 1950)

“Wm. Twigg-Smith was employed on a part-time basis starting in January 1923, and on September 1, he was appointed as Illustrator. Mr. Twigg-Smith immediately took up the study of the Jeswiet identification characters of cane varieties, a system of positively identifying any seedlings by the minute and almost microscopic hair groups of the buds and certain leaf areas.” (HSPA, History 1895-1945, Grammer)

William T Smith “was his real name … then he decided when he became the artist he’d hyphenate the name to have some distinction.” (Thurston Twigg-Smith)

Twigg-Smith was in the Volcano School. The Volcano School was a generation of mostly non-native Hawaiian painters who portrayed Hawaiʻi Island’s volcanoes in dramatic fashion during the late 19th century. (NPS HAVO)

This was in the days before color photography – painters were among the most eager to witness and recreate the explosive lava plumes and vibrant flows. (HuffPost)

A distinctive and recognizable school of Hawaiian painting developed. Kīlauea was such a popular subject for painters that a group emerged called the “Volcano School,” which included well-known Hawai‘i painters Charles Furneaux, Joseph Dwight Strong, and D Howard Hitchcock. Check out some of Twigg-Smith’s work at the Volcano House.

“So far as the observation of the present critic goes, Mr Smith is the first painter exhibiting here who has shown something like a sequence of Volcano paintings – an attempt to catch Madame Pele in a systematic series of her changeful moods. … Artist Smith is evidently proudest of his volcano pictures.” (Star Bulletin, Dec 9, 1916)

Twigg-Smith and Hitchcock exhibited their works together, here and in California, and elsewhere on the continent. (Advertiser, Feb 15, 1925)

“Mr Twigg-Smith kept on with his work as a freehand artist and his painting found wide favor here and abroad. It was his dream that when the time came for his retirement he would be able to devote his late years to his first and lasting love – painting. (Advertiser, September 21, 1950) He died April 21, 1950.

© 2024 Ho‘okuleana LLC