Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapaʻakea Spring

It was once a perched water-table pond and spring.

It was originally known as Kumulae Spring (Pond – also Kapaʻakea and later Hausten Spring/Pond) and was reportedly the property of Kamāmalu (sister of Kamehameha IV and V.)  She and her brothers loved swimming in the pond; they and others shared food and drinks there.

The spring is the subject of an old legend that tells of a wondrous princess upon whom men’s eyes were forbidden to gaze.  The princess loved the waters of the spring and from time to time she would go there at night and bathe.  In time, the waters of the spring became known for its healing powers.  (Kanahele)

As in much of Oʻahu, geologically, the bedrock is actually reef limestone.  Lava from the upslope Sugarloaf covered the limestone and cooled (with a thickness of about 40-feet.) After cooling of the Sugarloaf lava, alluvium and marshy lagoon sediments accumulated atop much of the limestone.  A few inches of soil covered the top.  (Halliday)

Groundwater flow cut through the limestone forming a karstic drainage system (Karst being a geological formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, such as limestone.)   This region, in and around the lower portions of the University of Hawaiʻi, became part of the Mōʻiliʻili Karst.   Caverns and perched water-table springs and ponds were exposed at the surface.

The best-known of theses ponds was Kumulae.  By the early-1920s, Mr. Hausten purchased and cleared the land, and stocked the pond with koi which interbred with existing fish.   The large clear fishpond quickly became a noted attraction.

It was the family’s garden home with beautiful tropical gardens of flora and fauna.  Emma McGuire “Ma” Hausten was an avid gardener and planted white ginger, water lilies, plumeria from the South Seas, willow trees, kukui trees, breadfruit and fruit trees as well as Hawaiian herbs and medical plants.

The gardens thrived and people asked if they might use the tropical setting for weddings, luaus and parties.  Finally, in the mid-1930s limited private parties were held.  (Willows)

Then, ‘tragedy’ happened.  In the autumn of 1934, the Hausten pond disappeared without warning, draining in less than 24 hours.

It turns out, construction activities downslope from the King-University intersection struck a master conduit in the underground watered cave system.   Water drained out.  Upslope, the results of this dewatering were dramatic.

The master conduit was eventually resealed, the cave’s water table temporarily recharged, but the karst was never the same again.  There have been several instances of collapses since the dewatering. One instance in 1952 involves the Standard Trading store falling through the ground into the karst below it.  Another instance involves the emergence of a large cavern downslope from the King-University intersection.

During World War II, times were tough.  An offer was made for the property; but instead of selling, the family decided to serve light lunches and drinks. In 1944, the Willows Restaurant opened as a club by Emma’s daughter, Kathleen Perry, along with husband Al (30-year musical director of Hawaii Calls,) her brothers Allan and Walter McGuire and other family members.  Together, they presided over a gracious era of Hawaiian music and hospitality during the late-1940s and 1950s.  (Willows)

But after the dewatering, the historic pond was never the same, the continuing drop in the water table especially impacted the Willows Restaurant. The willow trees wilted and the restaurant lost its attractiveness and its customers.

New sinkholes developed. “People living in the vicinity made their way into the caves through holes in their yards and speared fish by the hundreds.”  Several houses “lurched” and settled.  Sidewalks cracked and water and gas mains ruptured. Some trees sank almost 3-feet.  (Halliday)

The spring dried up and a remnant of the pond had to be lined with concrete.  A manmade water feature surrounded by rock and plants has been built to recreate the ambience of the old days.

In 1998, the site was sold and restored. The Willows re-opened its doors on the threshold of a new millennium in 1999, after six years of being closed. It closed again in 2018 and is now operated as a venue and event space with catering.

© 2023 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Naukane

During Captain Cookʻs visit to Hawaiʻi on his third voyage of exploration in 1779, then-Lieutenant King (later Captain) noted, “During the following night, the cutter belonging to the Discovery was stolen …”

“This irritated captain Cook, and he gave orders to stop all the canoes that should attempt to leave the bay, intending to seize and destroy them, if he could not recover the cutter by fair means.”  (Captain King’s Journal)

“The natives now collected in vast numbers along the shore, and began to throng round captain Cook”.  Shortly after, “Captain Cook, the last time he was seen distinctly, was standing at the water’s edge”.

“… he was desirous of preventing any farther bloodshed … whilst he faced the natives, none of them had offered him any violence, but having turned about to give his orders to those in the boats, he was stabbed in the back”.  Cook was killed.    (Captain King’s Journal)

One of the Hawaiians at the scene was Naukane, son of Kamanawa (Kamehameha’s uncle and one of his closest allies – Kamanawa (left) and Kameʻeiamoku, his twin brother (right) were later memorialized on the Hawaiʻi coat of arms.)  (Kittelson)

When Kamehameha moved his Royal Center to Honolulu, his chiefs came with him. Naukane, then in his early twenties, accompanied his father and probably became involved in royal court life.  However, fascinated by the growing number of ships calling in the islands, Naukane looked to the sea. (Kittelson)

His chance came in February 1811, when John Jacob Astor’s ‘Tonquin,’ under the command of Captain Jonathan Thorne, called.  The captain wanted to hire twenty-four of the Islanders, twelve as seamen and the remaining half to establish a post for the Pacific Fur Company on the Columbia River.

This was the first large group of Hawaiians to come to America.  The king appointed Naukane to go with them as a royal observer.  (Duncan)

Because Naukane resembled one of the Americans, he became known as John Coxe and retained the name throughout his long and colorful life in the Pacific Northwest (he also went by John Cox and Edward Coxe, or, simply Coxe.)  (Duncan)

The Tonquin reached the mouth of the Columbia in March; after a few days looking, they selected a site and by the end of May they had completed Fort Astoria.  It was the first American-owned settlement on the Pacific coast of what was to become the United States.

Astor planned the post to grow into a permanent settlement, with plans to develop a large trade ring that included New York, the Pacific Coast, Russian Alaska, Hawaiʻi and China. The furs collected in the northwest and Alaska, would be shipped to China and exchanged for porcelain, silk and other cloth, and spices that would be brought back, via Hawaii to New York.

Other operators had other posts.  In the summer of 1810, Jacques-Raphaël Finlay (Jaco Finley) of the North West Company built Spokane House at the junction of the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers.

Shortly after arriving in the northwest, Coxe started working for Canadian David Thompson of the North West Company.   Coxe later spent the winter of 1811-1812 at Spokane House with Finlay.  On those expeditions, Coxe became the first Hawaiian to visit the inland Northwest.

Coxe accompanied Thompson “across the Rocky Mountains from western Montana and in the long trail to Fort William on Lake Superior. … John Coxe also took the trail east from Fort William but his road led to Quebec, where he created a sensation with his stories of Hawaiʻi and his demonstrations of Polynesian dance steps.”  (Taylor)

By 1813, Fort Astoria and all other assets in the area were sold to the North West Company – they renamed it Fort George.    Coxe continued to work there until August, 1814, when all of the Hawaiians at Fort George were sent back to the Islands.

Comfortable with the service from the Hawaiians, in 1817, North West sent a ship “to bring as many of the Sandwich Islanders to the Columbia river as we could conveniently accommodate.”  (Corney)

(In 1821, the Hudson’s Bay Company combined with the North West Company, and the post name was changed back to Fort Spokane.)

After he returned to Honolulu in 1815, Coxe probably reverted to his native name, Naukane.  He was well received by Kamehameha.

Not only was Naukane the son of one of Kamehameha’s closest advisors, and a member of Liholiho’s entourage, but he had traveled widely. Kamehameha I died in 1819 and Naukane rose in stature when Liholiho ascended the throne.  (Kittelson)

Naukane’s expeditions did not end on the American continent.  Because of his familiarity with western ways (with travels to America, Europe & South America) and his personal ties, when Liholiho departed on November 27, 1823 to England aboard the L’Aigle to discuss the future of his Islands with George IV, Naukane accompanied the King.

The King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu died of measles in July 1824; apparently Naukane’s travels had built up his immunity, for he was hardly bothered by measles.

King George IV held an audience for the remaining Hawaiians at Windsor Castle on September 11; Coxe was present.  The bodies of Liholiho and his queen were returned to Hawaii aboard the frigate Blonde captained by Lord Byron.

With the King dead, Naukane no longer was bound, and he immediately offered his services to the Hudson’s Bay Company and returned to the Northwest. He was only one of approximately thirty-five Islanders working for the company by 1825.  (Duncan)

The firm’s base of operations had been transferred from Fort Spokane to a new site farther inland, Fort Vancouver. Coxe worked for a few more years; then the company retired him and gave him a plot of land two miles below the fort.  (Kittelson)

Naukane died February 2, 1850.  The vast plain between Fort Vancouver and the Columbia became the Hawaiian’s memorial – Coxe’s Plain … “A couple of miles below the fort (Vancouver) there were luxuriant meadows of great extent.”

“A portion of these bore at that time the name of Coxe’s Plain, a name I think which it still continues to bear. Old Coxe, a native of the Sandwich Islands and a very original character, was the swine-herd and had his residence there among the oaks which dotted the verge of the plain.”  (Anderson; Barry)

© 2023 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sad Sailing of the HMS Blonde

Ka‘iana‘ahu‘ula was the first Hawaiian chief to travel to foreign countries; he went to Canton, China in 1787 returning in 1788.
 
In November 1823, Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and Queen Kamāmalu were the first Ali‘i to travel to England.
 
They commissioned the British whaling ship L’Aigle (French for “the Eagle”) to carry them to London to gain firsthand experience in European ways and to seek an audience with King George IV to negotiate an alliance with England.
 
Going along were High Chief Boki and wife High Chiefess Liliha, and other chiefs and retainers.  Liholiho and Boki brought with them several feather cloaks and capes, visual symbols of Hawaiian royalty.  Kamāmalu and Liliha took with them fine kapa clothing suitable for their rank.
 
In February 1824, along the way, after rounding Cape Horn, they arrived at Rio de Janeiro in newly-independent Brazil where they met Emperor Pedro I.
 
The Emperor gave Kamehameha II a ceremonial sword, and in return was presented with a native Hawaiian feather cloak made from rare tropical bird feathers.
 
L’Aigle arrived on May 17, 1824 in Portsmouth, and the next day the entourage moved into the Caledonian Hotel in London.  Foreign Office Secretary George Canning appointed Frederick Gerald Byng to supervise their visit.
 
In London, the royal party was fitted with the latest fashion and they toured London, visiting Westminster Abbey, attended opera and ballet at Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, and the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.  On May 28 a reception with 200 guests, including several Dukes, was held in their honor.
 
King George IV finally scheduled a meeting for June 21, but it had to be delayed; Liholiho and Kamāmalu became ill.  The Hawaiian court had caught the measles (like other Hawaiians, they did not have immunity to outside diseases.)
 
It is believed they probably contracted the disease on their visit to the Royal Military Asylum (now the Duke of York’s Royal Military School.)
 
Virtually the entire royal party developed measles within weeks of arrival, 7 to 10 days after visiting the Royal Military Asylum housing hundreds of soldiers’ children.
 
Kamāmalu (aged 22) died on July 8, 1824.  The grief-stricken Kamehameha II (age 27) died six days later on July 14, 1824.  Prior to his death he asked to return and be buried in Hawai‘i.
 
Boki took over leadership of the delegation and finally did have an audience with King George IV. 
 
Shortly thereafter, the British Government dispatched HMS Blonde to convey the bodies of Liholiho and Kamāmalu back to Hawaii, along with the entourage.  The Captain of the Blonde, a newly commissioned 46-gun frigate, was Lord Byron (a cousin of the poet.)
 
The Blonde arrived back in Honolulu on May 6, 1825.
 
Kalanimōkū (who was not on the trip) had been notified of the deaths in a letter, so Hawaiian royalty gathered at his house where the bodies were moved for the funeral.
 
Liholiho and Kamāmalu were buried on the grounds of the ʻIolani Palace in a coral house meant to be the Hawaiian version of the tombs Liholiho had seen in London.  They were eventually moved to Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum.
 
Kamehameha II was succeeded by his younger brother Kauikeaouli, who became King Kamehameha III.
 
Before 1848 measles was unknown in Hawaii.  Several epidemics struck Hawaiʻi in late-1848, beginning with measles and whooping cough, then the flu.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kahakuloa

There were several major population centers on the Island of Maui: Kahakuloa (West Maui) region; the deep watered valleys of Nā Wai ‘Ehā (Waiheʻe, Wai‘ehu, Wailuku and Waikapū;) the ‘Olowalu to Honokōhau region of Lāhainā; the Kula – ʻUlupalakua region and the Koʻolau – Hana region.  (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Kahakuloa is a valley that sits between Nā Hono A Piʻilani, The Bays of Piʻilani (aka Honoapiʻilani – the six hono bays (uniting of the bays:) from South to North, Honokōwai (bay drawing fresh water), Honokeana (cave bay), Honokahua (sites bay,) Honolua (two bays), Honokōhau (bay drawing dew) and Hononana (animated bay) to the West) and Na Wai ʻEha to the East.

The importance of the region is reflected by the number of heiau that were reportedly present in precontact times.  There were a total of seven heiau that were recorded in the Kahakuloa area. These heiau included Hononana, Kaneaola, Kuewa, Keahialoa, Pakai, Waipiliamoo and Kukuipuka.  (Kukuipuka heiau was reported to have been a place of refuge for West Maui.) (Xamanek)

According to Handy the name Kahakuloa refers to a small and famous loʻi about one-half-mile inland in the bottom of Kahakuloa Valley.

This irrigated kalo patch belonged to the haku or lord of the land. Because of the isolation of the area, the haku became known as the “far away master” – ka haku loa.  Kahakuloa was “one of the most genuinely native communities still extant in the islands [with] a population of about 20 families, all Hawaiian and all taro planters.”   (Xamanek)

Descriptions differ on whether Kahakuloa is an ahupuaʻa or another type of land division.  The island (mokupuni that is surrounded by water) is the main division.  Islands were divided into sections within the island called moku; typically, there was a Kona on the lee side and one called Koʻolau on the windward side of almost every island.

These districts were further divided into ʻokana or kalana (smaller districts.)  The next subdivision of land is the ahupua’a, which has been termed the basic unit of land in the Hawaiian system.  Portions of ahupuaʻa were called ʻili.)

The region as Kahakuloa was known for extensive taro loʻi (irrigated taro cultivation.)  Here the taro that grew in the sacred patch of the aliʻi was reputed to be of great size. (Maly)  In addition, it was known for ʻUala (sweet potato cultivation.)

The Māhele land records indicate that much of the lands here were Crown lands with several properties going to Victoria Kamāmalu (daughter of Kīnaʻu, the wife of Kamehameha II) and a number of small awards were granted in the Kahakuloa Village region; many of these awards were granted for taro loʻi cultivation.

During the mid-1800s, a large portion of the surrounding region was used for sugar cane and macadamia nut agriculture, as well as extensive cattle grazing.

Haiku Fruit and Packing Co. utilized some lands in Kahakuloa to grow pineapple. Pineapple production in this part of Maui went into decline after the Great Depression in the 1930s and appeared to have ceased by the 1960s.

Kahakuloa is a small isolated village at the end of a valley – it is described to be a “cultural kīpuka that survived the onslaught of development after Hawaiʻi became a state.”  (McGregor)

Standing tall and overlooking the coastal shoreline is Kahakuloa Head, 636-feet high and known historically for a King Kahekili’s Leap.

During the late-18th century, Maui chief Kahekili, a rival of Kamehameha, was known for many legendary feats in the ancient Hawaiian sport of lele kawa (to leap feet first from a cliff into water without splashing.)  Legend says that in the early morning, the King would climb up the hill and “leap” into the ocean below from about the 200 foot height.

Access continues to be limited to this area (some suggest rental car agencies do not allow rentals to attempt to traverse the region.)

Coming from the West, you start on Honoapiʻilani Highway (Highway 30 – with ascending mile markers,) but as you travel through, the road transforms to Kahekili Highway (Highway 340 – with descending mileage markers.)

A lot of the way is single file on a single lane road – often without makai barriers.  There are hairpin turns, steep ocean-side drops and narrow one-lane sections.  Along the way are the Bell Stone, Olivine Pools and Nakalele Blowhole; in the valley is the Kahakuloa Congregational Church, founded in 1887.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kaʻahumanu’s Coffin

While on a trip to the continent, Queen Kamāmalu (age 22) died on July 8, 1824; King Kamehameha II (Liholiho, age 27) died six days later on July 14, 1824.  (Prior to his death he asked to return and be buried in Hawai‘i.)

Upon their arrival in Hawai‘i, in consultation between the Kuhina Nui (former Queen Kaʻahumanu) and other high chiefs, and telling them about Westminster Abbey and the underground burial crypts they had seen there, it was decided to build a mausoleum building.

In 1825, Pohukaina (translated as “Pohu-ka-ʻāina” (the land is quiet and calm)) was constructed on what is now the grounds of ʻIolani Palace to house the remains of Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and Queen Kamāmalu.

The mausoleum was a small 18 x 24-foot Western style structure made of white-washed coral blocks with a thatched roof; it had no windows.   Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu were buried on August 23, 1825.

About this same time, April 25, 1825, Richard Charlton arrived in the Islands to serve as the first British consul. He had been in London during Kamehameha II’s visit in 1824.

Nearly 10-years later, in 1832, Kaʻahumanu died; her death took place at ten minutes past 3 o’clock on the morning of June 5, “after an illness of about 3 weeks in which she exhibited her unabated attachment to the Christian teachers and reliance on Christ, her Saviour.”  (Hiram Bingham)

The Kaʻahumanu services were performed by Bingham.  After the sermon in Hawaiian, he addressed the foreigners present and the mission family.  After the close of the services, the procession was again formed and walked to Pohukaina, where the body was deposited, with the remains of others in the Royal family.  (The Friend, June 1932)

The above helps set the stage for subsequent events that happened there.

Nearly 10-years later, in 1840, Charlton made a claim for several parcels of land in Honolulu.   At the time the lease was made, Kaʻahumanu was Kuhina Nui and only she and the king could make such grants.  The land was Kaʻahumanu’s in the first place, and Kalanimoku certainly could not give it away.  (Hawaiʻi State Archives)  The dispute dragged on for years.

This, and other grievances purported by Charlton and the British community in Hawai‘i, led to the landing of George Paulet on February 11, 1843.

He noted in a letter to the King, “I have the honor to notify you that Her Britannic Majesty’s ship Carysfort, under my command, will be prepared to make an immediate attack upon this town at 4 pm tomorrow (Saturday) in the event of the demands now forwarded by me to the King of these islands not being complied with by this time.”

On February 25, the King acceded to his demands.  Under the terms of the new government the King and his advisers continued to administer the affairs of the Hawaiian population.

It soon became clear that Paulet had no intention of limiting his rule to the affairs of foreigners.  New taxes were imposed, liquor laws were relaxed.   Paulet refused to restore the old laws.  After raising multiple objections to the actions by Paulet, Judd resigned from the commission on May 11.  (Daws)

Fearing that Paulet would seize some of the archives and other national records, Gerrit P Judd took them from the government house, and secretly placed them in the royal tomb at Pohukaina.  He used the mausoleum as his office.

By candlelight, using the coffin of Kaʻahumanu for a table, Judd prepared appeals to London and Washington to free Hawaiʻi from the illegal rule of Paulet.

Dispatches were sent off in canoes from distant points of the island; and once, when the king’s signature was required, he came down in a schooner and landed at Waikīkī, read and signed the prepared documents, and was on his way back across the channel, while Paulet was dining and having a pleasant time with his friends.  (Laura F Judd)

For about five months the islands were under the rule of the British commission set up by Lord George Paulet.  Queen Victoria, on learning these activities, immediately sent an envoy to the islands to restore sovereignty to its rightful rulers.  Finally, Admiral Richard Thomas arrived in the Islands on July 26, 1843 to restore the kingdom to Kamehameha III.

Then, on July 31, 1843, Thomas declared the end of the Provisional Cession and recognizes Kamehameha III as King of the Hawaiian Islands and the Islands to be independent and sovereign; the Hawaiian flag was raised.  This event is referred to as Ka La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day, and it is celebrated each year in the approximate site of the 1843 ceremonies, Thomas Square.

Nearly 20-years later, Pohukaina was the final resting place for the Hawaiʻi’s Kings and Queens, and important chiefs of the kingdom.  Reportedly, in 1858, Kamehameha IV brought over the ancestral remains of other Aliʻi – coffins and even earlier grave material – out of their original burial caves, and they are buried in Pohukaina.

In 1865, the remains of 21-Ali‘i were removed from Pohukaina and transferred in a torchlight procession at night to Mauna ‘Ala, a new Royal Mausoleum in Nu‘uanu Valley.  In a speech delivered on the occasion of the laying of the Cornerstone of The Royal Palace (ʻIolani Palace,) Honolulu, in 1879, JH Kapena, Minister of Foreign Relations, said:

“Doubtless the memory is yet green of that never-to-be-forgotten night when the remains of the departed chiefs were removed to the Royal Mausoleum in the valley.”

“Perhaps the world had never witnessed a procession more weird and solemn than that which conveyed the bodies of the chiefs through our streets, accompanied on each side by thousands of people until the mausoleum was reached, the entire scene and procession being lighted by large kukui torches, while the midnight darkness brought in striking relief the coffins on their biers.”

“Earth has not seen a more solemn procession what when, in the darkness of the night, the bodies of these chieftains were carried through the streets”.  (Hawaiian Gazette, January 14, 1880)

In order that the location of Pohukaina not be forgotten, a mound was raised to mark the spot.  After being overgrown for many years, the Hawaiian Historical Society passed a resolution in 1930 requesting Governor Lawrence Judd to memorialize the site with the construction of a metal fence enclosure and a plaque.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC