Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Coffee Schedule

“You know, when you in the seventh grade like that, to carry one bag of coffee was quite a chore. And load three bags on a donkey and come up the trail. When it rain, the donkey would slip on the trail, fall. Had to unload the coffee, get the donkey up, load it again. I know, many times, I used to cry.” (Minoru Inaba)

As early as 1684, a grammar school founded in Massachusetts required 12 months of education. In 1841, Boston schools operated for 244 days while Philadelphia implemented a 251-day calendar.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, large cities commonly had long school years, ranging from 251 to 260 days. During this time, many of these rural schools were only open about 6 months out of the year.  (Pedersen)

The origin for the traditional school calendar based purely on agrarian needs was not entirely accurate. In the 19th century districts organized their calendars around the needs of the community.

For example, some special provisions were made for vacations during September and October for communities with large fall harvests. Prior to 1890, students in major urban areas were in school for 11 months a year. But by 1900, the more popular 180 day, 9-month calendar had been firmly established. (Pedersen)

In the days before air conditioning, schools and entire cities could be sweltering places during the hot summer months. Wealthy and eventually middle-class urbanites also usually made plans to flee the city’s heat, making those months the logical time in cities to suspend school.

By the late 19th century, school reformers started pushing for standardization of the school calendar across urban and rural areas. So a compromise was struck that created the modern school calendar.  (PBS)

In Kona, the harvest of coffee used to set the school calendar.  “(B)ecause coffee was the basic industry in those days, much of the land was planted in coffee, of course. As of now, much of the land has been abandoned. But in those days, coffee was the basic industry in Kona.”

“(T)here was no other industry in Kona except coffee farming, and the sugar plantation, for a while. And of course, ranching, they had from way back. There was no tourism. No other businesses except coffee farming in Kona. … Most of the families were farmers. … coffee farmers.” (Minoru Inaba)

“As early as 1916 a ‘coffee vacation’ of three weeks in each November was an established institution in central Kona, where 95 per cent of Hawaii’s coffee industry is located.”

“It continued up to 1924, when the ‘vacation’ became optional – each school deciding when and how many weeks the vacation may be held each autumn.” (Inouye)

Then, in 1931, “A special vacation of three weeks for all schools in Kona has been sanctioned by the department of public instruction … The length of the vacation was a compromise between four or five weeks wanted by the (coffee) planters, and two weeks favored by most school principals.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Sep 23, 1931)

That, apparently, wasn’t good enough to address the needs of families of Konawaena – a couple weeks later it was announced, “Members of the Kona-waena Parent-Teacher association gave their unanimous approval at a meeting yesterday …”

“… to the plan to change the Kona-waena school year from September to June to December to September, allowing school children to assist in the coffee harvest during the months of September, October, and November.”

“The action was taken to eliminate the so-called ‘coffee vacation’ which makes it necessary for students to make up the time lost by attending school during the Thanksgiving holiday period and for five Saturdays after the first of February.”

“Much opposition had developed to the coffee vacation and the new proposal was suggested as a means of adapting the school year to the needs of industry in the Kona district.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Nov 23. 1931)

The Star Bulletin announced “Change in Vacation Time at Kona-Waena … With the approval of the new vacation schedule for the Kona-waena high school and grammar school in Kona by the West Hawaii commissioners, the annual vacation will be shifted from summer to winter.” (SB, Feb 13, 1932)

“)B)ecause of the need of the farmers to have their children help them on the farms, the coffee schedule was established. And the coffee schedule ran from … August, September, October, November – those three months – was the regular vacation – coffee vacation. This is the time when it was coffee season, you see?” (Minoru Inaba)

“(T)he summer vacation was really a fall vacation and started around the 16th of August and went through to about the 16th of November. So, that took most of the football season. The community associations didn’t get into football, because that would have only hurt the reason for the schedule as it was.”

“It would take kids away from picking coffee and helping their families. I think eventually, though, these kids found other things to do – possibly (because of) family transportation. Kids found other things to do a lot better than picking coffee.” (Sherwood Greenwell)

“You see, how they got that, you have to have the school kids pick coffee, eh? That’s the only way they can help the parents, by picking coffee. So, if you stay home from school, you lose that much education. I guess they entered a resolution or whatever you call it. Anyway, they got their school to change the time … that’s when you’re picking coffee.”

“We [normally] go back September. … the peak season is right when the school go back. So, they change it so that they have their Kona schedule on a coffee harvest time. Well, it worked out all right like that.” (Willie Thompson)

“(I)n the earlier days, on off season, the time before harvesting and after trimming, there weren’t job opportunities for the farmers. There was a criticism – probably doesn’t hold as much today because there’re not as many schoolteachers that are in the coffee business – but a lot of the schoolteachers that came back here, came back here because they had coffee farms – their

families had coffee farms.”

“Well, the coffee schedule really ended because the families could no longer get the kids to come back and spend the time on the farms to pick coffee, which the coffee schedule was supposed to take care of.”

“But those teachers that had coffee farms were more concerned about their coffee operations really than they were on their teaching. The teaching gave them the security of a steady income, while the coffee income was what they were really concerned about.” (Sherwood Greenwell)

“There were probably five or six years of where there was a question, (should) the coffee schedule be continued or (should) they give it up?  This became quite a hassle. It was kept, I think, longer than it was practical.”

“Probably for one reason more than anything else, and that was that a lot of the farmers felt that it was a concession that they had somehow gotten that was very important to them. Not that it was that worthwhile to them, but it was a concession that government had given them and they wanted it sort of there, even though it wasn’t working out as well as it should.”

“So, I think that probably extended the [time].  And it also – you got a feeling from the attitude of some people that if you were for going back to the regular schedule, that you were an enemy to coffee.”

“This was a feeling, I think, that a lot of people had who would like to have seen the thing [coffee schedule] dropped. It took some time and some guts for most of the people to overcome that feeling. So, I think it did continue longer than it should have.”

“I think it would have been better for the kids and everybody that it would be over with sooner. Kids going into college off the Kona schedule, college almost had started before they graduated, and I don’t think it helped that type of education – you know, ongoing education – for the kids.”  (Sherwood Greenwell)

Kona was not the only place with crop-based vacations … “(O)ne year, we were cutting back across the states, and there was a kid in Idaho fishing at a stream where we were fishing. We asked him how come he wasn’t in school. He said, ‘oh, spud vacation’. What they did was, school was let out at the height of the potato harvesting season for two weeks.”

“Something like that probably would have been a better way of doing it. Going on the regular schedule and then just having a vacation tied right into the harvesting period.” (Sherwood Greenwell)

“Then, the coffee kind of faded out. All the new teachers, they didn’t like teaching when all the other teachers have a rest, and they working. Then, they changed back to the regular. Then, the weather kind of changed too. Not much coffee. The season kind of different, too. So, that’s how they got the schools like that … about in the ’60s, they changed back to the regular schedule.” (Willie Thompson)

“I think, at the beginning, there was a real reason for it and I think it worked out very well. I think it strengthened the ties within the family where they all were working together for something.”

“I know it’s been said at times, if you had someone applying for a job that came from Kona, he was a good worker. He had good loyalty and he was a good worker. I think that all comes from that period where everybody in the family worked hard together.” (Sherwood Greenwell)

In 1932, the school coffee schedule was inaugurated. There are 1,077 coffee farms in Kona, covering 5,498 acres. The farms ranged in size from 3 to 30 acres, with the average size being 5 acres.

Kona students picked a total of 25,320 bags during their “summer” vacation period between October and December in 1932.  (Social History of Kona)

On June 20, 1968, “The Kona coffee schedule of November – to – August year for Kona schools was ended … in a complicated series of actions by the State Board of Education.  The board thus ended a 36-year-old unique tradition devised to free youngsters to pick coffee during the harvest months of September and October.”

A transition year in 1968-69 was “a temporary measure to provide time to plan for implementing an entirely new system in the 1969-70 school year.”  (SB, June 21, 1968)

© 2022 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keahuolū

The area of North Kona between Kailua Bay and Keauhou Bay to the south is generally recognized as containing the population core and the most fertile agricultural area of North Kona (Kona Kai ʻOpua “Kona of the distant horizon clouds above the ocean”.)  (Maly)

To the north of Kailua Bay, beginning at Honokōhau, is the relatively dry Kekaha district of North Kona, with its barren lava inlands and coastal fishponds (Kekaha-wai-ʻole-nā-Kona (the waterless place of Kona, it’s described as “a dry, sun-baked land.”)

Keahuolū is situated in the transition zone between these two contrasting environmental districts, and is immediately north of Kailua Bay, a center of both political and economic activities since before Western contact.

Keahuolū has been translated in a couple ways, “Ke-ahu-o-Lū” (the ahu (or alter) of Lū) and “Keʻohuʻolu” (the refreshing mists) – similar to the neighboring (to the south) Lanihau ahupuaʻa (cool heaven.)

A hill at Keahuolū and adjoining Kealakehe (to the north) is associated with mists.  “The settling of mists upon Puʻu O Kaloa was a sign of pending rains; thus the traditional farmers of this area would prepare their fields.”  (This notes the importance of rain in this relatively dry area.)  (Cultural Surveys)

Several general settlement pattern models have been generated by researchers that generally divide up the region into five basic environmental zones: the Shoreline, Kula, Kaluʻulu, ʻApaʻa and ʻAmaʻu.

Habitation was concentrated along the shoreline and lowland slopes, and informal fields were probably situated in the Kula and higher elevations, areas with higher rainfall.

The Shoreline zone extends, typically, from the high-tide line inland a few hundred feet. In Kailua this is the area from the shore to approximately Aliʻi Drive.  In this zone, permanent settlement began in Kona c. AD 1000-1200.

Several large and densely populated royal centers were situated at several locations along the shoreline between Kailua and Honaunau.

Several heiau were noted along the coast. Stokes described three coastal heiau sites in Keahuolū: Halepuʻa, Kawaluna and Palihiolo. Halepuʻa was described by Stokes as a koʻa, or fishing shrine, near the shore in a coconut grove.

Kawaluna Heiau was described by Stokes as a rebuilt enclosure located on the beach at Pāwai Bay. Heiau of Palihiolo was at or near the Keahuolū/Lanihau boundary, King Kalākaua had it rebuilt prior to his departure from Hawaiʻi.  (Rosendahl)

The Kula zone (the plain or open country) consisted primarily of dry and open land with few trees and considerable grass cover.

With limited soil, and lots of rock, this land was planted primarily in scattered sweet potato patches.  (This area was around the 500-foot elevation mark, and may extend further, to approximately the 600-800-foot elevation.)

The Kaluʻulu is zone is referred to as the breadfruit zone. Early explorers described this zone as breadfruit with sweet potatoes and wauke (paper mulberry) underneath; it may have been perhaps one-half mile wide. Here walled fields occur at the 600-800-foot elevation, which may be start of this breadfruit zone in this area.

The ʻApaʻa zone is described as a dryland taro and sweet potato zone (1,000-foot elevation and extended to the 2,500-foot elevation.) In historic accounts it is described as an area divided by low stone and earth walls into cleared rectangular fields in which sweet potato and dryland taro were planted. On the edges of the walls, sugarcane and ti were planted.

The ʻAmaʻu zone is the banana zone, which may extend from the 2,000-foot elevation to 3,000-feet, and is characterized by bananas and plantains being grown in cleared forest areas.  (Rosendahl)

William Ellis (1822) noted, “The houses which are neat, are generally erected on the sea-shore, shaded with cocoanut and kou trees, which greatly enliven the scene.”

“The environs were cultivated to a considerable extent; small gardens were seen among the barren rocks on which the houses are built, wherever soil could be found sufficient to nourish the sweet potato, the watermelon, or even a few plants of tobacco, and in many places these seemed to be growing literally in the fragments of lava, collected in small heaps around their roots.”

King Kalākaua later (1869) noted, “Keahuolu runs clear up to the mountains and includes a portion of nearly half of Hualalai mountains.  On the mountains the koa, kukui and ohia abounds in vast quantities.  The upper land or inland is arable, and suitable for growing coffee, oranges, taro, potatoes, bananas &c.”

” Breadfruit trees grow wild as well as Koli (castor-oil) oil seed.  The lower land is adopted for grazing cattle, sheep, goats &c.  The fishery is very extensive and a fine grove of cocoanut trees of about 200 to 300 grows on the beach.”

A sisal plantation was planted in Keahuolu in the late-1890s, a mill was constructed nearby; sisal was used to make rope and other fibers.  Operating until 1924, the McWayne sisal tract included about 1,000-acres of sisal fields in Keahuolu and adjoining Kealakehe.  (You can still see sisal plants, remnants of the sisal plantation, as you drive up Palani Road.)

A fishing village with a canoe landing was at Pāwai Bay.  Makaʻeo (later (July 10, 1949) developed into the Kailua Airport (commercial aviation ended there July 1, 1970)) had a large cocoanut grove, with a coastal trail running through it connecting Kailua Village to the Māmalahoa Trail.

The Kuakini Wall (1830-1844,) built to keep the free-ranging livestock out of the coastal settlements and gardens, extends from Kahaluʻu Bay to the southern portion of Keahuolu (with an average distance of about 1 ½ miles from the coastline.)  It goes to, but not through, Keahuolū at its northern terminus.

The ahupuaʻa of Keahuolū was awarded to Analeʻa Keohokālole ((c. 1816-1869) mother of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani) during the Māhele of 1848. Two walled houselots in Keahuolū had been held by Keohokālole’s ancestors “from very ancient times”.

Keohokālole was a great-granddaughter of both Kameʻeiamoku and Keaweaheulu two of the important chiefs who supported Kamehameha I in his rise to power.

Kameʻeleihiwa states, “Keohokālole was regarded by the Kamehameha clan as an Aliʻi Nui in honor of the great courage and loyalty proffered by her ancestors in their support of Kamehameha.”

As Aliʻi Nui, Keohokālole held the fifth largest number of ʻāina after the Māhele with 50 parcels.  She relinquished 48% of her original 96 ʻāina to the Mōʻī (King) retaining 23-parcels on Hawaiʻi, 25 on Maui and two on Oʻahu. Of her lands on the island of Hawaiʻi, two-thirds were located in the Kona District.  (Wong-Smith)

Keohokālole sold portions of her 15,000-20,000-acre grant to the government and other parties, with the balance being transferred to her heir, Liliʻuokalani.

In her Deed of Trust dated December 2, 1909, which was later amended in 1911, Queen Lili‘uokalani entrusted her estate to provide for orphan and destitute children in the Hawaiian Islands, with preference for Hawaiian children. Her legacy is perpetuated through the Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Center.

© 2023 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

1871 Trail & Alahaka Ramp

“We walked a mile over a raised macadamized road of uniform width; a road paved with flat stones and exhibiting in its every detail a considerable degree of engineering skill.”

“The stones are worn and smooth, and pushed apart in places, so that the road has the exact appearance of those ancient paved highways leading out of Rome which one sees in pictures.” (Mark Twain, Sacramento Daily Union, September 22, 1866)

Although the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawai`i, extensive cross-country trail networks enabled gathering of food and water and harvesting of materials for shelter, clothing, medicine, religious observances and other necessities for survival.

Ancient trails, those developed before western contact in 1778, facilitated trading between upland and coastal villages and communications between ahupua‘a and extended families.

These trails were usually narrow, following the topography of the land. Sometimes, over ‘a‘ā lava, they were paved with water-worn stones.

Alahele (trails) and alaloa (regional thoroughfares) were an integral part of the cultural landscape of South Kona and all Hawai‘i. The alahele provided access for local and regional travel, subsistence activities, cultural and religious purposes, and for communication between extended families and communities. Trails were important features of the cultural landscape.

Historical accounts describe at least two primary trails of regional importance in the South Kona region. One trail crossed the makai (near shore) lands, linking coastal communities and resources together. The other major trail of this region is “Kealaʻehu” (The path of Ehu), which passes through the uplands (in the vicinity of the Mamalahoa Highway.) (Rechtman)

Until the 1840s, overland travel was predominantly by foot and followed the traditional trails. By the 1840s, the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing, and many traditional trails – the ala loa and mauka-makai trails within ahupua‘a – were modified by removing the smooth stepping stones that caused the animals to slip.

Eventually, wider, straighter trails were constructed to accommodate horse drawn carts. Unlike the earlier trails, these later trails could not conform to the natural, sometimes steep, terrain.

It was probably Kuakini, Governor of Hawaiʻi Island from 1819 to 1844, who was very aggressive in building roads with prison labor and took the initiative in modifying trails for horse travel. This often involved throwing out the steppingstones and adding curbstones. (Curbstones enabled animals to follow a path without the rider’s constant guidance.) (NPS)

They often by-passed the traditional trails as more remote coastal villages became depopulated due to introduced diseases and the changing economic and social systems.

By the early-1850s, specific criteria were developed for realigning trails and roadways, including the straightening of alignments and development of causeways and bridges.

“The history of road making in this kingdom does not date far back. The first law that we find recorded was enacted in 1840, which as well as the laws of 1846 and 1850 gave to the Governors a general control of the roads, with power to make new roads and employ prisoners in their construction.”

“But no system of road making has ever been introduced, and the whole subject has been left to be executed as chance dictated. In 1852 road supervisors were made elective by the people, at the annual election in January. This change worked no improvement in the roads, as the road supervisors, in order to remain popular, required the least possible amount of labor, and in many districts an hour or two of work in the morning was considered as a compliance with the road law.”

“Under this law the road supervisors were pretty much to themselves, and though accountable to the Minister of the Interior, they considered favor of their constituents of more importance. This law was found productive of more evil than good, and during the last session of the legislature a new road law was passed, which goes in to force on the 1st of January 1857.”

“This new law gives to the Minister of the Interior the appointment of road supervisors throughout the Kingdom, who are subject to such general instructions (we suppose in regard to the construction of roads) as he may issue.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 25, 1856)

In 1871, a coastal trail that originally extended from Napoʻopoʻo south to Hoʻokena was repaired, and renamed the 1871 Trail. It is a section of the historic coastal Alaloa (regional trail) and was a primary route of travel between communities, royal centers, religious sites and resources. (It was improved as a ‘two-horse trail’ because it was widened to accommodate two horses.)

The Alahaka Ramp, located near the southern end of the Keanaeʻe Cliffs, is a massive stone ramp that ascends the pali from Keokea into Kiʻilae and connects the 1871 trail to Kiʻilae Village.

It is during this time that a series of large-scale government programs were initiated that focused on improvements to public resources, such as roadways.

It is one of the significant road construction events of this period. Prior to the construction of the ramp, folks used a ladder or rope to get up the slope. Alahaka ramp was built to allow horses to continue on the trail.

The 1871 Trail was used as part of a trade route in Hawaii. Having horses meant that people were able to transport more goods to trade, so it was very important that horses could navigate the trail.

In regards to the Alahaka Ramp, the first reference of a ‘constructed ramp’ is found in a letter to the Minister of the Interior dated February 4, 1868. In this letter, George Hardy, the road supervisor at the time, said:

“In South Kona, I have repaired (a very) bad place known by the name of Alahaka in the village of Kiʻilae, a place of great danger where several horses had been kill’d: and where people were in danger of going up and down. I have made it wide and a substantial road.” (NPS)

As noted in a December 31, 1897 letter, the Alahaka Ramp had fallen into a state of disrepair, when road supervisor TH Wright wrote: “Napoʻopoʻo to Hoʻokena beach road in a fearful condition, it needs repair of the worst kind. The Walahaka pali is very dangerous. This road is used every day for the convenience of the public, going and back to these places.” (NPS)

Wheeled vehicles did not enter Honaunau until 1918; travel in that area continuing to be by horses, mules and donkeys, as well as by foot. Although the area remained somewhat isolated due to the lack of a cart road, better trails continued to be built for mounted traffic.

In 1918 the trail section north of Honaunau was improved for wheeled traffic; however, the section south to Hoʻokena was never modified for motorized vehicles.

In 1951, a large earthquake caused an upper section of the ramp to slough off, which over the next ten years, continued to deteriorate. Twelve years later, the newly established National Park, conducted a rebuilding the entire makai (ocean-facing) side with steel rebar, mortar and stones.

A portion of the 1871 Trail, as well as the Alahaka Ramp are situated within the Puʻuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park and is available to hike – from Honaunau to Hoʻokena. Two trailheads: at the National Historical Park or Hoʻokena Beach Park. (Round trip is about 6.5-miles.)

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

1871_Trail-Alahaka_Ramp-NPS
1871_Trail-Alahaka_Ramp-NPS
1871 Trail looking north toward the Pu'uhonua, Keanae'e Cliffs to the right
1871 Trail looking north toward the Pu’uhonua, Keanae’e Cliffs to the right
Alahaka Ramp-1871_trail
Alahaka Ramp-1871_trail
Alahaka Ramp
Alahaka Ramp
Alahaka Ramp
Alahaka Ramp
1871 Trail
1871 Trail
1871 Trail
1871 Trail
Alahaka Ramp
Alahaka Ramp
Alahaka Ramp
Alahaka Ramp
1871 Trail in 1963
1871 Trail in 1963
NPS Masons stabilize the Alahaka Ramp
NPS Masons stabilize the Alahaka Ramp
Masons repair the Alahaka Ramp-1963
Masons repair the Alahaka Ramp-1963
Petrified Niagara
Petrified Niagara
Honaunau_Section_Reg1445-1888
Honaunau_Section_Reg1445-1888
Honaunau_Section_Reg1796-1896
Honaunau_Section_Reg1796-1896
Keei_2-Honaunau-Reg1457
Keei_2-Honaunau-Reg1457

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Getting Around in Kona … in the Old Days

“While in the old days, you walked to school and you walked home. There wasn’t any time for anything else. … Nobody got a ride to school unless they lived five miles away from the school.”  (Sherwood Greenwell, Social History of Kona)

“[We’d] go down swimming … Straight down [from up mauka to Kainaliu beach] of we used to walk down to Keauhou Beach. That’s five of six miles.  Yeah, we used to walk.”  (William Ishida, Social History of Kona)

“I grew up with my aunts and uncles living in a big house with my grandparents and my parents. We walked to school, and we would chit-chatter. In the morning, we never played on the roadside because we had to get to school on time.”

“But coming home after school from Japanese[-language] school, it was different. We’d look around the roadside for thimbleberries, rose apple or mountain apple, or guavas. We didn’t encounter too much animosity growing up together with other nationalities.”

“Hōlualoa was a real multicultural community. We lived among many different races, and we did many things together in the neighborhood.”

“I grew up doing things with my aunties and uncles. It was more family togetherness. We didn’t have anything like television; we couldn’t afford to buy things. We picked seeds on the roadside, and we’d save them to do some craft things.”

“As a teenager, going to movies at the Hōlualoa Theater was a treat. I never went alone; always as a group. We enjoyed visiting our neighbors to sing songs and exchange stories.”

“My childhood days was very simple. It wasn’t like, oh we have to go someplace to have fun. It was a joy to visit my girlfriends’ home and do some embroidery or stitchery; picking guavas and mountain apples from the fields.”

“We would just go in the coffee field and we’d play with simple things, like getting a guava branch for sticks, or whatever. … It was a little community and we all knew the families in Hōlualoa. We knew everyone and we trusted everyone”.

“Coffee season, we’d never go anywhere. From early in the morning we’d go out to pick coffee; it was like we had to do it. We never say, ‘Oh, we don’t want to pick coffee.’ We’d get up and it’s our responsibility, it’s part of our life.”

“We’d pick every day; there’s no Sundays. If it rained, there were other chores, like bagging all the coffee underneath the hoshidana [large coffee sun-drying platforms with retractable roofs] to take it to American Factors.”

“When we were done with our coffee picking, we’d help families in Kainaliu. I remember going to my relative, the Takeguchis, near Konawaena School. The whole crew, my brothers and even my grandmother, we’d all go and help pick their coffee.”

“I remember asking my grandma, ‘How did you come from Hilo to Kona?’ And she said she and my grandfather walked from Hilo. I said, ‘You mean you walked all the way?’”

“She said they walked to Honu‘apo. You know, Ka‘ū? There’s a landing, Honu‘apo. And I said, ‘Oh, what did you do for sleeping and for food?’ She said they just walked, and during the evening before it gets real dark, they see a dim light here and there.”

“They’d go up, and many of the Hawaiians were very nice. They gave them a place for them to rest on the porch, and I guess they gave them whatever food. They made it to Honu‘apo, rode the boat, and landed at Nāpō‘opo‘o.” (Alfreida Kimura Fujita, Kona Heritage Stores)

“I think on my father’s side, the grandparents, after they finished their contract with the Plantation [in East Hawaii], then they were free, so they came to Kona.”

“But I think – on my mother’s side – I think they took off before their contract was over. My mother was the eldest – she had five brothers. And the one below her, they had to walk all the way [to Kona].”

They walked “From Hilo [to Honu‘apo]. … [T]they had a boat going in and out those days. So, they rode on the boat at Honu‘apo and then came to Kona. … Probably they slept over one night or two nights. Especially when you have a family, you know, it’s hard.“

“[W]e used to make our own fun. Go down the beach, we used to walk all the way. No more cars like today. And everything was nature in the raw. We go down there, and coming home it’s hot.”

“We all walked to school. Like, from Kainaliu till Konawaena – it was up where First Hawaiian Bank is now [next to the Kealakekua Public Library]. That used to be the old Konawaena School.”

“But that’s nothing. There were some people living farther away. They had to walk all the way. And the road was not much of a road, either, you know. Not paved road at all. All gravel road, and rough.” (Norman K. Okamura, Kona Heritage Stores)

“[F]ortunately, my father had two sisters who were schoolteachers, and they didn’t have a car. So every morning my father had to take them to school. So we used to ride in the car and go to school, same way.  So we were real fortunate that my father had a taxi business and we were able to hang on and go to school. Didn’t have to walk.” (Susumu Oshima, Kona Heritage Stores)

“Well, I was really fortunate because the place we live is centralized. They call it central Kona, because all my friends, they all surrounded me. All my classmates and all that we always stood by each other for fun.”

“In fact, in my gang we had about fifteen to twenty of us and in the morning before we go to school, we always got together at the store.”

“We talk story, play cards, and we used to walk to school every day. And I remember because I love my sports, and the way we had to entertain ourselves is those days, we didn’t have any basketball. Tennis ball was available, … in the garage we made a basket out of a Crisco can. And we used to play basketball in that area.”

“And since it was war days when I was about twelve, thirteen, there was no field to play in. The [Māmalahoa] Highway was next to my store, so we played football in the highway because we could see the cars coming. Half an hour later or so (laughs), we own the field. Our field was a road.” (Sukeji Yamagata, Kona Heritage Stores)

“Of course, those days didn’t have many cars so you could take up the whole road to walk.”  (Alfreida Kimura Fujita, Kona Heritage Stores)

“[My father would make] me watch the store. Well, I was old enough to watch. And he goes down, early in the morning, walk – there’s a trail from the church here.”

“And there’s a trail going all the way down. When I grew up, I wanted – I was so curious how to get there. Two girls and I, we took that trail.”

“I said, “Gee, and here my father went all the way to get food.” The walking down is okay but coming home with that basket of fish. . . . [it would take] about half an hour [to walk the trail].” (Madeline Fujihara Leslie, Kona Heritage Stores)

“[L]ots of the Japanese people had donkeys, and so did some Hawaiians, they would come shop, and put [the groceries] on, tie ’em up, so the donkey would pack those things home for them.”

“After they buy their groceries, they put ’em in a bag and then have two bags with some kind of thing around. And then it would balance, and the donkey go back home, up the hill.”

“That was their transportation like. They buy canned goods, like corned beef, cracker, those needed items, they buy. And people live way up, about a mile up the hill. And only by trail, no cars. So they would bring their donkey.”

“And I’ve seen them put two bags across. Then the donkey would go home with an even weight. Yeah, all had donkeys. I used to ride them, too.” (Madeline Fujihara Leslie, Kona Heritage Stores)

“And we used to go fishing right down here; we walked down. … Yeah, we walked down, because no cars those days. Went down fishing. … And later on when the war stopped, they had surplus jeeps, then we started buying those jeeps. Then we didn’t have to walk anymore.” (Sukeji Yamagata, Kona Heritage Stores)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kona Oranges

The orange is one of the oldest of cultivated fruits; although its nativity is not known, it probably originated in the Indo-Chinese region. It is now widely distributed.

Native to Asia, oranges were introduced to Hawaii by Captain George Vancouver; in 1792 he came from Tahiti, where it had long grown, having received a large store of supplies from the natives there.

Arriving on Hawaii Vancouver left with the native chiefs of Kona a number of valuable seeds and ‘some vine and orange plants.’ A few days later he left some ‘orange and lemon plants’ on the island of Niihau.

It is supposed that these plants were the parents of the famous russet Kona oranges that are such general favorites among islanders. On Molokai, far back in the mountains, an old orange grove was seen in a fairly thrifty state.

Some of the trees were two feet in diameter at the height of my shoulder. Everything about them indicated their great age, and it is highly probable that this grove antidates the introduction of the plants by Vancouver.  (Bryan, Natural History of Hawaii)

As noted in Captain Vancouver’s journal in March 1792:

The retinue of Tianna (Ka‘iana) on this occasion was to consist of a considerable number; part were to attend him on board the Discovery, and, the remainder was to proceed in the Chatham. His residence was a little to the north of Karakakooa (Kealakekua); and as it was proposed his suite should be taken on board the next afternoon …

As Tianna had several goats, I did not present him with any of these animals, but made him very happy by giving him some vine and orange plants, some almonds, and an assortment of garden feeds, to all of which he promised the most particular care and attention. (Vancouver (Vol 1, 1792)

“The orange flourished in the dry climate, similar to that found in the Valencia region of Spain from which the variety originated.”

“Many acres of what came to be known as ‘Kona oranges’ were grown and, for many decades during the nineteenth century, these oranges were a major export from the region.”

“Many of these oranges were bound for the West Coast, with some making their way into the goldfields of California. A few Kona orange trees still exist, bearing fruit to this day.” (Nagata, WHT)

The California gold rush brought an economic boom to Hawaii agriculture; Irish and sweet potatoes, onions, pumpkins, oranges, molasses, and coffee were shipped to the West Coast. (DOA)

Then, “In the late 1880s and 1890s Holualoa was an agricultural region settled by Chinese, Portuguese and Japanese immigrants who planted coffee, cotton, grapes, breadfruit and Kona oranges for export to support their growing community.”

“From 1899 to 1926 coffee was replaced by sugar cane, which then supported their local economy very well. Coffee later saved the Holualoa economy after the sugar market collapsed.” (Burt, Western Express)

Oranges continued to grow and be sold in Kona, “the orange tree branches are real strong. They won’t break, and you can rely on it. We used to climb the trees, pick it by hand.”

“But another thing, what [my father] did was, to save time instead of getting the basket going up, he made basket on the top with a funnel like thing made out of cloth and the thing would drop all the way to the ground.”

“And what we did was, with the basket we just spin the thing round and around, and when we picked the orange, the orange would come down whirling, whirling, no damage to the orange. So, when you get down there, you know no damage.  So that’s the way we were picking the orange.”

“And the biggest success from the orange was when the Second World War came on, the army wanted our oranges and they wanted it real bad. So we just had to go pick, even half-ripe ones, whatever came up to the station up here. The thing just went on the truck and gone. We had four years of good [business].”

[Interviewer Question:] “So wartime, oranges was good then.  [Answer]; Oh yeah, couldn’t keep up. … Yeah, in Kona. Kona Orange. …”

“Well, after school, because we were so busy those days. Coming back from school we had to grade the oranges and watch the store when my mother was cooking. My dad wasn’t around, so we all pitched in and did all the things that had to be done.”

“We were lucky because all our brothers stood by, never did go anyplace. But one of the setbacks was, since we had to work on the farm, my second oldest brother couldn’t volunteer for the army because they classified him 4-F.”

“They wanted somebody to run the farm because my father wasn’t here. So, he stayed back and then my other brothers were drafted. The oldest was [a member of] the 100th [Infantry] Battalion. The other one, he just got into the army when the war was over….”

“Yamagata Store was not only general merchandise, [my mother] went into material, and oranges were sold in the store too. In fact, the oranges had their own place in the veranda. We had a rack made just for the oranges; people would just stop and buy the oranges….”

“Tourists used to stop by because of the oranges, we displayed the oranges. A lot of tourists. … [Question]: So it’s mostly tourists buying the oranges? … [Answer] “Yeah.”

“It’s a small quantity going to the tourists, but most of them we had to ship them out to Honolulu, all over. They used to go out, by the truckload they used to ship them out. So we had to make the crates and everything.”

[Oral History Question]: “It wouldn’t make sense for a Kona person to come buy oranges, yeah?” [Answer]: “We used to give them. You know, when the oranges getting a little too old or something, ‘Here, take ‘em home.’”  (Sukeji Yamagata, N. Yamagata Store, Kona Heritage Stores Oral History)

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