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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
“Ship traps” describes a phenomenon where northern and southern swells, strong channel currents, strong consistent trade winds and fringing reefs force unsuspecting vessels into areas of harm – resulting in concentrated shipwrecks.
The north shore of the Island of Lānaʻi, locally referred to as “Shipwreck Beach,” is the best example of this phenomenon. Here, the channel acts as a funnel, depositing material directly onto Shipwreck Beach.
Any vessel that broke its moorings at Lāhainā would end up there; sometimes ship owners intentionally abandoned worn-out vessels there by simply casting them adrift upwind from the treacherous shore. (Naval Historical Center)
The first reported wreck occurred in 1824 when a British vessel named the Alderman Wood ran into the reef there. It was said to be carrying a “cargo of liquors” and “became a total wreck.” (PCA, Nov. 16. 1905)
Well, maybe the liquor was lost, but the ship’s figurehead was saved …
“At first glance the figure-head presents a ludicrous picture, for upon the head has been nailed an old derby hat, entirely out of joint and time with the figure-head, which wears carved clothing of the kind prevailing in the latter part of the eighteenth century.”
“From between the wooden lips of this odd statue, once the proud monument of a time British ship’s prow, projects a cheap corn-cob pipe, placed there by a waterfront wag.”
“But a closer view shows that the figure-head must possess a history. No figure-head of this type has adorned a ship in the nineteenth century.”
“It belonged to century when the United States was young, when George Washington was the President, and the Hawaiian Islands little known, except that some years before Captain Cook had been slain on one of them.”
“The figurehead wears a long cape, caught over the breast with a buckle. Around the neck is a chain, hanging from this against the breast is what appears to be a large medal, but which really was the symbol of one of the highest offices in England – that of Lord Mayor of London.”
“Some time in the 20’s the British ship Alderman Wood was wrecked on the island of [Lanai]. The news was brought to Honolulu and James Robinson, father of Mark P Robinson, then head of the firm of James Robinson & Co, ship chandlers and carpenters went to Molokai to save what he could of the ship.”
“She was filled with beautiful mirrors, and was in those days reckoned a magnificent type of the merchant ships built by the British. The captain made a present of the figure-head to Mr. Robinson and he brought it to Honolulu.”
“When the new warehouse was built in the beginning of the ‘30’s, below what is now Queen street, Mr Robinson raised the figure-head up and placed it on the pulley beam as a pedestal, and there it has remained through all the vicissitudes of the elements for nearly three quarters of a century.”
“Often a workman is sent up on the building with putty, nails and pieces of wood to repair the figure-head.”
“The ship Alderman Wood was named after its owner, who was a London alderman in the latter part of the eighteenth century and Mark Robinson is of the opinion that he also became Lord Mayor of London.”
“The wooden statue evidently shows the owner in his mantle of office, either as alderman or Lord Mayor The old warehouse, too, has a history.”
“It is one of the oldest in Honolulu, and the loft was considered very large in the days when it was built and Honolulu was in its Infancy. It was a sail loft and used for general ship chandler work.”
“When Admiral Thomas, the British naval officer, restored the Hawaiian Kingdom its independence and flag in July, 1843, having been unlawfully deprived of both by the British some time previous …”
“… a grand ball was given to celebrate the event, and the sail loft of the Robinson warehouse was the place where the ball was given. It was grand affair, attended by the elite of the city, including royal personages.”
“The old figure-head was then in position. The doors immediately below the beam and figure-head … open out from this old time ball room, now used as a storage loft.” (PCA, Feb 8, 1903)
Thrum noted that in 1911 as a “Disappearing Landmark”, “The old Robinson warehouse with its seaward-end adornment of the figure-head of Alderman Wood, from an English ship of that name which was wrecked on the Island of Lanai in 1824 …”
“… and has, as it were, welcomed the incoming and sped the outgoing shipping of Honolulu ever since the erection of the building a few years later, has fallen in decay.”
“The appearance of our waterfront will seem unnatural to many frequenters of the port who will miss the old familiar figure and once prominent building.” (Thrum, 1912) It is not known where the figurehead is now.
The family dates back to early-Europe. They took the name of Saint Claire from the place, probably Normandy, where their estate was located. (Von Holt)
A senior Saint Claire married a daughter of Richard Duke of Normandy, father of William the Conqueror (their son fought in the Battle of Hastings, 1066.) By 1481, the spelling of their name started to appear as Sinclair. (Von Holt)
OK, let’s bring this closer to home.
Looking at genealogies and relationships between folks in Hawaiʻi, you tend to see a pretty tight group of people who are either related to each other, or the families had worked together for a long time.
On Kauai, you hear the names, but the relationships aren’t evident.
Sinclair – Gay – Robinson – Knudsen
Keeping track of these folks is best done with the family tree.
You’ll see that the gang above are all in the family. And, they link back to the Saint Claire clan of old.
It started in January 1824 when Captain Francis S Sinclair married Elizabeth (“Eliza”) McHutchison (sometimes spelled McHutcheson) – they were both from Glasgow, Scotland.
In 1840, the Sinclairs and their three sons and three daughters – George, Jane, Helen, James, Francis and Anne – made the move to New Zealand. Exchanging their Scotland land, they established the farm ‘Craigforth’ in a cove on the western side of Pigeon Bay on South Island.
Craigforth was largely self-sufficient. There were no servants and the Sinclairs made their own shoes and clothes. The Sinclair girls “could manage a boat as well as their brothers, they were fearless riders…crack shots, and capable workers, so that the hardships and roughing of those early years were not too much for their buoyant spirits.” (TeAra-govt-nz)
In 1846, Eliza’s husband and her eldest son, George, set off for Wellington. The ship, loaded with produce and with all the family’s savings on board, was wrecked somewhere along the coast. There were no survivors.
Under the shadow of this tragedy, the widow and family persevered.
One of the captains of the whaling ships that regularly visited Pigeon Bay, Thomas Gay, married Jane Sinclair in 1848 and they built a house at the bay. Then, Helen Sinclair married Charles Barrington Robinson, the former magistrate at Akaroa and the owner of extensive land holdings in Canterbury.
Are you starting to see the connections? Wait, there’s more.
In 1863, the Sinclairs decided to sell the Pigeon Bay farm and settle in Canada. Eliza and 13 members of her family sailed for Canada via Tahiti (captained by her son-in-law, Thomas Gay.) California was considered as an alternative place to settle, but they were persuaded to try Hawaiʻi. They travelled to Honolulu via Los Angeles, arriving there in September 1863.
The family was anxious to find land on which to settle and they were offered several large tracts on Oʻahu (at Kahuku, Ford Island and ʻEwa.) When King Kamehameha IV heard the family might leave the Islands, the King offered to sell them the island of Niʻihau. (Joesting)
After inspecting the place, they offered $6,000. The government countered – $10,000 outright, or a lease at $750 per year. Brothers James and Francis Sinclair bought it for the government’s price, $10,000. (Joesting)
Kamehameha IV died on November 30 before the closing, so Land Grant No. 2944 shows his brother, Kamehameha V, completed the transaction in 1864.
As he signed the contract, the king said: ‘”Niihau is yours. But the day may come when Hawaiians are not as strong in Hawaii as they are now. When that day comes, please do what you can to help them.’” (New York Times)
“It is said that the transfer of the island involved some hardships, owing to a number of the natives having neglected to legalize their claims to their kuleanas, but the present possessors have made themselves thoroughly acquainted with the language, and take the warmest interest in the island population.” (Isabella Bird, 1894)
Sinclairs also bought land at Makaweli and Hanapepe on the adjoining Island of Kauai. Ownership was subsequently passed down through the family.
Eliza Sinclair’s daughter, Anne Sinclair, married Valdemar Knudsen on Niʻihau in 1867. Later, that family (with 5 children) lived in Waiawa and Halemanu in Kokeʻe (on Kauai.)
The connections of the family names got a bit tighter when Aubrey Robinson (son of Helen Sinclair and Charles Robinson) married his cousin, Alice Gay (daughter of Jane Sinclair and Thomas Gay.)
The legacy continues.
Francis Gay formed a company with his brother-in-law (and cousin) Aubrey Robinson – Gay & Robinson.
Today, although the state records list them separately, if you combined the Robinsons’ holdings of nearly 51,000 acres on Kauai and some 46,000 acres on Niʻihau, the family would be the sixth largest landowner in the state. (sfgate-com)
The 2011 report lists Aylmer Robinson as the owner of Niʻihau, although he left it to his brother’s family when he died in 1967, and nephews Bruce and Keith Robinson assumed control several years before the death of their mother, Helen, in 2002. (sfgate-com)
Eric Knudsen, son of Anne Sinclair and Valdemar Knudsen, established the Eric A Knudsen Trust with extensive land holdings on Kauai, as well.
Niʻihau isn’t the only island this extended clan owned in the Islands.
After methodically buying up individual parcels, by 1907, Charles Gay, youngest son of Captain Thomas Gay and Jane Sinclair Gay, acquired the island of Lānaʻi (except for about 100-acres.) He was the first to establish the single-ownership model for Lānaʻi (with roughly 89,000 acres.)
Around 1919, Gay experimented with planting pineapple on a small scale. He eventually sold his interest and James Dole’s Hawaiian Pineapple Company, Ltd. began the subsequent establishment of its pineapple plantation.
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Ka‘ā (literally translated means, “the rocky area”) is the largest ahupuaʻa on Lānaʻi, and covers almost 19,500-acres of land, the entire north end of the island.
At one time Ka‘ā supported many near-shore settlements, upland agricultural fields, resource collection/workshop areas and ceremonial sites. The residents of Ka‘ā regularly traveled between the coast and uplands, and several named localities in both climatic regions are found in native traditions and historical literature.
Traditional features, including ceremonial sites, burials, trails, residences (both long term and temporary,) salt making sites, agricultural features, lithic workshops, petroglyphs, modified caves, contest fields and sites of undetermined uses are found throughout Ka‘ā.
Native Hawaiian chants and traditions passed down over time speak loudly of the cultural and historical significance of this area.
The honu (turtle) population at Polihua is integral to the account of Pele’s migration to Hawaiʻi, and in the time when ancient Hawaiians lived at Ka‘ā the honu provided important resources for traditional subsistence.
The tradition of the Lānaʻi priest, Kawelo, and a priest of Moloka‘i identified in various accounts as either Lani-kāula or Waha – is of regional importance to the people of Lānaʻi and Moloka‘i.
Kawelo was a famous priest of Lānaʻi, who is remembered in several written accounts, dating back to at least 1868. Information collected by Kenneth Emory from Lānaʻi in 1921-1922, and accounts by other native residents, place prominent sites associated with this legend in the ahupua‘a of Ka‘ā.
In the latter tradition, we see that at Ka‘ā, Lānaʻi, Kawelo kept an altar on which a fire was burned to protect the well-being of the people of his island.
There are several narratives, with varying circumstances and different characters, but each focusses on the central theme of the priest Kawelo burning a fire on an altar in order to protect the well-being of the residents of Lānaʻi.
Kewalo on Lānaʻi and Waha on Molokaʻi challenged each other to keep a fire burning on their respective island longer than the other, and the winner’s island would be rewarded with great abundance.
The Lānaʻi kahuna, Kawelo, used every piece of vegetation in Keahiakawelo to keep his fire burning, which is why this area is so barren today.
In 1873, Walter Murray Gibson published “A Legend of Lanai” in the newspaper “Nu Hou.” Titled “Keahiakawelo” (The fire of Kawelo), in the account there are details on events of the legend and reference to the upland region of Ka‘ā:
“In the district of Kaa, on the western side of Lanai, there are several tumuli of large stones, and some rude contrivance of sacrificial altar, surrounded by a low round enclosure.”
“Here three generations anterior to the reign of Kahekili, who was King of Maui and Lanai, lived the prophet Kawelo, who kept up a constant fire burning day and night upon this altar; and a similar fire responsive to it, was maintained by another prophet Waha, on the opposite side of Molokai.”
“Now Kawelo had a daughter to assist in keeping watch and to feed the sacred fire, and Waha had a son; and it was declared to the people by these prophets, that so long as the fire burned, hogs and dogs would never cease from the land; but should it become extinguished these animals would pass away, and the kanakas would only have fish and sea-weed to eat with their poi. . . “
Gibson described how the boy Nui, of Moloka‘i, and the girl Pepe, of Lānaʻi, came to fall in love, and how on one fateful night, they failed to keep the fires on their respective islands lit – the fire on the “altar of Keahiakawelo” had died. Upon discovering their error, Nui and Pepe fled to Maui, and Kawelo:
“… threw himself headlong from a precipice of the barranca [bluff] of Maunalei. And many natives of Lanai believe to this day, that their native hogs and dogs have passed away, in consequence of the prophecy of Kawelo.”
Keahiakawelo is an otherworldly rock garden at the end of rocky Polihua Road. Located roughly 45-minutes from Lānaʻi City on the northwest side of the island, its landscape is populated with boulders and rock towers.
The region around Keahiakawelo is one of the most significant storied landscapes on Lānaʻi; there are numerous traditions describing how native Hawaiians were able to survive on Lānaʻi, and why, at one time, Lānaʻi was noted for purple colored lehua blossoms.
As the tradition of the area known as Keahiakawelo reveals, the Ka‘ā region of Lānaʻi, with the view plain to the eastern end of Moloka’i and the famed kukui tree grove of Lanikāula and Mokuhoʻoniki, is one of great significance to the history of Lānaʻi and connected by history to the larger Maui group of islands.
The rock towers, spires and formations formed by centuries of erosion are at their most enchanting at dusk. The setting sun casts a warm orange glow on the rocks illuminating them in brilliant reds and purples.
One Island legend says that the rocks and boulders were dropped from the sky by the gods tending their gardens. Another ancient tale explains that the rocks house the spirits of ancient Hawaiian warriors.
And still another legend says that the gods enjoyed creating art, and this spot on the island is where they made their favorite sculptures. They created powerful winds to literally sculpt each rock formation (perhaps explaining why there is no vegetation.)
Science suggests that these formations are the result of thousands of years of erosion that created pinnacles and buttes in one remote canyon area. Just one look, however, and you’ll wonder whether each rock has been placed for some divine purpose.
Today, many refer to this area as “Garden of the Gods.”
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Lānaʻi was under the control of nearby Maui before written history. Its first inhabitants may have arrived as late as the 15th century.
The first people to migrate here, most likely from Maui and Molokaʻi, probably established fishing villages along the coast, initially; but later branched out into the interior where they raised taro in the fertile volcanic soil.
Lānaʻi was first seen by Europeans in February 25, 1779, when Captain Charles Clarke sighted the island from aboard James Cook’s HMS Resolution. Clarke had taken command of the ship after Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay on February 14 and was leaving the islands for the North Pacific.
Kaunolū Village is located on the south coast of the island of Lānaʻi. This former fishing village, abandoned in the 1880s, is the Island’s largest surviving ruins of a prehistoric Hawaiian village.
Old house foundations, terraces and petroglyphs are found at Kaunolū along with the remains of an ancient sacred area called Halulu Heiau, high on the edge of a cliff above the bay.
The archaeological site is very well-preserved and covers almost every phase of Hawaiian culture. It was designated a US National Historic Landmark in 1962 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
The site consists of two historical villages straddling Kaunolū Gulch, a dry stream bed subject to occasional flash floods after rainstorms at higher elevations. The village on the western side was named Kaunolū; the one on the eastern side was called Keāliakapu.
The land is parched, with little fresh water, but the sheltered bay at the end of the gulch offers access to rich fishing in the deep seas below the high cliffs along the south coast of the island. Ancient Hawaiian bone lures used to troll for pelagic fish were found in Ulaula Cave, a small lava tube near the village.
After Kamehameha had conquered all the islands, he visited the village of Kaunolū to fish and sport. His residence was on the bluff which forms the east side of the bay, overlooking the village, the heiau and the bay.
Between 1778 and 1810, he is said to have held ceremonies at this heiau. During the late 18th century, Maui high chief Kahekili, a rival of Kamehameha, also used to visit here.
One of Kahekili’s many legendary feats was performed through the ancient Hawaiian sport of lele kawa (to leap feet first from a cliff into water without splashing.)
Northwest of the heiau there is a natural stone wall running along the sea cliff. Near the cliff’s edge, there is a break in the wall (called Kahekili’s Leap) and a steep 80-foot drop.
Kahekili was a formidable competitor and reportedly demanded his warriors follow his lead and ordered them to dive into the sea below to prove their courage.
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