Lorrin Thurston | Page 2 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 23, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Reviving Outrigger Canoe Racing

Outrigger Canoe Club fielded its first outrigger canoe racing crew in 1908 in a race in Honolulu Harbor. There were a few canoe races in the 1910s and 1920s, most often held in Waikiki, in conjunction with surfing contests. (OCC)

The improvement to a road project in West Hawai‘i was catalyst to revival of outrigger canoe racing in Hawai‘i.

The Territorial government sought to improve the 39-mile Waimea to Kona roadway in the 1930s.

EE Black, a contractor, built the road from Kailua-Kona to what is now the start of the Saddle Road. He used the first bulldozer in the history of the islands to do so. (Thurston)

“The formal opening of the new belt road on the island of Hawaii, July 22, 1933, was an important occasion, attended by the Governor and his party from Honolulu and many excursionists.” (The Friend, July 1933)

Having just finished the road, Black approached Outrigger Canoe Club President Lorrin Thurston and asked what he could do to show his appreciation to his employees and the people of Kona for their patience during the road work. (Thurston)

Black “made a good many dollars on that road and he wanted to do something in return for the people of Kona. So, knowing that I knew something about the district, he came to me …”

“… I suggested perhaps we should have the rebirth of the canoe races and he put up $3,000, I think, in the way of expenses and we carried the ball from there, which was very interesting.” (Thurston)

Thurston “talked with Dad Center and suggested that perhaps we might start canoe racing again. And he encouraged me.” (Thurston)

“They organized canoe crews from Kailua, Honaunau and Miloli‘i to compete against crews from O‘ahu: Hui Nalu, Outrigger and Queen’s Surf.”

Thurston “went to Kona and interested Julian Yates, Louis Macfarlane and Eugene Kaupiko in holding a canoe race.”

One of the problems involved in holding the race in Kona was how to get the many paddlers from O‘ahu to Kona.

“I didn’t have the money to pay for their steamship fares and there were no planes,” Thurston explained. “We finally worked out a proposition with the US Coast Guard who were able to bring the paddlers over in daylight hours – not spending any night on board …” (OCC)

“To make a long story short, (Thurston) raised enough money to buy medals for all the races. Princess Kawananakoa was one of the principal donors.”

“… and we were able to get facilities to house the boys at the home of the Reverend Shannon Walker and a pavilion of the YMCA at Keauhou. The local boys stayed in their own homes.” (OCC)

“The Inter Island Steamship Company ran a special excursion of the Waialeale for spectators to view the races. There were four or five official boats of the U.S. Navy, two from Australia, and probably 15 yachts. After the races, everyone gathered at the Kona Inn for dancing and a luau.” (OCC)

“There were five races and OCC won three. The crews raced in Napo‘opo‘o. This was the first race that featured canoe racing only.” Races were also held in 1934 and 1935. (OCC)

It was also the start of modern canoe racing for Outrigger women. Mariechen Wehselau Jackson, Hawaii’s first female Olympic Gold Medalist (1924 in swimming), sailed on the Waialeale as an “excursionist” to see the races along with Ruth Scudder Gillmar, Oma Haley, and Ann Barkey Cook. On other boats were Ginger Joyce and Dot Ruttmann Lambert. (OCC)

“Prior to going up,” Jackson relates, “Dad Center had said to me, ‘Now, Squeaky, why don’t you get a crew together because then you can race against the women up in Kona.’”

“We started out to the starting line and I steered the canoe just as straight as could be, very nicely. We flirted with the Coast Guard who were the officials, at the starting line.”

“We waited and waited and finally the other crew came along. And they were elderly women, all white long hair, and they were wearing muumuu and the top of the canoe was just about three or four inches from the water. They were large women.” (Jackson; OCC)

“We went out fast, and when I looked again, I had to shake my head. I couldn’t believe it. We were going around in a circle. Then we headed right for the judges’ boat and we had to yell to the judges to get out of our way.”

“I couldn’t handle that canoe. We mowed down a couple of flags. We went all over the place. And the other crew won, but by just a very, very little. If we had gone straight we would have won. The Hawaiian women won the gold medals from Princess Kawananakoa fair and square.” (Jackson; OCC)

In 1936 interisland paddling moved to Honolulu Harbor with the Honaunau crews sweeping the events. The interisland races ceased at the onset of World War II. However, Outrigger, Hui Nalu and Waikiki Surf Club and several other clubs raced occasionally in Waikiki. (OCC)

“EE Black was really the one that made the thing possible because he had finished a contract to rebuild the road from Huehue Ranch to Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a and on to what is now the start of the Saddle Road.” (Thurston)

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Canoe_Race-(HerbKane)

July 1, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Unexpected Partners

Lorrin Andrews Thurston was born on July 31, 1858 in Honolulu. His father was Asa Goodale Thurston and Sarah Andrews. On his father’s side he was grandson of Asa and Lucy Thurston of the Pioneer Company of missionaries; on his mother’s side, he was grandson of another early missionary, Lorrin Andrews.

Thurston was fluent in the Hawaiian language and gave himself the nickname Kakina. He attended Oʻahu College (Punahou,) and, later, law school at Columbia University.

He followed his father and became a member of the Hawaiʻi Legislature. In 1887, Thurston authored what became known as the Bayonet Constitution. He became the Minister of Interior.

In 1892, Thurston led the Annexation Club and participated in the revolution and overthrow of the constitutional monarchy (1893.) Thurston headed the commission sent to Washington DC for American annexation. (Smith)

A volcano enthusiast, in his childhood on Maui, he would act as an informal tour guide; Thurston first visited Kīlauea on the Island of Hawaiʻi in 1879 at the age of 21 with Louis von Tempsky. Thurston wrote that “we hired horses in Hilo and rode to the volcano, from about eight o’clock in the morning to five in the afternoon.” (NPS)

Ten years later Thurston’s first mark upon the Volcano landscape appeared. In 1889, using his position as Minister of the Interior, he oversaw the construction of an improved carriage road from Hilo to Volcano.

The road was completed in 1894 allowing four-horse stages to transport visitors from Hilo to Volcano in seven hours. This feat would greatly increase the number of people able to view the volcano at Kīlauea. (NPS)

In 1891, Thurston bought the Volcano House in the Island of Hawaiʻi.

George Lycurgus first left his native Sparta in Greece around 1876, when he was about 17 years old. He served in the Greek Army for 18 months. George sailed from Greece to Liverpool sometime in 1880 and from there docked in New York. Here the young boy, not knowing any English, started out by selling lemons.

The later found himself in San Francisco; however his brother John and a cousin, Peter Kamarinos, were in Hawaiʻi. By the fall of 1889, George was sailing on the ‘Australia’ to Hawaiʻi.

Lycurgus opened the California Wine Company in Honolulu. Another Lycurgus enterprise in Honolulu during those years was the Union Grill. He then got in the hotel business, with the ‘Sans Souci’ in Waikiki. (Maggioros)

“In 1893 Sans Souci was a rambling hostelry, nestled among the coconut and palm trees of Waikiki Beach. The guests occupied small bungalows, thatched-roof affairs about ten by twelve, the bed being the principal article of furniture. It was in one of these bungalows that Stevenson had established himself, propped up with pillows on the bed in his shirt-sleeves.” Scribner’s Magazine, August, 1926.

Lycurgus was a royalist and was implicated with other counter-revolutionists in supplying arms (1895.) He was arrested, thirteen counts of treason were filed against him and he was held at ‘The Reef’ (Oʻahu Prison) for 52-days. (Chapin)

Later, Thurston sold the Volcano House to Lycurgus. (Smith)

Starting in 1906, Thurston, a revolutionist, and Lycurgus, a counter-revolutionist, started to work together to have the volcano area made into Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

In January 1912, geologist Thomas Jaggar arrived to investigate the volcano. A building for scientific instruments was built in a small building next to the hotel. Jaggar stayed in Volcano for the next 28 years.

Thurston and Lycurgus were instrumental in getting the volcano recognized as Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th National Park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park. At first, the park consisted of only the summits of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi, and Haleakalā on Maui.

Eventually, Kilauea Caldera was added to the park, followed by the forests of Mauna Loa, the Kaʻu Desert, the rain forest of Olaʻa and the Kalapana archaeological area of the Puna/Kaʻu Historic District.

The National Park Service, within the federal Department of Interior, was created on August 25, 1916 by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act.

In 1916, Thurston, recognizing the long tradition of soldiers and sailors who had visited the area, proposed the establishment of a military camp at Kīlauea. Thurston promoted his idea and was able to raise enough funds through public subscription for the construction of buildings and other improvements. By the fall of 1916, the first group of soldiers arrived at Kīlauea Military Camp (KMC.) (NPS)

Later, in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built research offices, hiking trails and laid the foundations for much of the infrastructure and roads within the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes and other parks across the country.

On, July 1, 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

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Thurston-Lycurgus-1892

Lorrin_A._Thurston,_1892

George_Lycurgus-1892

Lorrin_A._Thurston,_1916

Uncle_George_Lycurgus-1958

Thomas Jaggar (second from left) L2R Norton Twigg-Smith, Thomas Jaggar, Lorrin Thurston, Joe Monez, and Alex Lancaster-(USGS)-1916

Uncle George Lycurgus

Thurston_Lava_Tube-1940

Volcano_House_1866

Volcano House billiard room, Kīlauea, Hawai‘i-(HHS-6019)-early 1890s

Volcano House, Kīlauea, Hawai‘i-(HHS-6018)-early 1890s

Volcano_House-(DMY)-1892

Volcano_House-(LOC)-1902

Volcano_House_1904

Volcano_House-Kileuea-1912

November 6, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kīlauea Military Camp

What once began as an idea by Hilo Board of Trade members for a training ground for the National Guard and an Army “vacation and health recruiting station” has become one of Hawaii’s most unique resorts for the military. (KMC)

Let’s look back.

In 1898, Lorrin Thurston owner of Volcano House and head of the Hawai‘i Promotion Committee (forerunner to the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau) worked closely with the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company to create an excursion business from Honolulu to his hotel at Kīlauea.

Although he sold his interest in Volcano House to hotelier George Lycurgus (1858–1960) in 1904, Thurston continued to promote Kīlauea and Hawai‘i’s other natural sites.

He helped with the establishment of the Hawaiʻi National Park, an entity to encompass both Kīlauea and Haleakalā. Hawai‘i’s new National Park, established August 1, 1916, was the thirteenth in the new system and the first in a US territory. (Chapman)

Besides its volcanic interest, the park is noted for its fine examples of tropical vegetation (some forest species being extremely rare;) its native birdlife which is unique in the entire world; its Polynesian archaeology and history; and its character as an international park. (Edward G Wingate, Superintendent, 1939)

The history of the Park generally mirrors the history of Kīlauea Military Camp (KMC.)

Interest in Kīlauea as a military training and rest area began in September 1911, when Companies A and F, Twentieth Infantry, arrived. They were followed two years later by one hundred men from Company D, First Infantry, who camped near the Volcano House. (Nakamura)

Thurston helped negotiate a lease for about 50-acres of land from Bishop Estate; trustees held the lease (they included Ex offico the Commander of the Army Department of Hawaii; Ex officio the Commanding General of the National Guard of Hawaii; Lieut Col John T. Moir, National Guard, Island of Hawaiʻi; GH Vicars of Hilo and LA Thurston of Honolulu and Hilo.)

In the early years, to get there, off-island folks took steamer ships to either Hilo or Punaluʻu (from Hilo they caught a train to Glenwood and walked/rode horses to Volcano; one mile west of the Volcano House; a five-mile railroad took passengers to Pahala and then coaches hauled the visitors to the volcano from the Kaʻū side.) Later, the roads opened.

“Tours of all the islands are arranged. Connected with the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company is the world-famous Volcano House overlooking the everlasting house of fire, as the crater of Halemaʻumaʻu is justly named. “

“A night’s ride from Honolulu and an hour by automobile and you are at the Volcano House in the Hawaii National Park on the Island of Hawaiʻi, the only truly historic caravansary of the Hawaiian Islands.” (The Mid-Pacific, December 1933)

The Camp is located at an elevation of 4,000-feet, directly on the belt road around the island (the road was later relocated mauka of the Camp.)

KMC greeted its first group of US Army Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Infantry, November 6, 1916. Three buildings for dining and recreation were still unfinished, so the visiting Soldiers were expected to provide their own sleeping tents.

A couple weeks later, November 17, KMC was officially opened, and many Soldiers came to this unique site through 1917.

Encouraged by local boosters, including John Giles and Lorrin Thurston, KMC became a mainstay of the volcano park for the next three decades. (Chapman)

From the latter part of 1916 into early-1917, the newly designated Kīlauea Military Camp witnessed a steady stream of military units.

Then, WWI broke out and virtually all of the troops in Hawai‘i prior to 1917 had transferred to the continental US, many of them then moving on in succeeding months to the trenches of France and Belgium. (Chapman)

To keep the place going, school summer programs and Boy Scouts stayed at the camp. Following WWI, the trustees transferred their KSBE lease to the Park Service. By late-1921, soldiers on recreation leave started to return to the Camp and the facilities started to expand.

The last major addition to KMC was the provision of an airfield; in 1924, the Army built a landing strip just south of Halemaʻumaʻu (known as Sand Spit Horst.)

However, within a few months an explosive eruption at Halemaʻumaʻu threw boulders onto the site. (Another runway was built closer to the Camp – it was named Boles Field in honor of the Park’s first Superintendent, Thomas R Boles.)

As part of the original agreement, the Navy built its own rest and recreation camp on a 14-acre parcel adjacent to KMC in 1926. The Navy camp was transferred to KMC’s control in 1935, however, due to a slow resolution of the lease agreement between the Park Service and the Navy. (KMC)

In 1941 it became an important staging ground for the war. From March to October 1942, KMC became the headquarters for the Twenty-seventh Division of the Army. The troops used the buildings at KMC for quarters and the grounds for training.

The R&R Camp also became an internment camp. The first detainees arrived in the afternoon of December 7, 1941. Most did not stay at KMC for long, however; within a few months all were transferred to Sand Island on Oʻahu. (Nakamura)

In June 1942 the Battle of Midway changed the tide of the war, and KMC was again re-activated as a rest and recreation camp, but it also continued to support tactical training of troops. In October 1943, the decision was made to return the Camp to a fully recreational facility. (Nakamura)

In the postwar period, General Dwight D. Eisenhower stayed for a few days at KMC in 1946. In 1949, the Army opened KMC to members of all branches of the military. (Chapman)

On, July 1, 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The relationship between the military and Park Service was not always smooth.

Today, Kīlauea Military Camp is open to all active and retired armed forces, Reserve/National Guard, dependents, other uniformed services, and current and retired Department of Defense civilians, including Coast Guard civilians and sponsored guests.

The image shows Kīlauea Military Camp in 1923. In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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August 11, 2014 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Nāhuku

Nāhuku (the protuberances) is a lava cave, or more commonly called a lava tube.

Lava tubes are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow. Tubes form by the crusting over of lava channels and pāhoehoe flows. When the supply of lava stops at the end of an eruption or lava is diverted elsewhere, lava in the tube system drains downslope and leaves partially empty conduits beneath the ground. (USGS)

One of the most photographed lava tubes is Nāhuku in the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. It was found in 1913 by Lorrin Andrews Thurston (July 31, 1858 – May 11, 1931,) a local newspaper publisher, a lawyer, politician and businessman.

Thurston was born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, grandson of the first Christian missionaries to Hawaiʻi. He played a prominent role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom that replaced Queen Liliʻuokalani with the Republic of Hawaiʻi.

But this story is about a cave in Volcano, not politics.

Thurston first visited Kīlauea in 1879 at the age of 21 with Louis von Tempsky. Thurston wrote that “we hired horses in Hilo and rode to the volcano, from about eight o’clock in the morning to five in the afternoon.” (NPS)

The cave/lava tube he later found is also known as Keanakakina (Cave of Thurston – keana meaning cave and kakina the Hawaiian name for Thurston.)

“On Aug. 2nd a large party headed by LA Thurston explored the lava tube in the twin Craters recently discovered by Lorrin Thurston, Jr. Two ladders lashed together gave comparatively easy access to the tube and the whole party, including several ladies, climbed up.”

“No other human beings had been in the tube, as was evidenced by the perfect condition of the numerous stalactites and stalagmites. Dr. Jaggar estimated the length of the tube as slightly over 1900 feet. It runs northeasterly from the crater and at the end pinches down until the floor and roof come together…” (Thayer, Kempe)

Thurston and George Lycurgus (Uncle George) were instrumental in getting the volcano recognized as Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Starting in 1906, the two were working to have the Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes area so designated. In 1912, geologist Thomas Augustus Jaggar arrived to investigate and joined their effort.

Jaggar had tried to lead several expeditions to the top of Mauna Loa in 1914 but was unsuccessful due to the elevation (13,678 feet) and the harsh conditions: rough lava, violent winds, noxious fumes, shifting weather, extreme temperatures and a lack of shelter, water and food. (Takara)

On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th National Park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park. At first, the park consisted of only the summits of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi and Haleakalā on Maui.

Eventually, Kīlauea Caldera was added to the park, followed by the forests of Mauna Loa, the Kaʻū Desert, the rain forest of Olaʻa and the Kalapana archaeological area of the Puna/Kaʻū Historic District.

On, July 1, 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

OK, back to Nāhuku.

This 500-year old, 600-foot long (with ceilings between 10 and 30-feet) lava tube is accessed via a short trail down, through and around back to the starting point (overall, it’s about 1/3-mile and takes about 20-30-minutes.) (The lava tube available for viewing is about 600-feet, the actual tube is approximately 1,500-feet.)

It is one of the very few readily-accessible lava caves/tubes for folks to see in Hawaiʻi. The cave has two openings used as an entrance/exit for the trail. The primary entrance is reached via a bridge. The cave/tube is lit with electric lights and has a flat rock floor.

The main entrance of the cave is near the top of the side wall of a closed depression. Its location is close to the margin of the Kilauea Iki section of the present-day Kilauea caldera-crater complex. This closed depression has the Hawaiian name Kaluaiki. (Halliday) The other entrance is a ceiling hole, caused by roof collapse much after the cave had cooled. (Kempe)

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is worth seeing, and a stop at Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube) is worth making, even if you have seen it a million times before. Enjoy this and other day hikes in the Park.

The image shows the entrance to Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube – 1940.) In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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