Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Betsey Stockton

Born in 1798 in Princeton, New Jersey, as a slave owned by the family of Robert Stockton, Esq., Betsey Stockton was presented as a gift to the Stockton’s eldest daughter and her husband, the Reverend Ashbel Green (who was later the President of Princeton College (later known as Princeton University.))

Although masters did not typically favor educating their slaves beyond proficient training as domestic nurse, seamstress and cook, Green gave her books and encouraged her to use the family library. She later attended evening classes at Princeton Theological Seminary.

In September 1816, Betsey’s application for admission to the First Presbyterian Church in Princeton was formally approved. Around 1817, Ashbel Green freed her.

Stockton often spoke to Green about her wish to journey abroad, possibly to Africa, on a Christian mission. Green introduced her to Charles S Stewart, a young missionary, newly ordained in 1821, who was about to be sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to Hawaiʻi.

Through a special agreement between Green, the Stewarts and the ABCFM, Stockton joined the mission both as a domestic in the Stewart household and was commissioned by the ABCFM as a missionary.

She became the first single American woman sent overseas as a missionary.

Her contract with the Board and with the Stewarts said that she went “neither as an equal nor as a servant, but as a humble Christian friend” to the Stewarts, and provided that she was not to do more than an equal share of menial duties which might “prevent her being employed as a teacher of a school”.

In November 1822, Stockton, the Stewarts and the other missionaries in the 2nd Company set sail on the ‘Thames’ from New Haven, Connecticut for the Hawaiian Islands.

On April 24, 1823, “we saw and made Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi). At the first sight of the snow-capped mountains, I felt a strange sensation of joy and grief. It soon wore away, and as we sailed slowly past its windward side, we had a full view of all its grandeur.”

“The tops of the mountains are hidden in the clouds, and covered with perpetual snow. We could see with a glass the white banks, which brought the strong wintry blasts of our native country to our minds so forcibly, as almost to make me shiver.” (Betsey Stockton Journal)

Upon her arrival, Stockton became the first known African American woman in Hawaiʻi.

Intelligent, industrious and frugal, she was aptly described as a devoted Christian, not only because of her constant attendance at church and her faith in God, but also because she supported the interests of the church, secured clothes for her students, and helped to heal the sick while continuing her domestic work to help the Stuarts. (Jackson)

“On Saturday, the 10th of May (1823,) we left the ship, and went to the mission enclosure at Honoruru. We had assigned to us a little thatched house in one corner of the yard, consisting of one small room, with a door, and two windows – the door too small to admit a person walking in without stooping, and the windows only large enough for one person to look out at a time.”

“The family all eat at the same table, and the ladies attend to the work by turns. Mrs. Stewart and myself took each of us a day separately.” (Betsey Stockton Journal)

“On the 26th of May (1823) we heard that the barge (Cleopatra’s Barge, or “Haʻaheo o Hawaiʻi,” Pride of Hawaiʻi) was about to sail for Lahaina, with the old queen (Keōpūolani) and princess (Nāhiʻenaʻena;) and that the queen was desirous to have missionaries to accompany her …”

“A meeting was called to consult whether it was expedient to establish a mission at Lahaina. The mission was determined on, and Mr. S. (Stewart) was appointed to go: he chose Mr. R. (Richards) for his companion … On the 28th we embarked on the mighty ocean again, which we had left so lately.” (Betsey Stockton Journal)

Per the requests of the chiefs, the American Protestant missionaries, at that time, were typically teaching their own children and the children of the Hawaiian chiefs.

“Now the chiefs have expressed their determination to have instruction in reading and writing extended to the whole population and have only been waiting for books, and an increase in the number of suitably qualified native teachers, to put the resolution, as far as practical, into effect.”

“A knowledge of this having reached some of the makaainana, or farmers of Lahaina … application was made by them to us for books and slates, and an instructor …”

“… and the first school, consisting of about thirty individuals, ever formed among that class of people, has, within a few days, been established in our enclosure, under the superintendence of B (Betsey Stockton), who is quite familiar with the native tongue.” (Charles Stewart Journal, August 1824)

In 1823, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie (ke Aliʻi Hoapili wahine, wife of Governor Hoapili) offered the American missionaries a tract of land on the slopes surrounding Puʻu Paʻupaʻu for the creation of a school.

Stockton founded a school for makaʻāinana (common people) including the women and children. The school was situated on what is now Lahainaluna School (and some suggest it served as the initial basis for that school.)

Stockton’s school was commended for its teaching proficiency, and later served as a model for the Hilo Boarding School and also for the Hampton Institute in Virginia, a historic Black college in Virginia established after the Civil War (founded by General Samuel C. Armstrong (son of missionary Richard Armstrong, former Pastor at Kawaiahaʻo Church.))

(Kalākaua visited Hampton Normal and Agricultural School – later known as Hampton Institute on one of his trips to the continent.)

Because of the serious illness of Mrs. Harriet Stewart, the Stewarts decided to return to Cooperstown, New York, after two and a half years in Hawaiʻi. Stockton accompanied them; leaving native Hawaiian teachers she had trained to take her place.

Stockton left Hawaiʻi in 1825, returning to the continent where she was assigned to teach Native American children in Canada. Then, Stockton returned to Princeton in 1835, living in a small house on Witherspoon Street, which was primarily an African American neighborhood.

Stockton was instrumental in the founding of the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, originally called the First Presbyterian Church of Color of Princeton. She also began teaching African American children in a public school in Princeton in 1837, which she continued to do for several years.

She spent the rest of her life in Princeton working on behalf of its African American and white residents to enrich the lives of the members of the local African American community.

Betsey Stockton began life as a slave, and went on to become a schoolteacher, medical nurse and missionary; she died in her hometown of Princeton, New Jersey in October 1865.

Here is a link to an expanded discussion on Betsey Stockton:

Click to access Betsey-Stockton.pdf

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Silversword Inn

Haleakala National Park was originally a section of Hawai‘i National Park. Hawai’i National Park was established by Congress in 1916 to include the Haleakala volcano on the island of Maui and the Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes on the island of Hawai‘i.

(The bill to designate Haleakala Section as a separate National Park was introduced in Congress and approved in 1960. The formal dedication for Haleakala National Park was held on July 1, 1961, at the summit in the Haleakala Visitor Center parking lot. (NPS))

Between 1934 and 1941 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) operated work camps at Haleakalā. The CCC was a federally funded work relief program designed to generate income for young unemployed men during the Great Depression.

At Haleakalā National Park the CCC was engaged in a variety of projects. CCC enrollees removed invasive plants and feral animals such as pigs and goats and constructed a number of trails and structures in the park.  They had a base camp at Pu‘u Nianiau.

In 1940, “the Army sought sites on both Haleakala and Mauna Loa for ‘unspecified defense installations.’ A ‘thorough’ study was referred to, but only the very tops of both peaks were surveyed. It was determined that the ‘two sites selected in the National Park offer the only sites which are suitable for these proposed defense purposes.’”

“The National Park sites were ‘not only the most suitable but also the only acceptable sites.’ The Mauna Loa site was approved by the National Park Service for Army use in November 1940, but no work was ever done there by the Army.” (Jackson)

“By April 1941, the War and Interior Departments had worked out an agreement for the use of the area. A Special Use Permit was signed on April 29, 1941, covering a six acre installation site at Red Hill, and the Army agreed to use for its base camp the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp at the 7,000 foot elevation which would be vacated by the CCC in May 1941.” (Jackson)

The Pu‘u Nianiau area of Haleakala National Park was used by the US Army as a base camp from 1941 to 1946 for facilities being operated at the summit of Haleakala.

After the Army’s departure, base camp buildings were used in 1947 for the ‘Haleakala Mountain Lodge’ by Robert “Boy” von Tempsky who held a concession with the park.

Mr. von Tempsky offered saddle and pack trips through the crater as well as bus transportation from docks, landing fields and hotels in Maui.

The name of the facility was changed to the ‘Silversword Inn’ under new operators in 1958. “Just above the park entrance, Silversword Inn, a National Park concession, offers meals, rooms, souvenirs, horseback riding and guided horseback trips into the crater.” (The silversword (ʻāhinahina) is a rare plant (one of the rarest species in the Hawaiian Islands) found on Haleakala.)

“Haleakala Crater is a favorite with those who like the back-country; its inspiring scenery and restful solitude are great reward for time and effort. The National Park Service maintains three cabins on the crater floor and 30 miles of well-marked trails for hikers and horseback parties.” (Hawaii Nature Notes, NPS Haleakala Guide, 1959)

The Silversword Inn in the park closed in 1961 (the concession agreement expired and, after a national advertisement, no one bid for the construction and operation of a new 30-room lodge. (Star Bulletin, Sept 4, 1961).

Shortly after, the news reported, “Hale Moi‘ Lodge at Kula will now be called Silversword Inn”; the property had been run by Glenn and Cathy Simons and was subsequently operated by Florence Ellis.  The Elisses “formerly operated the Haleakala National Park lodging and restaurant concession as Silversword Inn.” (Honolulu Advertiser, March 16, 1962)

Just the year before, Hale Moi Lodge had “Opened on a small scale by Glenn and Kathy Simons … The first of six chalet-type studio cottages under construction has just been completed and the others will follow.” (Star Bulletin, March 27, 1961)

Then, in the early-1970s and beyond, the property was plagued with litigation – there were transfers of ownership, defaults and bankruptcy.  At one point, the Court started a filing asking “Who owns the Silversword Inn?”

“This seemingly innocuous question has been litigated vigorously for nearly two decades in various bankruptcy proceedings and in the state courts of Hawaii.” (US Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit)

Later, as part of the County’s Community Plan that included the Kula area, Maui County designated the “Silversword Inn Project District 2” allowing 12-hotel units and Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, Tourism Research Visitor Plant Inventory report notes such.

But the name (and ownership) of the place changed again and searches for the old name and address (15427 Haleakalā Hwy) lead you to Kula Sandalwoods Café & Inn.  It notes “Our Tradition – Hospitality 60 years of Aloha” with its restaurant and “6 comfortable hillside view cottages”.

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Police

King Kamehameha III established the office of the Marshal of the Hawaiian Islands on April 27, 1846. By 1859, the Marshal was designated the Chief of Police of the Kingdom, and he remained as such through the Republic and Territorial periods. During the last period he was known as the High Sheriff.

The island sheriffs, whose offices also originated in 1846, were his subordinates until 1905, when their offices were incorporated into the newly-established county governments. The Marshal was responsible for nominating to the island governors persons to be appointed by the governors as island sheriffs. (HSA)

Among other things, the Marshal was responsible for instructing the island sheriffs in their duties, as executive officers of the courts of record, as conservators of the peace, as trustees of jails, prisons and places of public correction, as safekeepers of prisoners, as executors or criminal sentences …

…  as the executors of executive mandates issued by the King, island governors or executive department heads, as commanders of the civil posse, as the apprehenders of fugitives from justice, including deserters from ships, as the detectors of crimes and misdemeanors, and as coroners.

The sheriffs were subordinate to the island governors, were permitted to appoint deputies and were accountable for all escapes and unnecessarily harsh treatment of prisoners. (HSA)

With the Organic Act of 1900, Congress transferred Hawaii’s sovereignty to the United States, making it a US territory, and defined its territorial government. Hawaii would have an appointed governor, a judiciary, and a bicameral legislature with popularly elected senators and representatives. (US Capitol Visitor Center)

The Organic Act also renamed the Marshal as the High Sheriff and sustained the existing organization and functions of the police.

Act 39 of 1905 (the ‘County Act,’ effective July 1, 1905) established counties within the Territory of Hawaii. One result of this act was to place the island sheriffs within the county governments and subordinate to the respective boards of supervisors, rather than to the High Sheriff. (HSA)

The law was not without its critics, “To multiply offices and opportunities for politicians, and increase taxation in a diminutive territory that long ago was ridiculed by Mark Twain who likened the official machinery of Hawaii to that of the Great Eastern in a sardine box.” (Thrum, 1906)

At the same time, Act 41 of 1905 established boards of prison inspectors for each judicial circuit, and made the boards responsible for jails and prisons within their circuits.

The High Sheriff was made responsible to the Board of Prison Inspectors of the First Judicial Circuit for Oahu Prison, and he was potentially responsible to other boards for territorial-level prison facilities in other circuits.

The High Sheriff was de facto Warden of Oahu Prison, and he was indexed as such in the Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1925, although he was never designated as such by statute.

That situation was changed by Act 17, 1st Special Session, 1932, which created a separate office of Warden of Oahu Prison and removed from the High Sheriff the responsibility for territorial prisons and prisoners. (HSA)

Then, the legislature started authorizing county Police Commissions.  A police commission was set up in Honolulu in 1932; Maui was given a police commission in 1939.

Kauai was technically authorized next, before Hawaii County; on April 19, 1943 the legislature approved a Kauai police commission and on April 21, 1943 they  approved a Hawaii County Police Commission. (HTH, April 21, 1943)

C&C Honolulu

In the late 1920s and early 1930s crime was on the rise in Honolulu.  Due to increased pressure from a group of prominent women in the community Governor Lawrence M. Judd appointed a Governor’s Advisory Committee on Crime.

This committee recommended that “there should be a police commission appointed by the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, with the approval of the Board of Supervisors …”

“… whose duty it would be to appoint a Chief of Police and to supervise the operating of the police department” and that “the office of the Sheriff be retained and that the Sheriff be charged with the duty of serving civil process, maintaining the Honolulu Jail, and to act as Coroner.”

Governor Judd convened a Special Session of the Legislature and on January 22, 1932, it passed Act 1, carrying out the recommendations by the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Crime.

Act 1 established the Honolulu Police Commission and provided for an appointed Chief of Police. The Commission immediately appointed businessman Charles F Weeber to be the first Chief of Police. (Hnl PD)

Maui County

In 1939, several actions happened legislatively for Maui, “The laws making the island of Lanai a new district in Maui County and authorizing creation of new jobs for that district, as well as the act setting up a Maui police commission were … milestones in county legislation.” (SB, May 27, 1939)

In addition, legislation created a “Maui police commission of five members appointed by the governor; alteration of the whole Maui police system to conform with the new police commission law; creation of the office of police chief and abolition of the sheriff’s office.” (SB, May 27, 1939)

Then, “George F Larsen Jr, captain of detectives, Honolulu police department, was appointed as the new Maui chief of police by the Maui police commission”. (SB, June 27, 1939)

Kauai County

Following the authorization of a police commission on Kauai (and the Big Island), “Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs now serving in Hawaii and Kauai counties will be eliminated as soon as the new commission is appointed.” (SB, May 25, 1943)

“Members of the [Kauai] commission, appointed by the governor are: Caleb Burns Jr, for a term to expire June 30, 1947; former senator Charles A Rice, for a term to expire on June 30, 1948; Sinclair Robinson, for a term to expire June 30, 1949 and John F Ramsey, for a term to expire June 30, 1946.” (HTH, June 26, 1943)

Governor Stainback also appointed Joseph S Jerves for a term that ran to June 30, 1945.   Charles A Rice was elected chairman of the board.

“Edwin K Crowell, Kauai sheriff, was appointed the Garden Island’s first chief of police by the unanimous vote of the new Kauai police commission at its organization meeting in the county building.” (SB July 1, 1943)

Hawaii County

On June 11, 1943, Governor Ingram M Stainback announced the appointment of the Hawaii County Police Commission; this included Willis C Jenning, manager of Hakalau Plantation, who had been designated as chairman.

Other initial commissioners were Carl E Hanson, manager of the Hilo branch of Bishop National Bank; Nicholas Lycurgus, manager of the Volcano House; Thomas Strathairn, manager of the Hilo office of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co and the Hilo office of Hawaiian Airlines; and Robert L Hind, head of Puuwaawaa Ranch. (HnlAdv, June 11, 1943)

On June 24, 1943, it was reported that George F Larsen Jr, chief of police of Maui county (who had been Maui Chief since 1939, and prior to that was captain of detectives in Honolulu), had been appointed chief of police of Hawaii county by the recently appointed Big Island police commission. (SB, June 24, 1943)

The High Sheriff continued as the Chief of Police of the Territory, responsible for the public peace, the arrest of fugitives, etc., until 1959, when his office was abolished by Act 1, 2nd Special Session, 1959 (the “Reorganization Act”). (HSA)

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Kula Hospital

“Man vs. Tuberculosis, the strange, uncanny fight two thousand years of age, is, in Hawaii, in favor of Man. The tremendous exertion, the patience, the attention to incalculable minutae that this mere suggestion indicates is hard to realize unless one is in the fight, but success is on the banners of the Anti-Tuberculosis League of Hawaii at last.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 20, 1913)

Tuberculosis attacks the lungs and organs; in the second decade of the twentieth century it was the leading cause of death in Hawaiʻi, with 400 to 500 annual deaths.  (Nordyke)  (Even today, Hawai’i ranks No. 1 with the highest rate of tuberculosis (TB) in the United States.  (HealthTrends))

The campaign against tuberculosis was inaugurated in Hawaii in 1909 as a result of the interest of James A Rath and others at Pālama Settlement in Honolulu.  Stimulated by the Anti-Tuberculosis League of Hawaiʻi, interest steadily grew – the Territorial Government took over the program in 1920.

A number of years ago – though not so very many – when the present Governor Pinkham was president of the Board of health of Hawaii, it was found necessary to survey the ravages of tuberculosis, a disease which to that time had received little attention. A commission was appointed. In an unofficial way it investigated and made a report. The report was alarming.  (MacKaye, Thrum’s Annual 1917)

Tuberculosis was a graver danger than was believed, although since then it has been shown that even that estimate was short of the mark. Mr. Pinkham referred the report to the various counties and urged them to do something to remedy the situation.”

“There was no answer from Honolulu until several years later, from Kauai not until the present day, and from Hawaii not at all, so far as county government went. (MacKaye, Thrum’s Annual 1917)

But the Maui county supervisors had more vision. There was land available on the slopes of mighty Haleakala and some money that could be spent. The territorial government lent a little bit more. A doctor was employed, a nurse secured.”

“The beginnings of the Kula Sanitarium were made at Waiakoa, on the side of the “House of the Sun,” an appropriate site, for medical science has yet to find a substitute for the sun and fair winds in its combat with consumption. (MacKaye, Thrum’s Annual 1917)

“The sanitarium is located at Keokea, Kula, Maui, at an elevation of some 3,000 feet, and is most singularly fortunate in being so situated that the regular trade winds coming between the Island of Lānaʻi and Molokini have a clear ocean sweep of thousands of miles, and reach this elevated area crisp and heavily laden with pure, unused oxygen.”

“It is free from dust, since it does not pass over one acre of cultivated land, and the view, which adds much to the cheer and content of the patients, is simply magnificent.” (McConkey, Report of the Maui County Farm and Sanitarium to the Board of Health, 1911)

The Kula Sanatorium began as a vision of Dr Wilbur Fiske Boggs McConkey, who was a practicing physician treating tuberculosis patients in the Keokea district. During his long drive across the rough roads of Kula in 1909, Dr. McConkey remarked on Kula’s suitable climate for tuberculosis patients and began his quest to start a tuberculosis facility.  (NPS)

This first attempt at a sanitarium was a modest endeavor, a little shack protected with canvas, alone in the midst of a rather desolate countryside.  (MacKaye, Thrum’s Annual 1917)

“Two tent houses were built, with canvas sides, wooden floors, and corrugated iron roofing.  A cook-house of rough one by twelve inch lumber was thrown together; this had no floor but had a corrugated iron roof and was luxuriously fitted with an open lean-to and a rough board table, which served as the sanitarium dining-room.”

“Canvas cots were used in the sleeping quarters; the lights were humble barn lanterns. The cook, a Korean, was a patient himself. Six patients from the plantations were accommodated, who took care of themselves.”  (Long)

The first patients were admitted into the then-named Maui County Farm and Sanitarium on September 14, 1910.   The June 1911 Official Patient Report reported 12-patients; over the years, the ethnicity of the patients reflected the Islands’ growing diversity, Americans, Australians, Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Porto Ricans, Portuguese and Norwegian.

“We do not encourage the admission of patients suffering from diseases or injuries of a non-tubercular nature, but owing, in the main, to the difficulty which is met with in arranging for the means of transportation of such patients down the mountain to a general hospital, as well as the emergency cases which have been present from time to time, we have found it necessary to admit and care for these in order to avoid what would have caused hardship and extra suffering.” (Report of the Maui County Farm and Sanitarium to the Board of Health, 1913)

“Early in its history Mr. V. Woodburn Herron, a man with some hospital training, took charge as steward, nurse and non-medical superintendent. The sanitarium was a county institution with Dr McConkey regularly constituted physician.”

“This regime lasted some months, when a change of administration brought Mr WE Foster up from Paia to act as superintendent. His wife, a trained nurse, accompanied him. Mr. Foster’s untimely demise – he was himself a victim of the disease – ended this arrangement, but not before he had lighted the way for future progress.”  (Long)

With public funds and by private subscription, the Sanitarium staff and its Board of Supervisors built and equipped a plant for the treatment of tuberculosis very favorably comparable to anything on the mainland.  A favorite method of fund-raising/facility building was the contribution of a cottage for an individual by the latter’s friends. After the patient has passed through the treatment the cottage became the property of the Sanitarium.  (Long)

In 1926, children were admitted into the Preventorium.  The overall facility was expanded into the Charles William Dickey-designed Kula Sanatorium (one of the largest designed by Dickey in his career,) with the first patients moving in on May 27, 1937.

The facility was designed to accommodate 166-patients in wards and 16-patients in private rooms and had facilities on the porches to accommodate 59-more patients in an emergency.  The primary consideration in treatment was rest, “rest to the body, mind, and lungs.”

The layout of the gardens at Kula Sanatorium was a combination of formal plantings and careful use of indigenous plantings. They were designed by the first registered landscape architect in Hawaii, Catherine Jones Thompson and her husband, Robert O Thompson.

In the 1950s when drugs were developed to control tuberculosis, Kula Sanatorium changed its focus to serving long-term care patients.  In 1960, psychiatric patients were admitted on an experimental basis.

In 1975, tuberculosis services were discontinued and on April 9, 1976, the complex was renamed Kula Hospital.  The Kula Hospital & Clinic is a five story Moderne style hospital (“traditionalism and modernism” popular from 1925 through the 1940s) that serves as a general hospital and clinic to residents within the Kula area.

The complex has acute care beds, 24-hour emergency room and outpatient clinic with lab and x-ray services.  Kula Hospital continues to provide long-term care for its residents.

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The Battle of Hōkūʻula

Prominent features rising above the town of Waimea on the Big Island are the puʻu (cinder cones) in the surrounding pasture.  The South Kohala community made special note of these physical features in the Community Development Plan noting, “the Puʻu define the special landscape ‘sense of place’ of Waimea.”

One of these, Hōkūʻula (red star,) played a prominent role in battles between warring leadership from the islands of Maui and Hawaiʻi.  This story dates back to about the mid-1600s.

To put this timeframe in global perspective, around this time: the Ming Dynasty in China ended and the Manchus came into power and established the Qing dynasty; the Taj Mahal was completed in India: British restored the monarchy and Charles II was crowned king of England; and the Massachusetts Bay colony was forming after the recent landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.

In the islands, Lonoikamakahiki (Lono) was the Mōʻi (Chief) of Hawai‘i.  He was a descendant of Pili (a high chief from Tahiti from the 13th century.  Lono was grandson of ʻUmi (and great grandson of Līloa.))

“Lono-i-ka-makahiki was a son of Keawe-nui-a-Umi, and was chief of Ka-u and Puna. He was sole ruler over those two districts on Hawaii. He was married to a chiefess, named Ka-iki-lani-kohe-paniʻo, who was descended from Laea-nui-kau-manamana. To them were born sons, Keawe-Hanau-i-ka-walu and Ka-ʻihi-kapu-mahana.”   (Kamakau)

Through marriage and victories over other chiefs, Lonoikamakahiki became the ruler of the Island of Hawaiʻi.  “During Lono’s reign, when he tended to the affairs of his kingdom, the chiefs and commoners lived in peace.”  (Kamakau)

Lono visited the Mōʻi of the various islands, including Kamalālāwalu, ruling chief of Maui.  “Lono-i-ka-makahiki sought the good will of these chiefs when he came to meet and associate with them in a friendly manner. There were to be no wars between one chief and another.”  (Kamakau)

Kamalālāwalu (Kama) met him and welcomed him royally.  The chiefly host and guest spent much time in surfing, a sport that was enjoyed by all.  Lono was lavishly entertained by Kamalālāwalu.

Not long after Lono’s departure and return to Hawai‘i, however, Kamalālāwalu, driven by ambition, decided to invade and conquer the nation of Island of Hawai‘i.  He sent spies to survey the opposition; they reported there were few men in the Kohala region.

When Kamalālāwalu heard the report of his spies, he was eager to stir his warriors to make war on Hawaiʻi.  Most of the prophets and seers supported the chief’s desire and gave dogs as their omen of victory [said that clouds taking the form of dogs foretold victory]. The dogs were a sign of fierceness, and so would the chief fiercely attack the enemy and gain the victory with great slaughter of the foe.

Part of the prophets and seers came to the chief with prophecies denying his victory, and urging him not to go to fight against Hawaiʻi.  When Lanikāula, a high priest from Moloka‘i, warned Kamalālāwalu of the dangers of an assault, an irate Kamalālāwalu replied “when I return, I will burn you alive.” (Fornander)

Kamalālāwalu’s fleet landed in Puakō and met no opposition. Lono’s oldest brother, Kanaloakuaʻana, was in residence Waimea at the time, and, upon hearing of the invasion, marched toward Puakō with what forces he had at hand. A battle ensued at Kauna‘oa (near the present-day Mauna Kea Resort), and Kanaloakuaʻana’s forces were defeated, with Kanaloakuaʻana himself being taken prisoner and eventually killed.

After this initial success, Kamalālāwalu and his Maui warriors marched boldly inland and took up a position above Waimea on top of the puʻu called Hōkūʻula and awaited Lono’s forces.

During the night, Lono’s warriors from Kona arrived and occupied a position near Puʻupā (the large cinder cone makai of the Waimea-Kohala Airport.) His warriors from Kaʻū (led by its high chief and Lono’s half-brother, Pupuakea) and Puna were stationed from the pu‘u called Holoholoku (the large cinder cone out in the plains below Mauna Kea,) those from Hilo and Hāmākua were stationed near Mahiki, and those from Kohala were stationed on the slopes of Momoualoa.

That morning, from his position atop Hōkūʻula, Kamalālāwalu could see that the lowlands were literally covered with the countless warriors of Lono, and realized that he was outnumbered. For three days the armies skirmished, with the actions of the Maui warriors being dominated by Kamalālāwalu’s nephew and chief, Makakuikalani.

“Short and long spears were flung, and death took its toll on both sides. The Maui men who were used to slinging shiny, water-worn stones grabbed up the stones of Puʻoaʻoaka. A cloud of dust rose to the sky and twisted about like smoke, but the lava rocks were light, and few of the Hawaii men were killed by them.”  (Kamakau)

“The warriors of Maui were put to flight, and the retreat to Kawaihae was long. [Yet] there were many who did reach Kawaihae, but because of a lack of canoes, only a few escaped with their lives. Most of the chiefs and warriors from Maui were destroyed.”  (Kamakau)

While Kamakau notes Kamalālāwalu died on the grassy plain of Puakō, other tradition suggests that after Lonoikamakahiki defeated Kamalālāwalu at Hōkūʻula, he brought the vanquished king of Maui to Keʻekū Heiau in Kahaluʻu and offered him as a sacrifice.

The spirits of Kamalālāwalu’s grieving dogs, Kauakahiʻokaʻoka (a white dog) and Kapapako (a black dog,) are said to continue to guard this site.  Outside the entrance to the heiau and towards the southwest are a number of petroglyphs on the pāhoehoe.  One of them is said to represent Kamalālāwalu.

So ended the first of the major wars between the nations of Maui and Hawai‘i, and a turning point in the history of Hawai‘i.

(Puʻu Hōkūʻula is sometimes referred as “”Buster Brown.”  Apparently, while training at Camp Tarawa in Waimea, Marines named it Buster Brown Hill after the former section manager for Parker Ranch, who lived just below the hill.)

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