Maui | Page 31 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

August 27, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ho‘iho‘ikea

In 1845, Kamehameha III established a permanent seat of government in Honolulu (moving from the prior capital at Lāhainā.) He acquired for his capitol the former Hanailoia (a home built by Governor Mataio Kekūanāoʻa for his daughter (Princess Victoria Kamāmalu)) and named it Hale Ali‘i, it was the palace used by Kings Kamehameha III, IV, V and Lunalilo.

Various residences were placed around the grounds, the Palace being used principally for state purposes. Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) built a large, old-fashioned, livable cottage on the grounds a little to ewa and mauka of the palace (near the Kīna‘u gate, opening onto Richards Street.) (Taylor)

He called his home ‘Ho‘iho‘ikea’ (most spell the house this way, some say Hoʻihoʻi ‘ea – for consistency, the former is used) in commemoration of the restoration of the sovereignty and independence of Hawai‘i by Admiral Thomas of the British Navy, on July 31, 1843. (Taylor and Judd)

(In 1843, Paulet had raised the British flag and issued a proclamation annexing Hawai‘i to the British Crown. This event became known as the Paulet Affair. Queen Victoria sent Rear Admiral Richard Thomas to restore the Hawaiian Kingdom. That day is now referred to as Ka La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day.)

It was a dwelling place, provided with the simpler comforts of a citizen, and greatly enjoyed by the sovereigns. This served as home to Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V; the Palace being used principally for state purposes. (Taylor)

In Ho‘iho‘ikea were transacted some of the most important affairs connected with the history of Hawai‘i and within its walls were held many an important council to decide the interests of this nation, their advancement and their prosperity.

In 1834, Kīna‘u, Kauikeaouli’s half-sister, had given birth to a son, Alexander Liholiho. Kauikeaouli look Alexander as his hānai child and raised his young nephew as his own son, preparing him to be the next monarch of Hawai‘i. Kauikeaouli died at Ho‘iho‘ikea.

Kamehameha IV ascended the throne at age 21 and reigned for nearly nine years. Royal informality as well as strict protocol was recorded by Gorham D. Gilman, who attended a reception given by King Kamehameha IV:

“Having received an invitation to attend one of the receptions of King Kamehameha IV, a friend and myself entered the grounds at the mauka gate, intending to pass around and enter at the front of the building.”

“As we were passing the bungalow (Ho‘iko‘ikea) a friendly voice, somewhat familiar, hailed us and asked us to come up on the veranda. We accepted the invitation and were welcomed by the King himself, who invited us to seats and cigars.”

“While chatting upon social events the King, suddenly, looking at his watch, said hastily, ‘Excuse me, gentlemen, I am due in the throne room in five minutes,’ and disappeared within.”

“Passing to the front entrance of the palace, up the broad steps, and across the wide veranda to the brilliantly lighted rooms, we found a large company gathered. In a short time the band announced the arrival of His Majesty and presentations began.”

“These were made by the officers of the court, dressed in full uniform, and with great formality. When our tum came, my friend Mr. Bartow, and myself were escorted by two of the officers to the presence of the King.”

“We were announced with much formality by the stereotyped expression, ‘Your Majesty, permit me to present to you Mr. Gilman.’ With a formal bow on the part of both, we passed on, as if it were the first time we had ever been in the royal presence, while really it was only a few minutes since we had been smoking together.” (Gilman; Judd)

“During the reign of Kamehameha V, cabinet councils were frequently held there. There was held the council which called the Constitutional Convention, the result of which was the abrogation of the constitution of 1852 and the promulgation of the present one.”

“There Kamehameha V, he of the strong mind, humbly succumbed to his fate, and thus passed away the last of the Kamehameha dynasty.”

“In that house also the present reigning family met with their first great grief, and far distant be the day when they shall be called to mourn another void in the family.” (Thrum)

(Prince Albert (Ka Haku O Hawaiʻi (‘the Lord of Hawaiʻi,’)) the only son of Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma died there on August 27, 1862.)

The palace building was named Hale Ali‘i meaning (House of the Chiefs.) Kamehameha V changed its name to ʻIolani Palace in honor of his late brother and predecessor.

(ʻIo is the Hawaiian hawk, a bird that flies higher than all the rest, and lani denotes heavenly, royal or exalted.) Although the old palace was demolished in 1874, the name ʻIolani Palace was retained for the building that stands today.

This image is from Burgess’ No. 2 – View of Honolulu From the Catholic church (c. 1854) – on the right side you can see a church steeple (Kawaiahaʻo,) in front of it is Hale Ali‘i, with the flag to its right (it was renamed ʻIolani Palace in 1863.) In and around there are the respective houses of the aliʻi, including Ho‘iho‘ikea.

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No._2._View_of_Honolulu._From_the_Catholic_church._(c._1854)-center image

July 22, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kuakini’s Cotton

“The pleasant village of Kailua is situated on the west side of Hawaii. It is the residence of the Governor of the Island. It is celebrated in Hawaiian history, as having been the residence for several years of Kamehameha I, and at this place he died, on the 8th of May, 1819, at the age of 66 years.”

“Here was first announced by Royal authority, that the old tabu system was at an end. It was in the quiet waters of this bay, that the brig Thaddeus anchored, April 4th, 1820, which brought the first Missionaries to the shores of Hawaii.”

“The natural features of the lofty mountain of Hualālai, and the rugged and rocky coast remain the same; but changes have been gradually going forward in the habits of the people and the appearance of the village.”

“There stands the village church with its tapering spire, almost a lac-simile of some that anciently stood in the centre of the common in many a New England village.”

“During the summer of 1844, we landed at Kailua to commence a tour of Hawaii. It was on the morning of the 1st of July, and we were kindly invited to take up our brief sojourn at the house of the Rev, Mr. Thurston who with his wife and children had been our voyaging companions on board the Clementine, from Honolulu.”

“The day of our landing happened to be the first Monday of the month, which has been so sacredly consecrated by American Missionaries and the churches of the United States, as a day of prayer for the blessing of God upon the Missionary enterprise.”

“It was pleasant to enjoy one of these sacred seasons, on the spot, so replete with incidents calculated to inspire the friend and lover of the cause with thanksgiving and gratitude. As might naturally be supposed, we had a ‘thousand’ inquiries to make of our venerable Missionary best, who bad been here watching the successive phases and changes of events for the last quarter of a century.”

“From our Journal for July 2d, we copy the following: ‘This morning it was proposed that we visit the village. Our steps were first directed to Governor Adams’ ‘factory,’ a long, and low, thatched building, now occupied as a native dwelling and store house.”

“Here the Governor undertook the manufacture of cotton cloth, and actually succeeded so far as to make several hundred yards.” (The Friend, April 15, 1845)

“Governor Kuakini indeed went so far as to manufacture a very stout kind of cloth in Kailua, Hawaii. It was proposed by the Rev. Mr. Armstrong that prizes in money and of sums which would make them worth contending for should be offered on a graduated scale for say, the three best specimens that may be exposed at the exhibition of this year.”

“It was asserted that this cotton raising is a business which will fall in with the habits of the people, and for which they have always evinced an inclination.” (Polynesian, June 11, 1859)

The cloth making experiment begun at Wailuku was continued; spinning and knitting were undertaken at one or two other stations; cotton growing was taken up by the church members at several places as a means of raising funds for new school and church buildings and to aid the missionary cause in general.

At Haiku, Maui, an American farmer commenced a small plantation, having 55 acres planted in 1838. Governor Kuakini of Hawaii. one of the most business-like of the chiefs, visited Miss Brown’s class at Wailuku in 1835 and conceived the idea of having the industry established on his island.

In 1837 the governor was reported by one of the merchants to have planted an immense cotton field at Waimea, Hawaii. In the same year he erected a stone building at Kailua, thirty by seventy feet, to be used as a factory. A foreigner in his employ made a wheel, from which as a sample the natives made about twenty others.

Wheel heads and cards were imported from the United States. Three poorly trained native women served as the first instructors for some twenty or thirty operatives, girls and women from twelve to forty years of age.

In a comparatively short time they acquired a fair proficiency in the work; by the middle of 1838 a large quantity of yarn bad been spun. Two looms were next procured and a foreigner familiar with their operation.

Members of the United States exploring squadron visited the factory in 1840, and the commander of the expedition wrote that the foreigner just mentioned ‘was engaged for several months in the establishment, during which time he had under his instruction four young men, with whom he wove several pieces of brown stripes and plaids, plain and twined cotton cloth.’

‘After this time, the natives were able to prepare and weave independently of his aid. Becoming dissatisfied, however, all left the work, together with the foreigner; but after some time they were induced to return to their work. This small establishment has ever since been kept up entirely by the natives.’ (Kuykendall)

Kuakini’s “scheme failed probably from the fact that the Governor found it cheaper to buy coarse cottons than to make them.” (The Friend, April 15, 1845)

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‘John Adams’ Kuakini, royal governor or the island of Hawai’i, circa 1823

July 20, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Redwood Trail

By the 1830s, forested lands in the Islands were in decline. The sandalwood trade had reduced sandalwood populations to such an extent that in 1839, Hawaii’s first forestry law restricted the harvest of sandalwood.

Cattle (which had been introduced in the late-1700s) continued to cause widespread destruction of native forests. (Idol) For many years, cattle were allowed an unrestricted range in the forests so that in many sections the forest is either dead or dying. (Griffith)

The almost total destruction of the undergrowth has allowed the soil to bake and harden thus causing the rainfall to run off rapidly with the resultant effect of very low water during the dry season. (Griffith)

It reached a maximum by the late 1800s/early-twentieth century owing to burning of the forests to locate the fragrant sandalwood trees, demand for firewood, commercial logging operations, conversion to agricultural and pastureland, the effects of grazing and browsing ungulates (including cattle, goats, and pigs) and increased fire frequency. (Woodcock)

The sugar industry, still concerned about water shortages due to forest decline, sought and succeeded in establishing the forest reserve system, which instituted partnerships between public and private landowners to protect forests.

On March 5, 1902 US Forester EM Griffith presented a report “General Description of the Hawaiian Forests;” it documented 3 key issues …

1) the most important ecosystem service of Hawaiian forests is water, 2) destruction of Hawaiian forests by feral ungulates and 3) wildfire, previously unknown in forested ecosystems, rapidly converting forested ecosystems to fire-dominated ecosystems. (DLNR)

Due to the cooperation between public and private landowners, and another tax break for conservation of forests on private land in 1909, large scale reforestation, fencing and feral ungulate eradication efforts occurred across the islands.

The forests were transformed during this time, as millions of fast-growing nonnative trees were planted throughout the islands to quickly re-establish watersheds denuded by logging and ungulates.

They planted 130,000-redwood trees from 1927 to 1959 in many Forest Reserves on Kauai, Maui, Lanaʻi, Molokai, O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Island.

The tree may be seen at Kokeʻe State Park on Kauai, Waihou Spring Forest Reserve on Maui, and near Volcano Village on Hawaii, as well as Hilo and Honaunau. Maui has more than 280-acres with about 7-million board feet in the Kula Forest Reserve at 5,500-feet.

In order to save the little remaining forest in Kula, “the cattle must be absolutely excluded. It is far easier and a much better policy to save the existing forests than to certainly destroy them by grazing and attempt to realize by planting a forest in some other locality.”

“Planting is extremely expensive, especially if the trees are set out very close together as must be done if a dense forest is to be secured which will act as a sponge and hold the water supply. Then too, a small amount of planting here and there does very little good and such expensive work will seldom be necessary in the islands if a common sense forest policy is pursued.” (Griffith)

The ‘Redwood Trail” at Polipoli Springs State Recreation Area takes you to and through some of the remnants of the tree planting of almost 100-years ago.

Trail starts at at 6,200-foot elevation, winds through stands of redwood and other conifers, past Tie Trail junction and down to the old ranger’s cabin at 5,300-feet.

At the trail’s end is the old Civilian Conservation Corps camp and a three-way junction, the beginning point for both the Plum Trail and the Boundary Trail. Several plum and other fruit trees can be found in this old camp area.

To get there, take Highway 37 past Pukalani to the second junction of Highway 377. Turn left on 377 for about 0.3 mile, then right on Waipoli Road.

This becomes Polipoli Access Road at the first cattle guard and climbs up the mountain through a long series of switchbacks until it enters the forest at 6,400′ elevation, where the pavement ends.

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July 17, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kahului Railroad Company

Wū-wū Kaʻa Ahi Kahului
Ke alahao a i Wailuku
Wū-wū Kaʻa Ahi Kahului
Chūkū-chūkū mua o Hawai`i

Chorus:
Woo-woo! Kahului Railroad
Tracks all the way to Wailuku
Woo-woo! Kahului Railroad
The first train of Hawaiʻi
(Kaʻa Ahi Kahului; Palani Vaughan)

Less than a decade after the construction of the first transcontinental railway in the US, the first steam railroad line in Hawaii was established. (Akinaka)

On July 17, 1879 Captain Thomas H Hobron ran the first train line from Kahului to Wailuku; the 3-foot-wide was eventually extended to over 15 miles in length along the north coast to Kuiaha with a number of branch lines. (AASHTO)

That year, Hobron issued in 12 ½ cent copper tokens bearing the initials ‘T. H. H.’ and ‘12 ½’ on the obverse. In the same year he also issued a 2 ½ cent copper token, intended also for use on the Kahului railroad.

Within a year or two the line was extended eastward from Kahului to Pāʻia. The enterprise was incorporated, July 1, 1881, as the Kahului Railroad Company.

Since then, railroad lines have been built on the four larger Islands connecting the sugar plantations and other industrial communities with their shipping points. (Akinaka)

But passengers were not the primary part of the rail’s business. The isthmus between Haleakala and West Maui contained rich soils ideal for crop cultivation. Within a few short years, the region soon supported one of the largest sugar plantations in the world.

In 1876, following the Reciprocity Treaty, other Westerners gained interest in Maui’s agriculture potential, including Claus Spreckels (who came to Hawaiʻi from San Francisco.)

Spreckels leased land from the government and obtained the water rights needed to build a large irrigation ditch that provided water for crops. These events set the stage for the establishment of Maui’s first railroad system. Rail transported cane from the fields to the harbor.

The Kahului station was located southeast of the harbor at Hobron Point (the east side of the harbor (which includes Pier 1) and tracks extended through Spreckelsville as well as to the sugar mill at Puʻunene.

By 1889, the company reported more miles of track plus three locomotives, two passenger cars, one baggage-mail car, 14 platform cars and 60 boxcars. (JoDorner)

By the turn of the 19th century, Kahului supported a new customhouse, a saloon, a Chinese restaurant and a small but growing population.

In 1901, Kahului Railroad purchased its first tugboat, the Leslie Baldwin, to tow lighters to and from vessels. The railroad company was instrumental in Kahului Harbor development.

The final stretch of line even included a steel bridge over the Maliko Gorge which, at nearly 230-feet, was the highest railway bridge in Hawaiʻi. (AASHTO)

Besides rail equipment, “the Kahului Railroad Company owns and operates the steamer Leslie Baldwin, two wharves with the necessary appliances for handling freight, and nine lighters of 65 tons capacity each.” (Report of Governor, 1903)

Hobron, who also was postmaster of Kahului, allowed mail to be sent free over the railroad. Later, in 1884, a subsidy of $25 per month was paid for hauling mail. Mail carried on the railroad was in closed bags for delivery to postmasters along the route. Probably loose letters were also carried. (HawaiianStamps)

In 1894, the Kahului Railroad decided to obtain a set of stamps and turned to the American Bank Note Company to produce lithographed stamps for special use on the railroad to pay freight and packages sent outside the mail. (HawaiianStamps)

Hobron also owned Grove Ranch Plantation in Makawao. (Hobron Drug Company, that was based in Honolulu, was owned by TW Hobron, the son of Thomas H Hobron.)

Steam locomotive No. 12 was built in 1928 for the Kahului Railroad Company in Hawaii by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Kahului Railroad hauled sugar from the fields to a mill and then took the finished sugar to the port of Kahului. Later extensions of the line allowed it to haul other commodities, such as pineapple, to the port. No. 12’s Hawaiian background has earned it the nickname “Pineapple Princess”. (MCRR)

Trains hauled goods to stores and mills, pineapple from field to cannery, and passengers to school or work. The military took over the rails during World War II, transporting everything from food to amphibious vehicles. (Engledow)

The Kahului Railroad outlasted its fellow railways in the state, in addition to the honors of being the first railway, it was also the last public railroad in operation. Today, some of the tracks and equipment are used for a tourist train that was constructed on the west side of Maui. (AASHTO)

Engine No. 12 made its last run on May 24, 1966 and in 1967 was sent to the mainland. Eventually, Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, Idaho purchased the engine. Now Engine No. 12 is a part of Colorado history and has been returned to service as part of the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park. (JoDorner)

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Kahului Railroad engines line up for a picture taking session in 1911.

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Kahului, Maui. Puunene Store, left. Kahului Railroad Station and post office, right-hawaii-edu-Circa 1930s

1879 Thomas Hobron Kahului & Wailuku Railroad_Token

1879 Thomas Hobron Kahului & Wailuku Railroad Token

SS Claudine docked at the Claudine Wharf-(MasterPlan2025)

July 16, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Loch Na Garr

“Away, ye gay landscapes!
Ye gardens of rose …”

Wait … while those are the beginning lines of the Loch Na Garr poem by Lord Byron, cousin of the captain of the Blonde who brought the bodies of King Liholiho and Kamāmalu back to Hawaiʻi, after they died of measles in England (1824) …

… this story is not about that Loch Na Garr, nor is it about ‘gay landscapes’ nor ‘gardens of roses.’

But it is about a king, Kamehameha V, and a boat, the Loch Na Garr, and unfortunately its cargo – deer – that dastardly do-bad to landscapes and native plants on Molokai, Lānaʻi and, now, unfortunately, Maui.

“A gentleman residing on the upper Ganges, where these deer abound, offered to supply them for transportation here, when Dr. Hillebrand was in Calcutta, and at his suggestion that His Majesty was desirous to obtain them, this consignment was made to Hong Kong.”

“Three bucks and four hinds have arrived safely. They have been well cared for on the voyage by Capt. Baskfill, and are the finest as well as largest number of deer imported here at any one time. They have been delivered to the King and will be sent to Molokai.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 17, 1867)

“These really beautiful animals, the spotted Indian deer brought by the Loch Na Garr, which lies at market wharf, have been visited by many of our residents the past week.”

“On Wednesday one of the hinds gave birth to a fine kid, as healthy and frisky as if born in his own mountain home. It is a male, and the officers of the ship have named him Kamehameha VI.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 21, 1867)

“They are the speckled Indian deer, a variety well adapted to domestication on our islands.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 17, 1867)

“(S)even in number, a present from the Hawaiian Consul at Hong Kong to the King. Eight were put on board, but one has died. The remainder are in very fine condition, having apparently improved on the voyage.”

“Some of them are quite young, and the horns of the bucks are in the process of growth showing the manner in which these ornamental appendages are formed.”

“All the animals are as tame as pet kids, and will be shipped to Molokai, as soon as the King’s yacht is ready to take them aboard.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1867)

“(T)he deer will be transferred to the King’s yacht, and taken to Molokai, where we hope they will rapidly increase and stock the whole island.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 21, 1867)

As the property on Molokai belonged to King Kamehameha V, he placed a kapu (prohibition) on the deer. The deer increased under this protection. They sought the mountain areas as their habitat because they were crowded out by the large herds of cattle that ranged on the low lands. (Cooke)

In this highland area in thirty years the deer increased to a great number. The American Sugar Co, Ltd built a forest fence to keep the cattle from entering the forest. This however did not keep out the deer.

In November 1898, the sugar company hired two professional hunters from California to shoot off the deer. These men were engaged at forty dollars per month with perquisites and were allowed to sell the skins.

It is commonly reported that these two men, in the year in which they operated, killed between 3,500 and 4,000 deer. (Cooke)

Molokai was not the only island to get these deer. Shortly after Harry A Baldwin and his brother, Frank, had purchased the island of Lānaʻi from the Lānaʻi Company in 1917, they wished to stock that island with deer.

The Molokai folks sold them for $50 apiece. In lieu of ranch wages, cowboys captured and transported the deer for half the amount that the Baldwins would pay.

Twelve deer in all were captured. They were then loaded on to a truck, caged then sent over on a large sampan, “Makaiwa.” When near the shore of that island, the cage was opened and the deer allowed to swim ashore. (Cooke)

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Deer on Molokai – Lanai