Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Big Fence on the Big Island

“Captain George Vancouver brought the first cattle to Hawaii from California in 1793-1794. They were landed and liberated at Kealakekua, South Kona on the Big Island. As with other introduced animals of the same period, a rigid “kapu” was placed on them in order to permit them to multiply.”

“This they did with a vengeance and within a comparatively short span of years they became quite common on all the islands, particularly on Hawaii where they found many hundreds of acres of good pasture lands.”

“Over a period of many years they were slaughtered by men employed for this purpose by the King, principally for their hides, which at one time formed one of the principal articles of export from Hawaii.”

“Experts were employed by the King to go into the mountains to shoot and rope these animals. Only a small amount of the meat was used, some of it being salted and sold to the whaling ships wintered in these water at that time.”

“Many of them were trapped in “pitfalls” similar to the one which David Douglass lost his life on the slopes of Mauna Kea in 1834.” (Bryan, “Wild Cattle in Hawaii” Paradise of the Pacific (1937))

“For the past twenty years the attention of our Government and of this Forestry Bureau has been called to the destruction of our Native forests on Government lands in particular. … It is become a serious problem with us.”

“Large areas of Public Forests are annually destroyed by fire, orginating [sic] in many instances by cattlemen setting fire to the ferns and underbrush to improve their pasture. …  If the cattle are not taken away soon it will be but a short time when this Native forest will be destroyed, and the water supply on the low land diminished.”

“‘[C]attle seem to be the principal enemy of the forests.’  [Sheep also damage the forest habitat]  .By way of countering this threat, [it was] recommended that large parts of the government forest lands …”

“… ‘should be fenced off at once, for the purpose of preserving the living and growing timber and promoting the younger growth of fern and underbrush.’” (Report of the Minister of Interior to the President of the Republic of Hawaii for the Biennium, Ending December 31, 1899; LRB, 1965)

Then came “The Big Fence on the Big Island” … The Territorial Division of Forestry intensified efforts to eradicate feral sheep from the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve in the 1930s after noticing a lack of natural regeneration and damage to māmane trees caused by sheep.

With the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), territorial foresters built a 55-mile fence around Mauna Kea in 20 months. It was 4.5-foot tall galvanized stock wire stretched between large māmane posts. (DLNR)

“On the 29th of January, 1937, the longest fence in the Territory of Hawaii was completed by CCC boys. It is around the entire boundary of the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve – the second largest reserve in the Hawaiian Islands.”

“This project, which is part of the Territorial Division of Forestry’s conservation program, was done under the direction of Project Superintendent W.A. Hartman. …  Much credit is due … to the enrollees who worked under them, for the fine accomplishment.”

“Actual construction work was started in June of 1935. A total of twenty months was required to complete the work on the fence which has a total length, including necessary corrals, of fifty-five and one-half miles. Eighteen thousand five hundred and thirty-six man-days were expended on all work connection with this project.”

“A great deal of preliminary work was required before the actual construction of the fence began. First, it was necessary to build many miles of horse and truck trails and tractor roads.”

“In connection with the fence line alone nearly sixty miles of horse-trails were constructed. This trail was used to pack in the fence wire and other supplies. It was made permanent for future use in fence patrol and wild animal eradication work.”

“Most of the fence work was above the eight thousand foot contour. Camp locations had to be selected, shelters constructed, and water tanks installed. These camps were located as close to the fence lines as possible and placed at intervals around the mountain approximately four miles apart.”

“This made the maximum distance from camp to work about two miles each way. At each camp site it was necessary to construct a corral for the work animals. Practically all feed, and part of the water, for these animals, had to be transported to the camp site.”

“Nine line camps were used. Seven of them had to be constructed in advance. These camps were made on the same plan; one small building with watertanks alongside in which could be stored between six and eight thousand gallons of water. The building was used as a cook-house and store-room. The boys lived in tents.”

“During the winter months it becomes quite cold on Mauna Kea and it was found that seven blankets per boy was not too much cover.”

“Frequently the thermometer registered below freezing and at the Puu Loa Camp last February it was necessary to stop work for three days due to an exceptionally heavy fall of snow which covered the ground in that section and prevented work on the fence line.”

“The completion of this fence concludes one of the most important conservation projects attempted by the CCC in the Territory of Hawaii. It completely encloses and protects a reserve area containing approximately one hundred thousand acres. “

“The important Wailuku River – which furnishes the water-supply for the City of Hilo – as well as several other large streams that supply water to Hilo and Hamakua Districts, have their source within this area.”

“This reserve has, for many years, been overrun with wild sheep, there being an estimated population of about forty thousand. These animals do much damage and of recent years have effectively prevented any natural reproduction of the predominating tree growth – Mamani.”

“With this new fence completed it is now possible to conduct drives and reduce the number of these animals to a minimum. In a recent drive, held since the fence was completed, over three thousand wild sheep were captured and killed in a single day.”

“After these animals are exterminated we can expect considerable assistance from nature in our reforestation work. On a small scale this fact has already been demonstrated so we fell assured of ultimate success.”

“In some sections, where seed trees are lacking, it will be necessary to assist nature with reforestation; but where seed trees have been left we can expect to see a new generation of plants occur naturally.” (Bryan, “The Big Fence on the Big Island” Paradise of the Pacific  (1937)

The completed fence enabled territorial foresters on horseback to drive sheep and herd them into pens. In one drive near Kemole, they captured and killed over 3,000 sheep in a day.

Territorial foresters removed nearly 47,000 sheep and 2,200 other non-native browsing animals from Mauna Kea during the 1930s and 1940s. It is likely that the Palila would not be here today if not for these efforts due to the highly degraded condition of the forest at the time. (DLNR)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Puu ‘Ō‘ō Ranch

William Herbert (Willie – WH) Shipman (1854-1943) was born on December 17, 1854, at Lahaina, Maui to William Cornelius Shipman and Jane Stobie Shipman. Willie’s parents had signed up as missionaries destined for Micronesia.

They stopped over at Lahaina, Maui because his mother was due to deliver Willie within 2 months. His parents then took a mission station in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, based in Waiʻōhinu.

Willie Shipman was inducted into the Paniolo [Hawaiian Cowboy] Hall of Fame in 2017. (Hawai‘i Cattlemen’s Council) “Originally old man Shipman [WH Shipman] had 72,000 acres that ran from the ocean up to the National Park. … He needed money so he sold off quite a bit of that land from actually from the Puna Road up to the National Park boundary.” (Devine, Pili Productions)

Of Shipman’s four ranches, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō was the most productive, being both large and well-watered. An estimated 5,000 head of cattle ran at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, 1,500 at Keauhou, and only ‘a few’ at ‘Āinahou. (Langlas)

Kea‘au Ranch was once well maintained, but by about the 1930-40s it was neglected and produced few cattle. “[I]t was categorized as a ranch, but it was more like a wild cattle operation. You know, it wasn’t controlled like Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.” (Devine, Pili Productions)

Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch covered 23,000 acres between the 5,000 to 6,500 feet elevation. (Tuggle) Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch was first established by John T Baker, a Hawaiian-Tahitian-Caucasian protege of Kalākaua. (Langlas)

Baker came to Hawai‘i Island in 1886 when his high-ranking wife, Ululani, was appointed governess of the island. He became a successful rancher and businessman in Hilo, and in 1892-93 served as Hawai’i Island governor.

Baker obtained a lease in Pi‘ihonua in 1887 and must have started ranching at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō some time after that. ‘He had built some fences, and about 600 head of mixed cattle, including some Longhorns, were found on the ranch at that time.’ (Henke) Baker used to go up to the ranch every September with an entourage. (Langlas)

(Baker “is best known, perhaps, as the original of the statute of King Kamehameha, for which he was asked to pose, due to the striking likeness to the ancient ruler.” (Advertiser, Sep 8, 1921) “Likeness refers to a likeness of features rather than of body.” (Charlot))

In 1899, Baker sold the ranch lease to Shipman. Shipman introduced Hereford bulls to upgrade the stock and increased the number of cattle. Shipman expanded the ranch to 23,000 acres, including the upper portions of all the ahupua’a owned by the sugar plantations north to Honohina. (Langlas)

In the early part of the century, the ranch included two government leases in Pi‘ihonua and leases of sugar plantation lands to the north in the ahupua‘a of Pauka‘a, Pāpa‘ikou, Makahanaloa, Hakalau Nui and Honohina.

Two smaller parcels were bought in fee simple, an 80-acre piece with a spring on it makai of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō ranch house, and a 500-acre parcel in Pāpa‘ikou which contained the old Hitchcock house at Pua ‘Ākala.

In the 1940s the ranch got the lease of Kipuka ‘Āinahou in Humu‘ula, just south of the Humu‘ula Sheep Station, and ran cattle there until about 1950.

Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch was part of WH Shipman’s larger operations, mostly centered in Puna. Shipman had a sugar plantation at ‘Ola‘a, with the mill at Kea‘au. He had three ranches in Puna: Kea‘au Ranch on the lava land of Kea‘au ahupua‘a, Keauhou Ranch north of Kilauea Crater, and ‘Āinahou Ranch south of Kilauea Crater. (Langlas)

There were three stations built on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch: the main Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō headquarters and the Puakala house station, which were built early, and the Saddle House, built later.

In the 1940s, there were permanent personnel (mostly Japanese) at the ranch responsible for fencing, maintaining the ranch houses, breaking horses, and watching the cattle. Many of the cowboys, who did the driving, branding, and so on, were based at Kea‘au or at Keauhou Ranch and only came up when there was a big job to do; these cowboys were mostly Hawaiian and Portuguese. (Langlas)

The Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō headquarters had a koa ranch house for the owners, a couple of bunkhouses and a cottage for the cowboys and fence-men, a stable, and barn. The Puakala station had a koa house built by Hitchcock, a couple bunkhouses, and a barn. The cowboys lived up there when they worked that end of the ranch. (Gene Olivera, Langlas)

“In Puu ‘O‘o we had one, two, three bunk houses for the cowboys. For the cowboy and the fencemen. We had the whole house. In Puakala we had another three house, you know counting the big house eh.”

“[W]e had all the cowboys. We had about 33, 34 cowboys at that time. Yeah, used to stay up there, live up there [at Puu ‘Ō‘ō]. But after they made the Saddle road good, most of the boys that married, they came home eh. They don’t sleep out, only us the single ones used to stay up there.”

“So the one that fencemen, ah they, most of the time they kept outside the fence line where they live to the job. So they camp out there. They stay yeah. Where had the water gulch, come down where they get water to take a bath and all that. Then when they want water they come up the house because they had spring water at Puu ‘Ō‘ō house.” (Olivera, Pili Productions)

In the early days of the ranch (probably beginning in 1903, about the time the railroad was completed up to Glenwood), the cattle were driven to market down the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō – Volcano Trail to Keauhou Ranch, then down to Glenwood Station where they were loaded onto railroad cars and shipped down to Kea’au or Hilo. (Langlas)

“The Hilo Railroad Company was chartered May 28, 1899. The road has been constructed from Waiakea, at the east side of Hilo Harbor, to Kapoho, in the district of Puna, a distance of 24 miles.”

“On this line, and 7 miles out from Hilo, is the Olaa Sugar Company’s mill. From this point the railroad runs through Keeau and Olaa to the 22 milepost [Glenwood] on the Volcano road, 9 miles from the Volcano House. … This part of the line is nearly constructed, and will probably be finished by January 1, 1903.” (Report of the Governor, 1902)

After that, the cattle were still driven down to Volcano, but from there they were trucked down to Kea’au. Once Saddle Road was built, in 1943, Shipman trucked the cattle down that way instead. (Langlas)

Shipman also had a controlling interest in the Hilo Meat Company, which slaughtered most of the cattle from Big Island ranches (other than Parker Ranch) and which supplied the local market. The cattle were slaughtered al Kea‘au and the meat was sold at Hilo Meat Company on Front Street in Hilo.

“I managed the Hilo Meat Company for thirty-nine years. … Shipman had a controlling interest in the meat company and I was working for the meat company. But I was also, in fact Shipman paid half my salary and the meat company paid half my salary when I first started with the meat company.”

“Shipman and Kapapala [owned by Brewer] and Kukaiau, [owned by] Davies [shipped cattle to Hilo Meat], and we bought cattle from a lot of independents, little Hamakua people and all that, C.L. Chow at one time who was involved with the Standard Meat Market.”

“Parker Ranch had an interest in Hilo Meat Company’s small stock holding. And they really didn’t ship cattle here. They really set up Hilo Meat to buy cattle from everybody else. I mean this island was the only island that produced more then it could take care of itself.” (Devine, Pili Productions)

“They had to ship to Honolulu. And Parker Ranch shipped all their cattle to Honolulu. Yeah, to Hawaii Meat Company that they had a controlling interest in, in other words to, if they started dumping cattle on this island that’d be chaos.”

“Too much produced and no markets so Mr. Carter, AW Carter, who was a trustee of Parker Ranch, who was quite an astute person and he figured out that they’d better not, that it didn’t take much figuring that they’d better ship all their cattle to Honolulu.”

“Otherwise there’d be too much competition here. So he set up, he was the one was instrumental in setting up Hilo Meat Company and getting the various ranchers to take stock in it and let Hilo Meat control more or less what was sold on this side of the island”. (Devine, Pili Productions)

Within the Hakalau Forest area as the juncture of three of the big ranches of east Hawai‘i (Parker Ranch to the uplands in Humu‘ula, Kuka‘iau Ranch to the north in Maulua Nui and beyond, and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch to the south). (Tomonari-Tuggle) However, mauka ranching here started to phase out.

In 1985, the Fish & Wildlife Service, with the active involvement and support of The Nature Conservancy, purchased Shipman Ranch lands and established the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. Later, other nearby privately owned parcels were purchased or donated to the refuge.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keanakolu

Aia i ka lai o Keanakolu,
Kuu lei mamane lu‘a i ke anu.

There in the calm of Keanakolu,
Is my garland of mamane blossoms that droop in the cold.
(“Ka Pua Mamane” Ka Hoku o Hawaii (November 23, 1938) (Maly)

Keanakolu (‘Three Caves’) is named for a cluster of lava-tube caves nearby that likely provided shelter well before the cattle arrived, when the mountain was roamed by bird-catchers collecting feathers for Hawaii’s dramatic royal cloaks.  (Patel)

“Rockshelters in gulches and lava tubes were regularly used throughout the period of ranching, and one identified cave complex, Keanakolu (literally: the three caves), was likely used in the precontact era as well as throughout the ranching period.” (Peter Mills)

The caves, “one supposed to go Hilo, one Kona, one Hāmākua” (Johnny Ah San; Maly) are located between the 5,300 ft. and 6,400 ft. elevation on the slopes of Mauna Kea near the border of the North Hilo and Hāmākua Districts. (Mills; UH Maunakea Stewardship)

“So the three caves…actually what they call Keanakolu now, is not where the caves are eh?… The caves are above. You know where Douglas Pit? … Yes. … On the…well, we call it the Hāmākua side. There’s a little gulch, then you go up.”

“Oh, so from Douglas Pit, Hāmākua side, there’s a gulch, and you walk up the gulch? … Yes, the old Russian camp [On October 9th, Mr. Ah San reconfirmed that it was his understanding, as told by L. Bryan, that there had been a Russian settlement in the area as well.].” (Exchange between Kepa Maly and Johnny Ah San)

“Well, they tried to build something. That’s why they have stone walls and little shacks like up here. But nobody knows who put this. The Russians or what… It’s all gone now, the building. And there is the stone corral up there.”

“So we’re just a short distance away from the three caves? … Yes, just down the slope [to the north]. … And we’re here by the stone corral and the old stone house? …”

“Yes, the corral. And the house, nobody knew. A shack, nobody knew what it was. Then there are more stone walls, like Robinson Crusoe shelter. Maybe the people built that so the pigs don’t get in. But no more door, so how did the people get in and out? The four corners are all closed.”  (Exchange between Kepa Maly and Johnny Ah San)

Cattle were introduced to Hawai‘i in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver; Kamehameha immediately instituted a kapu on the animals for a period of ten years. The animals became a serious problem, as they survived and reproduced handsomely in the wild

 Ellis (1825) writes that the cattle “resorted to the mountains and became so wild and ferocious that the natives are afraid to go near them.” By the 1820s, cattle hunting was an industry, for salted and barreled beef was a valuable commodity for the growing provisioning trade related to Pacific whaling.

A trade in hides and tallow also developed and by the 1830s was the primary focus of cattle hunting; an article in the July 1, 1843 Friend reported that 10,686 bullock hides were exported from Hawai‘i. (Tomonari-Tuggle)

The trade of bullock hunting began in the early 1800s and by mid-century had developed into formal cattle ranching, with dire results in some areas from overgrazing. (“The forest on this area is doomed ⎯ only a matter of a few years of persistent grazing.”) (Tomonari-Tuggle)

During the early historic period, the upland section of the Laupāhoehoe forests were impacted by herds of wild sheep and bullocks. By 1825, foreign bullock hunters had established camps on the outer edges of the forest, in the region where Laupāhoehoe and neighboring lands are cut off by the ahupua‘a of Humu‘ula. (Maly)

By the 1830s, cattle ranching, as opposed to hunting, was developing in the Waimea area. Much of the initial stock of the cattle herds was the wild cattle, although by mid-century, there was a movement to improve the stock by importing purebred cattle.

By 1859, the wild cattle were hunted almost solely for their hides, which being unbranded brought a higher price than branded tame cattle.

Like cattle, sheep were introduced to Hawai‘i in the closing years of the 18th century and became a serious threat to the health of the forest. In 1856, an informal sheep station was established near Humu‘ula on the Mauna Kea-Mauna Loa saddle to take advantage of the feral sheep population.  (Parker Ranch acquired the sheep station in 1914). (Tomonari-Tuggle)

In Humu‘ula, the Waimea Grazing and Agricultural Company first established ranching stations at Kalai‘ehā, Laumai‘a, and Hopuwai, and possibly also Keanakolu and Lahohinu, where cattle were raised. These stations represent the first significant capital investments in commercial enterprises in the Humu‘ula region. (Peter Mills)

“In 1876, WGAC sold its lease of Humu‘ula to James W. Gay of Honolulu for a 25-year term. Gay established the Humu‘ula Sheep Company, and his headquarters were at Keanakolu.”

“The lease was underwritten by Paul Isenberg, a Hawaiian senator who also served as a manager of the German-run merchant firm, H. Hackfeld & Company.” (Mills)

In the 1930s, there was an estimated 40,000 sheep around the summit of Mauna Kea. A major project of the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was the construction of a stock-proof fence encircling the entire mountain, combined with systematic hunting to reduce the population of wild cattle, sheep, and pigs. (Tomonari-Tuggle)

By the 1880s, the original sheep ranch station at Keanakolu (in the original place of that name, near the Laupāhoehoe-Humu‘ula boundary), was built, and historic photos from 1885 depict ranch buildings made of koa logs.

There remain on the land in the present-day, the ruins of stone shelters, pens, and foundations on the upper Laupāhoehoe-Humu‘ula region. Noted places such as Keanakolu (not the same location of the present-day cabin of that name), Lahohinu, and Keahua-ai (Douglas Pit), are considered significant features of the historical landscape. (Maly)

“There were three, four stations, Keanakolu, Hopuwai, Laumai‘a and Kalai‘eha. And the best pasture was on the Keanakolu side. But when there was good pasture on this side, you would move them out. And we would take those cattle up as old yearlings, I guess you would call them.  We’d wean them from their mother’s, take them to Pā‘auhau, hold ‘em there.”

“These are all heifers, we’re talking about. Then they got to be a certain age, then we’d take ‘em to Keanakolu, and we might take, oh eight, nine hundred, a thousand head at a crack.”

“And we’d time it, so that the Humu‘ula cattle… We’d pick Humu‘ula cattle out that grew up there. And they’d stay there until they grew out, and when they came back they’d either go into the breeding herd, if they were good, or the junk one’s would be sent to market.”

“in the olden days, they never moved cattle from Humu‘ula, that’s Kalai‘eha, what I’m calling Humu‘ula, Kalai‘eha to Waiki‘i. They always used to go around Keanakolu side.”  (Leonard Radcliffe “Rally” Greenwell; Maly)

The Rev. Mr. J. M. Lydgate “visited an abandoned fruit orchard at Keanakolu, which is situated on the southern slope of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii at an elevation of about five thousand feet.”

“This orchard was planted about twenty-five or more years ago close to where the Humu‘ula Sheep Ranch house was then situated. The headquarters at Keanakolu were afterward abandoned and the fruit orchard was left uncared for.”

“Very fortunately, however, a fence strong enough to prevent cattle, wild goats, and other animals from damaging the trees had been erected, and it is because of this that we are enabled to judge of what results might have been obtained in other places had the same condition prevailed.”

“Mr. Lydgate found apple, plum, pear, apricot, cherry, and peach trees, and several varieties of each. He states that the apple trees run mostly to whips, causing a meager crop of fruit, but Mrs. Lydgate claims that those she saw were of excellent quality.”

“The fine crop of Bartlett pears and the cherries and peaches were, at the time of their visit, too green to eat, though the cherries, which were few, are probably ripe by this time. There were but few peaches, but those seen were of good size.”

“The plum and apricot crops had already matured and there was no fruit left by which one might form an opinion, but it is said that the fruits have been gathered by those who have visited the orchard during the past few years, and have been found equal to those grown on the mainland.”

“One peculiarity that Mr. Lydgate could not explain was the ripening of the apricots long before the cherries. The opposite condition prevails in California, apricots coming into market there some weeks after the close of the cherry season.”  (Mesick, Paradise of the Pacific, September 1909)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Crossing the Bog

Hawaiian bogs occur primarily in montane zones as isolated small patches on flat or gently sloping topography in high rainfall areas in cloud forests and other wet forests on all of the high islands between 3,500-5,500 feet elevation.

These bogs also occur in the subalpine zone at 7,446 feet elevation on Maui, and as a low-elevation bog at 2,120 fee) on Kauai. Soils remain saturated on a shallow to deep layer of peat, underlain by an impervious basal clay layer that impedes drainage.

Two bogs are believed to have formed in former small lakes, one along the Wailuku River, Hawai‘i (Treeless bog), the other the subalpine bog on East Maui (Flat Top bog). The low-elevation bog on Kauai occurs on shallow, poorly drained acidic peat. (NatureServe Explorer)

The Treeless Bog was a large, open bog that lacked woody vegetation. Annual precipitation in this part of the island ranges from approximately 100-200 inches per year, but we had no rainfall data for the individual sites. (Wakeley, 1994)

All of the following is a description crossing the bog by Wm E. Oleson (with D Howard Hitchcock), October 20, 1884, as noted in the Guest Book from Pua Akala, typed by June Humme …

I left Hilo for the purpose of exploring the bed of the Wailuku, and for a tramp for health reasons.

Rode on ‘Grit’ from Hilo to Fuka Maui falls, sending the horse back to Hilo, and starting from that point on foot with four strong school boys, Kapewa from Waipio, Aina from Kohala, Haalilio from Waimanu, and Sidney Smith from Kaawaloa.

We packed our food and clothing on our backs. At noon we struck a trail into the woods above the point where the ‘56 lava stream came into the river, and after walking an hour or more, came to what I suppose was the Honolii stream.

We worked up-stream with great difficulty, water very deep, banks very high, and the land on both sides quite swampy.

At last we left the stream and followed my pocket compass in a southerly direction right through the swamp. Night came on with us when in the boggiest place and we camped under the lee of a fallen tree.

It had rained all the afternoon and we hadn’t a dry thing in the company. After vainly trying to light a fire, using up all but three matches, we crouched down in the rain and cold with a vivid realization that we were out on a tramp.

Next morning early we kept on through the swamp and in half an hour came to the Wailuku. If I were an Englishman I would say that the swamp is the ‘nastiest’ place on Hawaii.

It is like a jungle, and one feels that it takes about a minute a step to get through the tangle of ie ie and to pull one’s feet out of the bog.

If one wants to find out what a victory of mind over matter is, he can find no better proof at the adage is true and in what sense it is true, than by an hour’s pull through this miserable swamp.

We stripped and partially dried our clothes on the rocks of the Wailuku, and at about eight oclock started up river with new courage and an emphatic purpose not to leave the stream to follow the most inviting trail.

At night we made a fern hut and then took our three matches and stood around to see what the result would be of their lighting. No, 1 lighted but burned out before igniting the dry fern leaves. No. 2 wouldn’t light at all. No. 3 made a sickly sputter, and then went out.

We turned in, with wet clothes again, but with the mountain wind blowing right at us, so that this second night was not exactly like unto the first! To cap the climax it poured torrents all night long, and we huddled up like frogs, each in his own pool, and waited for the day.

In the morning we wrung about a bucket of water out of each blanket, and something less from each garment, and shivering and rheumatic we started again for the source of the river. We did some famous climbing, hanging by finger-nails over undesirable places, and ’chinning’ it in one especially difficult place.

Garments failed to stand the strain of so much soaking, and stretching, and gradually separated, so that on finally reaching the edge of the woods, and the source of the river, we felt quite unpresentable.

Three of us went to work on a hut for the night’s camping, getting wood for our fire and grass for our bedding, while the other two went on to Puakala for matches and a supply of edibles, ours having suffered from being too much diluted.

It was not long before Mr. Edw. Hitchcock with extra mules came over and took our entire party to Puakala, for the first time in three days showing us a bright fire and giving us the luxury of dry clothes.

There are occasions when a man doesn’t care whether his clothes and slippers were made for another man, and this was such an occasion.

I am profoundly thankful that inasmuch as there is a Wailuku river and an adjoining swamp, there is also such a hospitable home as Puakala, and such good Samaritans as the Hitchcocks. The original Samaritan just happened across the needy man in the parable, but this Hitchcock Samaritan came out with horses to search for the needy ones.

One thing I want to caution all hapless travelers through the swamp against, and that is, don’t let the host roast you out with his rousing fires, when once you reach Puakala.

The contrast is too overcoming, and after such an experience one needs to get used to fires, as the starving man does to food before he can get back to his normal condition of enduring ordinary supplies of each.

My impressions are that there is such a thing as the Wailuku River, and that it has one source about a mile to the southwest of Puakala, that it has some three or four other sources to the south extending as far as Hale Aloha …

…  but that I shall probably never trace any of the other sources unless I get a government appointment and can afford to do the job by proxy. (Wm E. Oleson with D Howard Hitchcock, October 20, 1884, as noted in the Guest Book from Pua Akala, typed by June Humme)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mystery on the Mauna

It started like any other day … post the latest summary, check comments on the website and Facebook, and review emails.  As is also typical, emails came in asking about the identity of a photo, map, or just a general history question.

Then, an interesting issue was raised about a post I did on rock walls. The question was, do I have any “knowledge about a structure at 11,000’ on Mauna Kea’s SW aspect. It’s a roughly rectangular wall, about five feet high with a perimeter of 3,300 feet.”

“I think of it as an exclosure because it has no openings. A single cedar tree stands near its upper corner – I believe it’s higher than any other on the mountain.”

That led to a frustrating series of inquiries with others trying to identify the “Rock Wall” (that was labeled as such on several old maps).  It is situated above the tree line.

It was a structure that I had never seen before and was not aware of.  And, the options of the who, what and why started to expand in the process – with no clear indication of an answer to any of those.

I reached out to several archaeologists and others who prepare cultural impact assessments for help.  My first response was from a notable archaeologist who said, “I know nothing specifically … there were at least some bottles/bottle fragments inside the enclosure.  Generally, there are several upland corral-like enclosures”.

Another early response from another archaeologist stated, “This feature is quite intriguing. Regrettably we have no information to provide, although the presence of the tree at the site suggests there may be a spring in that location. Springs are present around this elevation on other parts of the mountain.”

Corral, water … that led me to look into springs and ranching activities on the mountain.  I looked through some reports and found …

“Ka-houpo-o-Kāne (literally, The-bosom-of Kāne), is the sacred region of Mauna Kea (between the 10,000 – 11,000 foot elevation), in which are found the springs fed by Ka-wai-hū-a-Kāne; by a rivulet from Waiau to the head of Pōhakuloa Gulch.”  (Maly)

Ka Houpo o Kāne represents the springs of the island of Hawaii. (Vredenburg)  “The area identified as Ka-houpo-o-Kāne is situated below Waiau, on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea, in the land of Ka‘ohe.” (Maly)

Another study addressing the springs at Houpo O Kāne noted, “One section of the valley is isolated by the steep walls of thick lava flows, above and below which are stone walls built many years ago as a trap in, which to impound wild cattle that frequented the spring area. The last of the wild cattle have been killed, but a few skulls were to be seen in 1939.”

According to another study, “there is reason to believe that [the cattle trap] probably dates to the same period of time (ca. 1820 – 1850).”

To help us understand the early cattle experience on the mountain, William Ellis wrote, “[Goodrich] saw at a distance several herds of wild cattle, which are very numerous in the mountains and inland parts of the island, and are the produce of those taken there, and presented to the king, by Captain Vancouver.”

“They were, at his request, tabued for ten years, during which time they resorted to the mountains, and became so wild and ferocious, that the natives are afraid to go near them.”

“Although there are immense herds of them, they do not attempt to tame any; and the only advantage they derive is by employing persons, principally foreigners, to shoot them, salt the meat in the mountains, and bring it down to the shore for the purpose of provisioning the native vessels.”

“But this is attended with great labour and expense. They first carry all the salt to the mountains. When they have killed the animals, the flesh is cut off their bones, salted immediately, and afterwards put into small barrels, which are brought on men’s shoulders ten or fifteen miles to the sea-shore.” (Ellis, 1820s)

Back then, wild cattle (bullocks) were captured in pits (typically one at a time) or shot at with rifles (that then scared the rest away).  It was pretty inefficient.  Kamehameha III had Spanish vaqueros brought to the islands to teach the Hawaiians the skills of herding and handling cattle.

So, if this applied to the “Rock Wall,” I did more research into Hawai‘i’s early ranching efforts  … The vaqueros found the Hawaiians to be capable students, and by the 1870s, the Hawaiian cowboys came to be known as the “paniola” for the Espanola (Spanish) vaqueros who had been brought to the islands (though today, the Hawaiian cowboy is more commonly called “paniolo”).  (Maly)

“One of the most important contributions of the vaqueros was their introduction of the rawhide lasso.”  A report stated, “‘The use of the rawhide lasso drastically changed the movement of cattle closer to market and into confinement for eventual domestication.’”

“‘The Spanish method replaced the labor-intensive system of packing salt to the mountain and hauling kegs of salted beef (i‘a kōpī or pipi miko) back to the shoreline communities. As part of the method, the bullock was roped in the remote range, snubbed to a tree, and tethered snugly over a night or two for a cooling-off period. This process is called po‘owaiū by the paniolo.’”

“‘At the appropriate time, usually at daybreak, the bullock was shorn of his horn tips (‘oki hau), and then led (alaka‘i) by a single head rope or two to a central corral. These corrals were often located at a rudimentary camp or village (kauhale).’” (Bergin; Cultural Surveys)

As part of an oral history project, some of the ‘old time’ Parker Ranch employees were interviewed; one stated, “When you’re looking from here it’s all mountain, but when you get up there it’s nice big flats and hollows, it’s cinders. The old people used to make traps, Pāloa, and they used to drive, mainly horses. Hit the sand and it goes right down to the corrals.”

More corral reference … was this one of those corrals?

Throughout this investigation, I had in the back of my mind the CCC.  My oldest map noting the “Rock Wall” was dated 1937.  That meant there was a possibility that the wall could be associated with Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

After a decade of national prosperity in the Roaring Twenties, Americans faced a national crisis after the Crash of 1929. The Great Depression saw an unemployment rate of more than twenty-five percent in the early 1930s.  (pbs)

To make work, Franklin D Roosevelt proposed in his New Deal (1933) the creation of “a Civilian Conservation Corps, to be used in simple work, not interfering with normal employment, and confining itself to forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control and similar projects.”


It was estimated that 8 to 10 percent of Hawaiʻi’s young men were enrolled by the Civilian Conservation Corps during its tenure from 1934 to 1942. There were CCC camps on Oʻahu, Maui, Kauai, the island of Hawaiʻi and Molokai. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, NPS)

One of those project sites was at Pōhakuloa. Seven cabins were built around the base of the mountain at the present location of Gilbert Kahele Recreation Area run by the County (formerly, the Mauna Kea State Park.)

In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) undertook fencing, road building and visitor facilities on Mauna Kea.  The CCC built a stone cabin at Hale Pōhaku, which gained its name (house of stone) from that structure. The cabin at Hale Pōhaku provided a shelter for overnight hikers, hunters and snow players.

This fit in with the timeline, based on the mapping I had … however, this alternative was soon dropped, as I found a 1926 USGS ‘Ahumoa’ mapping that showed the “Rock Wall,” (suggesting it was probably not part of a Civilian Conservation Corps project).  But that did not explain the who, what and why.

I literally shot-gunned my request for information – I sent out lots of email requests, seeking information. I followed up on every recommended reference. No clear indication came up, until …

Mystery solved … the Hawai‘i District Manager from DLNR-DOFAW responded in an email saying, “I reached out to some of our retired foresters, Charlie Wakida, Ernest Pung and Libert Landgraf. “

“Charlie and Ernie thought it was for experimental plantings.  Libert did as well, and said that LW Bryan had the exclosure made in the late 20’s or early 30’s to exclude feral sheep and plant different trees.  He said Bryan had experimental plantings at various locations on Mauna Kea.” (Hawaii Branch Manager, DLNR-DOFAW)

Leicester Winthrop ‘Bill’ Bryan, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, reached Hawaii’s shores shortly after World War I; he was a forester on the Island of Hawai‘i.

“He supervised planting of more than 10 million trees island-wide, preservation of scores of endangered plants, introduction of hundreds of exotic plant species, establishment of arboreta. He helped develop the island’s network of weather stations, its parks.” (UPI)

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