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December 20, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Three Volcano Pioneers of the Mid-19th Century Hawaii

“Keep and publish careful records, invite the whole world of science to co-operate, and interest the business man.” (Jaggar)

The efficiency of an institution which is essentially educational and not commercial, productive of ideas rather than dollars, must be measured by its effect on productive men of learning in stimulating them to production; that is, to new discovery, experiment investigation and publication.

The founding of the Volcano Observatory and the formation of the group of subscribers here called the “Research Association,” were themselves evolved productions of the inspiring work of early investigators, as well as of the natural intellectual stimulus created in man by the unexplained Kilauea lake of boiling nebulous flux.

Three names stand out above all others as recorders of the work of the Fire Goddess in Hawaii in the middle decades of the nineteenth century : Titus Coan, James Dwight Dana, and William Lowthian Green.

Coan the missionary, earnest seeker after truth, for more than a third of the century watched every detail of the evolution of the volcanoes, pondered their meaning, and moreover made truthful record in scores of letters which were promptly published.

This genius for recording is rare among men, and is an all-important requirement in science; many men are good observers, but millions of valuable observations are forever lost, because of a lack of appreciation of the value of a jotting down – day, hour, minute, event, stages, appearances.

All science is no more than a categoric jotting-down, and the grouping of facts into new categories, until some of these reach the dignity of “theory.”

Coan without apparatus or endowment was an institution, a first Hawaiian volcano observatory, and in actual output he was a better observer and recorder than some institutions which have been elaborately equipped.

Professor Dana of Yale, foremost American geologist, was with the Wilkes Expedition at Kilauea in 1840, revisited Hawaii later, and wrote in 1891 a book, “Characteristics of Volcanoes,” which stands preeminent among volcano memoirs.

It was inspired by Kilauea and Mauna Loa, but is broad and sane, and presents a most painstaking and thoughtful summary of the progress of Hawaiian volcanic events, and their bearing on geology. Dana published in New Haven Coan’s letters, and it was doubtless Dana who stimulated much of Coan’s recording.

Green, the man of business, in his leisure moments student of volcanic life and of the inspiring heights and depths of the globe, conceived: to scale, with its film of waters and its blanket of gas, wrote a remarkable book in two volumes, “Vestiges of the Molten Globe.”

His second volume deals especially with the volcanoes, which he visited many times, and of it Professor Daly of Harvard writes: “It is certainly a pity that the second part of Green’s work is not more generally known. The book is almost as remarkable a contribution to the philosophy of vulcanism as Part 1, ‘On the Tetrahedral Theory of the Earth,’ is important in cosmogonic philosophy.”

Green’s work foreshadowed theoretic conceptions which modem thought has fixed more firmly, and his interest, as a business man, in the affairs of pure science was forerunner of the wider interest of many business men (and intelligent women) of Hawaii who now make up the Hawaiian Volcano Research Association.

These three men, Coan and Green resident here, Dana from an eastern university, typify the reason for the creation of an Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and their portraits should forever hang in honored place upon its walls.

Coan, the systematic observer, showed the value of record and system; Green, the merchant, fascinated by the spell of Pele and inspired by the problems of position of this mid-Pacific pinnacle, Hawaii, rising 37,000 feet above the ocean deep, adopted volcanology for avocation, and left monumental work to inspire specialist and layman alike.

While Dana the scholar, coming from a distant seat of learning, hospitably entertained in the islands by Coan, Green, Bishop, Brigham, Alexander and a host of kind friends, rewarded their kindness by making famous to the whole world the achievements of his Hawaiian scientific colleagues.

Dana added new volcano lore and illustrated what production may come from scientific hospitality. (All here is copied from Special Bulleting of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, 1913, as stated by Thomas Jaggar.)

© 2022 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Place Names, Prominent People Tagged With: Volcano, Titus Coan, James Dana, William Green, Hawaii

February 21, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaluakauka

In 1793, Captain George Vancouver gave a few cattle to Kamehameha I; when Vancouver landed additional cattle at Kealakekua in 1794, he strongly encouraged Kamehameha to place a 10‐year kapu on them to allow the herd to grow.

In the decades that followed, cattle flourished and turned into a dangerous nuisance. Kamehameha III lifted the kapu in 1830 and the hunting of wild cattle was encouraged. The king hired cattle hunters from overseas to help in the effort.

By 1846, 25,000-wild cattle roamed at will and an additional 10,000-semi‐domesticated cattle lived alongside humans. A wild bull or cow could weigh 1,200 to 1,500-pounds and had a six‐foot horn spread. Vast herds destroyed natives’ crops, ate the thatching on houses, and hurt, attacked and sometimes killed people.

In addition to traditional practices in the forests (i.e. bird feather collecting, harvesting koa and ʻōhiʻa, etc,) wild cattle were hunted for consumption, as well as provisioning ships with salt beef, and hides and tallow to the growing whaling fleets replenished their stocks.

Hunting wild cattle in the upper forest where they roamed was dangerous. Bullock pits were dug to trap the animals (they were about seven or eight feet long, and four feet wide and were walled up and covered with fragile brush;) they were near established trails; cattle were also drawn to the area by adjoining water holes. When animals fall in the pits, they were unable to climb out the steep sides.

On July 12, 1834, the pits proved they can be a peril to people, too. Douglas was killed by a wild bullock at Keahuaʻai (a knoll at the top of Laupāhoehoe near the boundary of Humuʻula and Laupāhoehoe (now called Kaluakauka or Douglas Pit.)) (Maly) “In the forest under the shadow of Mauna Kea I have seen the bullock pit where the dead body of the distinguished Scottish naturalist, (David) Douglas”. (Coan)

Douglas was born at Scone, near Perth, Scotland, in 1799, and started his career, there; he was a botanist. He was affiliated with the University of Glasgow and served as botanical collector for the Horticultural Society of London. He was hired by the Hudson’s Bay Company to do a botanical survey of the Oregon region.

In mid-August 1823, Douglas was in Philadelphia looking at the plants brought back by Lewis and Clark that even then were flourishing in some American, as well as European gardens. By September Douglas was in the Northwest, looking as always for seeds and cuttings of fruit trees, as well as wild woody plants.

Even though first Menzies (1790, while sailing with Captain Vancouver) and then Lewis and Clark (1804, through the expedition through the Louisiana Purchase and to the Northwest) had collected plants in the area, they had found only the obvious. Almost every day Douglas was in the field he was finding curious plants that proved to be new to science.

One of the collections he sent back to England with a home-bound ship was the dried branches and needles of what he called “Oregon pine,” that today is known as Douglas Fir (his namesake that is now a common wood in construction, as well as the festive and adorned Christmas tree.)

For 4 years, he travelled approximately 8,000-miles throughout the Northwest, cataloging and collecting samples. He returned to England in 1827. He achieved fame in Europe for his collection, and has been referred to as “one of the founding fathers of the British forestry industry as it exists today” by one biographer.

He returned to the Northwest in 1829 hoping to convince the Hudson’s Bay Company to finance a trip to Alaska and beyond. They refused, so David Douglas sailed to Hawaiʻi, arriving here just before Christmas of 1833.

Douglas was a gifted collector, but in the field he was often in trouble. He once fell on a nail that penetrated his leg under the kneecap. He nearly drowned in a glacier-fed river, and was weeks away from civilization with little but his wet clothes. He grew blind in one eye, and his vision was slowly failing in the other.

In January 1834, he set out to “to ascend and explore Mauna Kea, as soon as possible” Having completed his trek to both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, Douglas also visited Kilauea and then returned to O‘ahu.

In July of 1834, Douglas returned to Hawai‘i for a second trip to Mauna Kea. This trip was made via the Waimea-Laumai‘a mountain trail.

“Douglas left the vessel at Kawaihae to cross over by land, engaged a foreigner for a guide and several natives to take along his baggage. The guide accompanied him till they passed all the pit falls dug to entrap wild cattle on the north side Mauna Kea, he then left him to return.” (Lyman, Greenwell)

On July 12, 1834, while exploring the Island; “Douglas, a scientific traveller from Scotland, in the service of the London Horticultural Society, lost his life in the mountains of Hawaii, in a pitfall, being gored and trampled to death by a wild bullock captured there. (Bingham)

“This has been one of the most gloomy days I ever witnessed. … Soon after Mr. Douglas went back a short distance for something and in retracing his steps fell into a pit (into which a bullock had previously fallen) and was found dead a short time afterward. This was Sat. Morning.”

“Sunday he was taken the shortest distance to the sea side, wrapped in a hyde, put on board a canoe and brought here as he was taken from the pit. His close are sadly torn and his body dreadfully mangled. Ten gashes on his head.” (Lyman, Greenwell)

Some have suggested it was not an accident. “(T)he dead body of the distinguished Scottish naturalist, Douglas, was found under painfully suspicious circumstances, that led many to believe he had been murdered for his money.” (Coan)

While examination at the time suggested death by the bullock – “On the 3rd instant the body was brought here (Oʻahu) in an American vessel. I immediately had it examined by the medical gentlemen, who gave it as their opinion that the several wounds were inflicted by the bullock.” (Charlton, British Consul) – many remain skeptical.

As Titus Coan noted (1882,) “A mystery hangs over the event which we are unable to explain.”

David Douglas was buried in the Kawaiahaʻo Church Cemetery. A plaque on the wall of Kawaiahaʻo Church and a stone marker at Kaluakauka (near where the pit was located) commemorate David Douglas’s death.

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David Douglas_Memorial-Kaluakauka
David Douglas_Memorial-Kaluakauka
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David Douglas_Memorial-Kaluakauka
David Douglas_Memorial-Kaluakauka
David Douglas_Memorial-Kaluakauka
David Douglas_Memorial-Kaluakauka
David Douglas sign-Canada
David Douglas sign-Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park-Canada
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Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana Douglas)
Douglas_Fir-Christmas_Tree_Farm
Douglas_Fir-Christmas_Trees
Douglas_Fir-Lumber
Pseudotsuga_menziesii_cone-From a tree grown from seed collected by David Douglas
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Sketch_of_Cattle_Pit_Diell’s_Letter
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Filed Under: Place Names, Prominent People Tagged With: Kamehameha III, Laupahoehoe, Mauna Kea, George Vancouver, Humuula, David Douglas, Titus Coan, Kaluakauka, Hawaii, Hawaii Island, Kamehameha

August 31, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Emerald Bower of Hilo

Lydia Bingham Coan, second wife of Titus Coan, assembled his letters and told some of his stories in a Memorial to her husband. She speaks of “‘Emerald Bower,’ as they called their Hilo home, was a place of many hospitalities, and for nine years, with the delightful Dr. Coan, Mrs. Coan enjoyed the many social, literary and pastoral experiences of missionary life.”

“After the death of Dr. Coan in 1882, she returned to Honolulu to enter into the home of her brother, Dr. Hiram Bingham, Jr., in Punahou, near the old home of the Bingham family.”

“When Dr. Bingham died in 1908 the American Board gladly gave her a life tenure of the Bingham home, called “Gilbertina,” where with the loving ministrations of her devoted niece, Miss Kate Reynolds, she happily passed her declining years. On Tuesday, Aug. 14, 1915, Mrs. Coan took a severe cold, which developed into pneumonia.”

“Though this disease was soon arrested the frail body could not bear the strain of recovery, and on August 31st Mrs. Coan entered into the rest for which she had long been waiting.” (HMCS) Following are passages from her memorial and remembrances of Coan and Emerald Bower.

“From Boston he wrote to his parents: “December 3, 1834.- ‘We have now been here nearly two weeks, waiting for the ship to be ready. We hope to go to-morrow. Twelve missionaries sailed to-day for Southeastern Africa. There are eight of our number, making twenty in all, who met in this city at the same time.’”

“‘We received our instructions together on Sunday evening, the 23d of November, in Park Street Church. The meeting was crowded, solemn and impressive. The people of Boston take a deep interest in the cause of missions, and are very hospitable to missionaries. We have been kindly entertained since our arrival here.’”

“‘Our ship, the Hellespont, is a very good one, of 340 tons burden, but she is deeply laden. We shall be pent up in small rooms, but they will be large enough to hold our Bibles and our God, if our spirits are contrite.’”

“To His Brother, Heman Coan, Honolulu, June 26, 1835. – ‘My eyes at last behold these ‘isles afar off,’ and my feet tread on these long desired shores. And I would here first record the goodness of God in guiding us through all the perils of the deep and in bringing us to the field of our labors’”.

“‘On the morning of the 5th inst., just six months from the time we lost sight of our native land, we first descried the island of Hawaii, at the distance of sixty or seventy miles. On the morning of the 6th we made this island (Oahu), and at 10 A. M. dropped anchor in the harbor.’”

“‘All the missionaries of the islands, except two, with their wives and little ones, were assembled in general meeting at this place, according to their annual custom.’”

“‘On hearing of our arrival, Messrs. Bingham, Chamberlain and Armstrong came off to the ship in a boat, to welcome and to take us on shore. When we landed, we found the band of brethren and sisters at the seaside awaiting our arrival and ready to embrace us. Every heart seemed to feel more than it could utter.’”

“‘After services Mr. B. introduced me to the governess and some of the high chiefs, who expressed much joy at the arrival of more teachers on their shores. When we turned from our interview with the chiefs, the common people pressed around me in crowds, each one striving to grasp my hand and express his warm welcome.’”

“‘I long to go into the work. I think this is my proper field of labor, and I would not go back for the world, unless I knew it to be the will of God. There is pressing need of laborers here. Thousands who are anxious for instruction must die without it unless help can be obtained.’”

“‘Our location for the present year will be at Hilo, on the island of Hawaii. Our associate is to be Rev. Mr. Lyman. We shall probably be two hundred and fifty miles from medical aid, and can expect none. We have only to trust in God. Dear brother, live near to God and labor for souls. If we are faithful to our Master we shall soon meet in joy.’”

“Mr. and Mrs. Coan remained a month in Honolulu. Then, their location having been assigned by the mission, and an opportunity of reaching it presenting, they went forth to their appointed station.”

“Hilo was to them at the first, ‘a picture of loveliness,’ and forty years later Mr. Coan would write: ‘The ecstatic romance with which I first saw these emerald isles has not abated by familiarity or by age. The picture is photographed in unfading tints upon my heart, and it has become to me the romance of reality.’”

“‘Where can you find within so small a space such a collecting, such massing, such blending of the bland, the beautiful, the exquisite, the gorgeous, the grand and the terrific as on Hawaii?’” Of Hilo he notes, “our lovely, our inimitable landscape, our emerald bowers, our crescent strand and our silver bay”.

“To Mrs. E. Coan. March 8, 1867. – ‘I have just reached home in the dear old Emerald Bower. I went about fifty miles north to meet Bro. Bond, of Kohala, and the native pastors and delegates of N: Hawaii at the meeting of an ecclesiastical association.’”

“‘Thence I went to Waimea, seventy miles from Hilo, to see our dear Brother Lyons, who has not been able to leave his station for more than three years on account of ill health.’”

“To His Children. February 1, 1881. – ‘This is a joyful day. The heavens shine with glory. The earth glows with beauty. The sea sparkles with brilliants. The radiant orbs sing praises. The bland zephyrs murmur sweetly. The rippling rills leap and laugh.’”

“‘The emerald fields rejoice. Silvery notes of praise rise from glen and forest, and mingling strains of harmony and love ascend to the Creator from all his works.’”

“‘I am this day four score years old. God gave me a happy childhood, a cheerful youth, a vigorous manhood, and now a calm old age. My health is good, my spirits buoyant, and my heart is happy in the companion of my choice. My faith is firm, my hope anchored, and my love for you all is deathless as the soul.’”

“‘My experiences have been varied, and I look back upon my life as marked with many mistakes, numerous sins, and much unworthiness.’”

“‘But I also adore the grace of God in his pardoning love, and humbly trust that the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, will cleanse me from all sin. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to the salvation of every true believer.’”

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Hilo_illustration,_c._1870s
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Filed Under: Place Names, Buildings, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Hilo, Titus Coan, Emerald Bower, Lydia Bingham Coan

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