Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Great Crack

The Great Crack is one of the most conspicuous features of the Southwest Rift Zone of Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano. (Halliday) It is an extensive network of cracks, fissures and cones. It spans 8 miles in length, measures 50 feet in width and plunges down to a depth of 66 feet.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists believe that the crack formed as magma intruded into the rift zone causing the surface to spread, not from the island falling apart. While the exact time of its formation remains uncertain, research indicates that it might have occurred gradually over time. (NPS)

In 1823, an eruption caused lava to surge out from the lower section of the Great Crack and flow for about 6 miles into the ocean, destroying one small coastal village at Mahuka Bay.

English missionary William Ellis witnessed the aftermath of the eruption. “Messrs (William) Ellis, (Asa) Thurston, (Artemas) Bishop and (Joseph) Goodrich made a tour round the island of Hawai‘i, examining its various districts, conversing with the natives, and preaching the gospel 130 different times.”  (History of ABCFM) They were looking for suitable sites for mission stations.

Of this, Ellis wrote, “The people of Kearakomo also told us, that, no longer than five moons ago, Pele had issued from a subterranean cavern, and overflowed the low land of Kearaara, and the southern part of Kapapala.”

“The inundation was sudden and violent, burnt one canoe, and carried four more into the sea. At Mahuka, the deep torrent of lava bore into the sea a large rock, according to their account, near a hundred feet high, which, a short period before, had been separated by an earth quake from the main pile in the neighbourhood ….”

“We exceedingly regretted our ignorance of this inundation at the time we passed through the inland parts of the above-mentioned districts, for, had we known of it then, we should certainly have descended to the shore, and examined its extent and appearance.”

“We now felt convinced that the chasms we had visited at Ponahohoa, and the smoking fissures we afterwards saw nearer Kirauea, marked the course of a stream of lava, and thought it probable, that though the lava had burst out five months ago, it was still flowing in a smaller and less rapid stream.” (Ellis)

A hundred years later, geologist Harold Stearns officially named it the ‘Keaiwa Flow,’ which was a name the residents of Ka‘ū had been using informally back then. (NPS)

“The Keaiwa flow of 1823 from Kilauea welled up in the Great Crack and spread out seaward as a thin flow, in places only a few inches thick. The absence of cinders or driblet cones in or along the crack indicates that the usual fire fountains of Hawaii did not play during this eruption.”

“Lining the Great Crack in many places are lava balls that appear to be bombs, but that do not owe their form to projection.” (Stearns)

Beginning at roughly 2,300 feet in elevation, the lower extent of the Southwest Rift Zone is quite unlike any other on the island. Faulting activity here has consolidated into a feature named The Great Crack. It is just that, a single large crack that runs unbroken for more than 10 miles before finally reaching the coastline. (Coons)

“The Great Crack is one of a number of open cracks that fissure the southwest rift zone, a belt 1-2 miles wide extending southwestward from Kilauea to the sea.”

“Throughout most of its length the Great Crack has the general appearance of a steep-sided trench 20 to 30 feet wide. A few yards north of the head of the Keaiwa flow the crack breaks up into many smaller ones.”

“There are also graben areas [an elongated block of the earth’s crust lying between two faults and displaced downward] which seem to have been produced by the separation of the fissure into two cracks for a short distance and the later collapse of the narrow slices thus formed, with the subsidence of the magma.”

“In other places the graben is due to the collapse along the walls bordering the fissure when the region settled down after the extrusion of the lava.  In a few places, especially near the sea, the Great Crack decreases in width to about 2 feet, and it finally dies out in echelon fashion at the coast. The cracks beyond the area of extravasation are only a few inches wide.”

“The Great Crack … differs from the others only in its continuity; it can be traced continuously for about 8 miles, and before it was buried by the flow of 1920 it must have been traceable still farther toward Halemaumau.”

“However, the mere fact that the Great Crack is continuous does not necessarily indicate that it was all opened at one time. There is ample evidence to show that it belongs to a system of fissures from which lava has poured out again and again.” (Stearns)

The Great Crack “is the result of crustal dilation from magmatic intrusions into the rift zone and not from the seaward movement of the south flank. There is no evidence that the Great Crack is getting bigger at this time or that the island is tearing apart along this seam.”

“Where the crack is narrow enough that opposing walls can be compared, matching features fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. This suggests that a simple widening caused the crack. Opposite walls also have no vertical offset, so south flank subsidence did not influence the formation of the crack.”

“The total breakaway of the south flank block of Kīlauea … is not taking place at this time.” (USGS)

Notable features in the Great Crack are caves.  Most of the floor of the open crack is littered with breakdown, but there are occasional gaps where cave entrances and pit craters lead to greater depths within the Great Crack System. It is believed there are more than 20 of these.

“The National Park Service has acquired a nearly 2,000-acre Big Island property containing a chasm known as ‘The Great Crack.’ The oceanfront property adjacent to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was purchased for $1.95 million in a recent foreclosure sale”.

“The park has been interested in the property northeast of Pahala for more than five decades, said Ben Hayes, the park’s director of interpretation.” (Associated Press, 2018)

The National Park is working to create a long-term plan for managing the Great Crack area. The park is exploring future public use options for these areas, with a community meeting in Fall 2023 to learn from local residents about the site’s resources and past uses. (NPS)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Halfway House

The way is long, the way is steep,
the road is crooked, the holes are deep;
on the Half Way House a blessing be?
Lord bless this house, and the thoroughbred flea,
For man may swear, and woman may weep.
But the cursed flea won’t let you sleep;
In the early morn, arise and go
The remaining way to the Lava flow
To the brink of the Pit of fiery depth
The Volcano House upon its width. …
(Max Pracht, San Francisco, 16 May 16, 1884)
(NPS, Volcano House Register)

In the 1800s, tourism was already developing as an important part of Hawaii’s economy. Honolulu was the principal destination and excursions to Kilauea crater were the main drawing card of the island of Hawai’i. Only hardy souls braved the “discomforts of the journey from Honolulu to the Volcano [which] were often vexatious and always considerable.” (Manning)

Two routes may be taken to the crater Kilauea, on the slope of Mauna Loa, one by Puna, the other by Ola‘a. Time being an object, the trip to and from the crater via Olaa can be accomplished in three days, which will give one day and two nights at the volcano house. (Manning)

The most traveled route between Hilo and Kīlauea was the Volcano Trail, which we now refer to as the “Old Volcano Trail” (at the time called “the Volcano Road”). (McEldowney)

The alignment of the Old Volcano Trail was mapped as early as 1874 by John M. Lydgate who referred to the Old Volcano Trail as “Road to Hilo”. The trail appears as a meandering line that straddled the ahupua‘a of ʻŌlaʻa and Keaʻau and strays in and out of the boundaries between the two. (ASM)

A critical step toward developing agriculture in ʻŌlaʻa was the creation of a new road between Hilo and Kīlauea located mauka of the Old Volcano Trail. As the new Volcano Road through ʻŌlaʻa was being built, the Crown made a large portion of potential agricultural lands (Ola‘a Reservation) available for lease and homesteading. (ASM)

The old trail effectively adjoins and runs mauka of the mauka lots in the mass of lots subdivided in Puna in the 1950s-70s (Hawaiian Acres to Fern Forest).

“Fifteen miles from Hilo Olaa is reached, the half-way stopping place. The intermediate territory is covered with ti plant and ferns, while the road consists mostly of pahoehoe lava, scantily covered with bunch grass and occasional bushes and trees.”

“‘The Half-way House’ at Olaa is merely a cluster of grass houses, a passable rest for travelers, who wish to spend the night, and obtain pasturage for horses.” (Whitney, 1875)

“There were at least two different structures over the years. The first probably existed as early as 1867, certainly by 1870. This structure was a one-room grass house with a wooden porch or lanai.”

“The interior was ‘divided in half by a curtain; in one half … a large four-poster bed, rough table and chairs, and in the other … a thick layer of grass covered with mats, on which … the whole family sleep.’”

“Those stopping during the day often used a mattress stuffed with pulu fiber from tree fern fronds laid on the floor instead of the four-poster bed.  Around 1880, Hawelu [the operator] built a hale la‘au, a substantial frame house with glass windows.”

“The new halfway house is mentioned in a promotional brochure, ‘The Great Volcano of Kilauea,’ designed by the publishers, Wilder’s Steamship Company, to attract tourists to ‘that extraordinary wonder of nature,’ Kilauea crater.”

“During the Hilo-Volcano horseback trip, the writer suggests a stop to rest at the halfway house, saying, “This house of accommodation has five bedrooms and the usual conveniences of a stopping place. …’” (Manning)

“Here several orange trees display their rich fruit in sight of the road. Although this point is 1138 feet above the sea level, and ten miles from Keaau, (the nearest point on the sea shore) the roar of the sea may be distinctly heard during a heavy surf.”

“Leaving Ola‘a, the route is over pahoehoe in all its varieties, thickly covered with wild grass, straggling ferns, creeping vines, and that vegetation which in tropical lands seeks only water to become impenetrable.” (Whitney, 1875)

“For more than 20 years, Hawelu and Lipeka operated a rest stop or halfway house on the Hilo-Kilauea crater trail. This horseback trip was said to ‘try the patience of most travelers.’”

“Tired and weary travelers could turn off the trail near ‘Kalehuapuaa . . . where there is a mauka road which goes to Hawelu’s.’ Over the years, halfway houses were variously situated along the trail.”

“Hawelu’s house was on the Hilo side of Mahiki. Visitors record that Hawelu’s was anywhere between 13 and 15 miles from Hilo, at an elevation of 1,138 or 1,150 feet. [“A comparison of the many descriptions places Hawelu’s near a point parallel with the Hilo end of present-day Mountain View, but on the Kea’au-‘Ola’a border”.]

“A visitor might rest at Hawelu’s for a few hours or overnight. Heavy rains occasionally stranded people at the halfway house for one or two days.”

“Each service was independently priced, but the price was the same regardless of the service. Horseshoeing was a dollar, food was a dollar, and lodging was a dollar. Lipeka was a full partner. The profits were divided in half, with Lipeka acting as banker.”  (Manning)

“Travelers variously reported the accommodations as beautiful and clean or dreary and dirty! Male travelers complained more  than females. Women seem to have expected rough ‘camp’ conditions. … Travelers throughout the Kingdom reported their tortures.” (Manning)

As noted by one in the Volcano House Register, “The undersigned left Hilo Friday morning June 7th at 6:30 a.m. Jo Puni as guide. Directly after leaving Hilo they received a moderate wetting down with a sun shower, wh. awakened them to the realities of Hawaiian travelling.”

“It was quite sultry until they arrived at the Half-way House, when a very distinct change in temperature was experienced. Showers of rain kept ahead of them from there to the Volcano House.”

“At the Half-way House a very good meal was heartily enjoyed, and a rest of two hours taken. They arrived at the Volcano House at 3:55 p.m. June 7.”

“The volcano was apparently quite active during the night, but the ride had fatigued your humble servants sufficiently to enable them to sleep soundly. They started for the crater at 7:45 a.m. and traveled down at a jog trot.” (Godwin McNeil, Sacramento, Cal., June 8, 1878; NPS, Volcano House Register)

With the new road, in May 1891 the Kilauea Volcano House began offering a package tour. It included steamer passage from Honolulu, a carriage ride from Hilo to the end of the half-finished road, and saddle horses supplied by Volcano Stables for the remaining ride. Accommodations were provided at the Volcano House.

In the same year, JR Wilson built Mountain View House as a rest stop on the new road. Little, if any, business would have been left to Hawelu’s independent halfway house by 1891 and he stopped his operation about that time. (Manning)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘We stopped, and trembled’

“Messrs (William) Ellis, (Asa) Thurston, (Artemas) Bishop and (Joseph) Goodrich made a tour round the island of Hawai‘i, examining its various districts, conversing with the natives, and preaching the gospel 130 different times.”  (History of ABCFM)

“Hitherto we had travelled close to the sea-shore, in order to visit the most populous villages in the districts through which we had passed. But here receiving information that we should find more inhabitants a few miles inland, than nearer the sea, we thought it best to direct our course towards the mountains.”

Makoa, their guide, “objected strongly to our going thither, as we should most likely be mischievous, and offend Pele or Nahoaarii, gods of the volcano, by plucking the ohelo, (sacred berries,) digging up the sand, or throwing stones into the crater, …”

“… and then they would either rise out of the crater in volumes of smoke, send up large stones to fall upon us and kill us, or cause darkness and rain to overtake us, so that we should never find our way back.”

“We told him we did not apprehend any danger from the gods … If we were determined on going, he said, we must go by ourselves, he would go with us as far Kapapala, the last village at which we should stop, and about twenty miles on this side of it …”

“… from thence he would descend to the sea-shore, and wait till we overtook him. The governor, he said, had told him not to go there, and, if he had not, he should not venture near it, for it was a fearful place. … [W]e proceeded on our way, leaving Makoa to wait for them, and come after us as far as Kapapala, where we expected to spend the night.”

In 1823, they were the first Westerners to visit Kilauea volcano.  Ellis describes his first impressions, “After walking some distance over the sunken plain, which in several places sounded hollow under our feet, we at length came to edge of the great crater, where a spectacle, sublime and even appalling, presented itself before us“.

“‘We stopped, and trembled.’”

“Astonishment and awe for some moments rendered us mute, and, like statues, we stood fixed to the spot, with our eyes riveted on the abyss below.”

“Immediately before us yawned an immense gulf, in the form of a crescent, about two miles in length, from north-east to south-west, nearly a mile in width, and apparently 800 feet deep.”

“The bottom was covered with lava, and the south-west and northern parts of it were one vast flood of burning matter, in a state of terrific ebullition; rolling to and fro its ‘fiery surge’ and flaming billows.”

“Fifty-one conical islands, of varied form and size, containing so many craters, rose either round the edge or from the surface of the burning lake.”

“Twenty-two constantly emitted columns of grey smoke, or pyramids of brilliant flame; and several of these at the same time vomited from their ignited mouths streams of lava, which tolled in blazing torrents down their black indented sides into the boiling mass below.”

“The existence of these conical craters led us to conclude, that the boiling caldron of lava before us did not form the focus of the volcano; that this mass of melted lava was comparatively shallow; and that the basin, in which it was contained was separated, by a stratum of solid matter, from the great volcano abyss, which constantly poured out its melted contents through these numerous craters into this upper reservoir.”

“We were further inclined to this opinion, from the vast columns of vapour continually ascending from the chasms in the vicinity of the sulphur banks and pools of water, for they must have been produced by other fire than that which caused the ebullition in the lava at the bottom of the great crater …”

“… and also by noticing a number of small craters, in vigorous action, situated high up the sides of the great gulf, and apparently quite detached from it.”

“The streams of lava which they emitted rolled down into the lake, and mingled with the melted mass there, which, though thrown up by different apertures, had perhaps been originally fused in one vast furnace.”

“The sides of the gulf before us, although composed, of different strata of ancient lava, were perpendicular for about 400 feet, and rose from a wide horizontal ledge of solid black lava of irregular breadth, but extending completely round.”

“Beneath this ledge the sides sloped gradually towards the burning lake, which, was, as nearly as we could judge, 300 or 400 feet lower. It was evident, that the large crater had been recently filled with liquid lava up to this black ledge, and had, by some subterranean canal, emptied itself into the sea, or upon the low land on the shore.”

“The grey, and in some places apparently calcined, sides of the great crater before us; the fissures which intersected the surface of the plain on which we were standing; the long banks of sulphur on the opposite side of the abyss; the vigorous action of the numerous small craters on its borders …”

“… the dense columns of vapour and smoke, that rose at the north and south end of the plain; together with the ridge of steep rocks by which it was surrounded, rising probably in some places 300 or 400 feet in perpendicular height, presented an immense volcanic panorama, the effect of which was greatly augmented by the constant roaring of the vast furnaces below.”

“After the first feelings of astonishment had subsided, we remained a considerable time contemplating a scene, which it is impossible to describe, and which filled us with wonder and admiration at the almost overwhelming manifestation it affords of the power of that dread Being who created the world, and who has declared that by fire he will one day destroy it.”

“We then walked along the west side of the crater, and in half an hour reached the north end.”  (All here is from William Ellis’ Narrative of a Tour Through Hawaii.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Whaling Ship Anchor at +4,000 Feet?

The plaque inscription states, “Found by the salvage ship ‘USS Beaufort ATS-2’ in July 1972 off Lahaina, Maui.  This anchor is believed to have been made around 1850 and used by one of the whaling ships of that era. Presented to the men of the Kilauea Military Camp by the officers and crew of USS Beaufort ATS-2”

The anchor was a gift, so it is appropriate wherever it is; likewise, the gift of a whaling anchor found off Lahaina (at a location 4,000-feet above the ocean) helps tell some of the stories of Hawai‘i’s military and economy – I think questioning why it’s there and looking into it a bit is helpful, and not something necessarily out of place.

The USS Beaufort (named for Beaufort, South Carolina) was the Navy’s largest and most capable submarine rescue and deep-ocean search-and-recovery ship. She was built in the late-1960s and commissioned on January 22, 1972 and spent most of her service in the Western Pacific. She was decommissioned on March 8, 1996.

Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 when two New England ships became the first whaling ships to arrive in the Hawaiian Islands.  At that time, whale products were in high demand; whale oil was used for heating, lamps and in industrial machinery; whale bone was used in corsets, skirt hoops, umbrellas and buggy whips.

Whalers’ aversion to the traditional Hawaiian diet of fish and poi spurred new trends in farming and ranching.  The sailors wanted fresh vegetables and the native Hawaiians turned the temperate uplands into vast truck farms.

There was a demand for fresh fruit, cattle, white potatoes and sugar.  Hawaiians began growing a wider variety of crops to supply the ships.

In Hawaiʻi, several hundred whaling ships might call in season, each with 20 to 30 men aboard and each desiring to resupply with enough food for another tour “on Japan,” “on the Northwest,” or into the Arctic.

The whaling industry was the mainstay of the island economy for about 40 years.  For Hawaiian ports, the whaling fleet was the crux of the economy.  More than 100 ships stopped in Hawaiian ports in 1824. 

“At present the whale ships visit the Sandwich Islands in the months of March and April and then proceed to the coast of Japan, the return again in October and November remain here about six weeks, and then proceed in different directions …”

“… some to the Coast of California, others cruise about the Equator when they return thither again in March and April and proceed a second time to the Coast of Japan; it usually occupies two seasons on that coast to fill a ship that will carry Three Hundred Tons.”  (Jones report to Henry Clay, Secretary of State, 1827)

“The number of hands generally comprising the Company of a whale ship will average Twenty Five; and owing to the want of discipline, the length and the ardourous duties of the voyage, these people generally become dissatisfied and are willing at any moment to join a rebellion or desert the first opportunity) that may offer …”

“… this has been fully exemplified in the whale ships that have visited these islands, constant disertions have taken place and many serious mutinies both contributing to protract and frequently ruin the voyage.”  (Jones report to Henry Clay, Secretary of State, 1827)

The effect on Hawaiʻi’s economy, particularly in areas in reach of Honolulu, Lāhainā and Hilo, the main whaling ports, was dramatic and of considerable importance in the islands’ history. Over the next two decades, the Pacific whaling fleet nearly quadrupled in size and in the record year of 1846, 736-whaling ships arrived in Hawai‘i.

Then, whaling came swiftly to an end.  In 1859, oil was discovered and a well was developed in Titusville, Pennsylvania; within a few years this new type of oil replaced whale oil for lamps and many other uses – spelling the end of the whaling industry.

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

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

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

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

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

In the early years, to get there, off-island folks took steamer ships to either Hilo or Punaluʻu (from Hilo they caught a train to Glenwood and walked/rode horses to Volcano. From Ka‘ū, a five-mile railroad took passengers to Pahala and then coaches hauled the visitors to the volcano. Later, the roads opened.

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

KMC greeted its first group of US Army Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Infantry, November 6, 1916. Three buildings for dining and recreation were still unfinished, so the visiting Soldiers were expected to provide their own sleeping tents. A couple weeks later, November 17, KMC was officially opened, and many Soldiers came to this unique site.

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

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

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

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

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

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kilauea Iki Eruption – 1959

Volcanologists knew something was coming.

Between November 1957 and February 1959 measurements from newly installed sensitive tiltmeter bases around the summit indicated that the whole caldera region was tilting outward, apparently because magma was welling up from the mantle and accumulating in the reservoir several miles beneath the caldera.

Between August 14 and 19, 1959, a swarm of deep earthquakes was recorded on the seismographs at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The earthquakes were located about 35-miles below the volcano.

By October, tilt surveys of the caldera, using the new water-tube tiltmeter network, indicated that the summit reservoir of Kīlauea was beginning to inflate with new magma. Scientists later concluded that magma began its upward journey during the August swarm.

Another series of earthquakes – shallow tiny events beneath the caldera – began in mid-September near Halema‘uma‘u Crater. By November 1, more than 1,000 tiny earthquakes were being recorded per day.

Scientists conducted another caldera tilt survey during the second week of November and discovered it was swelling at least three times faster than during the previous months. Magma was moving into the summit reservoir at a high rate.

During the afternoon of November 14, earthquakes beneath the caldera suddenly increased about tenfold in both number and intensity. For five hours, the entire Kīlauea summit region shook as seismic tremor signaled magma was forcing its way from the summit reservoir toward the surface.

An erupting fissure of small lava fountains broke through the south wall of Kīlauea Iki Crater at 8:08 p.m. In the first 24 hours, activity decreased and then eventually ceased at the outermost fissure vents. By nightfall on November 15, only a single vent on the west side of the fissure remained active.

Over the next five days, lava fountain heights fluctuated between about 650 and 980-feet, with a maximum fountain height of 1,247-feet.

A brand new cinder cone called Puʻupuaʻi (translates to “gushing hill”) was formed. As cinder and spatter rapidly accumulated to form Puʻupua‘i, slabs of congealed spatter occasionally broke loose and slid down the cone into the churning lava lake.

The 1959 summit eruption occurred in Kilauea Iki, a collapse crater adjacent to the main summit caldera of Kilauea. There were 17 eruptive ‘episodes’ (or phase) of the eruption which ranged in duration from 1 week to 1¾-hours..

On December 17, episode 15 produced lava fountains that were approximately 1,900-feet high, the highest recorded in Hawaii during the 20th century.

That’s about three times the size of the Washington Monument. That’s also 124 feet higher than the tallest building in the US now: One World Trade Center. (CNN)

Downwind from high lava fountains, forests suffered tremendous damage. Trees were stripped of leaves and branches – or completely buried – by falling cinder. You can now walk through this area of the National Park; it’s called ‘Devastation Trail.’

A few ōhi‘a trees, dead and bleached, poke up through the pumice and very gradually some ōhi‘a, ōhelo and ferns are beginning to recolonize the dead zone (unfortunately, some blackberry, too.)

Here is a video of the eruption (unfortunately, there is no sound, the sound of an eruption is as impressive as the visual):

The lava lake attained its greatest depth (414 feet) and volume (58 million cubic yards) at the end of the eighth phase on December 11, 1959. The eruption ended December 20, 1959.

When we were kids, living on Kāne‘ohe Bay on O‘ahu, whenever the eruption happened we’d go to the Big Island to see it, including the 1959 eruption of Kīlauea Iki.

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