Hilo Coastal Defense

A key goal in the Pacific was to hold Oʻahu Island as a main outlying naval base and to protect shipping in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands.   The War Department looked to much larger reinforcement of Hawaiʻi; this led to plans for garrisoning the other islands of the Hawaiian group.  And, Hilo was a natural choice.

In 1908, construction began on the Hilo Bay breakwater along the shallow reef; piers were built and extended by 1927.  A mobile field battery of 155-mm guns was set up in December 1941. Four 4-inch naval guns were later emplaced in 1942.  The Hilo battery was abandoned in 1945.  The exact locations are undetermined.

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Hilo Yacht Club

While the Club’s website suggests it formed in 1913, the January 20, 1897 issue of Pacific Commercial Advertiser noted, “The past week has recorded another innovation in Hilo the organization of the Hilo Yacht Club ….”  The original site of the Club was the CC Kennedy home situated near Reeds Bay.

By 1919 the growth and success of the Club prompted members to begin a drive to replace the Kennedy house. Having lost the lease, the Hilo Yacht Club, in 1939, moved, again, relocated and renovated the Keaukaha home of Frank Harlocker, on 2.84-acres.

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Hilo Hotel

“It is asserted by many that Hilo is the most beautiful city in the Islands. ... Situated on its magnificent crescent-shaped bay amid dense dark-green foliage, it extends its welcome to all and opens its portals to the historic and romantic interest of the Big Island.  Of course, no visitor to the Hawaiian Islands fails to see the great volcano Kilauea.”  (1896) (The Volcano road was completed in 1894.)

“Every now and then an attempt at running something like a regular hotel would be made by some enterprising resident, but heretofore these experiments have not resulted in any marked success”.  George Lycurgus and his nephew (Demosthenes Lycurgus) bought and reopened the Hilo Hotel … “Tourists will no longer complain of the lack of hotel accommodations in Hilo …” (1909)  By 1911, there were two hotels in Hilo, the Hilo Hotel and the Demosthenes (both under Lycurgus.)  In addition, Lycurgus (Uncle George) owned the Volcano House.

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Albert Kualiʻi Brickwood Lyman

Born in Paʻauhau on the Hāmākua Coast of the Island of Hawaiʻi, on May 5, 1885, Albert Kualiʻi Brickwood Lyman, graduated from West Point ranked 15th in his class of 103 – classmate George S Patton, Jr was ranked 46th.  On March 13, 1942, Lyman was named Hawaiian Department engineer.

On August 11, 1942, Lyman was the first native Hawaiian (and Asian, he was also part-Chinese) to attain the rank of general or admiral in the US Armed Forces.  He died suddenly of a heart attack on August 13, 1942, two days after his promotion.  On October 20, 1942, Brigadier General Lyman was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Medal “For exceptionally meritorious service in a position of great responsibility.”

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Hilo Airport

In December 1920, a ramp was built by the Hawaiian Contracting Company in Radio Bay in Hilo to haul visiting seaplanes from the bay onto land.  On February 25, 1925, Speaker of the House Norman K Lyman of Hilo introduced a resolution requesting the governor to set aside land at Waiākea for a landing field.  Work on Hilo Airport began July 17, 1925.

Using tools donated by the County, the 46-prisoners began on September 8, 1925.  Use of prison labor had its problems; in 1926, several escaped (and later caught.)  The escapes and captures continued.  Most of the site was cleared by the end of the year.

A second and third runways were added and the airport was renovated (the renovation dedication ceremony was held May 2, 1941.)  The military used it during WWII.  It was later named to honor Brigadier General Albert Kualiʻi Brickwood Lyman (the first native Hawaiian (he was also part-Chinese) to attain the rank of general or admiral in the US Armed Forces.)

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Mokuola

Mokuola, in Hawaiian culture, is a place of healing.  A rock just off its shore is believed to have healing powers, and people who were sick have come to Mokuola to swim around the rock in the hopes of healing their ailments.  (Miller)

People came here for spring water believed to have healing qualities; umbilical cords of infants were hidden here under a flat stone known as Papa-a-Hina (stratum of Hina) to protect them from rats.  (Pukui)

A sea pool to the right of the landing on the island was called Puaʻa-kāheka.  Just outside of Mokuola is a small islet called Kaulaʻi-nā-iwi, literally ‘dry the bones’ (bones of chiefs were dried here.)  (Hawaii County)

Occasional reference is made to Mokuola (also now called Coconut Island) as the place of refuge of the Hilo district, hence its name, life island. Careful enquiry shows that the area of this puʻuhonua included also a portion of the mainland adjoining. The heiau connected with it, named Makaoku.  (Thrum)

Makaoku is an ʻili in Waiākea.  In 1909, the Territory set aside 3.5-acres in the ʻili of Makaoku, Waiākea as the Kauikeaouli Park.  Today, the Liliʻuokalani Gardens (the Japanese Gardens) and associated land has a land area of about 30-acres and includes this former park named for the earlier king.

Mokuola was repeatedly struck when tsunami entered Hilo Bay.

“We have had a great disaster at Hilo … at 5 o’clock it swept in, in a mighty wave, washing up and into nearly all the stores … But at Waiākea the damage was frightful. … There has been nothing like this tidal wave since the year 1837 … when many grass houses were destroyed.”  (Severance, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 26, 1877)

“The water was 3 inches deep in Conway's store, when the 5 o'clock wave came In. The wave at Waiakea must have had a perpendicular height of 16 feet, to have taken the bridge and wharf where they now lie. The water swept completely over Cocoanut Inland, and the hospital there has disappeared.”  (Severance, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 26, 1877)

A tsunami struck again. “Cocoanut Island was pretty well wrecked. The wave swept it completely.  The old house formerly used by the keeper of the island, was turned completely around and swept seaward for a distance of about 20 feet and then laid flat on the ground.  A tall cocoanut tree, directly in its path was snapped off at the ground. The bathhouses were also torn down and moved some 12 feet nearer the landing place.”  (Hawai‘i Herald, February 8, 1923; Miller)

There is a coconut palm on the Island with small bands that indicate the maximum wave height of tsunami that washed over the island (8-feet, 1957; 12-feet, 1952; 15-feet, 1960; and 26-feet, 1946.)

The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence.  Back then, Spain had interests in the Pacific, particularly in the Guam and Philippines.  Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific.

In the Islands, there was no assigned garrison here until August 15, 1898, when the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry regiment and the 3rd Battalion, 2nd US Volunteer Engineers landed in Honolulu for garrison duty.  They setup camp (‘Camp McKinley’) at Kapiʻolani Park.

Later (November 8, 1898,) approximately 200-soldiers of the 1st New York sailed from Honolulu to Hilo to inspect sites for a possible permanent military post – a highlight of their visit was a hike to the Kilauea volcano. The soldiers camped in the new wharf (just down the coast from Mokuola.)  (Greguras)

In 1900, the Hilo Swimming Club petitioned the government to designate Mokuola as a recreation area. Swimming facilities including a bathhouse and diving boards were built.

In 1910, a 30-foot-high wooden diving tower was built with platforms at 5-foot, 14-foot, and 30-foot levels. After it was destroyed in the tsunami of 1923, a stone tower was built with two levels, steps, springboards, and railings.

At the beginning of World War II, the military took control of Coconut Island, and the Navy used this tower to train troops in amphibious warfare.  (Valentine)

This was not the only military use on the Island.  In 1942, Mokuola USO was established, and recreational and training facilities were constructed there for American soldiers.  The facilities were officially opened to soldiers in 1943.  (Miller)

During the war, the island was restricted to military personnel. On two days per week, however, lady friends of servicemen were allowed to visit the USO, which was accessed by a pontoon bridge, the first bridge to the island. During the occupation, a new pavilion, showers and restrooms were built. The military gave the island back to the county in 1945. (Valentine)

When the island was finally turned over to the county in 1945, the pontoon bridge was put off-limits due to it being a “hazard to children and too costly to maintain.”

Boat service between the island and the shore resumed until April 1, 1946 when a devastating tsunami once again destroyed all of the structures on Mokuola except for a concrete diving tower that is believed to have been constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers for training purposes.  (Miller)

The 1960 tsunami washed completely over the island, destroying all buildings and the new bridge there. For three years, Mokuola was abandoned.

Funds were eventually allocated for a major restoration project of the island, including a new metal and concrete bridge, and new concrete walls to slow erosion.

By 1969 the bridge was completed and the park was re-opened to the public.  (Miller)  It remains a public park.

The image shows Mokuola. (DMY)   In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Bombing the River of Fire

Like most Hawaiian eruptions, the eruptive activity was immediately preceded by a swarm of earthquakes, followed by tremor.  Mauna Loa (“Long Mountain”) began erupting at 6:20 pm on November 21, 1935.

The eruption started with a curtain of fountains near North Pit within the summit caldera, Mokuʻāweoweo. The vents migrated 2-miles down the northeast rift zone.

During the six days of the main event, fissures opened up along the northeast rift zone of the mountain, fountaining lava 200- to 300-feet into the air.

On November 26, the summit eruption died and the northeast rift activity was reduced to a single vent at the 11,400-foot elevation.  A small vent also opened up further below on the north flank of the mountain at the 8,600-foot elevation.  (USGS)

Lava flows from Mauna Loa were generally fast-moving and voluminous.  Lava moved relentlessly at a rate of five-miles each day; it pooled up between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa at about where the Saddle Road is situated.

The ponded lava eventually began to follow the lay of the land, a natural drainage ... Then, things “got interesting.”  Lava was heading directly toward Hilo. (USGS)

Dr. Thomas A Jaggar Jr, the government volcanologist, estimated that the flow would reach Hilo by January 9, 1936. He suggested using dynamite to collapse lava tubes near the source of the flow in order to stop or divert it.

Explosives were first suggested as a means to divert lava flows threatening Hilo during the eruption of 1881.  However, Jaggar’s plan of mule teams hiking the explosives up the mountain would take far too long - the lava flows were moving a mile a day.

Guido Giacometti, a friend of Jaggar, had suggested using US Army Air Corps bombers to precisely deliver explosives. Jaggar agreed, and the call was made.

The US Army Air Corps approved, and the mission and plans to strategically bomb Mauna Loa were set into motion. Lieutenant Colonel George Smith Patton was called on to oversee the Army operation.  (He’s the same Patton who would go on to WWII fame.)

Lava tubes are cooled and hardened outer crusts of lava which provide insulation for the faster-flowing, molten rock inside. Such a conduit enables lava to move faster and farther.

The theory was bombs would destroy the lava tubes, robbing lava of an easy transport channel and exposing more of the lava to the air, slowing and cooling it further.  (BBC)

On December 26, 1935, six Keystone B-3A bombers of the 23d Bomb Squadron and four Keystone LB-6A light bombers from the 72d Bomb Squadron joined the rendezvous circle in the predawn darkness off Diamond Head, and then headed to Hilo.

Jaggar briefed the crews on the methods he had in mind to divert the lava flow. He then flew over the volcano to assess the flows and select the right points for bombing.

8:30 am, December 27, 1935, the first five bombers departed on the bombing mission.  (A second flight of five aircraft was planned for the afternoon.)  Each plane carried two 300-pound practice bombs (for practice and sighting,) as well as two 600-pound Mk I demolition bombs (355 pounds of TNT each.)

The bombers opened formation and fell into a huge circle for a follow-the-leader dummy run over the target area.  They were flying at about 12,500-feet, not far above the 8,600-foot altitude of the volcano’s flows.

As the lead pilot tipped the control column forward for his run he lowered the wheels, so that by the time he neared the clump of koa trees which served as reference point his plane would be moving only a little faster than the 65-mph landing speed.

‘OK?’ he called to his bombardier as they began their climb after passing over the flow. Standard radio-voice procedure was unneeded. … ‘OK,’ the bombardier grunted.  (Johnson)

Five of the twenty bombs struck molten lava directly, most of the others impacted solidified lava along the flow channel margins; one of them turned out a dud.

“Colonel William C Capp, a pilot who bombed the lower target, reported direct hits on the channel, observing a sheet of red, molten rock that was thrown up to about 200′ elevation and that flying debris made small holes in his lower wing.”

“Bombs that impacted on solidified, vesicular pāhoehoe along the flow margin produced craters averaging 6.7-m diameters and 2.0-m depth….”  (Swopes)

“Pilots observed that several bombs collapsed thin lava tube roofs, although in no case was sufficient roof material imploded into the tube to cause blockage.”

Jagger wrote that “the violent release of lava, of gas and of hydrostatic pressures at the source robbed the lower flow of its substance, and of its heat.”

The lava stopped flowing on January 2, 1936.  The effectiveness of the lava bombing is disputed by some volcanologist.  (USGS)

Here’s a link to a video of the Army bombing runs in 1935.  (Lots of information here from Army, USGS, hawaii-gov, 4GFC, Johnson, Lockwood & Torgerson, Swopes and This Day in Aviation History.)

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675069574_bomb-Mauna-Loa_divert-lava_Keystone-B-3A_Keystone-LB-6A_United-States-fliers

The image shows a Keystone B-3A Bomber, the type used in the bombing of the volcano above Hilo in 1935.  In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Kanakea Pond

In the Waiākea area called Keaukaha (‘passing current’) at Hilo on the Island of Hawaiʻi a legend refers to a hole called Kaluakoko beneath the water.

A man and a woman lived nearby, and later a second woman came to live with them.

The new wife became jealous of the first, and convinced her to go net fishing one day when the husband was fishing, though the husband had forbidden it because it would affect his fishing.

As she caught shrimp at the edge of a large hole, the second wife pushed her into the hole and covered the entrance with a rock, killing her. Blood spread through the sea foam and the fisherman, followed its trail in his canoe, moved the stone, and saw what had happened.

He confronted the second wife, who lied, and then beat her to death. According to the story, the hole has been referred to as Kaluakoko (‘the Hole of Blood.’) (Cultural Surveys)

Here, Kanakea (‘wide stream’) pond is located. A freshwater subterranean spring rises from a large sinkhole and feeds cold water into the bay at a former fishpond.

Due to apparent remnant of a seaward rock wall at the narrowest point of the channel to the ocean, it is believed to be a loko kuapā.  A cobble field, submerged except during low tide, is in a linear pattern, suggesting they may have been in the formation of the pond wall.  (However, the cobbles may have simple accumulated there by currents or tsunami.)

“There are plenty of ducks in the ponds and streams, at a short distance from the sea, and several large ponds or lakes literally swarm with fish, principally of the mullet kind.”

“The fish in these ponds belong to the king and chiefs, and are tabued from the common people. Along the stone walls which partly encircle these ponds, we saw a number of small huts, where the persons reside who have the care of the fish, and are obliged frequently to feed them with a small kind of muscle, which they procure in the sands round the bay.”  (Ellis, 1823)

“On the nights of high tides every keeper slept by the mākāhā of which he had charge. It was the custom to build small watch houses from which to guard the fish from being stolen at high tide, or from being killed by pigs and dogs; when the tides receded the fish would return to the middle of the pond, out of reach of thieves.”

“On these nights, the keeper would dip his foot into the water at the mākāhā and if the sea pressed in like a stream and felt warm, then he knew that the sluice would be full of fish.”  (Kamakau; Maly)

Railway tracks crossed the pond from about 1916 until 1946 (when they were destroyed by a tsunami;) remnants of the railroad trestle are still visible within and above the surface of the pond.  (Hawaiʻi County)

The pond’s modern name is ‘Ice Pond’ (due to the cold spring-fed waters.)  It is brackish (that word comes from the Middle Dutch root ‘brak’ (‘salty.’))

The adjoining small bay consists of white sand and coral rubble; between 1925 and 1930, coral material dredged from Hilo harbor was deposited on the western side.

The small bay is now referred to as ‘Reed’s Bay.’  It is named after William H Reed. Born in 1814 Belfast, Ireland, Reed was a businessman. He created Reed’s Landing, which he used to moor boats carrying lumber for one of his businesses.  (Hawaiʻi County)

Reed arrived in the Islands in the 1840s and set up a contracting concern specializing in the construction of wharfs, landings, bridges and roads.  Other interests included ranching, trading and retailing.  (Clark)

Across Hilo Bay, Reed also bought an island in 1861, originally known as ‘Koloiki’ (‘little crawling,’) once surrounded by the Wailuku River and Waikapu Stream.

Reed married Jane Stobie Shipman on July 8, 1868 (she was a widow, previously married to William Cornelius Shipman, a missionary assigned to Waiʻōhinu in the district of Kaʻū.  Shipman died in 1861, leaving Jane with her three children, William Herbert, Oliver Taylor and Margaret Clarissa.)

Jane was born in Scotland. At an early age she came to the US with her parents, lived in Quincy, Illinois, and was educated to be a teacher; and in 1853 was married to Reverend Shipman.  (The Friend, December, 1902)

Following his death, Jane moved to Hilo, with her three children and maintained the family by keeping a boarding school until 1868 (when she was married to Reed.)  (The Friend, December, 1902)

William Reed died on November 11, 1880 with no children of his own; Jane inherited the Reed land holdings.  (In 1881, Reed’s stepson William Herbert Shipman and two partners (Captain J. E. Eldarts and Samuel M Damon) purchased the entire ahupuaʻa of Keaʻau, about 70,000-acres from the King Lunalilo estate.)

The image shows the damaged rail line at Kanakea Pond.  (Hawaiʻi County)  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Camp Sague

The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence.  Back then, Spain had interests in the Pacific, particularly in the Guam and Philippines.  Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific.

At the time, there was no assigned garrison in the Islands until August 15, 1898, when the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry regiment and the 3rd Battalion, 2nd US Volunteer Engineers landed in Honolulu for garrison duty.  They setup camp (‘Camp McKinley’) at Kapiʻolani Park.

Later (November 8, 1898,) approximately 200-soldiers of the 1st New York sailed from Honolulu to Hilo to inspect sites for a possible permanent military post. (Greguras)  The troops landed at Waiākea in Hilo and stayed in a large warehouse for one night.

“The mariners under Christopher Columbus were no more anxious and certainly no happier to set foot on land in 1492 than were the New York Volunteer troops which left Honolulu last Tuesday morning on the Kinau, to feel the terra firma of Hilo under them this morning.”

“To say that the trip over was rough is putting it mild. In fact, judging from the number of men who cast their bread upon the (rough) waters, it could not have been worse. After leaving Diamond Head shoal the Kinau tossed, rolled and pitched so heavily that at times many of the men made frantic efforts to reach life preservers.”

“Miss Anna Rose, who was a passenger on board the steamer won the hearts of all the boys by her kindly interest and solicitation in their welfare. She cheered and comforted the sick, brought them little delicacies and in diverse other ways did she make herself the most popular person on board.”

“In appreciation of her service the band serenaded Miss Rose a number of times. She was also voted unanimously the queen of the First New York Volunteers.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 14, 1898)

A highlight of their visit was a hike to Kilauea volcano.  “The march to the Volcano was begun at noon on Monday last. There was a heavy downfall of rain, but the boys kept up their spirits. A halt for lunch was made eight miles from Hilo, and camp for the night was then made at Kilohana at 3:30 o'clock in the afternoon. Shelter for the night was found in Mr Lee's barn and in the church.”

“The march next day was resumed, at 10 o'clock. A halt was made at Mountain View hotel, where Mr Hambly entertained the boys at lunch. All the way the boys were the recipients of hospitality and greetings. Mrs. Trowbridge served sandwiches as the troops marched passed her house.”

“Tuesday night was spent at Wailiʻili the home of Mr. Hitchcock. Eight miles beyond, the Volcano house was reached, and here hot lunch was served by Mr. Waldron, and a mile and a half beyond shelter tents were pitched and the men went into camp.”

“The Volcano house has been thrown open to the boys during their stay and the band has given several concerts. Friday morning the entire command went, to the Volcano.”   (Hawaiian Star, November 21, 1898)

The camp which the soldiers established at the Volcano was named Major Sague Camp.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 21, 1898)  Sague of the 1st New York was in command of the detachment. The troops were in this camp for only three days, returning to Honolulu on December 5th.

A November 24, 1898 letter from a member of Company I of the 1st N.Y. indicates the camp was near the crater of the volcano, about two miles from the Volcano House "in a large (koa) grove with lots of dead wood on the ground."  (Stenzel)

Back in Hilo, “A very interesting affair was the raising of the flag at Riverside Park, formerly known as Reed's Island, on Thursday. Mr. Pratt had arranged the matter almost extemporaneously, which made the whole occasion perhaps more enjoyable than if it had been a formal and long prearranged ceremony.”

“The commanding  officers of this portion of the 1st New York Volunteers, kindly asented to give a military air to the flag raising by the presence of the troops and regimental band, while Queen Anna graciously consented to hoist the American emblem.”

“The troops marched up Waiānuenue street about 2:30, seized the ravine which bounds that side of Reed’s Island without opposition and scaled the opposite cliffs, preceeded by the Queen who proved her physical powers again. The flag was hoisted to the music of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’.”

“A large crowd of townspeople viewed the ceremonies from the Island and from the opposite banks. The day was one of the most perfect which even Hilo affords the occasion was one of great interest to the Hiloites.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 15, 1898)

Another important event was the Thanksgiving luau; “the New York soldiers at Hilo were given a big Thanksgiving luau by Mr and Mrs CC Kennedy at the big sugar plantation in Waiakea.”

“The tables were arranged in the big sugar room of the mill, which had been elaborately decorated with palms, flowers and flags.  Instead of table cloths the food stuffs, prepared, cooked and served in Hawaiian style, were placed upon ti leaves, which literally covered the tables.”

“The services of all the young ladles in the city were engaged to wait on the soldiers, while to the married ladles fell the responsibility of arranging the tables for the feast.”

“At each plate - wooden - was a handsomely printed souvenir menu of what comprised the feast. The delicacies placed before the boys to eat, as printed on the menu, were: fish, from the Waiākea ponds; Taro; Pig, wrapped in ti leaves; Sweet Potatoes; Breadfruit; Beef, wrapped in ti leaves; Turkey, Kukui nuts, Rolls, Taro Pudding, Hawaiian Pudding, Mince Pie, Fruits, Soda Water, Lemonade, Coffee, Poi and Cigars.”

“When all had eaten until they could eat no more the tables were cleared away, the floor prepared for dancing and this was the order of the afternoon. For the dancing the military band furnished the music, while the music for the evening dance, in the same place, was furnished by the Wela Ka Hao orchestra.”

“Returning to camp the men were loud in their praises for Mr and Mrs Kennedy and all the good people who assisted In trying to make the Thanksgiving day feast a most pleasant event.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 29, 1898)

In the end, Sague, in expressing his appreciation on behalf of all soldiers, noted, “Hilo is all right. When we were in San Francisco the boys had a continual round of feeding.”

“Let me say on behalf of this detachment of the First New York Volunteers that since passing out of the Golden Gate, Hilo is the only place where they have felt at home. It is the only place they have been where cordiality has been expressed by word and deed.”

“The boys will remember it and in the 600 to 800 letters which leave the camp and go to the relatives and friends in the Empire State the praises of Hilo and Hilo people will be sung. On behalf of the boys who are here let me thank you all for your generous treatment.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 21, 1898)

Following the war, Sague returned home to Poughkeepsie, NY and in 1906 was elected Mayor of the city, “whose administration has stimulated Poughkeepsie to the attitude of a wide awake American city.”  (Vassar Miscellany, February 1, 1912)

On April 5, 1905, Major John K Sague Camp, United Spanish War Veterans, was organized in Poughkeepsie; Sague served as its first commander. (Poughkeepsie New Yorker, July 7, 1941)  (Greguras)

The image shows Camp Sague at Volcano. (Greguras)  In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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“Excuse my back”

Conversation at Waikīkī: “I see Ed Sawtelle’s back” “I didn't know he had been away” “I said that I see Ed Sawtelle’s back’s the best known back in Honolulu. I want to see the face in front of the back for once.”

“Ed Sawtelle doesn't need to say ‘Excuse my back’ when he sits at the console of the great Robert Morton Organ in the Waikīkī Theater: that tall swaying silhouette under the proscenium lights is his signature.  (Blanding, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, March 27, 1954)

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sawtelle is a graduate of Harvard, where he majored in music, and a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied under two of the nation’s outstanding authorities, Professor Henry Dunham and Professor Wallace Goodrich.

For some time, Sawtelle was with the Boston Symphony, and for three years was accompanist with the Boston Opera House. He entered the theatrical field in New York, and has been organist and musical director in theaters in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta, and Boston.

For many years, Sawtelle was associated with the Robert Morton Organ Company demonstrating and installing theatrical organs. In this particular field he was considered one at the greatest authorities in the country.

Sawtelle first came to Hawaiʻi in 1922 as organist at the opening of the Princess Theater. While here he was organist at the Hawaiʻi Theater, and went to Hilo to open the Palace Theater as organist and musical director. He returned to Honolulu to open the new Waikīkī Theater.

Leaving Hawaii in 1929, Sawtelle was featured on the radio in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. A concert tour took him through the major centers of the nation.

Mrs. Sawtelle returned to Honolulu with her husband. She, too, is noted in the field of music, having appeared throughout the country on concert tour as Carmen Prentice, mezzo-soprano.

Not only did Sawtelle supervise the building of the Hammond organ for the Waikīkī Theater, but he brought it to Honolulu with him, and has supervised the installation at the new playhouse.  (Honolulu Advertiser, August 20, 1936)

As organist for the Consolidated Amusement Company since 1922 with only a break of seven years from 1929 to 1936, Ed meant “moods, memories and music” to Honolulu audiences.

During the war years his audiences extended far beyond the limits of the movie palaces to little lonely atolls in the deep Pacific, to hospitals and observation posts in the Islands, and to ships at sea as his Star Dust Serenade went out over the airwaves to reach and sooth the homesick hearts of men and women in the service.   (Blanding, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, March 27, 1954)

Starting in 1937, Sawtelle played the new organ at intermissions and on weekly live radio broadcasts heard throughout the Pacific during World War II. For a time, Sawtelle played two shows a day, seven days a week. He eventually retired in 1955, but a succession of organists carried on the tradition through 1997.

The 1,353-seat Waikīkī Theater opened with great fanfare on August 20, 1936.  “This first-class theatre survived as a single-screen house its entire life.”  (TheatresOfHawaii)   Dickey created an environment as charming and artificial as the image on the screen.  (Charlot)

In 1939, the Waikīkī Theatre was equipped with a Robert Morton theatre organ, which had originally been installed (with a twin console) in the Hawaiʻi Theatre in 1929.  (Peterson)

“No theater in the world has a more picturesque setting than Waikīkī.  Situated on the beach at Waikīkī, it stands on the site where once Hawaiʻi’s royalty played.  The playhouse now becomes a glorious new addition to the beach made famous in song and story.  It is the new center of activity of that district which long been the mecca of travelers from the world over.”  (Honolulu Advertiser; Alder)

“Inside the theater, it felt as if you were in a tropical paradise. A full-colored rainbow arched over the curtains that hid the screen. Along the side walls, there were palm trees that reached from floor to ceiling and lush jungle plants, which appeared absolutely real to my child’s eyes.”

“Then, a distinguished gentleman named Ed Sawtelle would appear and sit down at a large organ console, located just below and in front of the stage, and begin a concert that filled the hall with rolling music that vibrated off the walls.”  (Richard Kelley)

Click HERE for a short rendition of White Christmas by Edwin Sawtelle.

The image shows Edwin Sawtelle at the organ in the Waikīkī Theater.  I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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John Harvey Coney

John Harvey Coney was born in June 1820 in Litchfield, NY.  He came to Hawaiʻi after participating in the 1848 Mexican-American War.  He married Laura Amoy Kekuakapuokalani Ena (she was 17) on November 27, 1860.

John, supposedly through his wife's family's connections with King Kamehameha IV, was soon appointed Sheriff of Hilo, where Laura’s ancestral lands were located.  (Williams)

“I stopped 3 days with Hon. Mr. (Coney), Deputy Marshal of the Kingdom, at Hilo, Hawaii, last week, & by a funny circumstance, he knew everybody that ever I knew in Hannibal & Palmyra. We used to sit up all night talking, & then sleep all day. He lives like a Prince.”  (Twain)

The Coneys lived in a long grass thatched house on the mauka (toward the mountain) side of the courthouse lot, and later built a pretentious residence which is now (1922) the County Building....”  (Williams)

Coney was “a tall handsome man, who carried himself like a soldier,” he was “titular executive head of government next to the Governess of Hawaiʻi and Lieut. Governor”.  (Sanderson)

Besides being Sheriff (and later postmaster,) Coney got into a variety of business interests.  An April 22, 1868 Hawaiian Gazette notes, “Wharf at Hilo. The landing of passengers and goods at the Harbor of Hilo has been facilitated by the building of a short wharf from the rocky point at the west end of the beach. It has been made by the enterprise of Mr Coney and Mr  Hitchcock”.

“The wharf just built is well timbered and fastened, and carries six feet of water. Its strength was tested by the great, earthquake wave of Thursday, and by a loaded scow washing upon it, and it proved equal to the strain. Wharfage, hereafter, will be one of the charges on schooners running to Hilo.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, April 22, 1868)

Wife Laura was of royal descent.  She was the daughter of Chinese merchant John Lawai Ena and Hawaiian chiefess Kaikilanialiiwahineopuna (a descendent of the Kamehameha line and the last high chiefess of the Puna district of the island of Hawaiʻi.)  She was described as “an exceptionally fine woman of high character, gracious manner, generous instincts and kind disposition....” (Williams)

The Coneys had six children:  Clarissa (Clara) Piilani Amoy Coney (lady-in-waiting to the household of Queen Kapiʻolani;) Mary Ululani Monroe Coney; John Harvey Haalalea Coney (High Sheriff on Kauaʻi, later Territorial Representative and Senator;) Elizabeth (Lizzy) Likelike Kekaekapuokulani Coney (lady in waiting to Princess Miriam Likelike Cleghorn at Coronation of Kalākaua;) Eleanor (Kaikilani) Coney (travelling companion to Queen Liliʻuokalani across US) and William Hawks Hulilaukea Coney (co-Founder with Wallace Rider Farrington of Evening Bulletin, predecessor of the Honolulu Star Bulletin.)

Laura taught her children not to speak of their aliʻi blood, to forget about high chiefs and chiefesses, and to make their own way in the world because the days of chiefs and chiefesses were gone.

A daughter-in-law once noted, “I remember a time when the king (Kalākaua) was calling on Mother Coney. He was busy at the time collecting the genealogies of the nobility and the mele (songs, chants) of the Hawaiians.”

“He said to Mother Coney, ‘Tell me, Mrs. Coney, who were your ancestors, I know that you belong to the Kamehameha line.’ ‘Adam and Eve were my ancestors,’ she replied.”  (Williams)

After about 18-years in Hilo, the Coneys moved to Honolulu; their home (which they called ‘ Halelelea,’ that they translated to ‘Pleasant House’) was just mauka of ʻIolani Palace (on the mauka-Diamond Head corner of Richards and Hotel Streets.)  It was often the setting for many of the city's “brilliant entertainments” during the Kalākaua monarchy.  (Williams)

In the Māhele of 1848, the property had been grant to High Chiefess Miriam Ke‘ahikuni Kekauōnohi, a granddaughter of Kamehameha I and a wife of Kamehameha II. Upon her death on June 2, 1851, all her property was passed on to her second husband, High Chief Levi Haʻalelea.

Levi Haʻalelea’s second wife was Amoe Ululani Ena Haʻalelea, sister of Laura Ena Coney.  When Levi Haʻalelea died in 1864, his second wife transferred ownership of the land to her sister’s husband John Coney.

In 1889, the Coney’s home, Halelelea, played a minor role during the Wilcox rebellion to restore the rights of the monarchy, two years after the Bayonet Constitution of 1887 left King Kalākaua a mere figurehead.

The insurgents were hunkered down in a bungalow across a narrow lane from the Coney House.  The plan was to throw dynamite at the bungalow.

“No attack was expected from that quarter, and there was nothing to disturb the bomb thrower. (Hay Wodehouse) stood for a moment with a bomb in his hand as though he were in the box waiting for a batsman. He had to throw over a house to reach the bungalow, which he could not see.”

“The first bomb went sailing over the wall, made a down curve and struck the side of the bungalow about a foot from the roof … The bomb had reached them and hurt a number of the insurgents. “

Wodehouse “coolly picked out another bomb. Then he took a step back, made a half turn and sent it whizzing.  It landed on the roof … He threw one more bomb and Wilcox came out and surrendered."    (The Sporting Life, October 16, 1889)

Another property that had been granted to Kekauōnohi and subsequently conveyed to Coney at the same time as their home was approximately 41,000-acres of land at Honouliuli.  In 1877, Coney sold that land to James Campbell, who soon started Honouliuli Ranch.  After drilling Hawaiʻi’s first artesian well (1879,) by 1890 the Ewa Plantation Company was established.

John Harvey Coney died in Honolulu on October 9, 1880, at the age of 60.  Laura Ena Coney died in Honolulu on February 24, 1929, at the age of 85.

In a funeral recitation for Laura given by the Reverend Akaiko Akana, pastor of Kawaiahaʻo Church, on February 24, 1929, Laura was referred to as "one of the old and prominent kamaʻāinas who has helped to build Hawaii, not only by her personal effort, but through her influence on her husband, children and influencial associates and acquaintances throughout these islands."  (Williams)

There are two marble plaques in Kawaiahaʻo Church commemorating members of the Coney family, both above the mauka royal pew. Donated by her daughters Kaikilani and Elizabeth, one reads: In Memory of Laura Kekuakapuokalani Coney 1844—1929 Always a devoted member of Kawaiahaʻo Church, she often said, “Ka wahi e nele ai, e haʻawi” Where need is, there give.

The other plaque reads: "In Memory of Levi Haʻalelea 1828-1864 His wife Ululani A. A. Haʻalelea 1824-1904 and Richard Haʻalilio 1808—1844."  (I have been told this plaque is incorrect - Levi Haʻalelea was born in 1822; the last name listed should be Timothy Haʻalilio.)

The image shows John Harvey Coney.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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One of the Shortest Flights in Hawaiʻi Aviation History

The history of aviation on the Big Island dates back to June 10, 1911, when Clarence H Walker came to Hilo for an exhibition flight in his Curtiss Biplane.  There were no airports on the island, so Hoʻolulu Park was selected for the runway.

The notoriety of this flight wasn’t really about its length, nor that it was the first flight on the Island of Hawaiʻi – its ending is its acclaim … but that is getting ahead of the story.

In 1911, Walker and Didier Masson teamed up and, on their way to Australia, stopped in Hawaiʻi.  The former’s biplane was on board, so was the new Mrs Walker.

During May, 1911, Dexter P Dorgan of the Continental Aviation Company, San Francisco, arrived in Honolulu to arrange flight demonstrations by pilots Walker and Masson.

A young millionaire, Walker originally took up flying as a pastime.  He built his own airplane at Salt Lake City but, unable to make it fly, decided to take bona fide flying lessons then buy an airplane of standard construction - purchasing a Curtiss biplane (60 hp) for $6,500.

From Honolulu Walker and his wife made their way Hilo; they were there for flight demonstrations by Walker out of Hoʻolulu Park, a horseracing facility in Hilo.

Inspecting the facilities, Walker noted the enclosure was too small for easy take-offs, but indicated a willingness to make a flight from the grounds.  Two days were agreed upon, Saturday & Sunday, June 10 & 11. The Hilo Railway set up a special schedule to handle the expected crowds.

The flyer made several test flights prior to public demonstrations, thus giving Big Islanders their first view of an airplane in action.  The paying crowd which had gathered was disappointingly small; most of the local people were planning on Sunday for the aerial show.

The aviator got ready.

The biplane rose rapidly amidst enthusiastic cheers.  However, from the beginning, the 8-cylinder engine was heard to misfire, the plane’s wings tipping from side to side.  He flew to the edge of the ocean, then decided on a quick landing and headed back to the field.

Then, a gust of wind caught and dashed the airplane into a 25-foot high lauhala tree. Four or five of the boys perched on the tall tree were knocked to the ground. The tall tree’s outstretched branches served to soften the plane’s fall, destroying the plane; Walker survived the crash.

Walker emerged from the wreckage and climbed onto the race track fence to show crowds, including his wife, that he was unhurt. This dramatic gesture was marred somewhat when fence boards gave way, sending Walker to the ground.

Repairs to his wrecked biplane were arranged with Hilo mechanics and the young couple boarded an interisland ship for Honolulu to join Masson and the others.

Walker later said, “I thought of landing in the ocean and then on the beach, but the water looked too deep and the beach was too full of boulders.”

The local paper carried the aviation story on its front page.  It stated that spectators got their money’s worth, seeing the airplane fly “but also had a chance to realize the danger of the sport, when Aviator Walker’s biplane came to a sudden stop in the branches of a lauhala tree.”

Walker received $1,250, the contracted fee, and the promoter lost approximately $1,000 due to one day’s demonstrations having to be cancelled.

This was the first aircraft accident in the Islands.

That didn’t deter the dream of aviation on the Big Island; 8-years later (May 9, 1918,) Army Major Harold Clark and Sgt Robert Gray left Kahului Harbor on the second leg of their flight from Honolulu to Hilo.

Their Curtiss R-6 seaplane got lost in the dense clouds over Kaiwiki and Clark was forced to land in the forest near the volcano.  Clark and Gray walked for two days before being found.  Their plane was later recovered.

The first successful flight from Honolulu to the Big Island was made on March 24, 1919 by Army Maj Hugh Kneer in a US Army hydroplane A-1816.  He landed in Kūhiō Bay.  He carried a bag of US mail, thus beginning air mail service between Honolulu and Hilo by Army planes.

In December 1920, a ramp was built by the Hawaiian Contracting Company in Radio Bay in Hilo to haul visiting seaplanes from the bay onto land.

Army Maj. Gen. Charles P Summerall visited Hilo on September 23, 1921 to look for sites for a landing field on the Big Island.  He recommended that the county build a landing field 600-feet long and 200-feet wide in or near Hoʻolulu Park.  Despite the recommendations of both the Army and the Hilo Board of Trade, the County of Hilo failed to finance the airstrip.

Reportedly, an article in the Hilo Tribune Herald, Army Lt. Joseph A. Wilson flew his DeHaviland over Hilo on December 4, 1924, circled the city and dropped a message in Mooheau Park addressed to the Hilo Chamber of Commerce.

 It read, “We would like to drop in and see you this morning if you only had a landing field.  Air Service Unit, Wheeler Field, is visiting Parker Ranch.  Kohala is condemning 12 acres of cane field for landing field. Lieut. JA Wilson.”

And thus began the effort to construct a landing field in Hilo.  (Information here is from hawaii-gov.)

The image shows Clarence H Walker (af-mil.)  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Juzaburo Sakamaki

On May 3, 1899, Ben F Dillingham, Lorrin A Thurston, Alfred W Carter, Samuel M Damon and William H Shipman formed the Olaʻa Sugar Company and started what they believed would become Hawaii's largest and most prosperous sugar plantation.

By that time (and in the years following,) numerous foreign immigrants came to the Islands to work on the sugar plantations, including Olaʻa.

There were three big waves of workforce immigration: Chinese 1852; Japanese 1885; and Filipinos 1905.  Several smaller, but substantial, migrations also occurred: Portuguese 1877; Norwegians 1880; Germans 1881; Puerto Ricans 1900; Koreans 1902 and Spanish 1907.

With the respective language barriers created by the influx of foreigners, plantations assigned interpreters to open lines of communication with the workers.

One of those at Olaʻa was Juzaburo Sakamaki.

In 1869, Sakamaki was the youngest child born in Hirosaki-Shi, Aomori-Ken, Japan to Hisao Sakamaki and Fumi Takasaki.  His father died when he was 4; to make ends meet, his mother had to run a private boardinghouse.

Inspired by a letter from a friend, at 15, without telling his mother, he stowed away on a ship bound for California to start a new life.  After arriving in the US, Sakamaki went East to Pennsylvania, where he spent nine years studying and working.

Receiving word that his mother was ill, he decided to return home. By the time he reached Hawaiʻi, he learned that she was already dead, so he canceled his plans to go on to Japan.

At about this time, Olaʻa Sugar Company was established, and he was hired as the company's only regular interpreter.

As interpreter, Sakamaki was the only pipeline between the company and the Japanese immigrants who made up the majority of the labor force at Olaʻa Plantation.

As assistant postmaster of the Olaʻa post office, Sakamaki was also involved in all the daily activities of the Japanese there.   As the agent of the Consulate General of Japan in Honolulu he was also in charge of administering the immigrants' family register items.

In this capacity, he not only dealt with registrations of births, deaths, marriages, adoptions and other family matters, he handled remittances that workers sent home.

Growing immigrant population, including those from Japan, started to concern some, in the Islands, as well as on the continent.

In part, this was referred to as the “Japanese Problem” (their numbers were growing, racial conflicts were developing and the military feared Japanese expansion.)

Likewise, there was discontent among the sugar workers.  This came to a head in 1920.

Demanding increases in pay, in 1920, Japanese and Filipino sugar workers on Oʻahu struck the plantations - approximately 6,000-workers, over three quarters of the labor force, walked off the job (only Oʻahu workers walked off, they relied on the neighbor islands for support.)

Though the strike was on Oʻahu, its impact was felt at Olaʻa.

A small item in the June 4, 1920 Honolulu Star Bulletin noted, "The home of a Japanese eight miles from Olaa was blown up with giant powder last night." The newspaper did not give the name of the victim, but it reported that the man was in a back bedroom at the time and was not killed, even though the front of the house was destroyed.  (UC Press)

It turns out the attack was on Sakamaki's home.

"It was about eleven o'clock pm that night of the third of June ... I was awokened by sound and, of course, didn't realize that it was an explosion; first thought it was water-tank fell or something; anyway, I was awokened by the sound, and my wife was in another room and she called me, 'What was that sound? What was that noise?' Then a little later my boy said he smelled powder; then I realized it was an explosion."

The dynamite had been set under the floor between the parlor and the dining room on the mauka side; the side of the house had been blown off.

Sakamaki had sided with management during the labor disputes of 1920.  The Territory of Hawai'i charged leaders of the Federation of Japanese Labor with conspiracy to assassinate Sakamaki in order to intimidate opponents of the strike and alleged, further, that the strike was part of a concerted effort to take over the Islands by Japan.

The trial for conspiracy in the first degree began on Wednesday, February 1, 1922, in the First Circuit Court in Honolulu.  Of the twenty-one defendants charged in the indictment, fifteen appeared in court every day. Their names were called each morning at the start of each court session in this order: Goto, Miyazawa, Tsutsumi, Kawamata, Furusho, Hoshino, Takizawa, Baba, Tomota, Ishida, Koyama, Kondo, Sazo, Sato Fujitani and Murakami.  (UC Press)

The indictment read: "On 27th of May 1920, (the accused) did maliciously or fraudulently combine, or mutually undertake or consort together to commit a felony, to wit, to unlawfully use and cause to be exploded dynamite or other explosive chemicals of substance for the purpose of inflicting bodily injury upon one J. Sakamaki."

It took the jury less than five hours to reach a verdict on the fifteen defendants.

Judge Banks then sentenced all the defendants to "be imprisoned in Oʻahu prison at hard labor for the term of not less than four years nor more than ten years."  (UC Press)

By the early 1920s many Americans had begun to look at Japan and the Japanese with deep suspicion. Some suggest it was the catalyst for legislation restricting immigration into the US.

The subsequent Johnson Reed Immigration Quota Act ((Immigration Act of 1924) limiting the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already living in the United States in 1890 (down from the 3% cap set by the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921)) passed both houses of Congress with overwhelming majorities: in the House 308 to 58 and in the Senate 69 to 9.

(As an aside, Sakamaki Hall at the University of Hawaiʻi - Mānoa is named for Juzaburo's son, Shunzo Sakamaki, a prominent administrator and Asian history professor at the University of Hawaii, from 1936 until his retirement in 1970.)

(A controversial aspect of Shunzo Sakamaki's career concerns his work with the FBI beginning in 1940 aimed at identifying Japanese Americans in Hawaiʻi who should be considered dangerous in the event of war with Japan. While he believed that the vast majority of Japanese Americans in Hawaiʻi were loyal to the United States, he was on record as believing that Shinto priests in Hawaii should be interned.)  (UH-Mānoa)  (Lots of information here from a book by Masayo Umezawa Duus.)

The image shows a photo of Juzaburo Sakamaki (second from left.)  In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Ka Wailele ʻO Waiānuenue

The Wailuku is the longest river in Hilo (twenty-six miles.) Its course runs from the mountains to the ocean along the divide between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The Wailuku is the boundary between Hilo Palikū in the north and Hilo One on the south.

The earliest recorded bridge in Hawai‘i was a crude footbridge across the Wailuku River in Hilo and was reported by missionary C. S. Stewart in 1825. (The first major bridge on O‘ahu appears to have been one extending North Beretania Street across Nuʻuanu Stream, erected in 1840.) (ksbe)

“About a hundred yards above the beach, it (the stream) opens into a still deep basin, encircled by high cliffs. Into this basin the whole stream is projected by two cascades … A rude bridge crosses the stream just above the falls; and it is a favorite amusement of the natives to plunge from it, or from the adjoining rocks, into the rapids, and pass head foremost over both falls, into the lower basin.” (Stewart, Schmitt)

The Wailuku River bridge must have existed for only a short time, and it was quickly forgotten. Sereno Bishop, born on the Big Island in 1827, later recalled, "There were no bridges in these islands until after 1840." Titus Coan, the pioneer missionary who settled in Hilo in 1835, wrote, "For many years after our arrival there were no roads, no bridges, and no horses in Hilo". (Schmitt)

Hilo’s Wailuku River was finally spanned again in September 1859, this time by a 196-foot-long suspension bridge. Less than seven weeks after it was opened, this bridge collapsed while a party of eight or ten persons and their horses were attempting to cross. The group narrowly averted drowning and death by falling timbers.

This was not the first disaster or near-disaster at the site of the Wailuku Bridge. Weakened by earthquakes and a tsunami, the railroad bridge over the Wailuku River collapsed on March 31, 1923 - immediately after a loaded passenger train had crossed and another was approaching.

Two of the largest bridges on the Hawai‘i Consolidated Railway were destroyed by the 1946 tsunami, a disaster which effectively put that railroad out of business. (ksbe)

Waiānuenue Avenue (rainbow (seen in) water) in Hilo town is named for the most famous waterfall in Hilo, Ka Wailele ʻO Waiānuenue, Rainbow Falls. There is a legend about this falls, the goddess Hina, her son Māui and the lizard-man Kuna.

Hina once lived in the cave beneath and behind the waterfall. Kuna would throw logs and boulders over the edge of the falls to try to cause harm to Hina. She called to her son Māui and he came quickly to her aid. He chased Kuna upland along the river, where they engaged in many battles.

Finally, Māui emerged the victor, though only because he was aided by the volcano goddess Pele. Hina was now safe. Many places along the Wailuku were named to commemorate different parts of the story so that the legend would not be forgotten. (Zane)

The local utility Hawaii Electric Light Co (HELCO) owns and operates two hydroelectric facilities arranged in tandem along the lower reach of the Wailuku River near Hilo. The Waiau plant was constructed in 1920 and upgraded in 1947. The Puʻueo plant downstream was built in 1910 and upgraded in 1941. The Wailuku River Hydroelectric Power Company plant began commercial operation in 1993. It is located at the junction of the Wailuku River and the Kaloheahewa Stream.

A 6-foot-diameter intake pipe for HELCO is located about 100 feet above Ka Wailele ʻO Waiānuenue. The intake feeds the utility’s Puʻueo Hydroelectric Plant located down on Wainaku Street, several blocks from the ocean.

About a mile upstream is a section of river called Boiling Pots, as well as the Peʻepeʻe Falls.

The image shows an earlier image of Ka Wailele ʻO Waiānuenue. In addition, I have included other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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John Ena

Shortly after the arrival of Captain James Cook and his crews in 1778, the Chinese found their way to Hawaiʻi.  Some suggest Cook’s crew gave information about the “Sandwich Islands” when they stopped in Macao in December 1779, near the end of the third voyage.

As more ships came, crewmen from China were employed as cooks, carpenters and artisans; and Chinese businessmen sailed as passengers to America. Some of these men disembarked in Hawaiʻi and remained as new settlers.

The growth of the Sandalwood trade with the Chinese market (where mainland merchants brought cotton, cloth and other goods for trade with the Hawaiians for their sandalwood – who would then trade the sandalwood in China) opened the eyes and doors to Hawaiʻi.  The sandalwood trade lasted for nearly half a century – 1792 to 1843.  (Nordyke & Lee)

The Chinese pioneered another Hawaiʻi industry – sugar.  Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed "An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants," a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

Among the Chinese in the Hawaiian Islands before the importation of sugar labor in 1852, there was a group who settled in Hilo. They were all sugar manufacturers or "sugar masters"; they all married Hawaiian women.

The Chinese names of the men in this group were Hawaiianized; one of them, Zane (or Tseng) Shang Hsien (pronounced In) became known as John Ena.  (Chinese 'Shang' sounds like John; the last name Ena is pronounced as a long e; he also went by Keoni Ina and a couple other variations of the name.)

John Ena was one of the group of Chinese men who had a sugar plantation and mill on Ponahawai hill; he may have been in Kohala before coming to Hilo.

This early sugar mill was started in 1839 by Lau Fai (AL Hapai,) Zane Shang Hsien (John Ena Sr) and Tang Chow (Akau) along Alenaio stream by today’s Hilo Central Fire Station. Zane Moi (Amoi) had the plantation producing 20,000-lbs of sugar by 1851. But the mill burned down in 1855 and they abandoned the property.  (Narimatsu)

In addition to John Ena's association with the other Chinese in the Ponahawai sugar plantation, he was also associated at various times with Chinese groups in the plantations at Paukaʻa, Pāpaʻikou and Amauʻulu. (Kai)

It is not known how much influence these early sugar plantations had upon the later development of the sugar industry in Hawaiʻi, but it is known that they were the pioneers, struggling with the problems of labor, droughts, fluctuating prices, water supplies, and probably insects, rats and other difficulties that plague the commercial growing of sugar.  (Kai)

Sometime before 1842, Ena married Kaikilani "Aliʻi Wahine O Puna;" she is said to be part of the Kamehameha line, going back to Lonoikamakahiki.  The Enas had three children: daughters, Amoe Ululani Kapukalakala, born in 1842 (later married to High Chief Levi Haʻalelea and Laura Amoy Kekukapuokekuaokalani, born in 1844 or 1845 (later, Laura Coney.)

An interesting insight into John Ena’s attitude toward the education of his children is noted in a letter written by the Reverend Titus Coan to Dr Charles H Wetmore in 1850, when Dr Wetmore was away from Hilo: "Keoni Ina is anxious to get a strip of land 8 fathoms wide on the makai side of your makai field running from Punahoa Street (formerly Church Street, now Haili) to More's fence. He says he only wishes to put a dwelling house … (so) that his children may be nearer school."  (Kai)

Dr. Wetmore was apparently not interested in selling this land, but John Ena did get land near to the school. In 1851, he leased almost an acre from a Hawaiian man named Kalakuaioha for twenty years. This was on the Puna side of the present Haili Street, between Kinoʻole and Kilauea Streets.  (Kai)

These Chinese settlers were written about by the editor of the Polynesian in 1858 (possibly referring to Amoe Ululani Ena):  “In Hilo, I was told, over and over again, the girls of half-Chinese and half-Hawaiian origin were the best educated, the most fluent in the English language, the neatest housewives, and the most likely young ladies. …”

“One young lady of such origin … was married just before I arrived to a chief of considerable wealth, and if all that is said about her is true, he ought to be looking upon himself as one of the happiest and luckiest of men, for besides being possessed of the usual attractions, the bride, they say, is sensible.”

“The gossip in the village Hilo … was that she laid down some most excellent conditions, and only upon receiving a promise that they would be observed, did she consent to renounce her parents care. … But fancy a young country girl, whose world had been the village of Hilo, with an ardent, not to say remarkably well-off lover at her feet, dictating the terms upon which she would consent to become rich, dress handsomely and live in a large house in the metropolis! Ah, John Chinaman, your pains were not thrown away." (Kai)

A son to John Ena Sr and Kaikilani, John Ena Jr, was born November 18 1845 in Hilo.  He is the subject of the rest of this summary.

John Ena Jr worked at various trades until at the age of thirty-four he became a clerk for TR Foster & Co of Honolulu. This firm owned a fleet of seven schooners plying among the islands and soon acquired its first steamer in 1883 as the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co, and Ena invested heavily in the stock.  He became president of Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co in 1899.

Inter-Island’s ships traveled to Kauaʻi and the Kona and Kaʻū Coasts of the island of Hawai‘i.  The Wilder Company served the island of Maui and the windward port of Hilo.  In 1905, Ena merged Inter-Island with the Wilder Company, under the Inter-Island name.  (Later, Inter-Island became Inter-Island Airways (1941,) then Hawaiian Airlines (1947.))

Ena was a member of the House of Nobles and the Privy Council under the Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani and was decorated in 1888 by King Kalākaua.

He served with the Board of Health under the Provisional Government and was a member of the constitutional convention that set up the Republic of Hawaiʻi.  He reportedly circulated and published the newspaper Ka Naʻi Aupuni in 1905.

Ena died on December 12, 1906 in Long Beach, California.

When Henry J Kaiser planned and developed his Waikīkī resort in 1954, he and his partner purchased 7.7-acres of Waikīkī beachfront property from the John Ena Estate and several adjoining properties.

In mid-1955 the first increment of what is now the Hilton Hawaiian Village opened for business; the first self-contained visitor resort in Waikīkī.  A nearby road, Ena Road, was named after John Ena (Jr.)

The image shows John Ena Jr.  I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Naha Stone

The legend of King Arthur (Le Morte Darthur, Middle French for "the Death of Arthur" (published in 1485)) speaks of King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot and the Knights of the Round Table (and foresees "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is the rightwise born king of all England.”)

Many tried; many failed.

Legendary Arthur later became the king of England when he removes the fated sword from the stone. Legendary Arthur goes on to win many battles due to his military prowess and Merlin’s counsel; he then consolidates his kingdom.  (The historical basis for the King Arthur legend has long been debated by scholars.)

In Hawaiʻi, a couple legends and prophecies relate to a stone, Naha Pōhaku (the Naha Stone.)

Its weight is estimated to be two and one-half tons (5,000-pounds.)  The stone was originally located in the Wailua River, Kauaʻi; it was brought to Hilo by chief Makaliʻinuikualawaiea on his double canoe and placed in front of Pinao Heiau.  (NPS)

The stone was reportedly endowed with great powers and had the peculiar property of being able to determine the legitimacy of all who claimed to be of the royal blood of the Naha rank (the product of half-blood sibling unions.)

As soon as a boy of Naha stock was born, he was brought to the Naha Stone and was laid upon it - one faint cry would bring him shame.  However, if the infant had the virtue of silence, he would be declared by the kahuna to be of true Naha descent, a royal prince by right and destined to become a brave and fearless soldier and a leader of his fellow men.  (NPS)

In another instance, Kamehameha traveled from Kohala to Hilo with Kalaniwahine a prophetess, who advised him that there was a deed he must do.  Although not of Naha lineage, Kamehameha came to conquer the Naha Stone.

Kalaniwahine proclaimed that if he succeeded in moving Naha Pōhaku, that he would move the whole group of Islands. If he changed the foundations of Naha Pōhaku from its resting place, he would conquer the whole group and he would prosper and his people would prosper.

Kamehameha said, “He Naha oe, a he Naha hoi kou mea e neeu ai. He Niau-pio hoi wau, ao ka Niau-pio hoi o ka Wao.” (”You are a Naha, and it will be a Naha who will move you. I am a Niaupio, the Niaupio of the Forest.”)

With these words did Kamehameha put his shoulders up to the Naha Stone, and flipped it over, being this was a stone that could not be moved by five men.  (Hoku o Hawaiʻi, November 1, 1927)

When Kamehameha gripped the stone and leaned over it, he leaned, great strength came into him, and he struggled yet more fiercely, so that the blood burst from his eyes and from the tips of his fingers, and the earth trembled with the might of his struggling, so that they who stood by believed that an earthquake came to his assistance.  (NPS)

The stone moved and he raised it on its side.

And, the rest of the history of the Islands has been pretty clear about the fulfillment of the prophecy and unification of the Islands under Kamehameha.

The Naha Stone is in front of Hilo Public Library at 300 Waiānuenue Avenue between Ululani and Kapiʻolani Street (the larger of the two stones there.)

The upright stone sitting to the makai side of the Naha Stone is associated with the Pinao Heiau, one of several that once stood in Hilo. Some of the stones that built the first Saint Joseph church and other early stone buildings in town likely came from Pinao heiau.  (Zane)

The image shows Naha Pōhaku.  I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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ʻŌpūkahaʻia Leaves Hawaiʻi

Hostilities of Kamehameha’s conquest on Hawai‘i Island supposedly ended with the death of Keōua at Kawaihae Harbor in early-1792 and the placement of the vanquished chief’s body at Puʻukoholā Heiau at Kawaihae.

The island was under the rule of Kamehameha.  However, after a short time, another chief entered into a power dispute with Kamehameha; his name was Nāmakehā.

In 1795, Kamehameha asked Nāmakehā, who lived in Kaʻū, Hawai‘i, for help in fighting Kalanikūpule and his Maui forces on O‘ahu, but Nāmakehā ignored the invitation. Instead, he opted to rebel against Kamehameha by tending to his enemies in Kaʻū, Puna and Hilo on Hawai‘i Island.

Hostilities erupted between the two. The battle took place at Hilo.  Kamehameha defeated Nāmakehā; his warriors next turned their rage upon the villages and families of the vanquished. The alarm was given of their approach.

A family, who had supported Nāmakehā, the father (Ke‘au) taking his wife (Kamohoʻula) and two children fled to the mountains. There he concealed himself for several days with his family in a cave.  (Brumaghim)  The warriors found the family and killed the adults.

A survivor, a son, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, was at the age of ten or twelve; both his parents were slain before his eyes.  The only surviving member of the family, besides himself, was an infant brother he hoped to save from the fate of his parents, and carried him on his back and fled from the enemy.

But he was pursued, and his little brother, while on his back, was killed by a spear from the enemy. Taken prisoner, because he was not young enough to give them trouble, nor old enough to excite their fears, ʻŌpūkahaʻia was not killed.

He was later turned over to his uncle, Pahua, who took him into his own family and treated him as his child. Pahua was a kahuna at Hikiʻau Heiau in Kealakekua Bay.

When Captain Vancouver visited the islands in the 1790s, he provided the following description of Hikiʻau:
“Adjoining one side of the Square was the great Morai (heiau,) where there stood a kind of steeple (‘anu‘u) that ran up to the height of 60 or 70 feet, it was in square form, narrowing gradually towards the top where it was square and flat; it is built of very slight twigs & laths, placed horizontally and closely, and each lath hung with narrow pieces of white Cloth.”

“… next to this was a House occupied by the Priests, where they performed their religious ceremonies and the whole was enclosed by a high railing on which in many parts were stuck skulls of those people, who had fallen victims to the Wrath of their Deity. …. In the center of the Morai stood a preposterous figure carved out of wood larger than life representing the … supreme deity… .”

John Papa ʻI‘i wrote that in ca. 1812-1813, shortly after Kamehameha’s return to Hawai‘i, the king celebrated the Makahiki and in the course of doing so he rededicated Hikiʻau, “the most important heiau in the district of Kona”.

This is the same place where Captain Cook landed on the Island of Hawaiʻi, across the bay from Hikiʻau Heiau is where Cook was later killed.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s uncle, wanting his nephew to follow him as a kahuna, taught ʻŌpūkahaʻia long prayers and trained him to the task of repeating them daily in the temple of the idol. This ceremony he sometimes commenced before sunrise in the morning, and at other times was employed in it during the whole or the greater part of the night.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was not destined to be a kahuna.

He made a life-changing decision – not only which affected his life, but had a profound effect on the future of the Hawaiian Islands.

“I began to think about leaving that country, to go to some other part of the globe. I did not care where I shall go to. I thought to myself that if I should get away, and go to some other country, probably I may find some comfort, more than to live there, without father and mother.”  (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

In 1807, he boarded an American a ship in Kealakekua Bay, the Triumph, under the command of Captain Brintnal; also on Board was Thomas Hopu.  They set sail for New York, stopping first in China (selling seal-skins and loading the ship with Chinese goods.)

Also on Board was Russell Hubbard, a son of Gen. Hubbard of New Haven, Connecticut.  “This Mr. Hubbard was a member of Yale College. He was a friend of Christ. Christ was with him when I saw him, but I knew it not.  ‘Happy is the man that put his trust in God!’  Mr. Hubbard was very kind to me on our passage, and taught me the letters in English spelling-book.”  (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

In 1809, they landed at New York and remained there until the Captain sold out all the Chinese goods.   Then, they made their way to New England.

“In this place I become acquainted with many students belonging to the College. By these pious students I was told more about God than what I had heard before … Many times I wished to hear more about God, but find no body to interpret it to me. I attended many meetings on the sabbath, but find difficulty to understand the minister. I could understand or speak, but very little of the English language. Friend Thomas (Hopu) went to school to one of the students in the College before I thought of going to school.”  (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s life in New England was greatly influenced by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor that were active in the Second Great Awakening and the establishment of the missionary movement.  These men had a major impact on ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s enlightenment in Christianity and his vision to return to Hawaiʻi as a Christian missionary.

He was taken into the family of the Rev. Dr. Dwight, President of Yale College, for a season; where he was treated with kindness, and taught the first principles of Christianity.  At length, Mr. Samuel J. Mills, took him under his particular patronage, and sent him to live with his father, the Rev. Mr. Mills of Torringford.

By 1817, a dozen students, six of them Hawaiians, were training at the Foreign Mission School to become missionaries to teach the Christian faith to people around the world.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia improved his English by writing; the story of his life was later assembled into a book called “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” (the spelling of his name based on its sound, prior to establishment of the formal Hawaiian alphabet.)  ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired 14-missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawaiʻi.)

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)

There were seven couples sent to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.   These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

Along with them were four Hawaiian youths who had been students at the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall Connecticut, Thomas Hopu (his friend on board the ship when he first left the Islands,) William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaiʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i and also known as Prince George Kaumuali‘i.)

Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died suddenly of typhus fever in 1818 and did not fulfill his dream of returning to the islands to preach the gospel.  (The bulk of the information here is from ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” and Papaʻula, 1867 in Brumaghim)

The image shows ʻŌpūkahaʻia. In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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