Rock Silo to Bell Tower

In 1926, Carl W Winstedt’s National Construction Company, Ltd was reportedly the lowest bidder for the construction of a portion of the Kamehameha highway, designated “Job 4057.” Winstedt was to build Kamehameha Highway from Waimea Bay to Kahuku. Reportedly, to support it, in 1930, he built a rock quarry on the North edge of Waimea Bay to produce gravel.

A concrete rock silo was built for the quarry operations.  The facility was abandoned in 1932; it’s not clear what happened with it for the next 20-years. Then, St Michael's Church was looking for a church facility – the rock silo was converted into a 100-foot bell tower.  The former construction company machine sheds were converted into a patio and chapel.  The silo turned bell tower is a North Shore icon.

Click HERE for the full post and images.

Lāʻie

During ancient times, various land divisions were used to divide and identify areas of control.  Islands were divided into moku (districts;) moku were divided into ahupuaʻa.  A common feature in each ahupuaʻa was water, typically in the form of a stream or spring.

The Island of Oʻahu has six Moku (districts:) Kona, Koʻolaupoko, Koʻolauloa, Waialua, Waiʻanae and ʻEwa.  The Moku of Koʻolauloa extends from Kalaeokaʻoiʻo (ʻOiʻo Point) in Kualoa to Waimea Bay.

Situated on the koʻolau (windward) side of the island, much of Koʻolauloa had ample rainfall, rich forests, streams, sheltered valleys, broad flat lands, reef protected shores, and rich estuarine environments to support nearshore fisheries.

The area that we refer to today as Lāʻie in Koʻolauloa (short for “lau ʻie; ʻie vine leaf; Pukui - referring to the red-spiked climbing pandanus tree) is made up of two ahupuaʻa, Lāʻiewai (wet Lāʻie) and Lāʻiemaloʻo (dry Lāʻie.)

Hawaiian mythology notes the ʻie vine is sacred to the god Kāne, the procreator, and the goddess of hula, Laka. The area of Lāʻie, prior to Western contact, provided rich resources with its many lo‘i kalo (taro terraces) and ke kai (the ocean ) filled with marine life. In historical times, it also provided sanctuary as a puʻuhonua, a sacred place where fugitives could seek safety from their pursuers. (Benham)

Early descriptions of of this area of Oʻahu were noted by Captain Clerke in 1779, who, following the death of Captain Cook, had succeeded command of the Resolution:
“Run round the Noern (northern) Extreme of the Isle (Oʻahu) which terminates in a low Point rather projecting (Kahuku Point;) off it lay a ledge of rocks extending a full Mile into the Sea … the country in this neighborhood is exceeding fine and fertile; here is a large Village, in the midst of it run up a large-Pyramid doubtlessly part of a Morai (heiau.)”

Lieutenant King also noted the north side of Oʻahu:
“We…sailed along its NE & NW sides but saw nothing of the Soern (Southern) part. What we did see of this Island was by far the most beautiful country of any in the Group … Nothing could exceed the verdure of the hills, nor the Variety which the face of the Country display’d.”

“… the Valleys look’d exceedingly pleasant, near the N Point (Kahuku Point) we were charmd with the narrow border full of Villages, & the Moderate hills that rose behind them … the low land extended far back, & was highly cultivated. Where we Anchord was a charming Landscape (Waimea Bay.)”

With its favorable climate and environment, the Lāʻie area was traditionally divided into a number of smaller sections, each with a sizeable permanent population engaged in intensive cultivation of the relatively flat, low-lying lands between the hills and the coastline.

The area just mauka of the present day Mormon Temple was formerly the largest single wet taro location in the ahupuaʻa.   As evidence of kalo cultivation in the area, just south of Lāʻie, towards Hauʻula, extensive systems of stone terraces for wet taro cultivation (loʻi) were widely distributed, from prehistory into historical times.

After the conquest of Oʻahu in 1795 by Kamehameha I, Lāʻie was given to his half-brother, Kalaʻimamahū who eventually passed it on to his daughter, Kekāuluohi, who in turn passed it to her son with Charles Kanaʻina, Lunalilo.  The entire ahupuaʻa remained under the control of Lunalilo until the Great Māhele.

In March 1865, Brigham Young (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877,) in a letter to King Kamehameha V, requested permission to locate an agricultural colony in Lāʻie. The king granted his request.

Mormon missionaries purchased 6,000-acres of the ahupuaʻa of Lāʻiewai to Lāʻiemaloʻo for the Mormon Church.  One thousand acres were arable the remaining land was used for woodland and pasture for 500-head of cattle, 500-sheep, 200-goats and 25-horses.

By 1866, 125 Hawaiian members were living on property and helping with the planting and picking of a substantial cotton crop the land was considered to have a good potential for growing sugarcane.

At the time in the Islands, sugar production was growing in scale; in addition to farming for food for the mission, the Lāʻie land was considered to have a good potential for growing sugar cane.  In 1867, the first sugar cane was planted; in 1868 a mule-powered mill was installed.

Sugar played a central role in providing early members of the Church of Jesus Chris of Later-day Saints (Mormons) on the Lāʻie Plantation with income and financial sustainability.

In less than two years the little colony had grown to seven families from Utah, a Scotsman and 300-Polynesians.  By 1871, a store, dairy and several frame houses had been built there was also a school that nearly 100 boys and girls attended regularly.  During 1883, a substantial new meeting house was built and dedicated the King Kalākaua attended the dedication

In 1890, Kahuku Plantation Company and Oʻahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L) worked together to establish a railroad connecting the sugar industry facilities between Kahuku to the north and Kahana to the south – passing through Lāʻie.  (This served as a common freight carrier until 1931.)

By 1895 the old sugar mill had stood idle almost six years.  The cane was being processed by the Kahuku mill at a much cheaper price than the Lāʻie plantation could produce it.

By the turn of the century many changes had taken place in Lāʻie.  The old mission home was gone, although a new one was in its place; the old sugar mill was no longer functioning; the cane crop was being processed at the Kahuku mill; 450-acres were planted in cane; the homes of the Polynesians had been removed from the sugarcane fields; 250 acres of rice was being cultivated by Chinese families.  (Berge)

The Mormon Temple in Lāʻie - started in 1915 and dedicated on Thanksgiving Day 1919 - was the first such temple to be built outside of continental North America.  The over 47,000-square-foot temple’s exterior is concrete made of crushed lava rock from the area and tooled to a white cream finish.  It attracted more islanders from throughout the South Pacific.

When the Mormon missionaries bought Lāʻie, they hoped to create a gathering place where Native Hawaiian converts could settle, grow strong in their faith, and learn Western-styled industry.  (Compton)

Today, the Temple, Brigham Young University - Hawaiʻi, Polynesian Cultural Center and a variety of other Mormon facilities and followers dominate the Lāʻie landscape.

The image shows an 1884 map of Lāʻie Bay and some of the surrounding land uses (DAGS-Reg1347.)  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+  

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn   

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kahana

Forever I shall sing the praises
Of Kahana’s beauty unsurpassed
The fragrance of beauteous mountains
By the zephyrs to thee is wafted
(Written for Mary Foster and her country home at Kahana)

The island of Oʻahu is divided into 6 moku (districts), consisting of: ‘Ewa, Kona, Koʻolauloa, Koʻolaupoko, Waialua and Waiʻanae. These moku were further divided into 86 ahupua‘a (land divisions within the moku.)

Kahana (Lit., the work, cutting or turning point;) approximately 5,250-acres, is one of the 32 ahupua‘a that make up the moku of Koʻolauloa on the windward and north shore side of the island.  It extends from the top of the Koʻolau mountain (at approximate the 2,700-foot elevation) down to the ocean.

The ahupuaʻa of Kahana, like all land in Hawai`i prior to the Great Māhele of 1848, belonged to the King. It is estimated that a population of 600 – 1,000 people lived here at the time of the arrival of Captain Cook (1778,) and about 200 at the time of the Māhele.

Much of the lower marshland surrounding the river was planted with taro; the higher dryland area leading to the ridges on both sides of the river was planted with trees, sugar cane, banana and sweet potato.  Groves of bamboo, ti leaves, kukui and hala trees at various locations indicate significant areas of ancient dwelling places.  (Kaʻanaʻana)

Ane Keohokālole, mother of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani received the bulk of the ahupuaʻa of Kahana at the Māhele; several kuleana awards to makaʻāinana (commoners) were scattered in the valley, as well as land for a school and roads.

Keohokālole received 5,050-acres, and the kuleana awards totaled less than 200-acres (the kuleana lands included the house lots and taro loʻi of the makaʻāinana.) The remainder of the ahupuaʻa included undeveloped uplands.

In 1856, Keohokālole and her husband Kapaʻakea created an asset pool, a type of trust.  As trustee, Keohokālole later sold Kahana (May 1857) to AhSing (also known as Apakana,) a Chinese merchant.  (LRB)

These lands later passed through the hands of a few other Chinese merchants  before being bought by a land hui composed of Hawaiian members of the Church of Jesus Chris Latter Day Saints, called the Ka Hui Kuʻai i ka ʻĀina ʻo Kahana in 1874. The hui had 95 members; most members getting one share, and a few receiving multiple shares.  (LRB)

The hui movement was not isolated to Kahana, it was throughout the Islands.  They were formed as an attempt to retain or reestablish part of the old system that predated private ownership granted through the Māhele.  (Stauffer)

Here, each shareholder had his or her own house lot and taro loʻi, but all had an undivided interest in the pasture and uplands, and in the freshwater rights, ocean fishing rights and Huilua fishpond.

Each member was allowed an equal share in the akule that were caught, and could have up to six animals running freely on the land (additional animals would be paid at a quarter per year.)  (LRB)

When the call came in the late-1880s for Mormons to gather at Salt Lake City, many from Kahana wanted to leave for Utah with other Hawaiian Mormons; at least a third of the founders of the Hawaiian Mormon Iosepa (Joseph) Colony in Utah were from Kahana.  (Stauffer)

Then, Mary Foster (daughter of James Robinson and wife of Thomas Foster - an initial organizer of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company, that later became Hawaiian Airlines) became involved in purchasing interests in land in Kahana.

This was the beginning a “bitter economic and legal struggle” with Kāneʻohe Ranch for control of the valley.  An out of court settlement was reached in 1901 in which Mary Foster bought out the Ranch's interest, giving her a controlling interest in Kahana.

With added acquisitions, by 1920, she eventually owned 97% of the valley.  Mrs. Foster died in 1930, and Kahana passed to her estate and was held in trust for her heirs.

When World War II broke out, the military moved the Japanese families out, and in 1942 the US Army Corps of Engineers erected a jungle warfare training center in the valley.

In 1955, the Robinson Agency, acting as the agent for the Foster Estate, contracted with a planner for feasibility studies on Kahana. The report recommended making an authentic South Sea island resort village – an inn with 20 rooms, creating a small lake in the valley, and a nine-hole golf course.  Nothing happened as a result of this plan.

A study on usage of the valley as a public park was done, but no action was taken. Also in 1962, a private foundation presented a plan to create a scientific botanical garden.

In 1965, John J. Hulten (real estate appraiser and State Senator) prepared a report for DLNR noting that Kahana was ideally suited to be a regional park, offering seashore water sports, mountain camping, and salt and freshwater fishing, and a tropical botanical garden. "Properly developed it will be a major attraction with 1,000,000 visits annually."

The "proper development" he had in mind included 600 "developable acres" for camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and swimming, and foresaw over 1,000 camping sites plus cabins, restaurant, and shops.

He said that a hotel and other commercial buildings could be developed, and wanted the creation of a 50 acre lake.  All of this development would be assisted by a botanical garden and a mauka road from Likelike Highway to Kahana.

In 1965, the State condemned the property for park purposes with a $5,000,000 price, paid in five annual installments (which included some federal funds.)   By 1969, the State owned Kahana free and clear.

A 1987 law authorized DLNR to issue long term residential leases to individuals who had been living on the lands and provided authorization for a residential subdivision in Kahana Valley. In 1993, the Department entered into 65 year leases covering 31 residential properties – in lieu of rent payments, the lessees are required to contribute at least twenty-five hours of service each month.

A later law (2008) created the Living Park Planning Council, placed within the DLNR for administrative purposes. The purpose of the Council was to create a master plan and advise the Department of matters pertaining to the park.

Kahana Valley State Park was renamed the Ahupuaʻa ʻo Kahana State Park in November 2000.  Kahana is the second-largest state park in the state park system (Na Pali Coast State Park is larger, at 6,175 acres.)

The image shows some of the kalo I saw in 2003, while inspecting Kahana while I was at DLNR.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+  

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn   

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

He ‘Āina Momona ‘O Punaluʻu

 The island of Oʻahu is divided into 6 moku (districts), consisting of: ‘Ewa, Kona, Koʻolauloa, Koʻolaupoko, Waialua and Waiʻanae. These moku were further divided into 86 ahupua‘a (land divisions within the moku.)

Punaluʻu (approximately 4,215-acres) is one of the 32 ahupua‘a that make up the moku of Koʻolauloa on the windward and north shore side of the island.  It extends from the top of the Koʻolau mountain (at approximate the 2,700-foot elevation) down to the ocean.

After Kamehameha conquered Oʻahu (1795,) his nephew, Kekuaokalani, was reportedly raised by the priest Kahonu (kahuna of the Kaʻumakaulaula Heiau) in the upland forests of Punaluʻu. (Maly)

(Following the death of Kamehameha (1819,) King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.   Kekuaokalani, Liholiho’s cousin, opposed the abolition of the kapu system and assumed the responsibility of leading those who opposed its abolition.  The two powerful cousins engaged at the final Hawaiian battle of Kuamoʻo.  Liholiho won.)

One of the earliest written accounts noting Punaluʻu is by Levi Chamberlain, who journeyed around the island of O‘ahu in 1828 to inspect the newly forming school system: “… I commenced the examination of the schools belonging to Punaluʻu & the two adjoining districts, three in number; which occupied the whole of the forenoon.”    (Chamberlain, HHS)

Chamberlain, further noted Chinese in the region: “Leaving this place we walked on to Mākao (an ahupuaʻa just up the coast from Punaluʻu) a place so named from the town of Macao in Canton (China) ..."  (Chamberlain, HHS)

"Vessels which arrive here from Canton (and) usually anchor … . Canton & the Chinese empire is by the natives called Makao, for this reason: Vessels which arrive here from Canton usually anchor at Macao and there take in their cargo…." (Chamberlain, HHS)  (later, more Chinese came.)

The ahupuaʻa of Punaluʻu was later awarded to William Leleiōhoku in the Māhele ‘Āina of 1848, and in 1883, was inherited by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Since traditional times, the native tenants of Punalu‘u worked closely with the native tenants of neighboring lands, as the Punalu‘u stream also crossed or bounded those lands.  The earliest native land records of Punalu‘u and vicinity document that extensive lo‘i kalo (taro pond fields) and ʻauwai (irrigation ditches) were developed on the land.  (Maly)

Then, much of the former loʻi were converted for rice cultivation.  Many of the immigrant Chinese population, having fulfilled their labor contracts to work at the sugar plantations (starting in 1852,) came to Koʻolauloa to grow rice; initially as laborers, then taking control.

By 1862, the ali‘i owners of the land, entered into partnerships and leases with foreigners - initially, Caucasians - for the development of rice plantations.  Between the 1870s to 1900, rice was the primary product of the area, followed by kalo.  (Maly)

In 1882 the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act; then, Japanese workers were brought in to take their place. Within only five years the Japanese constituted more than forty-two percent of the plantation work force and one-seventh of the total population.

“Punaluʻu – 26-miles from Honolulu, is reached within a short time of leaving Kahana. Here is a very large rice plantation, extending a considerable distance up the valley, and occupying all the lower land at its mouth."

"The population at this place is almost exclusively Chinese, large numbers being settled here with their wives. Quite a considerable village extends along the shore, and houses are to be seen far away up the valley.”  (Whitney, 1890)

The resources at Punalu‘u were developed into significant business interests, including the development of mills and water distribution systems; and a pier and warehouses, which were situated in the vicinity of the present-day park facility.

There were two rice mills, one gas-powered facility in Kaluanui and the other, located in Punaluʻu Valley, was water-powered.  A large part of the rice grown in the region was processed at these mills.  (Chang)

In the early 1900s, “there are five lines of railway within the Territory of Hawaiʻi. The Oʻahu Railway & Land Company operating between Honolulu and Kahuku, 71.3-miles, with a branch some 11-miles in length, running from Waipahu to the pineapple plantation, of Wahiawa.”

“At Kahuku, a connection is made with the Koʻolau railway, adding some ten miles to the length of the road (into Koʻolauloa.) This railway system has opened up thousands of acres of rich sugar lands and handles a very large freight. (Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturalist, 1908)

"The extension of the railway from Kahuku to Kahana (put in by James B Castle, passing through Punaluʻu) has helped the district wonderfully. New houses are springing up, old ones have been repaired and houses long deserted are again peopled by families who forsook the country for town and who have come back to the land again."

"There is a very good store at Hauʻula today and visitors can be put up very comfortably and at a reasonable rate by Mr Aubrey, the station agent and proprietor of the store."  (Hawaiian Star, December 4, 1909)

Some of the rice crop was shipped to Honolulu was shipped on the Koʻolau Railway to Kahuku, then on OR&L the rest of the way (around Kaʻena Point.)  (Chang)

Castle was also interested in his own agricultural ventures.  In 1906, he leased and acquired large and smaller parcels for the Koʻolau Agricultural Company.  Under Castle’s tenure, hundreds of acres of Punalu‘u land were leased to Japanese tenants for the cultivation of taro and pineapples.

By the 1920s, it was getting too costly to grow rice and there was growing competition coming from Florida, Texas and California; so, most of the rice planters had given up agriculture and moved from Punaluʻu and other areas to Honolulu.  Rice production, once the 2nd-largest industry (after sugar) passed into history.

Castle's interests in the Koʻolau Agricultural and Koʻolau Railway Companies were later (1926) absorbed by Zion Securities of Lāʻie, and later transferred to the Kahuku Sugar Plantation (1931.)  (Maly)  Sugar was planted in Punaluʻu until the 1970s.

In 1994, the Punaluʻu Community Association (formed 50-years prior to protect and enhance the rural Hawaiian lifestyle in the area) submitted a petition to designate the ahupuaʻa of Punaluʻu as a surface water management area to the State Water Commission.

They and others later formed the Punaluʻu Watershed Alliance (2005; through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Water Commission, Punaluʻu Community Association, Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu Board of Water Supply and the USGS.)

The Punaluʻu Watershed Alliance is working on a stream restoration and flood mitigation plan, an agricultural plan, the expansion of irrigation systems for diversified agriculture and aquaculture (including restoration of taro loʻi.)

Part of the work includes modernizing the old plantation irrigation system that served various agricultural users in Punaluʻu.  The old ditch delivery system leaked, wasted water, clogged easily and required extensive maintenance to clear obstructions.

The old ditch delivery system was replaced with a new pipe delivery system, resulting in more efficient and reliable operation, as well as lower maintenance.   With this, folks are also restoring the old loʻi that once grew kalo (taro,) then rice - back to kalo.

The associated KSBE Punaluʻu Ahupuaʻa Plan has as its mission statement: "Punaluʻu is a place of abundance. (He ‘Āina Momona ‘O Punaluʻu)  Our relationship to the ‘āina and our Hawaiian values sustain the traditions and productivity of the ahupua'a, stimulate learning opportunities, nurture a healthy community, and perpetuate its rural character."

The image shows the loʻi in Punaluʻu (ksbe.)  I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+    

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn   

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hauʻula

Koʻolauloa moku (district) is one of six district divisions of the Island of Oʻahu (Koʻolauloa, Koʻolaupoko, Kona, ʻEwa, Waiʻanae and Waialua.)

 Koʻolauloa or "long Koʻolau," along with Koʻolaupoko or "short Koʻolau" make up the koʻolau (windward) side of Oʻahu - encompassing the lands on, and reefs offshore of, the north and northeast-facing slopes of Koʻolau (one of two shield volcanos that formed the island.)

Historical documentation indicates that as early as the Voyaging Period (1000-1180 AD) during the reign of Laʻamaikahiki, Koʻolauloa, with its vast natural resources, was a preferred location for royal residence, second only to that of the Waikīkī-Nuʻuanu-Mānoa region

Numerous native oral traditions and foreign accounts from the late 1700s suggest that the various ahupuaʻa within the district were part of a larger and significant political and population center primarily sustained by a variety of wetland agricultural practices and aquaculture activity.  (DWS)

Between 1812 and 1830, the increased demand for sandalwood created a new trade that influenced and changed previous land tenure practices in Koʻolau Loa. The timber, cut from the upland slopes of the Koʻolau Mountains, was hauled down to Waialua Bay for transport and trade.  (DWS)

“The district of Koʻolauloa is of considerable extent along the sea coast, but the arable land is generally embraced in a narrow strip between the mountains and the sea, varying in width from one half to two or three miles.”

“Several of the vallies are very fertile, and many tracts of considerable extent are watered by springs which burst out from the banks at a sufficient elevation to be conducted over large fields, and in a sufficient quantity to fill many fish ponds and taro patches.”  (Hall, 1838; Maly)

Koʻolauloa moku is further divided into a number of ahupuaʻa – (north to south) Waimea, Pūpūkea, Paumalū, Kaunala, Waialeʻe, Pahipahiʻālua, Nāʻopana 1, Nāʻopana 2, Kawela, Hanakaoe, ʻŌʻio 1, ʻŌʻio 2, Ulupehupehu, Kahuku, Keana, Malaekahana, Lāʻie 1, Lāʻie 2, Kaipapaʻu, Hauʻula, Mākao, Kapaka, Kaluanui, Papaʻakoko, Haleʻaha, Kapano, Pūheʻemiki, Waiʻono, Punaluʻu, Kahana, Makaua and Kaʻaʻawa.

Hauʻula is the subject of this summary; it lies approximately midway in the extent of the Koʻolauloa moku.

Its name refers to a native hibiscus, the hau; it blossoms during the summer months. Its flowers are bright yellow when they open in the morning, but turn red by the time they fall to the ground. (Lit., red hau (flower.)) (Pukui)  By sunset in July and August, Hauʻula is ablaze with the deep red color of hau flowers.

“Hauula, twenty-eight and one-half miles from Honolulu, has some rice fields, and stock raising is carried on. There is a considerable native population.”  (Whitney, 1890; Maly)

“… we passed on to Hauula and examined two schools one of which consisted of sandal wood cutters from the mountains and exhibited on the slate. The scholars wrote down the alphabet both the capital and small letters; the letters were not very accurately formed; but the disposition to learn was commendable, and with a view of encouraging them to persevere, I gave each of them a spelling book.”  (Chamberlain, 1828)

In 1890, two prominent businessmen, James Campbell and Benjamin Dillingham, worked together to establish and expand lands for sugarcane production under the Kahuku Plantation Company and the development of the Oʻahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L.)  By 1903, the railroad between Lāʻie and Kahuku Sugar Mill was laid out. (DWS)

As early as 1904, the Territorial Government enacted legislation setting aside lands in Koʻolauloa as a part of the newly developing Forest Reserve program of the Territory.

The primary function of early forestry programs in the Hawaiian Islands was the protection of forest watersheds to ensure a viable water supply. The Kaipapaʻu Forest Reserve was one of the first established in the Territory. Public interest in the lands continued through 1918, when the larger Hauʻula Forest Reserve was established.  (Maly)

James Castle moved to connect the OR&L rail line in Kahuku with the proposed street railway system in Honolulu by way of the Windward Coast.

His plan was to extend his Koʻolau Railroad Co south of Kahana Bay through Kāneʻohe and Kailua, and on to Waimanalo where it would go through a tunnel and into Manoa Valley and connect with the Rapid Transit & Land Co.

By 1908 the Koʻolau Railway Company was running an eleven-mile rail circuit between Kahuku and Kahana.  (McElroy)  (Castle died in 1918, before the project into Koʻolaupoko could be completed.)

“At Hauʻula the train makes a short stay. This appears to be a station of growing importance. As at Kahuku, this depot embraces also the post office. The former agent made it also serve as the village inn, but the present incumbent has constructed a neat cottage directly opposite the station for the comfort and convenience of wayfarers. It stands a little distance off the road, its green sward giving it a cool and attractive appearance.”

“Near here is the noted valley of the celebrated Kamapuaʻa’s exploits, and residents of Hauʻula seldom fail to remind visitors of the fact and point with pride to Kaliuwaʻa gorge, where the demi-god escaped from his pursuers.”  (Thrum, 1911)

“For this a guide will have to be obtained. Almost any of the natives around will be willing to undertake the task. The valley is really a cleft in the mountains, with almost precipitous sides. The vegetation is very dense, showing varieties of almost every tree and plant found on Oʻahu.” (Whitney, 1890; Maly)

Two curious formations called by the Hawaiians waʻa, or canoes (hence the name, Kaliuwaʻa, the valley of the canoe,) are quite striking. They are semicircular cuts in the cliff, extending from the base to the top, like the half of a well.

In no other part of the islands is a similar formation found. The valley is sacred to Kamapuaʻa, a native demigod, half pig, half man.  (Whitney, 1890; Maly)

Kamapuaʻa was accused of eating ʻOlopana’s chickens.  ʻOlopana, chief of O`ahu, decided that he must apprehend the hog-thief, so he called to all of Oʻahu to wage war against Kamapuaʻa.  Kamapuaʻa heard of ʻOlopana’s plans and took his people to Kaliuwaʻa, where they climbed up his body to the safety of the cliff top.

In doing so, Kamapuaʻa’s back gouged out indentations on the cliff-side that can still be seen today.

Once his people were safe, Kamapuaʻa dammed the water of Kaliuwaʻa. ʻOlopana and his men arrived, and a battle ensued. Kamapuaʻa was nearly killed, but he released the dammed water, killing ʻOlopana and all but one of his men; Makaliʻi knew that Kamapuaʻa could not be killed and escaped to Kaua`i.  (McElroy)

Kaliuwaʻa (often called Sacred Falls) is regarded as sacred for its association with the deity Kamapuaʻa, but the name Sacred Falls is a relatively recent phenomenon. Forms of the name first appear in historical documents in the 1890s, where the valley is called Sacred Ravine.

Over the next ten years, this name evolved into Sacred Valley, and it wasn't until the 1950s that the name Sacred Falls appeared in the literature.  A fatal landslide on May 9, 1999 (Mother’s Day) forced closure of the park due to safety concerns. (McElroy)

The image shows the hauʻula, the native hibiscus for which Hauʻula is named.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+    

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn   

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Mākao

Macao, also spelled Macau, is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong. Macao lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong Kong to the east, bordered by Guangdong Province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.

Macao was the gateway for all Americans going to China to trade legally.  It was the first stop upon arriving in China and the last stop before returning home.  Macao became the center for agents arranging American trade.  (Hao, Wang)

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.

In 1788, British Captain John Meares commanded two vessels, the Iphigenia and the Felice, with crews of Europeans and 50-Chinese.  Shortly thereafter, in 1790, the American schooner Eleanora, with Simon Metcalf as master, reached Maui from Macao using a crew of 10-Americans and 45-Chinese.  (Nordyke & Lee)

Crewmen from China were employed as cooks, carpenters and artisans, and Chinese businessmen sailed as passengers to America. Some of these men disembarked in Hawai'i 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.

Macao links to Kamehameha I and Hawaiʻi's first flag.  Hawaiʻi was gradually pulled into the international trading networks, and it was not long before it was discovered that sandalwood there sold well in China. Large qualities of that wood were consumed in China each year for the making of incense.  (Hao, Wang)

A few years after Kamehameha consolidated his rule over the Islands, vessels engaged in trade with Manila and Macao started to arrive (whose captains assured Kamehameha and the chiefs that the fragrant sandalwood was of great value, and was much in demand in Macao and all other parts of China.)

Therefore, Kamehameha quickly commanded that the mountains of Oʻahu be searched for it, and on being found and brought in it was declared by the foreigners that Hawaii possessed the fragrant wood.  Traders took the sandalwood to Canton and Macao, and brought back various kinds of cloth prints, cotton, mixed piece goods and clothing.  (Kamakau, Thrum)

"The King, wanting a ship to sail to China to sell Sandalwood, searched along with John Young, Isaac Davis, and Captain Alexander Adams of Kalihi, who is still living, for a Flag for the ship. It was a man-o-war, called the Forrester, carrying sixteen guns. Kamehameha I owned the ship."    (Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, January 1, 1862)

"When the Flag was completed, the ship sailed to Macao. The Flag was puzzled over, and was not accepted as a National Flag. The ship was charged exorbitantly for harbor fees, the Sandalwood was sold for a loss, and the ship returned to Hawaiʻi.  The King learned of this loss, and he said that a tax should be placed on the harbor of Honolulu like those of foreign lands. That is when duty was first charged for the harbor.  (Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, January 1, 1862)

Hawaiʻi has further links to Macao - an ahupuaʻa in Koʻolauloa on Oʻahu is named such - however, it's spelled Mākao.

Ships traveling from China to Hawaiʻi often sailed out of Macao near Canton, and the name was associated with the former Chinese farming community.  Chinese farmers lived and grew rice there.  (Ulukau)

The earliest written account found was recorded in 1828 by Levi Chamberlain, who journeyed around the island of O‘ahu to inspect the newly forming school system in the Kingdom. Chamberlain noted:

"… I commenced the examination of the schools belonging to Punaluʻu & the two adjoining districts, three in number; which occupied the whole of the forenoon. At one o’ clock pm we were ready to set forward. The first place at which we stopped was Kaluanui, where was a small school which we examined. Here the burdens of our baggage-carriers were increased by the present of a baked pig, some potatoes & taro. Leaving this place we walked on to Mākao a place so named from the town of Macao in Canton, as the head man told me, on account of its being a place where much tapa is made."  (Chamberlain, HHS)

"Canton & the Chinese empire is by the natives called Mākao, for this reason: Vessels which arrive here from Canton usually anchor at Macao and there take in their cargo which is sent down from Canton. As the ships are commonly spoken of as having come from Macao, the natives, therefore, from the facility with which they can pronounce the word, it being similar to one which they have in their own language, have given the name of Macao to the whole country." (Chamberlain, HHS)

As trade expanded, Hawaiians went to Macao and Canton, and Chinese went to Hawaiʻi and the US from Macao, which impacted both places. Hawaiʻi became a major provisioning depot for ships sailing the Pacific, as well as a source of sandalwood to market in China.

By the 1830s, American missionaries were active in both Hawaiʻi and Macao.  Macao, Hawaiʻi and Sino-American trade were so intertwined to each other that a change in one could have a corresponding affect on the others.  (Hao, Wang)

By the mid-1850s, the Chinese population in Koʻolauloa was growing, and many of the landowners and lessees leased their lands to Chinese for portions of their lo‘i kalo and kula, on which rice could be planted and irrigated. Between the 1870s to 1900, rice was the primary product of the land, followed by kalo.  (Maly)

In the late-1890s, Mākao was owned by Dr Albert B Carter (land in Mākao was previously owned by WC Lane.)  Carter had "retired from active practice as a physician and occupies nearly all of his time in practical scientific agriculture and systematic research.  ... On his little plantation - it consists altogether of some five or six hundred acres of good, fertile land - the doctor raises almost everything imaginable ...."  (Hawaiian Gazette, July 17, 1900)

"There are enough papaias (papayas) grown in Mākao to supply Honolulu steadily.  This refreshing fruit or vegetable is eaten as a melon, boiled as a squash, cooked into pies, fried into fritters, stewed into jam or preserved as sweet or sour pickles.  What the doctor's family cannot devour proves a most fattening food for the porkers." (Hawaiian Gazette, July 17, 1900)

When Carter's wife died in 1903, Supreme Court Records (1908) note that about 45-acres of rice land (under lease to Wing Chong Wai Co,) 105-acres of kula and mountain land mauka of the rice land and about 26-acres known as the homestead at Mākao were in her estate.

Carter moved.  " ... Mākao with its long low buildings and grove of cocoanuts, (is) the place looking as though it were going rapidly to rack and ruin. Here it was that Dr. Carter, scholar, dreamer and experimentalist, made his home until overtaken with the affliction which necessitated his movement elsewhere.  He sunk a fortune in Mākao and watched the complicated network of his schemes raveled and finally blown away by the gusts of fate."  (Hawaiian Star, December 4, 1909)

"Adjacent to Mākao is Hauʻula, considered by many to be the prettiest spot on the Island of Oʻahu. Here are the government homesteads, peopled by happy families of Hawaiians, here are the famous falls of Kaliwaʻa, and here is as fine bathing as can be found In the Territory."  (Hawaiian Star, December 4, 1909)

"The extension of the railway from Kahuku to Kahana has helped the district wonderfully. New houses are springing up, old ones have been repaired and houses long deserted are again peopled by families who forsook the country for town and who have come back to the land again.  There is a very good store at Hauʻula today and visitors can be put up very comfortably and at a reasonable rate by Mr Aubrey, the station agent and proprietor of the store."  (Hawaiian Star, December 4, 1909)

DBEDT GIS data notes Mākao ahupuaʻa (and another small ahupuaʻa Kapaka) is a sliver between Hauʻula (N) and Kaluanui (S.) (Today, a Mormon Church is in the center of the coastal area of the Mākao ahupuaʻa - Hauʻula Elementary School is just to the north of Mākao.)

The image shows the Mākao ahupuaʻa in Koʻolauloa (Google Earth.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+    

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn   

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

What a beautiful day for fishing …

In March 1865, Brigham Young (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877,) in a letter to King Kamehameha V, requested permission to locate an agricultural colony in Lāʻie. The king granted his request.

That year, Mormon missionaries (Francis Asbury Hammond and George Nebeker) purchased about 6,000-acres of the ahupuaʻa of Lāʻiewai to Lāʻiemaloʻo (in Koʻolauloa) from Mr. Thomas T Dougherty for the Mormon Church.  The missionaries hoped to create a gathering place for converts to their faith to settle in.

On April 5, 1882, King Kalākaua visited the village of Lāʻie as guest of honor for the ceremonial placement of four cornerstones for a new chapel being built by the Mormons.

The chapel remained until 1915 when the Hawaiʻi Temple was started and the chapel was moved. Unfortunately, the historic chapel burned down during renovations on July 11, 1940.

1945 saw the end of World War II. With the end came the return of the simple island life.

To replace the church they needed to raise funds.   After a few unsuccessful attempts at fundraising, the decision was made in 1947 to pull together a hukilau as a fundraising event. (PCC)

Hukilau (Huki = pull; lau = leaves, specifically, ki (ti) leaves) is a community fishing technique with long ropes, with dried ti leaves attached to frighten the fish.

The net was taken out and surrounds fish out in the water; then, the ends of the net are pulled into shore, corralling the fish.  The fish are either caught in the nets or picked up by hand.  This operation in the old days brought together men, women and children of the whole community.  (Maly)

A well-known expert fisherman, Hamana Kalili supplied the nets for fishing.  (Kalili is credited for starting the ‘shaka’ hand sign (but that is the subject of another story.))

Beatrice Ayer Patton (Mrs. George S Patton – her husband was stationed on Oʻahu during the mid-1920s) described Kalili as “a magnificent example of the pure Hawaiian. A man in his sixties, with white hair and a deeply carven face, he had the body and reactions of a teenager. He lived and fished on the windward side of the island”.  (Patton-Totten)

“… they would go out in the ocean, in a semicircle and pull the nets to shore, and that was the hukilau, part of it.  After the fish was all caught and so on, then they would go to the luau part.  And the luau, as you know, is a place where you can have lots of food, and have lots of entertainment.” (Roland Maʻiola “Ahi” Logan; Kepa Maly)

January 31, 1948, members of the Lāʻie Ward started the hukilau. (PCC)  A $5 fee was charged to enjoy the hukilau, food and hula show. Two hundred and fifty people arrived for the first fundraiser and the church raised $1,250.

Jack Owens enjoyed this Hukilau. That night, suffering sunburn, aches and pains, he was inspired to write this song. Introduced publicly at a Methodist lūʻau in Honolulu, it became an instant hit.  (Our Honolulu, Bob Krauss, Advertiser, April, 1998)

“So that became the Church fund raiser.  After the success of the first one.  That was done. … Hukilau gave the people of Lāʻie the impact of economic growth.  Next thing you knew, the ladies went into making crafts, the children were making coconut hats … the Hukilau was something that strengthened the people in the community.”  (Logan; Maly)

During that time, it was one of the most popular visitor attractions. To actually pull in the hukilau nets, feast on the lau lau and watch as the ʻama ʻama went swimming by was truly a Hawaiian activity. (PCC)  (The Hukilau continued to 1971.)

In 1959 students and faculty at the Church College of Hawaiʻi (BYU-Hawaiʻi) organized the "Polynesian Institute" (later renamed "Polynesian Panorama") and took the show on the road.  Students performed first at the International Market Place, then put on larger performances in the Kaiser Hawaiian Dome in Waikīkī.

Two years of shuttling Church College students back and forth to Waikīkī for performances convinced decision-makers that a spirited, tourist-oriented Polynesian revue with a student cast was definitely marketable.

And although some argued that Lāʻie was too far from Honolulu, others insisted that the success of the hukilau demonstrated that they could draw audiences large enough to make the venture profitable.  (Webb)  Thus, the Polynesian Cultural Center was born.

Click HERE for a link to Owen's Hukilau Song.

The image shows the Hukilau at Hukilau Beach, Lāʻie.  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+    

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC