Hero of a Hundred Passages

“Resolved, That, in consideration of the long and meritorious services of Capt John Paty, as a ship master out of Honolulu, and the valuable assistance rendered by him in the furtherance of commercial intercourse between the Hawaiian Islands and adjacent ports in foreign countries, as evidenced by the accomplishment of his one hundredth passage across the Pacific,”

“We, American residents and others, in Honolulu, in meeting assembled deem him entitled to be hailed as the Commodore of the Merchant Marine, at the Sandwich Islands, and as such to fly some ensign, emblematical of the rank thus bestowed upon him … on his arrival from San Francisco, and that on its presentation, he shall be saluted with the customary salute of 13 guns.”  (The Friend, November 1, 1860)

“Capt. Paty is a native of good old Plymouth, Mass., and for aught we know, the blood of the master of the May Flower runs in his veins.  (He) is one of those Cape Cod boys, of whom it has been eloquently said, ‘They leap from the cradle to the shrouds without holding on to their mother's apron strings.’”  (The Friend, November 1, 1860)

They presented him with a commodore's broad pennant of blue silk, with the figure 100, encircled by ten white stars representing the ten Hawaiian Islands, and with a chronometer; tokens of the community's appreciation of his years of reliable service.  (Hackler)

Let’s look back.

John Paty was born February 22, 1807 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. His father was a seaman and his mother came of a seafaring family; his father died when John as 7 and his mother, when he was 11.

His first sea-voyage was made in 1821 (at the age of 15,) in the Brig Gov. Winslow, from Boston to Amsterdam with his uncle, Captain Ephraim Paty.  He quickly learned the rigors of life aboard ship, for his relative showed him no favors.

Looking back on his early days at sea, "But when I got on board ship with a hard old shell-back, I found the contrast very great, and my feelings were such, at times, as to induce me to commit almost any deed of violence for the sake of revenge. At other times I wished that I had never been born."  (Paty; Day)

“His earlier voyages were to the Mediterranean and West Indies, and, it is said, young as he then was, the owners for whom he sailed reposed so much Confidence in his integrity, good judgment, and nautical skill, that they were in the habit of giving him no instructions other than the general and verbal one, to act according to his own discretion.”  (Daily Alta California, February 3, 1869)

He was married in the year 1831 (to his childhood sweetheart, Mary Ann Jefferson of Salem, Massachusetts;) they made their home in Plymouth.  Two years later John's younger brother Henry returned from the Sandwich Islands. He persuaded John to buy a part interest in the brig Avon and sail in it to Hawai'i.

In 1834, John and Mary Ann sailed for the Sandwich Islands, in the brig Avon, of which he was master and part owner, accompanied by his wife and brother, and arrived at Honolulu in June of that year.  (They had three children while in Hawaiʻi, John Henry Paty (1840,) Mary Francesca Paty (1844) and Emma Theodora Paty (1850.)

He took various voyages back and forth to the continent; on one, he landed in San Francisco in December, 1837 (it was part of Mexico at the time.)  The only buildings in San Francisco were an unfinished adobe belonging to Capt. Wm. Richardson (an Englishman,) and a board shanty near it owned by Jacob P. Leese (an American.)  These two were the only foreign residents there.  (Day; Hesperian)

“Since that time, with the exception of one or two voyages to Atlantic ports previous to 1839, he had been constantly employed in the Pacific, and, principally, between the Hawaiian Islands and parts of Mexico and California.”  (Daily Alta California, February 3, 1869)

In 1857 King Kamehameha IV asked Paty to take the Manuokawai on a voyage of exploration, in the course of which he took possession of Laysan, Necker, Gardener's Islands and Lysiansky Islands for the Hawaiian Kingdom.  He also corrected old charts, "... a considerable portion of my time has been consumed by calms and looking for banks and islands which do not exist, or are erroneously marked …."  (Paty; Hackler)

After 168 crossings, in command of the Don Quixote, the Frances Palmer, the Yankee, the Speedwell, the Young Hector, and the Comet, Paty could assert with pride that he never lost a passenger or a seaman, never lost a ship, and never had a serious accident at sea.  (Hackler)

"Old salt," Capt. John Paty, so long and favorably known throughout the Pacific as one of the most obliging and successful shipmasters that ever commanded a vessel … He has been employed in almost every kind of sea service, in nearly every part of the world, and has universally given most unqualified satisfaction.”  (Polynesian, October 13, 1860)

“Those sailing with him always considered themselves fortunate and secure; and his quiet, amiable disposition, unalloyed good-nature, and uniform courtesy and kindness of manner, made it a pleasure to be a passenger and guest on board the vessel where he was master and host.”  (Daily Alta California, February 3, 1869)

Paty had his home, ‘Buena Vista,’ in Nuʻuanu (on the east side of Nuʻuanu Avenue at Wyllie Street.  (That site is now covered by the Nuʻuanu-Pali Highway interchange.   Look for the parallel palms in the yard of the immediately-makai ‘Community Church of Honolulu;’ they used to line the Paty driveway, with the house off to the left (mauka.))

John Paty continued to ply the Pacific until four months before his death from cancer, on November 11, 1868.

The image shows John Paty. 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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Clarence Hyde Cooke Home

Clarence Hyde Cooke was born April 17, 1876 in Honolulu, Hawaii, the second son of Charles Montague Cooke and Anna Rice Cooke (and grandson of missionaries Amos Starr Cooke and William Harrison Rice.)  He graduated from Punahou (1894,) and attended, but did not graduate from Yale.

He married Lily Love, daughter of Robert Love on August 11, 1898; they had eight children: Dorothea, Martha, Anna, Clarence Jr, Harrison, Alice, Robert and John.

Cooke began his business career in Honolulu with Hawaiian Safe Deposit & Trust Co, in 1897.  The next year he was at Bank of Hawaiʻi and about 10-years later (1909,) he succeeded his father as president of the bank and became Chairman in 1937.

In 1932, the Cooke’s built a home in Nuʻuanu (unfortunately, Lily died the next year.)   The home was designed by Hardie Phillip, one of the associates of the New York architectural firm of Mayers, Murray and Phillip, the successor firm of Bertram Goodhue and Associates (who also designed the C Brewer Building, Governor Carter’s residence and others.)

The home has the distinctive double-pitched ‘Dickey Roof’ (following the signature element of architect CW Dickey.)  The 24-room Cooke mansion (including 10-bedrooms, 7-full bathrooms and two half-baths) is noted for its sprawling spaciousness, numerous lanai, Hawaiian hipped roof and lush grounds.

Well-planned, well-crafted and paying high attention to detail, the house was built for, and was known for, lavish, opulent entertainment. As such, it epitomizes the finest traditions in upper class residential design in Hawaii for its period.  (HHF)

The two-story white-washed brick and frame residence features an asymmetrical plan which lends the building a sense of sprawling informality. The house is laid out with two wings running perpendicularly in opposite directions off a formal entry hall.  A number of lanai extend out from the principal rooms on both the ground and second floors.

A vine covered porte-cochere, shaded by a banyan tree, extends diagonally out from the intersection of the makai (left) wing and the entry area. It has segmental arched openings, and is paved with Chinese granite blocks. A tiled fountain is in the corner of the porte-cochere.  (NPS)

Cooke lived there until his death on August 2, 1944.  He bequeathed the estate to the Academy of Arts (architect Hardie Phillip also designed the Honolulu Academy of Arts building on Beretania.)

The Academy later (1945) sold the home to Alfred Lester and Elizabeth ((daughter of Lincoln L McCandless) Marks.   (Since then, the property has been generally referred to as the “Marks Estate.”)

At about this time, Johnny Wilson, the builder of the original carriage-road over the Pali, was re-elected Mayor (1948.)  One of his first actions was to seek approval from the Territorial Legislature for an increase in the gasoline tax to pay for a tunnel in Kalihi Valley.

Wilson argued the Kalihi alternative would serve the entire windward side, while the Pali would merely be a private access road for Kailua residents.

The Territorial legislature turned down Wilson’s 1949 gas tax proposal for the Kalihi tunnel.  That same year, Governor Ingram M Stainback looked to build the Pali Highway alignment, instead.  (ASCE)  (This alignment would cut through the Marks Estate.)

Marks went to court to block the proposed highway.  After lengthy legal battles, in 1956, the government bought 7-acres of the 17-acre estate, and also bought the home and other improvements.

(On May 11, 1957, the Honolulu-bound tunnels on Pali Highway were opened; the Pali Tunnels were fully-functional in 1959.  The Kalihi ‘Wilson Tunnels’ were also later built and fully operational by November 1960.)

Although the State condemned and bought the property and home, they allowed Marks to continue to live there (the Marks paid $1,500-per month for the first three years, then $500-per month until 1976, then the State took over the property.)

After that, the now-defunct Hawaiʻi Institute for Management and Analysis in Government, part of the Department of Budget and Finance, acquired the property for a research, training and conference center.  (The Institute was later absorbed into DBEDT.)  (Danninger)

The State government then used the estate for office space, conferences and special events, and it was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

After trying to sell it for years, the State finally auctioned off the property in 2002. Reportedly, it had been appraised for $4.5-million, but labor union Unity House Inc bought it for $2.5-million.

Real property tax records note a subsequent (2006) conveyance of the property for $4.41-million.  Later listings note the property has since been on and off the market.

The image shows the Clarence Hyde Cooke Home, otherwise known as the Marks Estate (chang; honolulumagazine.)  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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The Feast

271 hogs, 482 large calabashes of poi, 602 chickens, 3 whole oxen, 2 barrels salt pork, 2 barrels biscuit, 3,125 salt fish, 1,820 fresh fish, 12 barrels luau and cabbages, 4 barrels onions, 80 bunches bananas, 55 pineapples, 10 barrels potatoes, 55 ducks, 82 turkeys, 2,245 coconuts, 4,000 heads of taro, 180 squid, oranges, limes, grapes and various fruits.

But we are already getting ahead of ourselves, let’s look back.

On April 25, 1825, Richard Charlton arrived in the Islands to serve as the first British consul. A former sea captain and trader, he was already familiar with the islands of the Pacific and had promoted them in England for their commercial potential (he worked for the East India Company in the Pacific as early as 1821.)

Charlton had been in London during Kamehameha II’s visit in 1824 and secured an introduction to the king and his entourage.  By the time he arrived in Hawai‘i in 1825, instructions had already arrived from Kamehameha II that Charlton was to be allowed to build a house, or houses, any place he wished and should be made comfortable.  This apparently was due to favors Charlton had done for the royal party.  (Hawaiʻi State Archives)

In 1840, Charlton made a claim for several parcels of land in Honolulu. To substantiate his claim, Charlton produced a 299-year lease for the land in question, granted by Kalanimōku.  There was no disagreement over the parcel, Wailele, on which Charlton lived, but the adjoining parcel he claimed, Pūlaholaho, had been occupied since 1826 by retainers and heirs of Kaʻahumanu.

In rejecting Charlton’s claim, Kamehameha III cited the fact that Kalanimōku did not have the authority to grant the lease.  At the time the lease was made, Kaʻahumanu was Kuhina Nui, and only she and the king could make such grants.  The land was Kaʻahumanu's in the first place, and Kalanimōku certainly could not give it away.  (Hawaiʻi State Archives)  The dispute dragged on for years.

This, and other grievances purported by Charlton and the British community in Hawai‘i, led to the landing of George Paulet on February 11, 1843 "for the purpose of affording protection to British subjects, as likewise to support the position of Her Britannic Majesty's representative here".

On February 25, the King acceded to his demands and noted, "In consequence of the difficulties in which we find ourselves involved, and our opinion of the impossibility of complying with the demands in the manner in which they are made ... "

"... we do hereby cede the group of islands known as the Hawaiian (or Sandwich) Islands, unto the Right Honorable Lord George Paulet ... the said cession being made with the reservation that it is subject to any arrangement that may have been entered into by the Representatives appointed by us to treat with the Government of Her Britannic Majesty..."

Under the terms of the new government the King and his advisers continued to administer the affairs of the Hawaiian population.  For business dealing with foreigners, a commission was created, consisting of the King (or his representative,) Paulet and two officers from Paulet’s ship.  Judd served as the representative of the King.  (Daws)

On April 1, 1843, Lord Aberdeen, on behalf of Her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria, assured the Hawaiian delegation that: “Her Majesty's Government was willing and had determined to recognize the independence of the Sandwich Islands under their present sovereign."

On November 28, 1843, the British and French Governments united in a joint declaration and entered into a formal agreement recognizing Hawaiian independence (Lord Aberdeen signed on behalf of Britain, French ambassador Louis Saint-Aulaire signed on behalf of France.)

After five months of British rule, Queen Victoria, on learning the injustice done, immediately sent Rear Admiral Richard Darton Thomas to the islands to restore sovereignty to its rightful rulers. On July 31, 1843 the Hawaiian flag was raised.  The ceremony was held in area known as Kulaokahuʻa; the site of the ceremony was turned into a park Thomas Square.  After five-months of occupation, the Hawaiian Kingdom was restored.

July 31, 1843 is now referred to as Ka La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day, and it is celebrated each year in the approximate site of the 1843 ceremonies.  The plot of land on which the ceremonies took place was known as Thomas Square. Kamehameha III later officially gave this name to the area and dedicated it as a public park.

“In the afternoon Kamehameha III went in a solemn procession with his chiefs to Kawaiahaʻo Church ...A ten-day celebration of Restoration Day followed, and was annually observed. The last of the Restoration Day celebrations came in 1847.”  A thousand special riders, five abreast ... were followed by 2,500 regular horsemen ...” (Helena G Allen)

As the procession crossed Beretania street on Nuʻuanu royal salutes were fired from the fort and the king's yacht, the Kamehameha III. They were headed to Kaniakapūpū, Kamehameha III’s summer home.  (Thrum)

Kaniakapūpū (translated roughly as “sound (or song) of the land shells” sits on land in the Luakaha area of Nuʻuanu Valley.  The structure at Kaniakapūpū (modeled on an Irish stone cottage) was completed in 1845 and is reportedly built on top or in the vicinity of an ancient heiau.  It was a simple cottage, a square with four straight walls.

The royal party reached the picnic grounds at about 11 o'clock in a pouring rain; in fact it rained in occasional showers throughout the day … A man stationed at the first bridge for the express purpose, counted 4,000 horses going up the valley and 4,600 returning-visitors from Koʻolau making the difference in numbers.  (Thrum)

Before dinner, which was set for 2 pm, the guests were entertained with some of the ancient games - a mock fight with spears ; the lua, hand to hand combat, and the hakoko, or wrestling match.

The dinner - the feeding of the immense crowd of men, women and children - was a sight to be remembered. Henry St John, the king's steward, had the care of this department, and he well understood his business.

For the foreign guests, who were not supposed to squat on the mats with natives, tables were provided in the cottage, where was an abundant supply of food cooked in foreign style, but the multitude were fed in the long lanais, at the far end of which was seated the royal party, the ministers and chiefs.

First there was singing of hymns by a choir of native school children, led by Messrs. Marshall and Frank Johnson, to airs that sounded sweetly to New England ears. Grace before meat was solemnly said by John Ii, and then, on a signal from the king, the assembly went vigorously to work on the immense stores of food before them.

While the feast was going on, several old women in the immediate neighborhood of where the king sat, kept up a constant chanting of metes - native poems - in his honor and that of his ancestors, accompanying the chant with gyrations and motions of the arms. And in the evening, after the most of the company had departed, a company of hula girls gave a "concert" with their attendant drum and calabash beaters.  (Thrum)

In the evening there were religious services at Kawaiahaʻo church, which was filled to overflowing, the king and queen being present. A sermon apropos of the occasion was preached by Rev. Richard Armstrong, the text being taken from Psalms 37, 3 – ‘Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.’ There could have been no question but that his hearers had been fed on that day.  (Lots here from Thrum)

The image shows ruins of Kaniakapūpū, the summer home of Kamehameha III and site of the luau for 10,000.   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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Kimo Pelekane

James Isaac Dowsett was born to Samuel James Dowsett (born in Rochester, Kent, England 1794 – lost at sea in 1834) and Mary Bishop Dowsett (Rochester, Kent, England; 1808 – 1860) in Honolulu, December 15, 1829 (said to have been the first white child, not of missionary parentage, born in Hawaiʻi.

Samuel and Mary married in Australia. A ship captain, Samuel did shipping business in Australia and was into whaling. Samuel first arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1822 when he was first officer of the “Mermaid,” accompanying the “Prince Regent,” a gift-ship from King George IV of England to King Kamehameha I, promised to the King by George Vancouver.

Samuel returned with his wife on July 17, 1828, arriving on the brig Wellington; they set up their home in Hawaiʻi at that time.  Samuel and Mary had 4 children, James, Samuel Henry, Elizabeth Jane and Deborah Melville.

“The house in which (James) first saw the light of day and which was built by his father, still stands and is occupied. It is the 2-story building in Union street, next to the old bell tower fire station.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898; the house is now gone)

During his youth, Dowsett was a playmate of Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V and future King Lunalilo.  James was less than five years old when in 1834 his father sailed away on a pearl fishing expedition and was lost at sea.

In his school days Dowsett was associated with Romualdo Pacheco (who later became Governor California; Pacheco was sent to Hawaiʻi from California to be educated in the islands, a custom followed extensively in early days by parents who sought the best schools for their children.)

Dowsett was hardly more than twelve when he was hired by the Hudson's Bay Co, but continued his schooling on the side. (His mother refused offers of remarriage and remained a widow until her death.)  In the early-1860s he entered the whaling business, owning a fleet of whaling ships.

“He did not care for public office. Had he yearned for political preferment, any office was at his disposal for many years. He was appointed a Noble of the Kingdom by Kamehameha III and was friend and confident of Kamehameha IV and V.”

“His advice was often sought by the monarchs and was given as one entirely disinterested and be held the trust of those in the highest positions as well as the implicit confidence of the common people. He was a great favorite with the native Hawaiians and spoke their language beautifully.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)  The Hawaiians called him "Kimo Pelekane" (Jim the Englishman.)

Besides his whaling activities, Mr. Dowsett engaged in the lumber business and owned a fleet of schooners and small steamers operating between the islands.

Dowsett also had extensive ranching interests; properties now occupied by Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter, Wheeler Army Airfield and Lualualei were once pastures for Dowsett’s cattle and horses.  He also once owned ʻUlupalakua Ranch.

He was engaged in ranching as early as 1850, and a medal was awarded him at the Agricultural Fair at the time for the best pair of “working oxen.” Dowsett was the first rancher to import Aberdeen Angus stock to Hawaiʻi.

Puʻuloa Salt Works (property of Dowsett) “are at the west side of the entrance to Pearl River, and the windmill is a prominent object in the landscape as we enter. It is also one of the guides in steeling vessels inward.  On the eastern side and opposite to the Puʻuloa buildings, is the fishery, where are a number of buildings inhabited by Chinamen.”  (Daily Bulletin, January 6, 1889)

Dowsett married Annie Green Ragsdale of Honolulu and they were the parents of thirteen children, James Isaac, Jr, Alexander, Phoebe K, Edward Ragsdale, Mary K, Alexander Cartwright, Annie K, Elizabeth Jane, David A, Rowena N, Samuel Henry K, Marion C and Genevieve N.

“Mr. Dowsett was a man of kindly, genial disposition. It was a habit of his for a number of years to make a trip to Waikiki each evening in a street car. It was genuine treat to be a passenger with him.”

“It was a study for one not acquainted with him to watch him in the car and to see all the natives and even the Chinese pay their respects to him on entering the car. Everybody knew who he was and strangers liked him in advance, while those who came to speaking terms with him valued the privilege.”

“He was a quick thinker and an excellent reasoner and while not a talkative man was always willing to supply any information from his great storehouse that might be useful to another or that might interest an inquirer.”

“He knew the town, the people and the country. He never left the Islands but once in his whole life and then four days in San Francisco was enough of life in foreign parts. He was a perfect encyclopedia of history and biography not only of Honolulu and Oahu, but of the entire group.”

“The common suggestion to one in search of obscure historical data was to go to Mr. Dowsett and he never failed. He could always supply day and date and all required details.”   (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)

Dowsett was one of the founders of the British Club, now the Pacific Club of Honolulu, and was a trustee of The Queen’s Hospital from its establishment.

Dowsett took on Chung Kun Ai as his protégé, allowing Ai to use a portion of his warehouse, and Ai started importing cigars, tea, peanut oil, shoe nails and other items. Ai and others later started City Mill, a rice milling and lumber importing business in Chinatown, Honolulu.  The City Mill building on Nimitz was dedicated to Dowsett.

“Dowsett saw the grass hut replaced by the stone business block and the taro patch filled up for mansion site. He saw the little paths become fine streets and the broad and barren plains thickly populated districts. He saw the life of a nation change. ... Through all this he was a close observer and always on the side of what was right and just.”   (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)

Dowsett died on June 14, 1898; “news of the death of Mr. Dowsett had been sent all over the Island and the Hawaiians in large numbers joined the throng of haoles calling to pay respects and offer consolation.”

“The older Hawaiians could not restrain themselves at all and gave vent to floods of tears and to strange wailings. They were overpowered and overcome by the thought that no more would they have the friendly greeting, the certain and reliable advice or the material assistance of the one who had been their reliance at all times and upon all occasions for so many years.”     (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)

Subsequent Dowsett generations were also generous; in 1930, Herbert M. Dowsett, Llewellyn F Dowsett and Aileen Dowsett White donated 7-acres and their family estate on Punahou Street to the Shriners Hospital.  Dowsett Avenue and Ragsdale Place in Dowsett Tract and Highlands in Nuʻuanu are named after James and Annie.

The image shows James Isaac Dowsett (Hawaiian Gazette.) 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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Waipuhia

Huli ae au e nana ia Waipuhia, ua moni ia kona mau huna wai e ka makani ; me he lauoho kalole la i luhe i ka makani, i kiaweawe makalii i ka lau o ke kawelu, ka puaki i ka pua o ka ahihi o Malailua. (Kamakau, Ka Nūpepa Kū‘oko‘a, July 13, 1865)

I turned and looked at Waipuhia; its fine droplets of water were being absorbed by the wind. Like straight hair drooping in the wind, it streamed finely down the leaves of the kawelu grass and gathered on the blossoms of the ‘āhihi of Malailua.  (Kamakau; Cultural Surveys)

A story is told in the legend of two children who lived on two hills, one in Nuʻuanu and one in Kalihi.

The boy would visit his playmate on the neighboring hill.

When the girl’s godmother, who was the mist of the valley, saw how happy this made the girl, she enveloped the boy in a mist so he could not leave and return home.

The boy’s parents thought that the boy was dead and went on with their lives.

However, the parents angered the “Lady of the Ferns” a goddess of Kalihi Pass, when they collected lehua, sacred to this goddess, for their lei and forgot to make an offering.

The goddess summoned a horrendous storm to strike the family on its hill.

The cries of his family woke the boy from his spell and he tried to return home, but the lady created a great wind that picked him up and killed him. When the boy did not return, the girl began to weep.

“… lo! Her tears were wafted into the air. They rose in a silvery mist, and to this day the maiden weeps and the mist of her tears rises to caress the spirit voice of her youthful love.”  (Raphaelson; Cultural Surveys)

Waipuhia (blown water,) near the mauka boundary of Nuʻuanu Valley, are more commonly called the “Upside Down Waterfalls.”

At normal times (with typical tradewinds,) the falls only appear after a rain, and the water from the falls never reaches the base of the cliff; it is “blown” up by the winds and “in midair, it suddenly changes its course and rises upward to a cloud of mist”.

The image shows Waipuhia (on a rain-free day,) above and behind the car (early-1900s.)  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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Nuʻuanu

In 1872, some referred to it as “Missionary Street,” although the Missionary Period had ended about 10-years earlier (the Missionary Period was from 1820 – 1863.)

You might more accurately call it the home of the elite, and that is not limited to folks of the Caucasian persuasion – both Kauikeaouli and Emma had summer residences here and included in the list of successful business people who called it home were the Afongs and others.

But you can’t help concluding the strong demand to live there based on early descriptions – even Realtors, today, would be envious of the descriptors Ellis used in 1831: “The scenery is romantic and delightful.”

“Across this plain, immediately opposite the harbour of Honoruru, lies the valley of Anuanu (Nuʻuanu,) leading to a pass in the mountains, called by the natives Ka Pari (Pali,) the precipice, which is well worth the attention of every intelligent foreigner visiting Oahu.”  (Ellis, 1831)

“The mouth of the valley, which opens immediately behind the town of Honoruru, is a complete garden, carefully kept by its respective proprietors in a state of high cultivation; and the ground, being irrigated by the water from a river that winds rapidly down the valley, is remarkably productive.”  (Ellis, 1831)

Over sixty years later (1897,) Stoddard keeps the demand momentum going by adding, “The way lies through shady avenues, between residences that stand in the midst of broad lawns and among foliage of the most brilliant description. An infinite variety of palms and tropical plants, with leaves of enormous circumference, diversify the landscape.”

Today, the descriptors of the past hold true – and the place is high in the demand (and price,) just as it was nearly two centuries ago.

So, who were some of the people who called this place home?

As noted, an early resident of Nuʻuanu was Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III.  Consistent with tradition, his home had a name, Kaniakapūpū (sound or song of the land snail;) it was located back up into the valley at Luakaha.

Ruins today, the structure, modeled on an Irish stone cottage, was completed in 1845 and is reportedly built on top or in the vicinity of an ancient heiau.  It was a simple cottage, a square with four straight walls.

Another royal, Queen Emma, had a “mountain” home, Hānaiakamālama (Lit., the foster child of the light (or moon,)) now known as the Queen Emma Summer Palace.  In 1857, she inherited it from her uncle, John Young II, son of the famous advisor to Kamehameha I, John Young I.

The ‘Summer Palace’ was modeled in the Greek Revival style. It has a formal plan arrangement, wide central hall, high ceilings and floor-length hinged, in-swinging shuttered casement window.  The Daughters of Hawaiʻi saved it from demolition and it is now operated as a museum and open to the public (a nominal admission fee is charged.)

On the private side, the following are only a few of the several notable residences (existing, or long gone,) in Nuʻuanu Valley.

A notable home is the “Walker Estate;” one of the few intact estates that were built in the upper Nuʻuanu Valley before and after the turn of the century (built in 1905,) it is a two story wood frame structure of Classical Revival style.  (NPS)

The home on the 5.7-acre estate was initially built for the Rodiek family, a leading businessman in Honolulu. Due to war time pressures on the family, who were German citizens, the home was sold in 1918 to Wilcox who lived there into the 1930s, when it was taken over by Henry Alexander Walker, president and chairman of the Board of Amfac (one of the Hawaiʻi Big Five businesses.)

The grounds were originally used for orchards and vegetables, although the Japanese garden was put in shortly after the house was built and is thought to be the oldest formal Japanese garden in Hawaiʻi, the stones, lamps and images specially brought from Japan for it.  (NPS)

Another notable home is former Governor George Carter’s “Lihiwai” (water’s edge.)  In the late-1920s, Carter built his 26,000-square feet home; it is reportedly “the largest and finest private residence ever constructed in Hawaiʻi (with the exception of ʻIolani Palace.)”  (NPS)

The entire building is built of shaped bluestone set in concrete and steel reinforced cement, and all the perimeter walls are 2 – 3-feet thick with the exception of the end walls, which are 6-feet thick.  It is constructed entirely of bluestone, concrete, steel, copper, bronze and teak.

Originally, the building was connected to two smaller structures — by a breezeway on the eastern side and by the porte-cochere on the western side (these structures were separated in 1957.)  The property was originally 10-acres, but portions were subdivided and sold in 1945 after the death of Helen Strong Carter. Today, the property includes the original house on a little over 1-acre.   (The home is undergoing restoration.)

A home long gone, but we are repeatedly reminded of it in on-the-air marketing for senior living in Nuʻuanu, is “Craigside.”  This was the home of Theophilus Harris Davies.  Not only was Davies’ firm, Theo H Davies, one of the Hawaiʻi Big Five, he personally served as guardian to Princess Kaʻiulani while she was studying in England (Davies had another home there – “Sundown.”)

Likewise, just up the hill, was the Paty house “Buena Vista;” it’s now gone and part of the Wyllie Street interchange with Pali Highway.  (Look for the parallel palms in the yard of the immediately-makai ‘Community Church of Honolulu.’  They used to line the Paty driveway, with the house off to the left (mauka.)

During the Spanish American War, the military took over Buena Vista and turned it into the Nuʻuanu Valley Military Hospital (also known as "Buena Vista Hospital.")

Just mauka of Buena Vista (now also part of the Wyllie-Nuʻuanu interchange) was Robert Crichton Wyllie’ “Rosebank.”  Wyllie first worked as acting British Consul. Attracted by Wyllie’s devotion to the affairs of Hawaiʻi, in 1845, King Kamehameha III appointed him the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Kamehameha IV reappointed all the ministers who were in office when Kamehameha III died, including Robert C Wyllie as Minister of Foreign Relations (he was in Hawaiʻi from 1844 until his death in 1865.)  Wyllie served as Minister of Foreign Relations from 1845 until his death in 1865, serving under Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V.

Finally, a home of a missionary, Dr. Gerrit Parmele Judd, “Sweet Home” was located at the intersection of Nuʻuanu and Judd.   Judd was in the 3rd company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (he was in Hawaiʻi from 1828 until his death in 1873.)  After serving the mission for 15-years, Judd was translator and later Minister of Foreign Affairs, member of the House of Nobles and Privy Council, and Minister of Finance under Kamehameha III.

Wife Laura Judd once noted, “we were supposed to be rich,” but insisted they had never been so poor, being obliged to borrow money to pay for carpenters and masons.  (Scott, Saga)  The house was torn down in 1911 and the property became part of what is now Oʻahu Cemetery.

The image in an 1888 map of Nuʻuanu Valley indicating the location of the homes discussed here.    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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Harry and Billy

Flowing water turned wheels to grind wheat into flour more than 2,000-years ago.  Back then, wind was also turning windmills for grinding and pumping water.  Fast forward to the mid-1700s, a French hydraulic engineer wrote of the development of the science of hydraulics.

Beginning with Benjamin Franklin's experiment with a kite one stormy night in Philadelphia, the principles of electricity gradually became understood.

In 1880, a brush arc light dynamo driven by a water turbine was used to provide theater and storefront lighting in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and in 1881, a brush dynamo connected to a turbine in a flour mill provided street lighting at Niagara Falls, New York.

Before light bulbs, outdoor lighting was via arc lights (lamps that produce light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc – through two electrodes separated by a gas.))

The world's first public electrical supply was provided in late-1881, when the streets of the Surrey town of Godalming in the UK were lit with electric light.

That system was powered from a water wheel on the River Wey and supplied a number of arc lamps within the town. The supply scheme also provided electricity to a number of shops and premises to light 34-incandescent Swan light bulbs.

In 1882, water from the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin served the first operational hydroelectric generating station in the United States, producing 12.5 kilowatts of power; the total electrical capacity generated was equivalent to 250-lights.

Shortly thereafter, hydroelectricity that powered public electric lighting made its way to Hawaiʻi.

“This has been a work of great labor and anxiety, and was really only brought to a completion on Monday night. Some days previous to that the Waterworks staff … had laid the necessary piping, bringing the water into the Electric building … was to be turned into the new wheel for the first time in these islands”.  (Daily Bulletin, March 21, 1888)

“The conditions of electrical power transmission have been thoroughly studied by competent engineers, and are now so well understood that those conversant with the practical aspects of the subject are well assured that within a few years even the smallest towns and villages will supply themselves with electric light and power plants.”

“The management of an electric power plant requires no unusual scientific knowledge. Once the station has been established it can be carried on by the ordinarily intelligent class of mechanics and workmen who are to be found in every village.”  (Daily Bulletin, March 26, 1888)

“Punctually at 7 pm yesterday (March 23, 1888,) the Princess Liliʻuokalani and Princess Kaʻiulani, attended by His Excellency the Hon. LA Thurston, Minister of Interior, arrived at the Electric Light Station in the Valley and was there received by the Superintendent Mr. Faulkner and Mr. Eassie.”    (Daily Bulletin, March 24, 1888)

“The moon three quarters full rose brightly in the sky Friday night.  The usually dark streets were softly lighted by the lunar rays.  Speculation was rife as to whether the electric lights would be turned on or not as it had been announced previously that Friday evening would witness a new era in the civic history of Honolulu.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, March 27, 1888)

 “A few minutes after 7, HRH (Kaʻiulani) was accommodate with a chair for her feet and under the guidance of Mr. Superintendent Faulkner in full working costume connected the circuits and had the honor of illumining the streets of Honolulu for the first time with the new light.”

“Suddenly as the sun emerging from behind a cloud brightens and gladdens the face of nature, did the turning of that wheel brighten and gladden the anxious intellectual mirrors of the assembled cognoscenti. The work and anxiety of the last few weeks was at an end.”

“Mr. Faulkner immediately hurried away to the town to see the lamps some of which were not burning, but after the lapse of half an hour or so, he had the satisfaction of seeing that all with the exception of 3 or 4 were glowing brightly and steadily; and it is confidently expected that to-night all the lights will burn from the jump.”  (Daily Bulletin, March 24, 1888)

"At 7:30 pm the sound of excitement in the streets brought citizens, printers, policemen and all other nocturnal fry rushing outdoors to see what was up. And what they did see was Honolulu lighted by electricity. The long looked for and anxiously expected moment had arrived.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, March 27, 1888)

“The lamps are of 2,000-candle power each arranged to burn one side at a time each carbon lasting from six to seven hours. After a carbon is burned out the current is automatically transferred by a lever which immediately trips the other side of the carbon and then that one burns six to seven hours.”

“The Electrical Works are just two and a half miles from Merchant Street up the Nuʻuanu Valley. On a knoll by the roadside on the way to the Pali stands a neatly finished dwelling house thirty three feet front by twenty-seven feet wide the residence of the superintendent and engineer.”

“A few yards to the rear rises an unpretentious looking two story building dimensions forty feet long by thirty feet wide and thirty five feet high to the peak of the roof where the motors and machinery of the electric works are in operation.”

“The water pressure at the wheel is 130-pounds to the square inch. The water power in its impact on the wheel is regulated by a governor operating exactly like that of a steam engine. By the time the turbine is reached the water has come rushing through 6,000-feet of pipe from the head source which is 300-feet above the level of the main in the building.”

“It is estimated that the discharge of water into the turbine is at present 2,000,000-gallons every 24-hours but that the discharge may be 3,000,000-gallons if required.”

“The turbine makes 1,275-revolutions per minute and is equivalent to a 130-horse power engine.  The revolution of the turbine is communicated to the dynamo motors on the second floor by belting. The two dynamos are respectively 42 and 10-horse power.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, March 27, 1888)

“Before closing this brief account of the event at the station we feel bound to offer one or two remarks on what can be only regarded as a strange anomaly, that at this late period in the history of science and amongst persons of high intelligence and practical experience and scientific attainments there should have been one who could dive into the dim recesses of superstitious gloom and having found what he wanted remarked that the wheel would have no luck unless it were christened.”

“There was such a one and he no Scotchman, and he had brought his tools with him in the shape of a bottle of ‘potheen,’ (whiskey) but the strangeness of the anomaly was nothing to the strangeness of the alacrity with which the assembled few agreed with that person and the strange appreciation they showed for the ‘potheen.’”

“Suffice it to say that the wheel was christened and its health drunk with heartily expressed wishes for its success. This took place on the ground floor - the distinguished company was above.”  (Daily Bulletin, March 24, 1888)

A year later, the first of a handful of houses and businesses had electricity. By 1890, this luxury had been extended to 797 of Honolulu's homes.

It’s interesting to note that the first electric lighting was installed in the White House in 1891 – after ʻIolani Palace (1886.)  (Contrary to urban legend that it also pre-dated the British palace, Buckingham Palace had electricity prior to ʻIolani Palace.  It was first installed in the Ball Room in 1883, and between 1883 and 1887 electricity was extended throughout Buckingham Palace.)

Oh, “Harry and Billy” in the title?

“Mr F (Faulkner) has two dynamos here the larger known as Harry and the smaller as Billy. Harry supplies power to 50 arc lights - Billy only runs 12 but Billy is getting old, having been working in America 8 years ago.”  (Daily Bulletin, March 21, 1888)

A special thanks to John Wehrheim for images (past and present) of the Nuʻuanu Hydroelectric facility.

The image shows the initial Nuʻuanu Hydroelectric plant (1887.)  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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Morgan’s Corner

An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true.

As with all folklore and mythology, the designation suggests nothing about the story's genuineness, but merely that it is in circulation, exhibits variation over time and carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it.

For one, the scenarios are the same:
  •  A couple parks on a dark, isolated road (or a Lover’s Lane)
  •  The car won’t start
  •  The girlfriend gets spooked
  •  The boyfriend says he’ll go get help
  •  He tells her not to go out, no matter what
  •  He doesn’t return
  •  There’s a strange scratching or tapping sound on the car roof
  •  Finally, the Police help her out, but tells her not to look back
  •  The boy is hanging from the tree

Sound familiar?

It’s the basis for the “Morgan’s Corner” spooky story at the Pali.  It’s also the foundation for similar stories across the country.  It may have some basis of fact some place, but no records indicate this ever happening here in Hawaiʻi.

Having said that, reportedly, some UH folks went to the reputed Morgan’s Corner on the Windward side of Old Pali Road and “took photographs looking up into the tree, and when the film was developed, the seventh frame contained a large white object.”

“The photographer, 10 witnesses and the chemical laboratory that analyzed the image for processing errors vouched for the image's authenticity. … it appeared to be a body hanging from the tree, photographed from below.”  (Burlingame)

Hmmm.

Wait … there really is a ‘Morgan’s Corner’ (well, sort of.)  And, a murder did happen there; and, it’s on the Old Pali Road (on the town side of the Pali.)

This story ended with a change in a significant law in the Islands.

It happened at the “S” turn on Nuʻuanu Pali Drive.  Dr Morgan lived on the mauka side of the road – but the story is not about him.

Across the street, at 3939 Pali Road (now known as Nuʻuanu Pali Drive – where a condo project now sits, just above the small waterfall) lived Mrs Therese Adele Wilder (widow of William Chauncey “Chan” Wilder.)  That’s where this story took place.

On March 11, 1948, inmates James Majors (21) and John Palakiko (19) escaped from a prison work crew.  They made their way to Nuʻuanu and, looking for food, they came across – and into – Wilder’s home.

Wilder, in her late-60s, was attacked – she died.

“Her hands were bound, she was gagged, and there were traces of what appeared to be dried blood about her nose and mouth. There was evidence of a blow on the head, but (her physician) said that she might have died from suffocation brought about by the gag which the intruders forced into her mouth.”  (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, March 16, 1948)

Majors and Palakiko were charged.  There was public hysteria, irate community leaders, newspaper calls for “swift justice” and, later, confessions from the two.

Both men were convicted and sentenced to hang.

So, what about the significant law change?

Between August 18, 1897 and September 16, 1943, 47 people were executed at Oʻahu Prison under Hawai‘i’s capital punishment law.  All were male.

They ranged in age from 19 to 61. One was Caucasian, 3 were Hawaiian, 24 were Filipino, 10 were Japanese, 6 were Korean and 3 were Puerto Rican.  (hawaii-edu)

The last recorded execution in Hawai‘i had occurred on January 7, 1944.

With respect to the Majors-Palakiko case, while Honolulu attorney Harriet Bouslog had not represented the men at trial, she had followed it closely.

On the eve of the scheduled execution, she swiftly took up the death-row appeals after being challenged by a friend at a dinner party: “I’ll bet you can’t do anything about it.”

She convinced Territorial Governor, Oren E Long, to grant a brief stay of execution. Even after “the lengthiest hearing in the history” of the Territorial Supreme Court, Bouslog failed to obtain relief.

She immediately filed an appeal and requested a stay of execution. … It was 4 am. The prisoners were being given last rites.

Appeals to the federal Court of Appeals and to the United States Supreme Court followed without success.  (hawaii-edu)

However, the lengthy legal process enabled a groundswell of public support for the two to develop, especially when folks learned of claims of police brutality and forced confessions.

In 1954, new governor, Samuel W King, granted a commutation of both sentences to life in prison.

Following this, the legislature passed House Bill 706 on June 4, 1957.  It called for revising the law relating to capital punishment by providing “a sentence of imprisonment at hard labor for life not subject to parole.”

Governor King signed it the following day, thus abolishing the death penalty in Hawaiʻi.

Then, in 1962, Governor John Burns pardoned the men (after their executions had been stayed five times.)

The image shows the Star Bulletin front page story of Mrs. Wilder's death.  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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The Last Battle

Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, winning his first major skirmish in the battle of Mokuʻōhai (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 at Keʻei, south of Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawaiʻi.)  Kiwalaʻo was killed.

By 1795, having fought his last major battle at Nuʻuanu on O‘ahu with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms (with the exception of Kaua‘i).

Then, Kamehameha launched his first invasion attempt on Kaua‘i in April of 1796. About one-fourth of the way across the ocean channel between O‘ahu and Kaua‘i a storm thwarted Kamehameha’s warriors when many of their canoes were swamped in the rough seas and stormy winds, and then were forced to turn back.

With Hawaiʻi Island under Kamehameha’s control, conflict, there, supposedly ended with the death of Keōua at Kawaihae Harbor in early-1792 and the placement of the vanquished chief’s body in the Heiau ‘o Puʻukoholā at Kawaihae.

However, after a short time, another chief entered into a power dispute with Kamehameha; his name was Nāmakehā (the brother of Kaʻiana, a chief of Kauaʻi who had been killed in the Battle of Nuʻuanu.)

Previously, 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 request.

Instead, Nāmakehā prepared a rebellion against Kamehameha to take place on Hawai‘i Island.

Hostilities erupted between the two that lasted from September 1796 to January 1797.

Kamehameha, on Oʻahu at the time, returned to his home island of Hawaiʻi with the bulk of his army to suppress the rebellion.  The battle took place at Kaipalaoa, Hilo.

Kamehameha defeated Nāmakehā.  The undisputed sovereignty of Kamehameha was thus established over the entire Island chain (except Kauaʻi and Niʻihau.)

This was the final battle fought by Kamehameha to unite the archipelago.  (Kamehameha negotiated a settlement with King Kaumualiʻi for the control of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, in 1810.)

Although Kamehameha’s warriors had won the battle over Nāmakehā, they then turned their rage upon the villages and families of the vanquished. It so happens that this included the family of ʻŌpūkahaʻia, who had had supported Nāmakehā.  They fled to the mountains and hid for several days in a cave.

The warriors found the family and ultimately killed ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s parents and infant brother.  (ʻŌpūkahaʻia was captured, later trained as a Kahuna under his uncle, traveled to the continent and ultimately turned to Christianity and was the inspiration for the American missionaries to come to Hawaiʻi.)

Interestingly, it was about the same time of the Nāmakehā Rebellion that Kamehameha decreed Ke Kānāwai Māmalahoe (The Law of the Splintered Paddle.)

A story suggests that Kamehameha I was fighting on the Island of Hawaiʻi.  Chasing a couple fishermen (presumably with the intention to kill them), his leg was caught in the reef and, in defense, one of the fisherman hit him on the head with a paddle, which broke into pieces.

Kamehameha was able to escape (because the fisherman fled, rather than finishing him off.)  The story continues that Kamehameha learned from this experience and saw that it was wrong to misuse power by attacking innocent people.

Later, Kamehameha summoned the two fishermen.  When they came, he pardoned them and admitted his mistake by proclaiming a new law, Kānāwai Māmalahoe - Law of the Splintered Paddle.

The original 1797 law:

Kānāwai Māmalahoe (in Hawaiian:):

E nā kānaka,
E mālama ʻoukou i ke akua
A e mālama hoʻi ke kanaka nui a me kanaka iki;
E hele ka ‘elemakule, ka luahine, a me ke kama
A moe i ke ala
‘A‘ohe mea nāna e ho‘opilikia.
Hewa nō, make.

Law of the Splintered Paddle (English translation:)

Oh people,
Honor thy gods;
Respect alike [the rights of]
People both great and humble;
See to it that our aged,
Our women and our children
Lie down to sleep by the roadside
Without fear of harm.
Disobey, and die.

Kamehameha’s Law of the Splintered Paddle of 1797 is enshrined in the State constitution, Article 9, Section 10:  “Let every elderly person, woman and child lie by the roadside in safety”.  It has become a model for modern human rights law regarding the treatment of civilians and other non-combatants.

Kānāwai Māmalahoe appears as a symbol of crossed paddles in the center of the badge of the Honolulu Police Department.  A plaque, facing mauka on the Kamehameha Statue outside Ali‘iōlani Hale in Honolulu, notes the Law of the Splintered Paddle.

The image shows Kamehameha, as depicted by Herb Kane.    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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ʻAuwai

In pre-Captain Cook times, kalo (taro) played a vital role in Hawaiian culture. It was not only the Hawaiians’ staple food but the cultivation of kalo was at the very core of Hawaiian culture and identity.

Taro can be cultivated by two very different methods. Upland, or dryland, taro is planted in non-flooded areas that are fed by rainfall. Lowland, or wetland, taro is grown in water-saturated fields.

The early Hawaiians probably planted kalo in marshes near the mouths of rivers. Over years of progressive expansion of kalo lo‘i (flooded taro patches) up slopes and along rivers, kalo cultivation in Hawai‘i reached a unique level of engineering and sustainable sophistication.

Kalo lo‘i systems are typically a set of adjoining terraces that are typically reinforced with stone walls and soil berms. Wetland taro thrives on flooded conditions, and cool, circulating water is optimal for taro growth, thus a system may include one or more ʻauwai (irrigation ditches) to divert water into and out of the planting area.  (McElroy)

Most important in the system of distribution of water for application to the soil were the main ditches diverting the water from natural streams. Each of these large ʻauwai was authorized and planned by the King or by one or more chiefs or konohiki whose lands were to be watered thereby, the work of excavation being under the direction of the chief providing the largest number of men.  (Perry, Hawaiʻi Supreme Court)

The ʻauwai construction and maintenance formed foundations around which an entire economy, class system, and culture functioned.  The ʻauwai, lo‘i and the taro plant’s mythical and spiritual connections in Hawaiian society influenced individual and social activity within the ahupua‘a.  (Handy, HART)

Taro cultivation affected many aspects of Hawaiian life: the labor required to build and maintain the ʻauwai; the shared water rights; and tributes to the Mō‘ī and to the chiefs (Ali‘i.)  (Handy, HART)

All ʻauwai had a proper name, and were generally called after either the land, or the chief of the land that had furnished the most men, or had mainly been instrumental in the inception, planning and carrying out of the required work. All ʻauwai tapping the main stream were done under the authority of a konohiki of an ahupuaʻa.  (Nakuina, Thrum)

ʻAuwai were generally dug from makai - seaward or below - upwards. The konohiki who had the supervision of the work having previously marked out where it would probably enter the stream, the diggers worked up to that point.

The different representatives in the ahupuaʻa taking part in the work furnished men according to the number of kalo growers on each land.  (The quantity of water awarded to irrigate the loʻi was according to the number of workers and the amount of work put into the building of the ʻauwai.)

Dams that diverted water from the stream were a low loose wall of stones with a few clods here and there, high enough only to raise water sufficiently to flow into the ʻauwai, which should enter it at almost a level. No ʻauwai was permitted to take more water than continued to flow in the stream below the dam (i.e. no more than half.)

Use of the water was regulated by time increments, which varied from a few hours each day for a small kalo patch to two or three days for a kalo plantation. By rotation with others on the ʻauwai, a grower would divert water from the ʻauwai into his kalo. The next, in turn, would draw off water for his allotted period of time.  (KSBE)

The ʻauwai primarily existed to support taro cultivation.   Other crops, such as sweet potatoes, bananas or sugar cane, were regarded as dry land crops dependent on rainfall.  Sugar cane and bananas were almost always planted on loʻi banks (kuauna) to receive moisture seeping through.  (Nakuina, Thrum)

ʻAuwai varied in size and structure depending on the number and size of lo‘i they irrigated. In smaller lo‘i, water could be directed from one terrace into the next below it. However, larger lo‘i required individual ʻauwai capable of carrying more water. In more complex systems, these might be branches from another ʻauwai, often connected to the same source.  (HART)

An early description of ʻauwai is from explorer Nathaniel Portlock, noting the Kauaʻi ʻauwai in 1787, “This excursion gave me a fresh opportunity of admiring the amazing ingenuity and industry of the natives in laying out the taro and sugar-cane grounds; the greatest part of which are made up on the banks of the river, with exceeding good causeways made with stones and earth, leading up the valleys to each plantation; the taro beds are in general a quarter of a mile over, dammed in, and they have a place on one part of the bank, that serves as a gateway.”

“When the rains commence, which is in the winter season, the river swells with the torrents from the mountains, and overflowed their taro-beds; and when the rains are over, and the rivers decrease, the dams are stopped up, and the water kept in to nourish the taro and sugar-cane during the dry season; the water in the beds is generally about one foot and a half, or two feet, over a muddy bottom … the taro also grows frequently as large as a man’s head.”

Another early description of ʻauwai and loʻi is from Otto von Kotzebue, a Russian naval officer who was in the Islands in 1816, "The artificial taro fields, which may justly be called taro lakes, excited my attention. … I have seen whole mountains covered with such fields, through which water gradually flowed; each sluice formed a small cascade which ran ... into the next pond, and afforded an extremely picturesque prospect."

The burden of maintaining the ditches fell upon those whose lands were watered; failure to contribute their due share of service rendering the delinquent hoaʻāina (tenant) subject to temporary suspension or to entire deprivation of their water rights or even to total dispossession of their lands.  (YaleLawJournal)

In some ʻauwai, not all of the water was used; after irrigating a few patches the ditch returned the remainder of the water to the stream.  (YaleLawJournal)

One notable ʻauwai, with water still flowing through it (however, the loʻi kalo is long gone) is in Nuʻuanu.  After damage to the ʻauwai system during the battle of Nuʻuanu, Kamehameha moved to quickly restore the valley's agriculture production, summoning Kuhoʻoheiheipahu Paki to rebuild the irrigation system.

“(I)n three days, (Paki) rallied several hundred men to construct the tremendous Nuʻuanu irrigation system which supplies the numerous pondfields (from Luakaha, near Kaniakapūpū to around what is now Judd Street) ...this irrigation system is known even today as the Paki ʻauwai." (Hawaiʻi Legislature)

Among other loʻi along its course, Paki ʻAuwai served the loʻi kalo of Queen Emma at Hānaiakamālama (the Queen’s Summer Palace.)

The image shows a portion of the rock-lined Paki ʻAuwai in Nuʻuanu (just below Kaniakapūpū (you take the same trail to see each.)) 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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Kyoto Gardens

Driving down the Pali, after you pass Kapena Falls, off to the right are a number of cemeteries (including Mauna ʻAla, Oʻahu Cemetery and others – including Honolulu Memorial Park.)

Part of the Honolulu Memorial Park, rising out of the foliage, is the Sanju Pagoda – it’s discernible and it’s deteriorating.

With over 20-years of neglect, the neoprene roofing material has sprung leaks, exposing the reinforced concrete rafters to weakening moisture and decay.  (Historic Hawaii Foundation)  Historic Hawaii Foundation listed it as one of Hawaiʻi’s Most Endangered Historic Sites in 2006.

The pagoda is the only concrete pagoda outside of Japan and is built in the authentic fashion of a wood-constructed pagoda.

The neoprene was supposed to be the best thing ever, but it turned out to be not so good.  The eaves are in jeopardy right now, in bad condition and very heavy. At any point, one of those eaves could fall down. If one falls, it falls on the next, and the building would most likely collapse. (Historic Hawaii Foundation)

Located in the eastern half of the Honolulu Memorial Park, Kyoto Gardens consists of two large columbarium (a structure of vaults lined with recesses for urns holding a deceased’s cremated remains) structures and a Japanese garden.

The Territory of Hawaiʻi established the Honolulu Memorial Park as a community service cemetery in 1958.

The Honolulu membership of the Buddhist Federation commended and endorsed the development of the cemetery in 1964, whereupon it was decided that a monument be erected which would honor the followers of the Buddhist faith.

Founded by the Richards family, Honolulu Memorial Park includes the Sanju Pagoda along with the Kinkaku-ji memorial, which were completed and opened in July 1966.

The name of the Kyoto Gardens was designated in 1966 with the donation of a bronze bell donated by Mayor Takayama of Kyoto, and brought to Honolulu in May of 1966.

The inscription on the bell was written in both Japanese and English.  In English, it reads: World Peace Forever, and continued with the inscription: Praying for the Everlasting Fellowship of Honolulu and Kyoto, Mayor Yoshizo Takayama, January 1, 1966.

With the arrival of the bell, the name of the Nuʻuanu Memorial Gardens Funerary Home was changed to Kyoto Gardens. In 1966, the Senior Minister of the Kinkaku-ji of Kyoto, Japan, Abbot Jikai Murakami, was present for the opening of the Kinkaku-ji memorial and gave his blessing.

The three-tiered Pagoda, the Kenkaku-ji Temple and the Mirror Gardens located within the Honolulu Memorial Park are historically important for being the best examples of Japanese traditional-style structures and gardens built outside of Japan.

The Pagoda is architecturally significant for three reasons: it was designed with the original proportions of the Nara Pagoda and uses the bracketing construction techniques found in the traditional design; it is the largest pagoda ever built; and it incorporates new construction techniques using concrete and steel.

The Sanju-Pagoda, designed by Robert Katsuyoshi, is a 1½-times larger model of a pagoda located on the grounds of the Minami Hoke-ji Temple in Nara, Japan, built in the Momoyama Period (1571-1602.)

Its height from the foundation to the top of the roof, not including the ku-rin copper spire is 80-feet, the total height, including its spire, is 116-feet.

The Kinkaku-ji columbarium models itself after the world-famous Kinkaku-ji located on the grounds of the Roku-on-ji Temple in Kyoto, built in the Muromachi Period (1335-1573) style.

The Kinkaku-ji columbarium is a three-story steel-framed and plaster finished columbarium. The height of the building measures approximately 38-feet high, not including the phoenix finial at its roof peak (the symbol of the Paradise of the heavenly Buddhas.)

The Mirror Lake Garden is also designed in the style of the Muromachi Period (1335-1573.) The design of this garden is based upon the symbols of the Buddha's world.

Originally, carp fish were donated to Mirror Lake - traditionally the significance of the carp fish is a Japanese historical and religious one: carp fish are always found in the ponds of the temples for, through the carp, one's sins were washed clean.

The inspiration and information for this summary is primarily from the National Park Service.  While at DLNR, I signed off on the nomination forms to list these improvements on the National Historic Register of Historic Sites; it was listed on February 11, 2004.

The image shows the Pagoda at Nuʻuanu.   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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Deaths in Wars

Estimates indicate that at least 618,000 men died in the American Civil War - 360,000 from the North and 258,000 from the South - the greatest loss of American lives in a war.  (The 3-day Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest, approximately 50,000 Americans died.)

In the Islands, over the centuries, the islands weren’t unified under single rule.  Leadership sometimes covered portions of an island, sometimes covered a whole island or groups of islands.  Island rulers, Aliʻi or Mōʻī, typically ascended to power through familial succession and warfare. In those wars, Hawaiians were killing Hawaiians; sometimes the rivalries pitted members of the same family against each other.

At the period of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oahu and Molokai, and the queen of Kauai was disposed to assist him in these enterprises. The occupation of the Hana district of Maui by the kings of Hawaii had been the cause of many stubborn conflicts between the chivalry of the two islands, and when Captain Cook first landed on Hawaii he found the king of that island absent on another warlike expedition to Maui, intent upon avenging his defeat of two years before, when his famous brigade of eight hundred nobles was hewn in pieces.”  (Kalākaua)

Kamakahelei was the "queen of Kauai and Niihau, and her husband was a younger brother to Kahekili, while she was related to the royal family of Hawaii. Thus, it will be seen, the reigning families of the several islands of the group were all related to each other, as well by marriage as by blood. So had it been for many generations. But their wars with each other were none the less vindictive because of their kinship, or attended with less of barbarity in their hours of triumph.”  (Kalākaua)

"By this time nearly a generation of the race had passed away, subsequently to their discovery by Cook. How much of their strength had been exhausted by wars and the support of armies, and how much by new and terrible diseases, it is not easy to estimate. The population was greatly diminished, and the residue unimproved in morals."  (Bingham)

"Whether we contemplate the horrors or the glories of the rude warfare which wasted the nation, we are not to confine our views to the struggles of armed combatants - the wounds, the reproaches, and various evils inflicted on one another, but the burden of sustaining such armies deserves attention, and the indescribable misery of the unarmed and unresisting of the vanquished party or tribe, pursued and crushed, till all danger of further resistance disappeared, must not be forgotten."  (Bingham)

Fornander states that "It had been the custom since the days of Keawenui-a-Umi on the death of a Moi (King) and the accession of a new one, to redivide and distribute the land of the island between the chiefs and favorites of the new monarch."  This custom was repeatedly the occasion of a civil war.  (Thrum)

Human and organic nature were, however, probably the same then as now, and wars and contentions may occasionally have disturbed the peace of the people, as eruptions and earthquakes may have destroyed and altered the face of the country. (Fornander)

“Before the conquest of Kamehameha, the several islands were ruled by independent kings, who were frequently at war with each other, but more often with their own subjects. As one chief acquired sufficient strength, he disputed the title of the reigning prince. If successful, his chance of permanent power was quite as precarious as that of his predecessor. In some instances the title established by force of arms remained in the same family for several generations, disturbed, however, by frequent rebellions … war being a chief occupation …”  (Jarvis)

"It is supposed that some six thousand of the followers of this chieftain (Kamehameha,) and twice that number of his opposers, fell in battle during his career, and by famine and distress occasioned by his wars and devastations from 1780 to 1796."  (Bingham)

“However the greatest loss of life according to early writers was not from the battles, but from the starvation of the vanquished and consequential sickness due to destruction of food sources and supplies - a recognized part of Hawaiian warfare.”  (Bingham)

Following Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death in 1782, the kingship was inherited by his son Kīwalaʻō; Kamehameha (Kīwalaʻō's cousin) was given guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.

Dissatisfied with subsequent redistricting of the lands by district chiefs, civil war ensued between Kīwalaʻō's forces and the various chiefs under the leadership of Kamehameha. At the Battle of Mokuʻōhai (just south of Kealakekua) Kīwalaʻō was killed and Kamehameha attained control of half the Island of Hawaiʻi.

The result of the battle of Mokuʻōhai was virtually to rend the island of Hawaii into three independent and hostile factions. The district of Kona, Kohala, and portions of Hāmākua acknowledged Kamehameha as their sovereign.  (Fornander)

The remaining portion of Hāmākua, the district of Hilo, and a part of Puna, remained true to and acknowledged Keawemauhili as their Moi; while the lower part of Puna and the district of Kaʻū, the patrimonial estate of Kīwalaʻō, ungrudgingly and cheerfully supported Keōua Kuahuula against the mounting ambition of Kamehameha.  (Fornander)

A later battle at ʻIao is described as, “They speak of the carnage as frightful, the din and uproar, the shouts of defiance among the fighters, the wailing of the women on the crests of the valley, as something to curdle the blood or madden the brain of the beholder. (Fornander)

The Maui troops were completely annihilated, and it is said that the corpses of the slain were so many as to choke up the waters of the stream of lao, and that hence one of the names of this battle was "Kepaniwai" (the damming of the waters).  (Fornander)

Vancouver was appalled by the impoverished circumstances of the people and the barren and uncultivated appearance of their lands. "The deplorable condition to which they had been reduced by an eleven years war" and the advent of "the half famished trading vessels" convinced him that he should pursue his peace negotiations for "the general happiness, of the inhabitants of all the islands."  (Vancouver, Voyage 2)

Then, a final battle of conquest took place on Oʻahu.  Kamehameha landed his fleet and disembarked his army on Oʻahu, extending from Waialae to Waikiki. … he marched up the Nuʻuanu valley, where Kalanikūpule had posted his forces.  (Fornander)

At Puiwa the hostile forces met, and for a while the victory was hotly contested; but the superiority of Kamehameha's artillery, the number of his guns, and the better practice of his soldiers, soon turned the day in his favour, and the defeat of the Oahu forces became an accelerated rout and a promiscuous slaughter. (Fornander)  Estimates for losses in the battle of Nuʻuanu (1795) ranged up to 10,000.  (Schmitt)

In addition to deaths in wars, epidemics of infections added to the decline in Hawaiʻi's population from approximately 300,000 at the time of Captain Cook's arrival in 1778 to 135,000 in 1820 and 53,900 in 1876.

The image shows a depiction of the Battle of Nuʻuanu (HerbKane.)   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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Evolution of Honolulu Harbor

Coral doesn’t grow in freshwater.  So, where a stream enters a coastal area, there is typically no coral growth at that point – and, as the freshwater runs out into the ocean, a coral-less channel is created.

In its natural state, thanks to Nuʻuanu Stream, Honolulu Harbor originally was a deep embayment formed by the outflow of Nuʻuanu Stream creating an opening in the shallow coral reef along the south shore of Oʻahu.

Honolulu Harbor (it was earlier known as Kulolia) was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794.

They called the harbor “Fair Haven” which may be a rough translation of the Hawaiian name Honolulu (it was also sometimes called Brown's Harbor.)  The name Honolulu (meaning "sheltered bay" - with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

Tradewinds blow from the Northeast; the channel into Honolulu Harbor has a northeasterly alignment.  Early ships calling to Honolulu were powered only by sails.  The entrance to the harbor was narrow and lined on either side with reefs.  Ships don't sail into the wind.  Given all of this, Honolulu Harbor was difficult to enter.

Boats either anchored off-shore, or they were pulled into the harbor (this was done with canoes; or, it meant men and/or oxen pulled them in.)

It might take eight double canoes with 16-20 men each, working in the pre-dawn calm when winds and currents were slow.  In 1816 (as stories suggest,) Richards Street alignment was the straight path used by groups of men, and later oxen, to pull ships through the narrow channel into the harbor.  (Richards Street was named for a man selling luggage to tourists in his shop on that street.)

A few years after, in 1825, the first pier in the harbor was improvised by sinking a ship’s hull near the present Pier 12 site.  As Honolulu developed and grew, lots of changes happened, including along its waterfront.  What is now known as Queen Street used to be the water’s edge.

The first efforts to deepen Honolulu Harbor were made in the 1840s. The idea to use the dredged material, composed of sand and crushed coral, to fill in low-lying lands was quickly adopted.

In 1854 the first steam tug was used to pull sail-powered ships into dock against the prevailing tradewinds.

The old prison was built in 1856-57 at Iwilei; it took the place of the old Fort Kekuanohu (that also previously served as a prison.)  The new custom-house was completed in 1860.  The water-works were much enlarged, and a system of pipes laid down in 1861.

Between 1857 and 1870, the coral block walls of the dismantled Fort edged and filled about 22-acres of reef and tideland, forming the “Esplanade” or "Ainahou," between Fort and Merchant Streets (where Aloha Tower is now located.)  At that time, the harbor was dredged to a depth from 20 to 25-feet took place.

By the 1880s, filling-in of the mud flats, marshes and salt ponds in the Kakaʻako and Kewalo areas had begun. This filling-in was pushed by three separate but overlapping improvement justifications.

The first directive or justification was for the construction of new roads and the improvement of older roads by raising the grade so the improvements would not be washed away by flooding during heavy rains.

Although public health and safety were prominently cited as the main desire (and third justification) to fill in Honolulu, Kewalo, and then Waikīkī lands, the fill ultimately provided more room for residential subdivisions, industrial areas and finally tourist resorts.

In the early part of the twentieth century, Kakaʻako was becoming a prime spot for large industrial complexes, such as iron works, lumber yards, and hauling companies, which needed large spaces for their stables, feed lots and wagon sheds.

An 1887 Hawaiian Government Survey map of Honolulu shows continued urban expansion of the Downtown Honolulu area.

In 1889, the Honolulu Harbor was described as “nothing but a channel kept open by the flow of the Nuʻuanu River;” a sand bar restricted entry of the larger ocean vessels.  In 1890-92, a channel 200-feet wide by 30-feet deep was dredged for about 1,000-feet through the sand bar.

Piers were constructed at the base of Richards Street in 1896, at the site of Piers 17 and 18 in 1901 to accommodate sugar loading and at Piers 7 and 12 in 1907.

After annexation in 1898, the harbor was dredged using US federal funds. The dredged material was used to create a small island in the harbor in order to calm the harbor and avoid constructing a breakwater. This island became what is now known as Sand Island.

In 1904, the area around South Street from King to Queen Streets was filled in. The Hawaiʻi Department of Public Works reported that “considerable filling (was) required” for the extension of Queen Street, from South Street to Ward Avenue, which would “greatly relieve the district of Kewalo in the wet season.”

A series of new piers were constructed at the base of Richards Street in 1896, at the site of Piers 17 and 18 in 1901 (to accommodate sugar loading) and then at Piers 7 and 12 in 1907.  Further dredging was conducted at the base of Alakea Street in 1906.

With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 and anticipated increased trans-Pacific shipping, government and business planned to further enlarge Honolulu Harbor by dredging Kalihi Channel and Kapālama Basin.

However, because of military concerns, the Reserved Channel connecting Honolulu Harbor to Kapālama Basin was dredged instead. This is known as the Kapālama Channel. Honolulu Harbor expanded into the Kapālama Basin and by the early 1930s Piers 34 had been constructed. Pier 35 was constructed in 1931 to provide dedicated facilities for inter-island pineapple shipments.

On September 11, 1926, after five years of construction, Aloha Tower was officially dedicated at Pier 9; at the time, the tallest building in Hawaiʻi.

Today, Honolulu Harbor continues to serve as Hawai‘i’s commercial lifeline for goods to/from Hawaiʻi and the rest of the world.

The image shows Honolulu in 1854, in a drawing done by Paul Emmert.  It shows Honolulu just before these changes and the expansion of land in the downtown area (you can see people standing on the reef on the right.)

In addition, I have included images and maps of this region in this relative timeframe (mid-1850s to 1900) in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Oʻahu Country Club

Nuʻuanu Ahupua‘a consisted of one of the largest valleys within the Kona District on the island of Oʻahu. The valley floor was wide and relatively flat due both to a late volcanic eruption at the head of the valley and to the heavy rains captured by Kōnāhuanui, the highest peak in the Koʻolau range.

An early historic account in 1820 by the missionary Hiram Bingham described the ahupua‘a of Nuʻuanu as viewed from ‘Punchbowl Hill’:
“Below us, on the south and west, spread the plain of Honolulu, having its fishponds and salt making pools along the seashore, the village and fort between us and the harbor, and the valley stretching a few miles north into the interior, which presented its scattered habitations and numerous beds of kalo in its various stages of growth, with its large green leaves, beautifully embossed on the silvery water, in which it flourishes…Through this valley, several streams descending from the mountains in the interior, wind their way some six or seven miles, watering  and overflowing by means of numerous artificial canals, the bottoms of kalo patches, and then, by one mouth, fall into the peaceful harbor.”  (Bingham, Cultural Surveys)

Naʻeʻepa o Waolani is a proverb that refers to the magical ways of the menehune that are “the extraordinary ones of Waolani.”  The proverb refers to magical ways that “can make big things happen from what may seem to be only small gestures.”  (Kaʻikena)

Pukui notes of Waolani, “Kāne and Kanaloa lived here and here the first man, Wākea, was born.”

“In the valley of Waolani, a side valley from the great Nuuanu, stood one of the sacred Heiaus called Kawaluna, which only the highest chief of the island was entitled to consecrate at the annual sacrifice. As Moi of Oahu the undoubted right to perform the ceremony was with Kualii, and he resolved to assert his prerogative and try conclusions with the Kona chiefs, who were preparing to resist what they considered an assumption of authority by the Koolaupoko chief. … Kualii assembled his men on the ridge of Keanakamano, overlooking the Waolani valley, descended to the Heiau, performed the customary ceremony on such occasions, and at the conclusion fought and routed the Kona forces that had ascended the valley to resist and prevent him. The Kona chiefs submitted themselves, and Kualii returned to Kailua.”  (Fornander II)

Thomas CB Rooke, hānai father of Emma (granddaughter of John Young and later wife and Queen of Kamehameha IV,) acquired Waolani Valley (“heavenly mountain area”) on the north side of Nuʻuanu Valley (as such it was also known as Rooke’s Valley.)

In 1906, a group of men selected land in Waolani Valley as the best site for the fourth golf club in the Islands; the new club was to be named Oʻahu Country Club.

The three existing courses at that time were the Moanalua Golf Club (built in 1898,) the Manoa Golf Club (1904) and the Haleiwa Hotel Golf Course (1906.) Of these, only the Moanalua Club is still in existence.

“The history of the movement toward the organization of the Country Club dates back two years, when a self-appointed committee visited the lands known as Waolani valley for the purpose of investigating its feasibility as a site for such an organization.  The committee found the land to be so splendidly adapted for the purpose that overtures were made to the owners of the property for a lease with an option of purchase.” (Evening Bulletin, April 6, 1906)

The group leased part of Waolani Valley for an annual rent of $900 in US gold coins. Two years into the lease, they decided to purchase the land outright and reportedly paid 6,000 sterling, the equivalent of $30,000 at that time, for the 378-acres.

The Club's charter was approved by officials of the Territory of Hawaiʻi on June 8, 1906; thus was the founding of Oʻahu Country Club.

Construction of the first nine holes at Oahu Country Club golf course began in August 1906, and a formal opening of the 2,813 yard course was held on April 27, 1907.

Reportedly, the first golf ball struck at the club was hit by a woman, Annie Walker Faxon Bishop (wife of the Club’s first president, Eben Faxon Bishop.)

The second nine holes were completed in September 1913; the driving range was opened in 1988.

The original OCC Clubhouse was opened with the golf course on April 27, 1907, and in September of that year, two tennis courts were added. (The courts later deteriorated and were torn out due to lack of use.)

Clubhouse changes, renovations and expansions continued until July 31, 1970 when, after 16 months of construction, the present Clubhouse was opened on the same site.

Extensive changes have been made to the layout, lengthening the course to 5,820 yards and a par of 71.

Each year the course is home to the historic Manoa Cup. The Mānoa Cup was donated to Oahu Country Club by the Manoa Golf Club when Mānoa was disbanded in 1908.

Lots of information here is from Oʻahu Country Club and many of the images are © Gary Wild.  More images have been added to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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