State Treasure - Hawaii

Cook’s Cache
KAUAI ISLAND – English explorer, surveyor and navigator, Captain James Cook was killed on his third visit to Hawaii by local natives on February 14, 1779.
Personal belongings and treasure seized by the natives from the dead crewmen and looted from the Discovery, including one small cutter, were given to King Kalaniopuu, who ordered them buried believing they possessed evil magic of the Europeans. It has never been recovered.
Cook’s history with the Royal Navy was certainly impressive for his time. In 1768, Cook was commissioned as a lieutenant and given command of the HMS Endeavor and led an expedition to Tahiti to chart the path of the planet Venus. After exploring the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, Cook circumnavigated the globe and returned to England in 1771.
The following year Cook commanded a major mission to the South Pacific and, for the next three years, explored the Atlantic, charted New Hebrides, and discovered New Caledonia.
In 1776, Cook sailed from England in command of the HMS Resolution and Discovery. In January 1778 he made his first visit to the Hawaiian Islands, possibly being the first European to visit the islands. Cook named the island group the Sandwich Islands in honor of John Montague, Earl of Sandwich.
The Hawaiian natives welcomed the Europeans and were captivated by the English ships and their ironworks. Cook traded the metal for provisions while his sailors traded iron nails for sex.
After a brief stop at Ni’ihau, Cook proceeded north in search of the western end of the Northwest Passage linking the North Atlantic with the Pacific. Nearly a year later Cook returned to Hawaii’s Kealakekua Bay.
It is assumed that the Hawaiian natives attached some religious significance to Cook’s first visit, and when he returned there is no question that the Europeans were seen as gods. Kealakekua Bay was considered the sacred harbor of Lono, the fertility god of the Hawaiian people.
When Cook returned the natives were engaged in a celebration to honor Lono. Welcomed as gods, Cook and his men spent a month in the bay making the most of Hawaiian hospitality.
But after one of Cook’s crewmen died the Europeans were exposed as mere mortals, placing a severe strain on their relations with the King. Cook sailed from Kealakekua Bay on February 4, 1779, during rough seas. The foremast of the Resolution failed after one week at sea forcing Cook to return to Hawaii for urgent repairs.
The natives greeted Cook and his men with taunts as they heaved stones at them. The islanders raided and looted the Discovery, while Cook’s attempts to negotiate with King Kalaniopuu failed after one of Cook’s men shot and killed a lesser Hawaiian chief.
An angry mob descended on Cook’s party, who defended themselves by firing into the unruly throng, though they were quickly overwhelmed. Cook was killed in the attack while some of his crew managed to reach the safety of the Resolution.
After several days in harbor, the English opened fire on the natives with cannons and muskets, killing over 30 islanders. The Resolution and Discovery both returned safely to England. The battle took place on Kauai where the treasure is still believed to be buried.The Battle of Kepaniwai
MAUI ISLAND – The Battle of Kepaniwai was fought at Iwoa stream, 2.3 miles west of Wailuku in 1790. Considered one of the most embittered battles fought in Hawaiian history, the battle was fought between Hawaii Island and Maui.
One thousand, 200 men, led by Kamehameha I of Hawaii, invaded Maui after its fleet landed a few kilometers from the base of `Īao Valley. Maui forces numbering around 1,200 defended the island under the command of Kalanikūpule.
Maui’s King Kahekili II was on Oahu when the invasion occurred. Kamehameha’s army marched on Kahekili’s son, Kalanikūpule and other Maui chiefs who were blocking the `Īao
Valley. Both armies, being evenly matched and all skilled warriors, fought for two days with neither side yielding.
On the third day, John Young and Isaac Davis, both royal advisors to Kamehameha, delivered two cannons named “Kalola,” and “Lopaka” to the battlefield.
As the warriors on both sides fell in battle their corpses fell into or were dumped in the stream, creating a dead man’s dam.
Witnesses state the stream ran red with blood. Chiefess Kalola and her grandfather escaped to Lahaina. Meanwhile on the big island, Hawaii’s last independent chief, Keōua Kuahu‘ula, ordered an invasion on Kamehameha’s territory, forcing him to withdraw from Maui and return home to Hawaii.
While the battle had no clear victor, Kahekili II resumed his rule over Maui and obtained cannons to protect the island from future attack. One of Kamehameha’s cannons thought to have been used in the battle has been recovered. Relics from this battle have been found in the `Īao Valley.Hawaii’s First Bank Robbery
MAUI ISLAND – On February 3, 1934, Hawaii’s first bank robbery occurred at the Pa’ia Branch of the Bank of Hawaii. Two unmasked men entered the bank and at gunpoint forced the teller, who was the only person in the bank at the time, to clean out her drawer of $1,200 before they fled in an automobile.
Though the hold-up men wore no masks, one is reported to have been sporting a large Groucho Marx mustache that had been painted on his face with an eyebrow pencil. Police said no other bank robberies had ever occurred, since there is no refuge for the fugitives to hide if they remain on the island.
Two brothers from Lahaina were arrested sometime later, but there is no report of the money being recovered. Local research could help determine if the loot was cached or not.Lost & Forgotten
Sites of Hawaii
GT: Waiale’e - (OAHU ISLAND) – This ghost town once surrounded the Boys Industrial School, the ruins of which are still standing, though only various foundations of the town itself remain. At its peak the village had a population of around 300. The school housed 106 predominately Hawaiian boys, ages 12 – 18, convicted for minor offences.
There were no fences or walls to secure the inmates inside. Instead the boys worked in the community raising cattle and pigs. They kept a vegetable garden, poi factory, and carpentry, machine and tailor shops, which supplied other institutions on the island, including the Oahu Penitentiary. For a time a girl’s school co-existed here; then it closed around 1935. Located on the North Shore of Oahu Island, just east of Sunset Beach.
GT: Keomuku - (LANAI ISLAND) – Once Lanai Island’s leading trade center during the 1890’s, this village of 900 was abandoned in 1901 after the town’s primary business, the Maunalei Sugar Company established in 1898, offended the local natives.
Once a tiny fishing and farming village of 174, the population exploded to around 900 after the Maunalei Sugar Company opened for business here. The sugar plantation and mill were a great success until the company determined it needed a railroad, and began construction by following the coastline.
But when company men disturbed the stones of a sacred heiau temple, thereby affronting the gods, the natives immediately evicted everyone at Keomuku by salting their water supply.
The population was overcome with illness and all was abandoned. Located on State Route 440, 14 miles southeast of Lanai City a few buildings mark the site.
Fort Kamakahonu, aka: Fort at Kailua – (HAWAII ISLAND) – Once a sacred heiau temple that had been fortified and armed with an 18-gun battery, this fort never saw action. All that remains is a mass of rocks along the shoreline. The guns had been salvaged from the wreck of the Lark. The fort existed from 1819 – 1855 and is located at Kailua-Kona. Check locally for the location.
Hilo Defenses - (HAWAII ISLAND) – An American mobile battery of 155mm guns and camp established in 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Four 4-inch naval guns were added in 1942. The battery abandoned the site in 1945. It was located near Hilo, but its actual location has been lost to time.
Brodie Camp Military Reservation, Camp No. 4 – (OAHU ISLAND) – Coordinates for the Brodie-BCS are: 21-32-56.54N / 158-04-10.92W. Located about 6/10 of a mile southeast of the Kamehameha Highway, and 4.3 miles northwest of Wahiawa, this forgotten site during WWII once housed two twin 8-inch naval turret guns. The site was buried.Sources:
Terry, Thomas P., U.S. Treasure Atlas-Volume 3, 1985, La Crosse, WI, Specialty Publishing Company, p. 289
Terry, Thomas P., U.S. Treasure Atlas-Volume 3, 1985, La Crosse, WI, Specialty Publishing Company, p. 290
Schmitt, Robert C., Robberies: Bank and Train, 1994, the Hawaiian Historical Society,
http:www.hawaiianhistory.org/moments/robbers.html
The News & Tribune. “Hawaii Has First Real Bank Robbery,” February 4, 1934, Jefferson City, Missouri, p. 1
Ghost Towns USA – Hawaii, http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/hi/hi.html
North American Forts – Hawaii, http://www.northamericanforts.com/West/hi.html
Bennett, John D., The Coast Defense Journal – Volume 22, Issue 1, p. 4
http://www.eugeneleeslover.com/ENGINEERING/8-inch-turret.pdf