The Hawai’i National Parks were first proposed in 1903 by Lorrin Thurston, one of the architects of the overthrow of the Hawai’ian Monarchy. Thurston, the grandson of two of the first missionaries who sailed from Boston to Hawai'i in 1820, was an avid hiker and spent many days and nights in Haleakala Crater and at Kilauea. The National Park proposal languished until Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaiana’ole , Hawai’i’s Congressional Delegate worked it through various congressional committees. In 1915 Thurston and Volcanologist Thomas Jagger spent time showing the park proposals to a delegation of 124 visiting Congressmen. Prince Kuhio’s bill passed the Congress and was signed into Law on August 1, 1916.
Thurston and Kalaniana'ole have to be two of the oddest political allies in American History. Thurston led a movement of missionary descendants which overthrew the duly elected constitutional monarchy and helped reconstruct it into a government run by his peers. They passed laws disenfranchising most of the Native Hawai’ians. He became a wealthy and influential man.
Prince Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, the designated heir to the throne plotted for the overthrow of the government formed by the “Bayonet Constitution” and was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. He and the other plotters were given clemency and a year in prison. On his release, the Prince went to England and joined the British army, fighting in the Boer War in South Africa. When he returned to Hawai’i he joined the Home Rule Party, ran for election and served ten terms as Hawai’i’s non-voting delegate in the U.S. Congress. Without voting power Prince Kuhio developed a poker table strategy. He rented space for a men's club near the Capitol and, with his wife providing refreshments, hosted Congressmen for poker games. It is my belief that the success of Prince Kuhio was largely accomplished at the poker table and through his hard work with congressional committees. He died at age 51, probably from a heart attack, and is buried with the other bygone royals on Oahu.
Thurston and Kalaniana'ole have to be two of the oddest political allies in American History. Thurston led a movement of missionary descendants which overthrew the duly elected constitutional monarchy and helped reconstruct it into a government run by his peers. They passed laws disenfranchising most of the Native Hawai’ians. He became a wealthy and influential man.
Prince Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, the designated heir to the throne plotted for the overthrow of the government formed by the “Bayonet Constitution” and was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. He and the other plotters were given clemency and a year in prison. On his release, the Prince went to England and joined the British army, fighting in the Boer War in South Africa. When he returned to Hawai’i he joined the Home Rule Party, ran for election and served ten terms as Hawai’i’s non-voting delegate in the U.S. Congress. Without voting power Prince Kuhio developed a poker table strategy. He rented space for a men's club near the Capitol and, with his wife providing refreshments, hosted Congressmen for poker games. It is my belief that the success of Prince Kuhio was largely accomplished at the poker table and through his hard work with congressional committees. He died at age 51, probably from a heart attack, and is buried with the other bygone royals on Oahu.
This blog is part of the text for my Park Ranger book due out in 2016. Thanks for reading this.