The demand for Hakalau-area homesteading
Valuable Public Lands with Leases Coming Due
Hilo Tribune, Tuesday, November 21, 1905
The first big parcel of land to become available in the Hakalau area was the so called Kaiwiki III tract, mauka of Wailea:
The lease of this tract to the Hakalau Plantation Co. expires June 15, 1906. There are about 1,800 acres cleared and under cultivation and is regarded as a very valuable tract in the very heart of the plantation, for which it has been paying an annual rental of $300.
At the same time, a smaller tract in the Umamua area called Peleau (625 acres) also became available. A few years later, in 1912, a drawing was held for 41 lots comprising the Hakalau Iki tract (Hilo side of Chin Chuck Road). And more acreage in areas from Umauma to Ninole became available in the period before Wailea Milling Co.-tracts called Lepoloa-Kuniho, Piha, Kahuku, Waikamalo. When the time came in 1919, homesteaders in all of these tracts would be contracting with Wailea. The entire area was cane land that would otherwise have been harvested and milled by Hakalau Plantation.
The first big parcel of land to become available in the Hakalau area was the so called Kaiwiki III tract, mauka of Wailea:
The lease of this tract to the Hakalau Plantation Co. expires June 15, 1906. There are about 1,800 acres cleared and under cultivation and is regarded as a very valuable tract in the very heart of the plantation, for which it has been paying an annual rental of $300.
At the same time, a smaller tract in the Umamua area called Peleau (625 acres) also became available. A few years later, in 1912, a drawing was held for 41 lots comprising the Hakalau Iki tract (Hilo side of Chin Chuck Road). And more acreage in areas from Umauma to Ninole became available in the period before Wailea Milling Co.-tracts called Lepoloa-Kuniho, Piha, Kahuku, Waikamalo. When the time came in 1919, homesteaders in all of these tracts would be contracting with Wailea. The entire area was cane land that would otherwise have been harvested and milled by Hakalau Plantation.
The First Homestead-seekers 1906-1907: Kaiwiki III
Hilo Daily Tribune, Tuesday, August 14, 1906
Japanese could not participate at this time, but that was soon to change. “Japanese May Not Homestead: No Japanese can acquire public land in this Territory. The decision has been arrived at by the Attorney General’s department and is embodied in an opinion handed to Land Commissioner Pratt…”
Japanese could not participate at this time, but that was soon to change. “Japanese May Not Homestead: No Japanese can acquire public land in this Territory. The decision has been arrived at by the Attorney General’s department and is embodied in an opinion handed to Land Commissioner Pratt…”
Hawaii Herald, Thursday, June 13, 1907
The first homestead-seekers formed “Settlement Associations”, as allowed by the rules. Representatives of the association were chosen to communicate and negotiate with the Land Commissioner. Most in the news was about the Osorio Association. Its members applied for the first 14 lots of the Kaiwiki III tract. All were Portuguese except for a Mr. Kapfenburg, though his wife was Portuguese. Based on information from other sources, most came from Honomu, Pepeekeo and Hilo as well as a few from Hakalau.
The first homestead-seekers formed “Settlement Associations”, as allowed by the rules. Representatives of the association were chosen to communicate and negotiate with the Land Commissioner. Most in the news was about the Osorio Association. Its members applied for the first 14 lots of the Kaiwiki III tract. All were Portuguese except for a Mr. Kapfenburg, though his wife was Portuguese. Based on information from other sources, most came from Honomu, Pepeekeo and Hilo as well as a few from Hakalau.
Hilo Daily Tribune, Tuesday, July 23, 1907
A second big group of about 20, apparently unrelated to a settlement association, took Kaiwiki III lots at around the same time. Mostly Portuguese, this group also included a few naturalized Scots, including John Fraser, assistant bookkeeper at Hakalau Plantation, William Ross, Manager of the Hakalau Plantation Store and a cousin of John Ross, the plantation manager; and a couple of Hawaiians.
A second big group of about 20, apparently unrelated to a settlement association, took Kaiwiki III lots at around the same time. Mostly Portuguese, this group also included a few naturalized Scots, including John Fraser, assistant bookkeeper at Hakalau Plantation, William Ross, Manager of the Hakalau Plantation Store and a cousin of John Ross, the plantation manager; and a couple of Hawaiians.
Hilo Daily Tribune, July 23, 1907, accessed via Newspapers.com
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Kaiwiki Homestead III owner, believed to be William Ross and his wife, sometime between 1911 and 1919. Photo courtesy of Kim Kohl, granddaughter of William Ross. Excerpt from the July 22, 1907 Honolulu Advertise article, "How Hakalau Lots Went Up": "In all instances but three, the original applicants secured their desired lots, but some pretty high prices were paid as there was spirited bidding. The first three lots went at nominal advances over the upset. But when the fourth was offered, Wm. Ross applicant, at $770 for 28.74 acres, the fun began. It took but a couple of minutes to reach $1,000, and the property then went by leaps and bounds to Mr. Ross for $1,505, almost double the value fixed for the government."
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Plat map for Kaiwiki III Homesteads, 1935
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The Next Big Group of Homestead-seekers: Hakalau Iki 1912
Hakalau Plantation’s lease on the acreage of Hakalau Iki expired in 1912. The difference with this group is mainly their ethnic makeup: 10 Portuguese, 8 Hawaiian and part Hawaiian, 4 Japanese, 3 “White”, 1 Puerto Rican. So the Japanese, later to be prominent in forming the Wailea Milling Co., were starting to acquire homestead lands.
Homesteading cane land on the Hamakua coast had a broad appeal in this time period. Among these men were a Japanese clerk from Hilo, a Hawaiian policeman from Hakalau, a Portuguese delivery man from Papaikou, a “white” railroad ticket agent from Hilo, a Portuguese bookkeeper from Hilo, a Honomu school teacher, a Portuguese butcher from Paauilo, a Japanese stableman from Hakalau Plantation, a Japanese “chauffeur” from Honomu. (This information comes primarily from Ancestry.com.)
Homesteading cane land on the Hamakua coast had a broad appeal in this time period. Among these men were a Japanese clerk from Hilo, a Hawaiian policeman from Hakalau, a Portuguese delivery man from Papaikou, a “white” railroad ticket agent from Hilo, a Portuguese bookkeeper from Hilo, a Honomu school teacher, a Portuguese butcher from Paauilo, a Japanese stableman from Hakalau Plantation, a Japanese “chauffeur” from Honomu. (This information comes primarily from Ancestry.com.)
Hakalau Iki Homesteads, July 1914
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The Honolulu Advertiser, April 24, 1912, accessed via Newspapers.com