1825 Malden Trails - Honouliuli Cultural History Being Denied By Land Developers
by John Bond, Kanehili Cultural Hui
Some of the most important native Hawaiian Trails in the State of Hawaii exist on the Ewa Plains, and are supposed to be protected by a special State Law, but these trails are being regularly bulldozed over and the important archeological sites around them being destroyed.
First mapped and published in 1825 was the work by Royal Navy Lt. Malden
The ahupua'a of Honouliuli
The trails identified in published 1825 Royal Navy survey map
The approximate location of the trails today
The trails ran from the important ancient Honouliuli community by West Loch to One'ula Beach, Kualaka'i Beach and by Puu o Kapolei to Kahe Point - Waianae
Parts of the trail network is still there today but unrecognized by developers and the City and State
A trail head at Ewa Village was the reason the Ewa Plantation was located there in 1890's
1990's Tuggles Map done for Navy BRAC of NAS Barbers Point
Close up of Tuggles Map showing trail route
The Pearl Harbor historic trail actually follows the old Oahu Railway line and is NOT the route of the 1825 Malden Trails which led to ancient Kanehili
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Charles Robert Malden (9 August 1797 – 23 May 1855), was a nineteenth-century British naval officer, surveyor and educator. He is the discoverer of Malden Island in the central Pacific, which is named in his honour.
He passed the examination in the elements of
mathematics and the theory of
navigation at the
Royal Naval Academy on 2–4 September 1816, and became a 1st Lieutenant on 1 September 1818. In eight years of active service as an officer, he served two and a half years in a surveying ship in the Mediterranean (1818–21), one and a half years in a surveying sloop in the English Channel and off the coast of
Ireland (1823–24), and one and a half years as Surveyor of the frigate
HMS Blonde during a voyage (1824–26) to and from the
Hawaiian Islands (then known as the "Sandwich islands").
[1] In Hawaii he surveyed harbours which, he noted, were "said not to exist by Captains Cook and Vancouver." On the return voyage he discovered and explored uninhabited Malden Island in the central Pacific on 30 July 1825. After his return he left active service but remained at half pay. He served for several years as
hydrographer to
King William IV.
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Honolulu City Council RESOLUTION 12-172, CD1 (2012) passed unanimously:
URGING THE HAWAII COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND THE STATE OF HAWAII TO RECOGNIZE AND PRESERVE THE HISTORIC TRAILS OF THE EWA PLAINS.
WHEREAS, the trails in the Ewa Plains area later known as Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Ewa and Naval Air Station (NAS) Barbers Point, and today called Kalaeloa as administered by the Hawaii Community Development Authority, are part of the greater Ewa Plains of West Oahu; and
WHEREAS, the Ewa Plains is a massive ancient karst coral reef where ocean meets mountain streams and fresh rain water percolates through porous 100,000 year old coral to spawn freshwater shrimp and one of Hawaii’s most diverse limu varieties; and
WHEREAS, these Ewa Plains trails and their adjacent historic sites provide clues as to how communities were linked socially, economically, and politically; which areas were important in early times, places of commerce, and religion; and where valuable forest or sea resources were once located; and
WHEREAS, these Ewa Plains trails were first identified after Western contact by Lieutenant C.R. Maiden of the Royal Navy in 1825 and became known as the Maiden Trails on the first published Oahu maps; and
WHEREAS, these Ewa Plains trails identified by Maiden became used for ranching and horseback transportation and became an indelible part of West Oahu’s 150 year old Paniolo and Pa’u horseback culture and early Hawaiian Kingdom history of ranches and farms which were the original Western economic settlements of the Ewa Plains; and
WHEREAS, these identified trails became the location where the Ewa Mill and Plantation was established and why the Oahu Railway was extended to this very important trailside agricultural community which allowed sugar cane to become the major economic engine of the Ewa Plains; and
WHEREAS, these Ewa Plains trails in 1925, due to the nearby location of Ewa Mill and the Oahu Railway, became incorporated into the United States (U.S.) Navy development of Ewa Mooring Mast Field as a naval airship mooring site; and
WHEREAS, these trails, springs, and underground karst water transport system later became further documented in State and Federal land surveys and aquifer maps, and in 1941 when the Ewa Mooring Mast Field became a U.S. Marine Corps airbase known as Ewa Field, these walking and horse ranch trails continued to be used by the Marines and Ewa Plantation community for access to the shoreline; and
WHEREAS, after the Japanese air attack on December 7, 1941 and the great expansion of the area into military airports which became MCAS Ewa and NAS Barbers Point during World War II, these trails were important for military training, patrols on foot and mounted Marine Corps horseback security patrols; and
WHEREAS, after the closure of the Marine and Navy airbases, published I 950s maps show the trails on former MCAS Ewa that are still used today by the Barbers Point riding club; and
WHEREAS, these historic horse and foot trails also link with the over 100 year old Oahu Railway right-of-way and Pearl Harbor Historic Trail plan that allows travel by foot, horse or bike from Pearl Harbor to Nanakuli, and which places the Ewa Plains trails as a center junction point and provides access to the Ewa shoreline; and
WHEREAS, an educational feature of these Ewa Plains trails could also be restored karst sinkhole sites along the trailways explaining the ecological system that sustains the iimu, nourishes food sources such as freshwater shrimp and which helps perpetuate Ewa’s offshore fisheries and sustainability; and
WHEREAS, these trails’ could become a cultural, historic, recreational and educational experience of walking, biking or horseback riding over trails featuring native Hawaiian plants, bird and aquatic life, telling cultural histories, explaining geological facts; and
WHEREAS, an Ewa Plains historic trails project could be a community supported endeavor bringing together cultural practitioners, educators, scientists, environmental and veteran organizations in a positive, holistic concept for community education, recreation and restoration; and
WHEREAS, recreational trails in Ewa could qualify for federal National Park Service (NPS) Recreational Trails Program funding,as well as Surface Transportation Program Flexible, Transportation Enhancement, and Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Improvement Program funding and would be consistent with the Oahu Regional Transportation Plan; and
WHEREAS, federal programs such as the NPS Service Battlefield Protection Program have already awarded a $53,000 grant to help define the Ewa Field battlefield as an historic site, and which could include walking trails and points for historic interpretation; and
WHEREAS, federal programs such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have programs to restore Ewa Plains karst sinkholes and have already demonstrated that native freshwater shrimp can be restocked and flourish in these unique karst sinkhole habitats, providing working environments for education and training; and
WHEREAS, there are many interested individuals from equestrian clubs, biking, recreational groups, schools, colleges and universities, active duty military family and morale, welfare and recreation organizations, that could benefit from and assist in supporting an Ewa Plains trails program; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City and County of Honolulu that it supports the mapping and identification of historic trails in the Ewa Plains; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the State of Hawaii, the United States government, and the City and County of Honolulu are urged to participate in the mapping and identification of the Ewa Plains historic trails; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City and County of Honolulu will not expend any monies to provide for the mapping and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the Governor, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the President of the United States, the Commander of United States Pacific Command, and the Mayor.
DATE OF INTRODUCTION: 2012 (Passed unanimously 2012)
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