The history of the Big Island is one rich in excitement and drama encapsulating a cast of personnages, dramatic events, and sweeping cultural, economic, and social change. Hawai‘i was the first of the Hawaiian Islands to be settled by the early Polynesians and the only island influenced by a volcanic atmosphere. It was here where most of the major battles in the civil wars to unite the islands were waged and where the greatest and first of the Hawaiian monarchs emerged. It was here where the kapu system was overthrown and where Captain Cook died. It is also the island most ravaged by natural disasters and the island that served as a training base for the marine division that took Iwo Jima and other Pacific islands. It is the island where ranching was most important where the first horses landed, where coffee was first grown, and where the seeds for the Hawaiian renaissance and sovereignty movements were planted.
Part I: PEOPLE OF OLD
Volcanic Landscapes
The People of Old: A New Culture
The Hula of Old
The Districts and Their Ruling Chiefs
Captain James Cook (1728–1779)
Captain Cook’s Death
Part II: THE MONARCHY
Kamehameha I, the Islands’ First King
The Monarchy After 1819
Royal Visits
Part III: WESTERNIZATION
Merchants, Adventurers, and Traders
Hawaiian Ways: A Threatened Culture
Missionaries
Catholics
Ranching and Paniolo
Parker Ranch
Part IV: KING SUGAR
Sweet Success
Sugar Towns
Sugar Trains
Sugar Water
Newcomers
Part V: TOWNS & PLACES
Hilo
Ka‘u
South Kona
Kailua-Kona
North Kona
Mahukona
Kawaihae
Waipi‘o Valley
Laupahoehoe
Onomea
Part VI: THE AMERICAN CENTURY 1900–1950
Hawaiian Ways: Cultural Traditions
Early Tourism
Kona Inn
Captain Cook Sesquicentennial
Volcano Lands
Volcano House
Kona Coffee
Macadamia Nuts
Tobacco
Hawai‘i’s Melting Pot
Labor Unrest
World War II
Waimea’s Camp Tarawa
Part VII: MODERN ERA 1950 to Present
Natural Forces
A Disappearing Industry
Ka‘u Sugar
Kalapana—A Look Back in Time
The Hula
Pu‘ukohola Heiau and Ho‘oku‘ikahi
The Last People of Waipi‘o
Resort Development
On the Road
Hawaiian Ways: The Tradition Continues
Miloli‘i: A Most Hawaiian Place
Hawai‘i Island Looking Forward