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In the Beginning
Approximately five million years ago, an undersea eruption created two volcanic mountains, Mauna Kahalawai and Haleakala. Mauna Kahalawai, now an extinct volcano, became the rugged West Maui Mountains. Majestic 10,023-foot Haleakala, meaning 'house of the sun', last erupted in 1790 and is now considered a dormant volcano. Centuries of lava flows and erosion created an isthmus between the two mountains. This vale composed of rich volcanic soil gave Maui the nickname 'Valley Isle'.
According to ancient legend, the Hawaiian islands were created by Maui, the 'god of a thousand tricks', who pulled the islands from the ocean with his magic fishhook. This mythical demigod also lassoed the sun god 'La' from atop Haleakala, releasing it only after it promised to move slowly through the sky, thus providing abundant daylight and warmth for the islands.
Maui County, now four islands, was originally one land mass called 'Maui-Nui'. During the polar ice age, the glaciers thawed and the oceans swelled to separate the mountain peaks into the islands of Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i and Kaho'olawe.
The First Settlers
According to legend, Hawai'i-loa and eight navigating seafarers from the Marquesa islands, 2,000 miles to the south, discovered the Hawai'ian islands in the eighth century A.D. The first inhabitants developed a simple agrarian culture.
Around the twelfth century A.D., the Tahitians arrived in Maui. Their chiefs became the ali'i, the Hawaiian ruling class. The Tahitians established the 'kapu' system, the rigid social order that became the foundation of ancient Hawaiian culture. Additionally, they introduced their religion with its many goddesses.
For several centuries, warfare raged among competing ali'i on Maui and between chieftains from the neighboring islands of O'ahu and Hawai'i. In 1550 AD the Ali'i Pi'ilani unified all the Maui districts, and after he died his two sons battled for control of the island. With the help of warriors from Hawai'i, Kiha-a-pi'ilani prevailed to become the supreme ruler of Maui.
Maui Becomes Part of the Monarchy
During the late 1700s, Kamehameha I, ruler of the big island Hawai'i, invaded the adjacent islands to establish the Hawaiian Kingdom. One of his armies, led by Kalani'opu'u, attacked Maui in 1776. He was soundly defeated by the warriors of King Kahekili, who surprised the invaders by hiding behind the sand dunes at Ma'alaea Bay. However, in 1790, Kamehameha I invaded Maui once again, this time with a fleet of war canoes so large it is alleged to have filled the bay from Hana to Kahului. Kamehameha finally conquered Maui in the brutal battle of Wailuku. This historic battle is now known as Kauwaupali ('clawed off the cliff') and Kepaniwai ('the damming of the waters'). In 1802 Kamehameha I built the "brick palace" in Lahaina, where he lived for a year.
The Influx of Westerners
The British explorer Captain James Cook landed in Kahului Bay on November 26, 1778, an event that began the influx of Western influence. French explorer Captain Jean-Francois La Pérouse, the first Westerner to settle on Maui, established a village in 1786. Probably the most significant influence was that of the Christian missionaries, who founded the first mission under Reverend Richards in Lahaina in 1823. However, whaling had begun to boom in Lahaina, and it swiftly introduced some of the more unsavory Western elements to the port town. A riot broke out in 1825 when a law was passed prohibiting the sale of alcohol, but it did not squelch the Christian presence. Meanwhile, the missionaries established their instrumental role in educating the local population. Since the Hawaiians had no written language, the missionaries developed a written language based on a twelve-letter alphabet. In 1835, the governor of Maui ordered all children over four to attend school. Missionaries taught reading, writing and Bible studies in Hawaiian, and by 1850, Hawaii had the world's highest literacy rate!
Unfortunately, the Westerners also brought diseases that over the next century would obliterate the native Hawaiian population. Viruses such as measles that were endemic in Westerners had a devastating effect on the previously unexposed Hawaiians. Soon the ratio of Hawaiians to immigrants began to drastically decrease.
Commercial Growth and the Advent of Tourism
As Western traders and seafarers flocked to Maui, commercial growth expanded. Lahaina became a major port during the whaling era, and by the 1840s, hundreds of ships anchored there. Merchants, prostitutes, saloons, and gambling establishments prospered, although tensions between the whalers and missionaries created social unrest. The discovery of oil in 1850 signified the decline of whaling.
George Wilfong, an entrepreneurial whaler, established Maui's first sugar plantation in Hana. During 1853-1854, a smallpox epidemic killed many native Hawaiians, resulting in a depleted work force. Immigrants from China, Japan, the Philippines, and even Europe flocked to Maui to work in the sugar cane fields. American businessmen began to invest in pineapple and sugar plantations, and in 1875 negotiated a reciprocity treaty with the governor of Maui to protect their investments.
The expansion of foreign power and influence ultimately led to the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893. In 1894, American pineapple tycoon Dole became the governor of the Republic of Hawaii, which was annexed to the United States in 1898 and made a U.S. territory in 1890. During the early 1900s, Japanese immigration swelled; Maui's population was 40 percent Japanese by 1925.
The opening of the Best Western Pioneer Inn in 1901 signaled the beginning of tourism in Lahaina. Visitors Mark Twain and Robert Lewis Stevenson praised Maui, and Lahaina became a vacation hot spot for the rich and famous. After World War II, sugar production declined and tourism experienced phenomenal growth. Maui's first resort hotel, Hotel Hana-Maui and Honua Spa, was opened in 1946. After Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959, investment capitol poured in for development of vacation resorts. Ka’anapali, dubbed the world's first "master planned resort," and site of such mega-resorts as the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel and the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, was built in 1961. In the 1970s, sunny South Maui, with its great snorkeling beaches and constant sunshine, was discovered. Over the next few years, several plush resorts and championship golf courses were developed in Wailea. Maui continues to grow as more and more people discover the allure of the island.
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