Firsts always seem to be important to people. So can you answer the question "Who the first European was to enter and moor in Honolulu Harbor?"
Times up.... no it wasn't Cook and it wasn't Vancouver, but good try on the latter. It was a British former Naval Lieutenant, and Atlantic Whaling Captain, William Brown, pictured below with his crew..
Brown's first command as he entered the Honolulu Harbor
......" Make is so!"
(Though some report is was actually "Where's the warf Worf?"
......" Make is so!"
(Though some report is was actually "Where's the warf Worf?"
Who? You ask. That’s right, few people know the man’s name and fewer know who he was, or why he was bothering with Honolulu. Well the fact was is that the lagoon was called Kou back before the turn of the 19th Century. So it sometimes gets confusing. To add to that, Brown himself named the harbor Fair Haven, but it was a bit of a misnomer; at least from his point of view.
So what brought him to Hawaii? Food and water mostly. There was not much here he or any Trader wanted other than provisions. Hawaii became important as one point in a triangular trade route that developed for beaver and otter skins.
Cook had found the Northwest Indians had plenty of furs, he had traded for some, and then when Captain Clerke, his second in command, touched in Canton after Cook’s death, the crew was astounded by the prices the Chinese paid for good pelts. Naturally it didn’t take long for members of the crew to come back to the Pacific looking to make it rich. It was the first ‘gold’ rush of the Northwest.
I managed to catch this shot of the Lady on her way into Honolulu on the morning of 28 November, 1794.
While inspecting his new real estate Brown was shown Kou. Right away he realized that it was the real prize. (There was a large sand bar blocking Pearl Harbor and making it unnavigable.) But he was in a hurry and only sent in a boat to take readings and confirm that it could be used by large vessels. Then he headed back up to the Northwest.
He told Georgy Vancouver about his discovery, but when George came to Oahu he was having a bad day due to a chronic illness that often left him in pain and severe discomfort, and rendered him temperamental and vindictive at best. He’d also lost some crew men to some bad dudes in Waimea, and was hot for retribution. So he didn't get to the Harbor and just said it didn’t exist. Brown had to come back a year later, in November of 1794, with two smaller ships, and he warped right on in and anchored about where Pier 4 is today.
So there he sat, finding that his buddy Kahekili was dead, and Kahekili’s son was the new king and he was fighting his uncle Kaeokulani. Things didn’t look great but Brown was British and understood that a bit of sticky wicket did not preclude a good show. The boys were with him you know....Actually he got stinking drunk.
Before he did this is what he may have been on his mind.......
He poured himself a brandy, threw his feet up on the small table, and stared into the amber liquid, while reflecting on his past and future. The Venture had been prosperous, with a large cargo of Northwest pelts for China. Although he hadn’t had any news, he felt the whaling station on Staten[[i]], which had been established on the voyage out, would now be showing good returns. And there was the Butterworth, the largest ship in his flotilla, which had sailed for London in the late spring with another cargo of pelts in which he had a substantial interest. However the news of Kahekili’s death was disturbing. He had worked hard to create a trading monopoly in the islands and had come to Kahekili’s aid on two occasions to protect his monopoly. The first time when he provided the king with cannon and powder, and a second when he’d taken old Kahekili aboard the Butterworth and sailed to Kaua‘i to intimidate a rival into submission. The king had been most grateful for the Kaua‘i help, commenting such a display of force made even ceremonial resistance futile [[ii]].
Brown sat back in his chair and reflected on his past ten years at sea. After many seasons of bitter hard work in the north Atlantic whaling trade he had begun to bank some profit. He had become a man of some renown, had been consulted by members of the British Society on matters concerning Arctic voyaging and mapping. He had even been mentioned as a candidate to command the vessel for the Society’s proposed Arctic exploration expedition. The Naval Board, with a letter of appreciation, had accepted his many coastal charts of the upper Hudson Bay. And as he embarked on this extended Pacific cruise, the Admiralty had requested his cooperation in charting the American Northwest fur trading areas and the Sandwich Islands. They had even asked his assistance in such naval missions as might cross his path. It was fine standing for a former naval lieutenant who’d been retired from the lists.
He turned his thoughts once again to the Task—the Venture that had brought him into the Pacific; the expedition that would open doors for him and bring great wealth and honor to his name. It was, Brown reflected, developing well, both in England and the Pacific.
In London the writings and lectures of Captain John Mears had caused such commotion it had appeared England and Spain would go to war over trading rights to the Northwest coast of America; a land of isolation and strangeness the charlatan-promoter Mears had managed to turn it into El Dorado. The London populace had treated Mears’ tale of being stripped of the lands he had purchased from natives, and barred by the Spanish from trading in the Northwest as a great affront to English power. At the same time the promise of great commercial riches had gained the interest of powerful London trading houses. With encouragement from commercial interests, the English public had rallied behind the charismatic Mears and forced a reluctant government to take a firm political stand against the Spanish [[v]].
Brown reflected that granting lands along Nootka Sound to the English, and opening trade to the region had far-reaching effects. The old trading monopoly held by the South Sea’s Company had been rendered defunct; this not without the influence of Messers E&M Curtis and Associates. The Curtis Company, as it was called, already having ships engaged in the Northeast Atlantic whaling trade, had been opportunely organized to launch a trading expedition to the newly opened territory. And Brown, who was captain of the company’s largest and most successful vessel, had been the natural choice to lead.
The Curtis Company’s goal was not the demise of the Pacific trading monopoly. To the contrary, their intention was to succeed the South Sea’s charter with one of their own. However to accomplish this they needed to produce positive trading results in the Pacific. The profits, and promises of much more to follow, could be used to ‘encourage’ government officials into granting the firm a new Pacific trade monopoly [[ix]].
Brown had been called on to pioneer the venture. Alderman Curtis himself had met with him on numerous occasions before his departure from England. Curtis had made it clear he expected great accomplishments from the expedition, and he had provided rich incentives to Brown to encourage him to do just that. The Curtis Company required Brown to establish trading stations in the South Atlantic, the Northwest American Coast, the Sandwich Islands, and wherever else the possibility of profit might arise. The company also expected him to conduct profitable trade between the Northwest and China. Curtis Company’s China trading contacts existed and were ready to aid Brown in profitably selling whatever cargo he might deliver.
Finally, Curtis himself had provided Brown with private letters to the firm’s China trade factors, and another to Captain Vancouver, who had been assigned by the Admiralty to settle the Nootka Controversy and survey the Northwest and the Sandwich Islands. Vancouver’s naval position gave him some latitude in assisting Brown, but also made it difficult for him to engage in overt trading schemes. However Curtis made it clear Captain Vancouver was aware of the Curtis Company’s enterprise and had good reason to aid it wherever possible. Much of this information lay in the multipage Expedition Instructions issued by Curtis Company; much more of it was of such a sensitive nature it had only been passed to him orally. Brown eyed the Instructions that lay in their leather waterproof pouch next to Mears’ embellished voyaging accounts.
After his experience in the Pacific, reflected Brown, neither document bore much relation to the reality he had faced. But the Mears’ tome gave him some insight in what not to do, and the Instructions had been written in broad enough terms they did not restrict him from taking action as he saw fit. Now, nearing three years of Pacific trading he felt he could confirm his success in achieving the goals of the Enterprise. He sat in the small cabin of the Jackall looking out the stern windows, mentally listing the voyage’s accomplishments and taping the table with his boot knife, as each successful task was noted.
He’d left England in January of 1792, the Commodore of a three-ship flotilla. The Butterworth, his former whaling vessel, a converted frigate, with much of its armament restored to it, functioned as his flag; the Jackall, a large sloop rigged vessel; and finally a smaller sloop, the Prince Lee Boo, which was to act as a tender and inshore explorer. His captains, Stewart of the Jackall, and Gordon of the Prince Lee Boo had immediately proved competent and trustworthy.
Tap went the butt of the knife on the chart table.
Their first point of business had been Staten Land where the Butterworth had off loaded a group of whalers recruited from the company’s Northwest Atlantic trade. With these men went stores and supplies to last for eighteen hard months. The purpose was the establishment of a whaling and sealing station. The conditions were harsh, but the handpicked men were all veterans to it. The coastal waters were teeming with seals and whales and the success of the station seemed likely. The first of the Instructions had been carried out as directed.
And Brown let the knife butt tap the table again.
Brown had reached the Northwest fur trading grounds by early March. He had taken a few weeks to explore the coast and check out the charts and Mears’ observations, but had been disappointed with the soundings and locations charted by Mears. He’d spent some time charting more accurately a few of the bays showing trading potential.
The Indians with whom he hoped to trade were unfriendly and often threatening. The hostility, he found, could be traced to the rough treatment the people had received from previous traders. But Brown, who had some experience with natives along the Northeast coast of the American continent, persevered. He found the lessons he had learned in the east helpful, and after some effort he was able to establish trade with a few villages found in good anchorage. He had limited luck in trading for furs; but realized the lateness of the season was, in part, the problem. The contacts he had established, however, paid dividends in the following year when the Indians, aware of his fairness, had been willing to trade their fur.
Tap went the knife butt on the table.
Arriving in Friendly Bay he had met Vancouver, and given him the private communication from Curtis. Taciturn, Vancouver had agreed to assist in accomplishing the goals of the Enterprise, but only under the most circumspect of conditions. Commerce, he had said, was not the proper work of a captain in the Royal Navy. Brown had softened Vancouver’s stance a bit by sharing his observations on the anchorage’s he had visited. It was, he assured Vancouver, a mutually favorable arrangement. So far it had been. The recent season’s trading in the Northwest had been good, and both he, and he suspected, Vancouver, stood to gain richly from the profits on sale of furs in China.
He tapped the table again with the hilt of the knife.
Finally Brown reconsidered his Sandwich Island trade. The recent death of Kahekili might pose a problem. He had hoped to keep the chief soothed until he could deliver his title deeds to England. Though, in his judgment, the deeds were legal, the change in kingship of the islands would require some maintenance effort on this visit. Preserving good relations with the Hawaiians of was wise if not necessary.
It had been Vancouver’s plan to obtain Kamehameha’s cession of land to the English Crown on the winter’s visit to the island of Hawaii. In addition Vancouver had agreed to preach a peaceful solution to the long running dispute between Kamehameha and Kahekili and his Maui ali‘i. Vancouver’s rationale was that this was the action of a just and compassionate man. The added intent; to preserve a military balance as long as possible, allowing Curtis time to gain government affirmation of the trading deeds, was, for Vancouver, simply a result, not an intent.
Vancouver’s reasoning made no difference to Brown. His deeds to O‘ahu and Kaua‘i would be all the stronger for it. Any agreement Vancouver could get from Kamehameha would strengthen his title agreements with Kahekili. Any delay in resolving differences between Kamehameha and the Maui king would be helpful. Extension of the long running war would be to Curtis’ advantage; a divided Hawaiian voice was less likely to be heard. Together, the two sets of documents, Vancouver’s and his, would eventually be used to restrict trade in the islands to those approved by the Curtis Company. So another piece of the trade monopoly would fall into place.
Satisfied with his review he hefted the knife, flipped the blade high, letting the flat of the blade fall back into the palm of his hand. Grasping the knife he cocked his arm and threw it straight and hard at a large piece of wood he kept across the cabin. It struck with a thunk, the blade digging deep into the wood. Brown stood up, retrieved his knife from the log, slipped it back into his boot sheath, and walked to the side table, where he poured himself a hefty drink. It went down hot and smooth.
[i] Staten island lies twenty-nine km off the eastern tip of Argentine Tierra del Fuego.
[ii] Brown’s Past Agreements with Kahekili: Stokes, Honolulu, provides detailed discussion of the relationship between Kahekili and Brown. It appears that Kahekili was more than willing to bargain with Brown and understood what titles and rights he had bestowed the Captain.
[iii] Vancouver's Charts of the Northwest: Vancouver's charts of the Northwest Coast are remarkable in their completeness. He reviewed charts from the Spanish, traders, and spent an extraordinary amount of time exploring the coast in an effort to create an accurate picture of the area. Akrigg and Akrigg pg. 60-79 provide a detailed and most favorable account of Vancouver's explorations of the Northwest Coast. It is likely that Brown's own time mapping and exploring areas near Greenland elevated him in Vancouver's mind and that he would have been prone to listen to Brown above others.
[iv] Deeds of Cession: Stokes, Honolulu, devotes considerable space to discussing these Deeds, the likelihood that they existed, Kahekili’s likely intent and understanding of agreements with Brown, and what treatment they might have received had they reached London. He also discusses Vancouver’s possible association with Brown and the commercial enterprise which sponsored Brown’s voyage.
[v] Mears and the London Connection: Stokes, Honolulu, discusses the elaborate trading connections that Mears had, and his publicizing of his voyage.
[vi] Mears Voyages: Excerpts from the Tacoma Public Library Northwest Reading room. The internet page discusses briefly the activities of Mears on his voyages to the Northwest coast. Taken from Murry C. Morgan, The John Mears Expeditions, The Last Wilderness, University of Hawaii Press, 1955, pg.18-22. www.tpl.lib.wa.us/v2/nwroom/MORGAN/mears.htm (10/2003)
[vii] Mears and his Activities in England: Stokes, Honolulu. Stokes discusses Mears promotion of his venture and his eventual achievements.
[viii] Friendly Bay in Late Winter of 1792: Stokes, Honolulu, Stokes discusses the circumstances in the Northwest in 1792.
[ix] Plans of the Curtis Company: Stokes, Honolulu, In attempting to determine Brown’s motivations Stokes discusses his possible affiliations with the Curtis Company.
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