Communication No. 2019-10- NKCDP RR Trail Plans

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decimated. The 1850 census found 82,035 unmixed Hawaiians and 558 part Hawaiians, compared with 107,354 Hawaiians in 1836, and perhaps 300,00034 in 1778"3s Many influences and change came to North Kohala and the islands. As the large-scale agricultural plantations grew in economy and influence, there was the need to move goods, services, and people to locations across the islands. There was also the need for labor on these large agricultural plantations. The reduction in the Hawaiian population and the ability to bring in other labor brought changes in the population of North Kohala. With the influence of Samuel G. Wilder, the start of the Hawaiian Railroad Company began a trend that expanded across the islands as a means to boost economic production and modernize the economy. Chinese laborers were brought in to build the railroads, and numerous immigrants are brought to work the sugar plantations. The First Hawaiian Railroad In the first week of March 1882, 11 miles of the Big Islands' first railroad opened, connecting Hawi to Mahukona, and bringing an isolated peninsula into the era of mechanized industry. Plantations no longer had to rely on bullock -drawn wagons or treacherous boat landings. Samuel Gardner Wilder, great uncle of manager J. Scott B. Pratt, worked with the Hawaiian Railroad Company to incorporate on July 5, 1880, with the goal of improving efficiency and profits in sugar transportation. Wilder also owned the inter -island steamship company that serviced Mahukona. Thus, it is apparent that the intent from Samuel G. Wilder was likely for the benefit of his own businesses; however, the railroad was nevertheless built as a government infrastructure project. "Plans for the Mahukona railroad had started in 1878, when a new treaty between the Hawaiian Kingdom, ruled by King Kalakaua, and the United States encouraged sugar exports. While Samuel Parker at Waimea -based Parker Ranch envisioned a Hilo-Hamakua connection, the owner of the Likelike and its steamer company, Samuel G. Wilder, proposed a cheaper Kohala route. With the calculated judgment of a man with indomitable vision, Wilder became Minister of the Interior in the King's cabinet, started surveys in Kohala, and was granted a Charter of Incorporation under the official name "The Hawaiian Railroad Company" in July 1880. Construction of the railroad was done primarily by 100 Chinese laborers and 20 haole supervisors. The construction of the railroad had its challenges. There were areas that needed blasting and gulches to traverse. It was reported in the local newspaper that the construction included "passing through a country full of boulders and rocks, necessitating constant blasting." (Hawaiian Gazette, June 8, 1881). The thirty-six inch narrow gauge line had to be anchored into bare lava, wending its way up and around steep gulches, navigating high trestles, and hugging coastal cliffs. For reasons Wilder did not explain, he placed railroad stations far below camps and sugar mills, "as remote from all community interests and lines of travel as the sagacious cane -field owners could compel it to go (Kohala Midget, October 7, 1914). Construction changed Kohala's landscape, plowing fields that, complained a Hawaiian farmer, 34 Other estimates (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/06/native-hawaiian-population/) put the population at around 700,000 in 1778. 35 Robert C. Schmitt, Demographic Statistics of Hawaii: 1778-1965 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii) 1968 14