Kaūpūlehu is the site of a historic settlement on the west coast of Hawaii island, the largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Devastated by a lava flow, the area is now the home of luxury hotels such as the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai. Hualālai 1996

Geography

Kaūpūlehu is located at in the northern part of the

Kona district Kona is a ''moku'' or district on the Big Island of Hawaii in the State of Hawaii, known for its Kona coffee and the location of the Ironman World Championship Triathlon. In the current system of administration of Hawaii County, the ''moku'' ...

. The name comes from ''Ka ulu pūlehu'' which means "the roasted breadfruit" in the Hawaiian language. Access is from the lower

Hawaii Belt Road The Hawaii Belt Road is a modern name for the Māmalahoa Highway and consists of Hawaii state Routes 11, 19, and 190 that encircle the Island of Hawaii. The southern section, between Hilo and Kailua-Kona is numbered as Route 11. The section betw ...

, known as Route 19 or Queen Kaahumanu Highway. In 1800, the volcano

Hualālai Hualālai (pronounced in Hawaiian) is an active volcano on the island of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is the westernmost, third-youngest and the third-most active of the five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii, following Kīlauea ...

erupted and the resulting lava flow reached the sea near Kaūpūlehu. Oral histories tell of a bay and fishponds that were destroyed. The flow is named after Kaūpūlehu. The crater on the side of Hualālai resulting from the eruption is also given the name Kaūpūlehu, located at about elevation, .

Capture of the ''Fair American''

In 1790, local chief Kameeiamoku met Captain

Simon Metcalfe Simon Metcalfe (also spelled Metcalf) (c. 1741 – 1794) was a British-born American surveyor and one of the first American maritime fur traders to visit the Pacific Northwest coast. As early visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in 1789, Metcalfe and ...

on the ''Eleanora'' who was spending the winter during a

maritime fur trading The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in ...

mission. Something he did must have offended Metcalfe, who had Kameeiamoku flogged. This was to have severe consequences later. The ''Eleanora'' then sailed north to the island of Maui to trade and resupply. In retribution for stealing a boat and killing a watchman, Metcalfe fired his cannon at the villagers of Olowalu, killing and injuring hundreds. About five or six weeks later the ''Eleanoras smaller tender , a schooner under command of his son

Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe (also spelled Metcalf) ( – March 16, 1790) was an American maritime fur trader who worked with his father, Simon Metcalfe. After being separated from his father in a storm, Thomas sailed a small schooner with a crew of ...

arrived.Ralph S. Kuykendall, ''The Hawaiian Kingdom '' The Metcalfes had earlier agreed to rendezvous at

Kealakekua Bay Kealakekua Bay is located on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii about south of Kailua-Kona. Settled over a thousand years ago, the surrounding area contains many archeological and historical sites such as religious temples (heiaus) and al ...

. Kameeiamoku was waiting for his revenge. The schooner's small crew of five were easily overwhelmed. Four were killed, including Thomas Metcalfe. The lone survivor was Isaac Davis. When King

Kamehameha I Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Th ...

found out about the incident another sailor,

John Young John Young may refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow * John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...

, was captured by Kamehameha's men when he set ashore from the ''Eleanora'' to inquire about the ''Fair American''."Boatswain John Young – his adventures in Hawaii recalled
published February 14, 1886, New York Times archive Kamehameha decided to spare the lives of Davis and Young, who became valued military advisors during his subsequent battles and negotiations with later visitors. The muskets of the ''Fair American'' were salvaged and the schooner refloated. The ''Fair American'', with its cannons operated by Davis and Young, led to the victory in the Battle of Kepaniwai back on Maui, and the eventual conquest of all the islands. Simon Metcalfe eventually left the island, not realizing that he had indirectly caused his own son's death.

Kona village

The area was fairly uninhabited until Texas investor John H. Jackson constructed his Kona Village Resort in 1961. At first all equipment came in by boat, and then a small airstrip was built. Instead of the typical concrete tower, traditional island architecture was used in individual houses. The airstrip is now used as a

heliport A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...

Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

The

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

-based Four Seasons chain opened a resort in 1996 at Kaūpūlehu. The resort makes use of natural materials indigenous to Hawaii, including

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed- canopy old-growth tropical fores ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

and lava rock. It was among the 100 of '' Travel + Leisure's'' world's best resorts awards in a readers poll in 2007, 2008, and 2009, and ranked in several "top lists" by

Zagat Survey The ''Zagat Survey'', commonly referred to as Zagat (stylized in all caps; , ) and established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, is an organization which collects and correlates the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, coverin ...

s. '' Condé Nast Traveler'' placed the resort on their "Gold list" for best resorts since 2005. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai was one of only three

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

Five Diamond Award winning hotels in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. A par-72 18-hole golf course was designed by Jack Nicklaus. ''

Golf Magazine ''Golf Magazine'' is a monthly golf magazine. It was started in April 1959 by Universal Publishing and Distributing, who sold it to Times Mirror in 1972. Time Inc. acquired it in 2000. It was acquired by Howard Milstein in 2018. It was the world ...

'' ranked the course one of the best in America to play in 2002 and it annually hosts the Champions Tour's

Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai The Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions in Hawaii, on the Big Island. It is played annually in January at the Hualalai Resort Golf Club in Kaūpūlehu in the Kona district, and Mitsubishi E ...

. Other amenities include spa services, five pools, and fitness facilities.

Alan Wong Alan Wong is a chef and restaurateur known as one of 12 co-founders (along with Sam Choy, Roy Ambel Yamaguchi, Peter Merriman, Bev Gannon and more) of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. They came together to form an organization to create a new American r ...

had a restaurant at the resort from 2003 to 2008.

Kūkio

In 1999 another golf course and expensive vacation home development was built to the south called Kūkio, and then expanded to the north in 2007. The original developer was the

Discovery Land Company Discovery Land Company is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based developer and operator of private residential communities and clubs in North America. The company has been called one of the best developers of resort communities by '' Robb Report Vacation Ho ...

. The Kona Shuttle is a private membership-based airline which operates weekly flights to the resorts at Kaūpūlehu. Kona Shuttle flights are presently largely provided by KaiserAir. In the Hawaiian Language ''Kū kio'' means "small pool of water". Fishing is controlled in the area.

References