Queen Emma (1836-85), the wife of King Kamehameha IV, made three visits to Kauai.
The best-known of these took place during the winter of 1870 and the spring of 1871.
The other visits occurred in 1856 and 1860.
On Dec. 21, 1870, Queen Emma arrived at Koloa Landing aboard an inter-island schooner, along with an entourage of around 100 retainers and servants.
From the landing, she then rode horseback or was driven in a carriage to her estate at Lawai.
Her home there was a large frame house with a thatched roof that was located atop the pali on the Koloa side of Lawai Valley overlooking Lawai Bay.
Not long afterward, Emma decided to visit Kokee.
An old-timer named Kaluahi agreed to act as guide for Queen Emma and her entourage.
The queen’s entourage, comprised of about 100 men, women, children, hula girls, musicians and other retainers, left Waimea on horseback along the bridle path that led upward into the mountains above Waimea Canyon.
When they reached the enchanting Kauaikinana Valley, hula girls began to dance and musicians played sweetly for more than two hours before the party proceeded onward.
The night was spent in the thick mists of the Aiponui forest at a place called Kalaniwahine.
On the following morning, the queen and her party traveled to the end of the trail at the Kilohana of Hanalei overlooking Wainiha Valley, 4,000 feet below.
Upon her return to Waimea, a great luau was prepared at the Kapuniai residence, with all the people of Waimea in attendance.
It is now the residence of the pastor of the Waimea United Church of Christ.
And, for a long time afterward, Queen Emma’s residence at Lawai was called Mauna Kilohana in memory of her mountain trip.
In the early 1900s, Alexander McBryde lowered a portion of her house at Mauna Kilohana down the pali into Lawai Valley, where it became known as Queen Emma’s Cottage within the National Tropical Botanical Garden.
Queen Emma’s sojourn on Kauai ended on April 25, 1871, when she boarded the steamer “Pauahi” and sailed for Honolulu.
