Though Kamehameha Day is a statewide holiday, Kaumuali’i, the last king of Kaua’i, is more revered on Kaua’i than the Big Island-born ruler of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Kamehameha twice mounted armies to conquer Kaua’i, and twice failed. In 1796 rough
Though Kamehameha Day is a statewide holiday, Kaumuali’i, the last king of Kaua’i, is more revered on Kaua’i than the Big Island-born ruler of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Kamehameha twice mounted armies to conquer Kaua’i, and twice failed. In 1796 rough conditions in the Kaua’i Channel pushed his canoes back to Waianae, and in 1804 a disease, possibly dysentery, swept through the ranks of his men encamped in the north side of windward O’ahu, infecting Kamehameha as well.
Finally in 1810 Kaumuali’i sailed to O’ahu and ceded Kaua’i to Kamehameha, in part to avoid bloodshed on Kaua’i. Kamehameha told Kaumuali’i to keep control of the windward islands of Hawa”‘i – Kaua’i and Ni’ihau – until his son, Liholiho, was ready to take control of them. Kaumuali’i was removed from Kaua’i in 1821 by Liholiho, who placed him aboard the royal yacht Ha’aheo o Hawai’i (Cleoptra’s Barge), and sent into exile on O’ahu. Kaumuali’i returned once to Kaua’i on a visit with Ka’ahumanu, his then wife and co-ruler of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He died in 1824 and is buried on Maui in the Waiola churchyard in Lahaina, adjacent to Keopuolani, Kamehameha’s “sacred” wife. Both had become Christians in the first years following the arrival of the American Protestant missionaries and were close friends in their last years.
When it came time to name the “Belt Road” or “Government Highway,” as the main road around the Island was known in the 1910s and 1920s, the name Kamehameha Highway was proposed for the stretch of the highway that runs from Lihu’e to the Westside in the 1930s. Roosevelt Highway was another choice proposed. A quick lesson in Kaua’i’s history brought some sense to the road naming committee and Kaumuali’i Highway was chosen.
