1555—Possible discovery of Hawaii by Juan Gaetano, Spanish navigator. He prepared a manuscript chart now in the Spanish archives which contains a group of islands in the latitude of Hawaii but whose longitude is 10 degrees too far to the east. What corresponds to Maui is called La Desgradiada, the unfortunate. The largest, most southerly island, which should be the present Hawaii is labelled La Mesa, the table. Three other islands, appearing to be Kahoolawe, Lanai, and Molokai, are called Los Monjes, the monks.
1736—King Kekaulike died and was succeeded by Kamehamehanui.
1737—Alapainui, moi of Hawaii, invaded Maui via Kaupo. He took with him two young princely half-brothers, Kalaniopuu and Keoua. Keoua was father of Kamehameha I. Since Alapainui found his adversary, Kekaulike, dead, he made peace with the nephew, Kamehamehanui. The two joined forces to repel the invader, Kapiiohokalani of Oahu, in bloody, obstinate battles that ended in the rout of the Oahu army at Kawela, Molokai.
1738—At Keawawa, West Maui, Alapanainui and Kamehamehanui decisively defeated Kauhi, the latter’s brother and usurper of power.
1750 ca.—The calculated date of the most recent activity of Haleakala, the Keoneoio flow above La Perouse Bay. The flow originated at Kaluaolapa at an elevation of 575 feet, and from vents one mile further northeast at an elevation of 1,550 feet. The method of dating is interesting. In 1841, Rev. Edward Bailey of Wailuku inquired about the eruption and was informed by Hawaiians that it happened at the time of their grandfathers. In 1906, Lorrin A. Thurston was told by a Chinese-Hawaiian cowboy, Charles Ako, that his father-in-law’s grandfather at the time of the event was just old enough to carry “two” coconuts 4 or 5 miles from the sea to the upper road at an elevation of 2,000 feet. Since Hawaiians counted coconuts by fours, “two” probably refers to a total of eight nuts. Mr. Bailey was told that a woman and child were trapped by the flow but escaped after it cooled. By 1922, 80 years later, this tale had grown into a neo-myth about a husband and wife with their two children. The mother and her young daughter fled mauka, but were seized by Pele, and turned into the two lava columns that stand beside the vent at Kaluaolapa. The father and son, plunged into the sea and started swimming toward Kahoolawe. Pele cast rocks after them and turned the two to stone. The two rocks, a big and a little one, can be seen today rising out of the sea several hundred feet out from shore as proof of the tale. Mr. Thurston’s estimate of the date of the eruption is 1750 while J. F. G. Stokes, Hawaiian ethnologist, favors a later date, possibly 1770.
1754—Kalaniopuu, warlike king of Hawaii, captured the fortress Kauiki and held it successfully for more than 20 years.
1765—Kamehamehanui died and was succeeded by his brother, Kahekili.
1768—Queen Kaahumanu was born at Kauiki. She became the favorite wife of Kamehameha I.
1775—Kalaniopuu was defeated by Kahekili at Kaupo.
1776—Kalaniopuu invaded Maui at Maalaea; his army was annihilated on the sand hills near Wailuku.