Kona schooner researcher traces a wayward voyage into history
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By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
WAIMEA, Hawai'i — Little did Hawaiian warriors realize when they seized the schooner Fair American off Kona in March 1790 that they were helping equip King Kamehameha's conquest of the island chain.
South Kona researcher Terry Wallace, who is completing a book on the capture of the 54-foot schooner and the events that followed, will talk on the subject from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Waimea Civic Center. The Hawai'i Natural History Association, the Waimea Hawaiian Civic Club and the Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site are sponsoring the free program.
Wallace was raised in Honolulu and educated at Punahou before going to California where he earned two college degrees after extended military service. He said his research sources include the diaries and records of European sea captains.
Seaman Isaac Davis, the only member of the seven-man crew of the Fair American to survive the Kona encounter, became an adviser to Kamehameha the Great after recovering from his injuries, including the loss of an eye. Davis and John Young, an English seaman captured from another vessel, would become known to historians as the king's "haole generals."
Kamehameha's conquest occurred during 1790-1795. The big guns he controlled came from captured vessels including the Fair American, which he turned into the equivalent of a battleship, according to Wallace.
"The Battle of the Red Mouth Gun" is believed to have occurred somewhere along the Hamakua coast at Waipi'o Valley or Waimanu Valley and was the only gunbattle by Kamehameha's forces, Wallace said.
The schooner had a star-crossed history from the time it was acquired by American Simon Metcalfe in Macau. It sailed toward Japan where it survived a major storm and ended up near Alaska before heading down to Mexico where its crew was captured by the Spanish.
After being released, the vessel headed for Hawai'i where it came into Kamehameha's possession.
Fourteen warriors led by high chief Kame'eiamoku threw the captain — Metcalfe's 19-year-old son — and five others overboard. Davis was the only survivor.
Wallace estimates that Davis has 2,000 living descendants scattered throughout the Islands while Young has none, though his granddaughter was Queen Emma, namesake of the Queen's Medical Center.
One of Davis' sons, George "Hu'eu" Davis, sired 19 or 20 children and his family once controlled much of the South Kohala area now known as Waikoloa.
