Pā'ula'ula State Historical Park (Russian Fort Elizabeth) is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

and is administered as the Pā'ula'ula State Historical Park just southeast of present-day Waimea on the island of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest islan ...

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 stat ...

. It is located at the site of the former Fort Elizavety (russian: Форт Елизаветы), the last remaining Russian fort on the

Hawaiian islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...

, built in the early 19th century by the Russian-American Company as the result of an alliance with High Chief Kaumualii. The

star fort A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, literally meaning ''Italian outline'') is a fortification in a style that evolved during the early modern period of gunpowder when the cannon came to domin ...

was employed by the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent islan ...

in the 19th century under the name Fort Hipo ( haw, Paulaula o Hipo).

History

In 1815, German physician Georg Anton Schäffer, an agent of the Russian-American Company, arrived in

to retrieve goods seized by Kaumualii, chief of

island.Khlebnikov, K.T., 1973, Baranov, Chief Manager of the Russian Colonies in America, Kingston: The Limestone Press, According to the company instructions, Schäffer had to begin by establishing friendly relations with king Kamehameha I who had created a kingdom incorporating all the islands of Hawaii and faced opposition from rebellious Kaumuali'i. Then, with or without Kamehameha's support, Schäffer had to recover the cost of lost merchandise from Kaumualii. Schäffer's medical expertise gained Kamehameha's respect but he denied the Russians any assistance against Kaumualii. Schäffer was followed by two company ships, the ''Otkrytie'' and the '' Il’mena''. He then sailed to Kauai on his own. To his surprise, Kaumualii eagerly signed a "treaty" granting Russian

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its in ...

over Kauai. Kaumualii convinced Schäffer that the Russians could just as easily capture the whole archipelago. Schäffer promised that Tsar Alexander would help him to break free of Kamehameha's rule. Officially, Kaumualii had pledged allegiance to Kamehameha in 1810. Kaumualii probably never intended to give up power over the island; he thought he might reclaim his own kingdom with the help of Russia. Kaumualii allowed Schäffer to build a fort near Waimea, named Fort or Fortress Elizabeth (russian: Елизаветинская крепость, ''Elizavetinskaya Krepost’'') in honor of the Empress of Russia at the time,

Louise of Baden Princess Louise of Baden (13/24 January 1779 – 4/16 May 1826) was, later known as Elizabeth Alexeievna ( rus, Елизавета Алексеевна), the Empress of Russia during her marriage with Emperor Alexander I. Princess of Baden Eliz ...

. Two others Fortress Alexander (, ''Krepost’ Aleksandra'') and Fort Barclay-de-Tolly (, ''Fort Barklaya-de-Tolli'') were named for the reigning emperor Alexander and his marshal Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly and constructed near Hanalei on Kauai. Fort Elizabeth was constructed in 1817 on the east bank of the Waimea River overlooking Waimea Bay. This fort was built in the shape of an irregular octagon, about across, with walls high. It housed a small Russian Orthodox chapel, Hawaii's first Orthodox Christian church. Fort Alexander built on

Hanalei Bay Hanalei Bay is the largest bay on the north shore of Kauaʻi island in Hawaii. The town of Hanalei is at the midpoint of the bay. Geography Hanalei Bay consists of nearly of beach, surrounded by mountains. In the summer, the bay offers excel ...

also housed a small Orthodox chapel. When it was discovered that Schäffer did not have the backing of the Tsar, he was forced to leave Kauai in the fall of 1817. Captain Alexander Adams replaced the Russian flag with the new Kingdom of Hawaii flag some time before October 1817. Russian Fort Elizabeth eventually came under the control of Kamehameha supporters. In 1820, the guns fired in salute as Kaumualii's son, Prince George "Prince" Kaumualii (also known as Humehume) arrived on the ship ''Thaddeus'', after guiding American missionaries back to his home. Humehume tried to stage a

rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

in 1824 by attacking the fort. It was used as a base to capture him and keep the kingdom unified. It was abandoned in 1853.

Dismantling

The

tasked Kauai pioneer

Valdemar Knudsen Valdemar Emil Knudsen (August 5, 1819 – January 5, 1898) was a sugarcane plantation pioneer on west Kauai, Hawaii. Background Valdemar Emil Knudsen was born in Kristiansand, in Vest-Agder county, Norway. He was college-trained in botany an ...

with the removal of armaments from the fort. Similar work was being done in that era across the kingdom with other forts being dismantled at Kailua-Kona, Lāhainā and along the waterfront at the old port of

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

. In a letter sent to Honolulu, Knudsen listed an inventory of the guns at the fort following a survey made in 1862. They included 60

flintlock Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, also know ...

muskets, 16

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

s, 12 18-pound

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

, 26 4- and 6-pound

, 6 heavy guns and 24 little guns. During the decommissioning of the fort in 1864, while Knudsen was loading armaments and munitions for sale as scrap metal onto a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

in Waimea Bay, one or two cannons fell into the murky waters of Waimea Bay.

Access

The fort is located at coordinates , on the southeastern shore of the mouth of the Waimea River in Waimea, Kauai County, Hawaii. A small parking lot is south of the Hawaii Route 50 bridge, known as Kaumualii Highway in honor of the last king. Facilities at the park include an interpretive walking path, and restrooms. A brochure with details of the site is available for a self-guided interpretive tour. Visitors to this site can enjoy exploring the remains of the fort, viewing scenery, photography and historical interpretation.

Significance

This large stone construction is the most magnificent reminder of the attempts by the

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

for gaining an influential position in the Hawaiian Islands during the early

19th century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolish ...

. Alexander Baranov, governor of the Russian American Company at

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

, wished to open trade with the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...

to obtain food for the Alaska settlements and sent several vessels for this purpose. One of these ships was wrecked at Waimea, Kauai, in 1815; and the next year Baranov sent Dr. Georg Anton Scheffer for recovering the cargo and, likely, to open a permanent Russian trading post or to gain SL political foothold. Scheffer was successful in quickly gaining influence over King Kaumualii, of Kauai, and in the summer of 1816 persuaded the latter to sign an agreement giving the Russians special trading and economic privileges on Kauai and

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O ...

. In a failed attempt to build a fort at

, Scheffer went back to Kauai to consolidate his position with Kaumualii. His aim, evidently, was to convince the king to declare his independence of Kamehameha and enter under Russian protection. He primarily erected an earthwork at Hanalei; and, sometime between April and October, 1817, he built a strong stone fort at Waimea, over which the Russian flag was flown. The Waimea establishment was a huge one. In addition, the fort was equipped with guns and quarters for troops, Scheffer owned a factory or trading house, with gardens and houses for a staff of about 30 families. Apparently, the fort was not fully completed by the Fall of 1817. By that time Scheffer's peremptory conduct had alienated the Hawaiians. Acting on orders from Kamehameha, the Russians were ousted by Kaumualii. After the departure of Scheffer from the islands, Hawaiian troops occupied the fort evidently in October 1817. In 1820, a 21-gun salute was fired when the brig Thaddeus came up with the son of Kaumualii, who had been attending school in the United States. The first mission settlement of the

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

took place on the river bank close to the fort. Around 1853, the fort was abandoned because the Hawaiian garrison was withdrawn.

Physical structure

Varying in cross measurement from 300 to 450 feet, the structure is in the form of ‘an irregular

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, w ...

’. The outer walls are made of piled stone; the walls are from 25 to 45 feet thick and about 20 feet high. And those are in good condition until date. The foundations of the magazine,

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

and other buildings are visible inside the walls. The area within and bordering the fort has been extensively cleared for park development as exhibited in the map accompanying this form. The region north and east between the fort and the park boundary have been demolished for the development of the park, an action which probably caused serious damage to any historical ruins and archaeological resources.

References

External links

Holy Theotokos of Iveron Russian Orthodox Church of Hawaii
* * {{Authority control 1817 establishments in Oceania 1864 disestablishments in Oceania Archaeological sites in Hawaii Elizabeth Russian-American Company State parks of Hawaii National Historic Landmarks in Hawaii Hawaiian Kingdom History of Kauai Former Russian colonies Elizabeth Protected areas of Kauai European colonisation in Oceania Elizabeth 1817 establishments in Hawaii National Register of Historic Places in Kauai County, Hawaii Star forts