He was a high prince, a revolutionary, soldier of fortune and a U.S. delegate. He travelled the world dining in palaces and fighting in wars.
He knew kings and queens and also spent time in jail. He was a cabinet member of King Kalakaua, a graduate of colleges in California and England and, they say, was the best shot with a rifle in all of the kingdom.
This is the story of a great Hawaiian hero. What an epic life he lived.
The smiling baby boy first opened his eyes in a crib in a royal mansion on Kauai. It was 1871. A handsome child with such bright eyes, he was given the nickname, “Prince Cupid.” Throughout his boyhood, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana’ole swam in the blue waters off Kauai.
Sadly, his father and mother died when he was 12. Being noble, he was adopted by Queen Kapi’olani, wife of King Kalakaua.
The boy was Prince of the Kingdom and addressed as “Royal Highness.”
He was made a cabinet member of the king before the age of 20. He managed the land as minister of interior. His popularity grew.
Kalaniana’ole soon sailed to the San Francisco area military school, and then sailed around the horn to England to a college of agriculture, learning how to malama the aina when he returned home. He excelled in marksmanship, a skill he would need through life.
When he returned to Hawaii in 1893, dark times had befallen the kingdom. His beloved queen, Liliu’okalani, had been dethroned by haole businessmen. His fellow alii were imprisoned and the kingdom stolen away. A revolution was brewing to take it back.
The firebrand, Robert Wilcox, was organizing revolt to retake the kingdom and return the queen to the throne. The young prince joined Wilcox and his band of rebels. Guns and munitions to attack the new republic were to arrive secretly by ship in Honolulu Harbor.
The rebels were waiting one night for the arms shipment when the military charged in and chased them into the Oahu hills.
The prince was nearby as Wilcox ran and hid in the jungles. They fought the enemy in the hills, but the prince was soon captured and sentenced to one year in an Oahu prison. It must have been hard trading his royal robes for striped prison garb.
After this he was done with this new republic, so with his wife Elizabeth, he left for England to once again live the royal life. There the noble couple was welcomed and honored in palaces across Europe. All hailed this Hawaiian Prince and his lady.
Because of his gratitude to England for her gracious treatment of Hawaii, Prince Cupid packed his bags and rifle and sailed to Africa to fight for England in the Boer Wars. He slugged across Africa fighting for two long years. It was now 1902.
It was time to return to Hawaii to help his people. The new republic was oppressing Hawaiians, now he would fight in Congress instead of the jungles. Trade bullets for ballots. He took his voice to the U.S. Congress. There he did much for his people.
He organized Hawaii into counties, and stood up for Hawaiian Homelands. He started Hawaiian civic clubs, and proposed Statehood for Hawaii, 40 years before it happened.
He started King Kamehameha Day. How surprised he would be that he now has an annual celebration in his honor called Prince Kuhio Day.
Dennis Gregory is a writer, artist, singer, teacher and Kailua-Kona resident who mixes truth, humor and aloha in his biweekly column. He can be reached at makewavess@yahoo.com.