Iao Valley is rich with Hawaiian history. Driving up the valley, one cannot help but appreciate the beauty of this creation. On both sides of the road, very steep mountain walls reaches up to the sky. The valley is filled with vegetation. But there is more to this beauty when you take a drive into the valley. You're driving back into history.
In the late 1700's a great battle was fought here. The last powerful ruler in precontact times was Kahekili, who ruled from about 1765 to 1790. Wailuku was the site of Kahalelani, his royal residence. He successfully defended his capital in the 1770's, when an army of warriors from Hawai`i led by Kalani`opu`u invaded. Kahekili's warriors hid behind sand dunes, surprised the invaders and slaughtered them. The most famous event in the history of Wailuku is the battle fought between the forces of Kahekili and those of Kamehameha I, which took place in 1790. Kamehameha came from the Big Island in a fleet so large it was said that the bay from Kahului to Hopukoa was filled with war canoes containing his huge army. Kamehameha brought along a cannon, Lopaka, and two Europeans, John Young and Issac Davis, to operate it. The forces fought for two days at Wailuku, where the Maui warriors were led by Kalanikupule, the son of the high chief Kahekili. On the third day Kamehameha brought out the cannon, and a great slaughter occurred, but no important chiefs were killed. Had the fighting been in the usual style of hand to hand combat, the forces would have been equally matched. As it was, the Maui army retreated into an ever narrowing Iao Valley, and fell under cannon fire, whereby the warriors desperately tried to escape by climbing up the steep face of the cliffs. The battle was subsequently called Ka-`uwa`u-pali (Clawed off the cliff) and Ke-pani-wai (The damming of the waters) . Most of the important chiefs escaped, however, and proceeded to take refuge on the islands of Oahu and Molokai. History brought out that Kalanikupule in order to escape Kamehameha forces, scaled the 3000 foot cliffs of Iao Valley and made it over to Olowalu.
Hiking in the valley myself, I scaled several vertical cliffs, but they were only about 30 feet high.Using vegetation as anchors I was able to make it up the cliffs, but with all the strength in my body.
