Palawai Mormon Experiment - Early history of Mormon settlers on Lanai
Among the earliest foreign residents on Lanai—those who resided full time on the island over the period of several years—were members of the Mormon Church. Elders sent to the Hawaiian Islands in 1850 by Brigham Young, were to seek out native converts and send them to Utah for the great gathering. Kingdom law forbade the emigration of Hawaiians from the islands, so the elders set out to identify a place where native “saints” could receive training in the Mormon doctrine, and develop skills necessary for survival in Utah, once emigration was allowed.
and site of the former “City of Joseph.”
In 1853, arrangements were made between the elders and Levi Haalelea, the chief who owned the ahupuaa (native land division) of Palawai on the island of Lanai. It was decided that the native saints would be gathered at Palawai, and in the years between 1853 to 1864, a significant historical record of life on Lanai was recorded.
from Lanai Hale. [photo KPAC633]
The link below, takes readers to a working manuscript being prepared by Kepa and Onaona Maly for the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center. The paper provides readers with eyewitness accounts of participants in the “Palawai Experiment,” and offers readers a glimpse into life on Lanai covering establishment of the “City of Joseph” in the “Valley of Ephraim” (at Palawai), to the advent of, and subsequent excommunication of Walter Murray Gibson.
Lanai Mormons and the Palawai Experiment (1853 - 1864) (PDF)