A BRIEF HISTORY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 101, 15 December 1939, Page 6 (Supplement)

A BRIEF HISTORY

INCIDENTS OF THE STORMY PAST THE MUSKET IN THE FERN The peace of Ohope is belied by the tales of its stormy past, and even since the advent of the Pakeha, the Beach which served as the main highway between Whakatane and Opotiki has been the scene of bloody murders and fiercely contested tribal battles. Thickly populated, there are still to be seen the pitted hills on the cliffs which tell of no less than five substantial Maori Pas. All were peopled by members or hapus of the great Matatua section of the Maori race, and the green silent trees and the warm yellow sand has witnessed many a fell deed and cold-blooded action of long ago. From the terraced banks the early Maoris gazed fearfully out through the foliage as Captain Cook's gallant little 'Endeavour' beat up the coast towards Whale Island. But Cook makes no mention of the long stretch of sand that was Ohope. Pakeha Settlers. Later the Pakehas broke its stillness, and in 1830 the first group of whites gazed upon its rare charm and foreshore, and. predicted for it a great and prosperous future. Settlers and later members of the militia from the Whakatanc Redoubts walked round the coast from the historic landing place at the Whakatane bluff. The beach with its hard even surface made an excellent highway to Opotiki, and the trip was made by horse to Ohiwa, where horse and rider swam the channel at its narrowest point and so, went on to the sister settlement. Father of Ohope. Captain Gilbert Mair, described as the father of Ohope. was the son of a trader who had established an early station at Whale Island. Selecting Ohope as his home he set up the first white habitation and commenced to farm in a practical way the rich sandy foreshore. He is known.

to have grown great quantities of maize, the size and quality of which were the wonder of all who saw them. With the Hau Hau insurrection, Captain Mair threw his weight into the conflict and raised a body of hardy pioneers and friendly Maoris who rendered invaluable assistance to the British cause during the anxious years that followed. He it was who accomplished the difficult task of taking the Te Teko Pa by running a sap close up to the defences. Ambush arid Murder. But Ohopc became an ideal hunting ground to the nomadic native outlaws, and many incidents occurred, the worst being the murder of Mr Bennett White, and his companion, the Arawa mail carrier. Both were ambushed on their way through to Opotiki, and tomahawked. Travellers were often subjected to a blaze of bullets from the fern, where an unseen enemy lay awaiting an opportunity to fall upon the unsuspecting. But the Hau Hau scare passed and as an ironic sequel the instigator, Te Kooti, after his pardon settled at Ohiwa. For years the grizzled old warrior lived a lonely existence at Ohope's extreme south, a few faithful followers still remaining with him in unbroken fealty. In the earlier days of Whakatane, he was in the habit of visiting the town, which he and his savage band had at one time laid waste and razed to the ground. Ohope's days of terror were past, and with the opening up of the new inland highway, the trip to Opotiki was no longer made by the beach. For years it slept in the sun, dreaming the dream of unbroken peace, until a short decade ago, its great charm captivated the fancy of the modern holiday makers, and a new and flourishing resort was founded.