Looking Backwards

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 137, 18 March 1940, Page 2

Looking Backwards

(Reminiscences of Mr Geo. Creeke) The town and district of Whakatane have grown apace this past 70 years, and it is interesting to recall the conditions as they existed in those old days. Mr George Creeke, one of the oldest residents of Whalcatane r in the course of an interview, has supplied a few particulars of life as it was when settlement was sparse and when there were very few European settlers resident in the district. About GO years ago the fertile Opouriao estate was taken up by a company, managed by Mr Fergusson, a cousin of Sir Charles Fergusson, a former Governor-General of New Zealand. Most of the land had been granted to members of the First Waikato Regiment, but they never occupied it. The owners sold them at the first opportunity without ever going near the sections. Such w r as the early history of Opouriao, now recognised as one of Ihe most fertile and prosperous dairying lands in the Dominion. Referring to the township of Whakatane in the old days prior to 1870, Mr Creeke said that the only buildings the'-" were two hotels with stores combined. In the year 1869 Te Kooti raided the district, and his followers burned down the Isolds and also destroyed the flour mill on the Mill Farm, the. owner, a Frenchman, being killed by the natives. Te Kooii also attacked the local natives, but was defeated by thc:n. Shortly afterwards troops from the First 'Waikato Regiment were sent over here, and they built their redoubt on tiie cast side of the Whakatane river, at Kopeopeo, opposite the Freezing Works site. Some time in the seventies the soldiers moved their quarters on to what is now known as Hillcrest, the eminence at the back of Whakatane. At that time there was no building on the Strand, which was then nothing but a barren waste. There were no natives in the township at that time. People travelling along the coast in those days had to ferry the Whakatane l'iver at Kopeopeo in order to get to the township. Messrs William Kelly and George Simpkins, Senr., followed, and moved their stores from Kopeopeo to the site which is now the business centre of Whakatane. People then started to build houses, and Mr Simpkins Senr., brought over a house which he had erected on Whale Island, and had it re-erected on a site fronting the Strand. There were no Churches in those days, but there was a native school on the site of the present High School. In passing, it may be mentioned that just previous to Mr Creeke visiting Whakatane for the first time, in December 3869, the district experienced' a great flood, which inundated the whole of Kopeopeo: and the water came half-way up the counters of the two stores situated there. Since then there has been no similar visitation. Between 1870 and 1880 the natives caused very little trouble in the toAvnship of Whakatane. Then, however, th« TJreweras started to come down to the township. They used to come in mobs of 40 to 50 and if they happened to come in touch with any of the local Maoris pandemonium broke loose. Pieces of firewood were freely used as weapons. On such occasions the stores and public houses were closed up, and the owners would stand and watch the fights in nrogress. If only a small party of the Ureweras happened to visit the township, woe betide them, for they were sure to receive a rough handling by the local Maoris. "When the steamers started to run to the township in the eighties" they used to come up to the natural stone wharf, on which the Whakatane Club premises are now built, at all hours of the night, and go away in the day time, or viceversa. In those days the township had a weekly mail service. the mail being brought on packhorses from to Whakatane and Opotiki. Before this service was inaugurated the Mounted Constabulary carried the mail in i-elays, mounted men being stationed at Tauranga, Makctn, Matata, Whakatane and Opotiki for the purpose. After the flour mill on the Mill Farm was destroyed by Te Kooti and his followers,, a mill was started at the Wairere stream in the township, but afterwards it was converted into a flax mill. Referring to the Whakatane river, Mr Creeke said that in those early days the course of the river was along where the Whakatane Borough Council Chambers now stand, and the tide came up around the Rock. Behind the Rock one or two vessels were built locally and launched in the river. It is interesting to note also that Commerce Street, from the Rock towards the school, was formed by the Mounted Constabulary. Mr Creeke recalls the fact, that when years ago he carried on a storekeeping business in the Strand, the tide used to come right up to his shop. Throwing a line out from his counter he many a time enjoyed good fishing. Even in its small township days Whakatane became a distributing centre, and goods were taken by boat along the Orini stream to Te Teko, and produce was brought back to the township. Goods were also sent to Matata by boat along the Orini stream and Rangitaiki river. From such beginnings the town of Whakatane has grown to what it is to-day, and its business people are eager an' l able to cater for the requirements of a large, fertile and ever-growing district, a district which on account of its great possibilities of production, must contribute very materially towards the future wealth and prosperity of the Dominion of New Zealand.