PUKEKOHE

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 503, 6 February 1920, Page 2

PUKEKOHE

HISTORICAL SKETCH.

(By Ed wart I'. Frost)

Pukekohe, in Maori nomenclature. "Hill of Cedars." The name to most people who know it is associated with the excellent crops of early potatoes that are raised theie and shipped to all parts of the Dominion. There are other associations connected with the district that are less widely known, and which front time to time will bear recapitulating. The Hill. The panoramic view from the top of the hill is one of the finest in the province, if not indeed the Dominion, and the feeling that comes to one while viewing it is one of pride in the colonising achievements of the British race.

The Pioneers.

When one considers that a little over half a century ago almost the whole of the countryside which spreads itself before us was covered with dense bush, impenetrable except by a few Maori tracks, it makes one inclined to raise one's hat to the pioneer settlers who carved their way through forest and swamp and established themselves in this new land.

It is doubtful if any other district iu the Dominion can show such results of intelligent industry, especially when it is- considered that the first settlers took their lives in their hands when they ventured abroad. The fear of raids and massacre hung over the district for some time after the early settlers established themselves. The forests contained the best growth of puriri timber in the island, and many thousands of sleepers were supplied to the Government of the day for the railways which were beginning to be built.

Observation Splendid. There are many places that were of military importance in the Maori War, which can be seen from its summit, and to which a certain amount of interest is still attached. Towards .the south-west we can look down upon the Waikato RivOr and view its winding course and its broad estuary right to the west coast. Port Waikato, at its mouth, was a place of military and naval importance. The transport of military stores for the Waikato started here, in the shallow draught river boats. Troops were quartered here. A resident magistate was also stationed here, and the remains of the old courthouse can still be seen. Right below us, just where the ridge, of which Pukekohe is the highest point, is the site of Camerontown, so called after General Cameron. This was one terminal of a military road which stretched from Partington, on the Manukau Harbour, across to the Waikato River. It is now locally known as the Tramway Road.

Military Associations.

It was here that a Mr. Armitage was killed by the Maoris while in charge of some stores which had been landed on the bank of the river. A severe engagement also took place hereabouts, in which a portion of the 65th Regiment, then stationed at Tuakau, were engaged. It was during this fight that a Victoria Cross was won by Sergeant McKenna for gallantly rescuing a wounded officer. A mile lower down the. river we "can just see a place called. Rangipokia, a landing place of Maniapoto's braves, when they njade a raid on the settlers at the Mauku, a preliminary. it is thought, to attacking Auckland. However, they were defeated with heavy loss, though not before they had taken toll of the pioneers and soldiers. Here it was that Lieutenants Norman and Percivat fell. The natives managed to get back to their canoes before the settlers could cut them off, and were seen disappearing in the distance up the river, just as the troops reached the landing. Turning towards the north-east the districts of Papakura, Drury and Bombay come into view. Here again stirring times were seen, and several settlers were murdered by the natives ere security was assured. Just across the valley is the old Pukekohe East Church, in and around which a gallant and successful fight was put up by the settlers and Forest Rangers. The old military road from Auckland to Point Russell (now Mercer) traversed these districts, and after the war was a great factor in the de velopment of the Waikato, prior to the advent of the railways.

Defence of Auckland. Eastward rise to the Paparata Ranges, where the natives prepared a great fighting pa, but abandoned it after the skirmish on the Koheroa Ranges. It is on record #iat Von Tempsky and Captain McDonnel reconnoitred this pa for General Cameron. A portion of the Pol<eno Valley can be seen, and it is here that the well-known Queen's Redoubt was established. It was ono of the most important of a chain of forts that General Cameron placed across the island from Miranda to the Waikato River to protect Auckland City from sudden raids.

Alexander Redoubt. Further southward the fertile districts of Tuakau and Buckland come into view. The high bluff at Tuakau, which can be plainly seen rising sheer from the Waikato River, is the site of the Alexandra Redoubt, which is still in a good state of preservation. This was the most westerly one of the chain of forts, and it is here that the right wing of the Gsth Regiment was stationed under Cap tain \\ yatt. An obelisk has been erected inside the fort to the honour of the veterans who cleared the path for civilisation.

The Brave Days of Old. Across the Waikato River to the southward can be seen a portion of the Raglan County, and the settlements of Onewhevo and Pukekawa. Onewhero, formerly known as Kaipo, is one of the most successful settlements established in the province, and is a tribute to John Baliance's Homestead Act. The settler,; who took it up were mostly sons of the Pukekohe and Tuakau pioneers, and thoy have proved themselves true sons of such. Hard times they certainly did have, but through good and bad they toiled: no go slow, or limitation of out put, and to-day they and their sons and daughters are reapin<- the benefits of their industry.

Romance of Progress. The present generation, gazing round on these scenes from kohe, can hardly realise what it h".s cost in labour, hardships; yes* and blood, to have turned the primeval forest and quaking morass into the pleasant pastures as we see tnem to-day. Within our immediate vicinity, and under the view from this eminence, are railways, telegrapn and telephones, electric light, waterworks, good roads, schools, churche-., public institutions of various sorts, recreation grounds. Last, but not least, there are many beautiful homes, all of which are part of the legacy handed down to us by those pioneers who toiled with rifles alongside them, with little or no luxuries as we know them, to-day, in order to provide homes for themselves and their children in the new Brita+ti of the south--and nobly they succeeded. Let us see to it that the following generations prove themselves worthy of such forbears, and follow worthily in the footsteps of those to whom Kipling's inspiring eulogv of our Empire's pioneers may be aptly applied:- • For he shall desire loneliness And his desire shall bring Hard on his heels a thoimnd wheels, A people and a King. And ho shall turn back v O'er his own track, And by his scarce cool camp There he shall meet the roaring street, The derrick and the stamp. For he shall blaze a nation's way With hatchet and with brand, Till o'er his last won wilderness