SOME EARLY HISTORY.

Shannon News, 1 July 1924, Page 4

SOME EARLY HISTORY.

The First Roads on This Coast FORMATION of IHOROWHENUA ; TJOOWTY. Now that it lias been definitely decided to seal tile whole of the main roads of the floirowjhenua County, thereby: making them the equal of anything in- the world to-day with the possible exception of the concrete road of the United States, some account of the stages leading up to this consummation, will be of interest. Progress has been so rapid in this district that the average person does no.t realise that the older settlers now residing in the County remember the time when the whole of the country which is niow one of the most productive dairying areas of New Zealand, was covered with primeval forest, and the only clear land was a narrow, strip of sand-hills along the sea-coast, covered with native grass and fern. The "development which has taken place in the last 50 years and which has transformed the whole countryside necessitated firstly in order that it should be effective, the. provision of roads. The only communication up to this time between the districts north of the Rangitikei, where some settlement had taken place, and Wellington on the South, had been per medium of the beach, which provided a level road, but one which was % Capable of any ( great improvement, and which moreover had many. and great disadvantages. i For the facts contained in the following article we are indebted largely to Mr Kebbell, of Levin who as chairman of 'the first Horowhenua County Council in 1885 was intimately connected with the institution of tins great work; iand whose memories ox the County’s early struggles are still viviu. Aiso■■to -Mr Rou. McDonald, Who as a, resident in the district from a tune long before any road, other than the beach, existed, has foliovved the course of events ' from their beginning to die present time. The early minute-books of the County, charred on the edges by the fire' which destroyed the County offices in 1898, and an examination, of which was kindly permitted by the Gounty Clerk, Mr F. H. * Hudson, are also mines of information to anyone interested ,in the district’s development.

THE BEACH ROAu. every phase of the histins young country and unof this district is houhd ujßhth this old beach road. Down has flowed the successive waves of conquest from the north which. terminated in Te Rauparaha’s seizure of this territory in 1824. Northwards in the ’6o’s the {red-coated regimientls of Rh& British (Crown to the Taranaki wars and witbAHw, went Major Kemp’s l Mauo-. Lake Horowhenua. Down the sHp rough and ready highway the piPiuce of the early settlors and of the more numerous Maoris from the Oihau southwards had flowed since the forties to the rising town of-Wellington, it provided the “stock route from Wanganui and Taranaki, to Wellington and the South Island, a|nd 'along the same long and desolate stretch, the pioneers first walked on their infrequent visits to the capital, and later travelled by Cobb and. Co.’s coaches down the same route.

The original Maori track to Wellington .had followed , the beach to a point close to where the present railway line crosses the ridge beyond Paekakariki, .descending thence to the pa at Porirua where Te Raupaiaha was captured by direction of Sir George Grey and afterwards kept in captivity on board B.M.S. Calliope.

This track was used until, after the clash between the early seitiers and the Maoris at the Hutt, Sir George Grey, then Governor of New Zealand, determined to. terminate the isolation of the. locaj natives which had contributed'not a little to their ability to withstand the claims of the Government by constructing a road which would connect the Otaki lands with Wellington land along which troops might be freely moved if the -necessity- arose. TE RANGIHAEATA’S RQAD. As a digression, which however, may be of interest as illustrating the astuteness of the Governor and the tact which entabled him to so successfully deal with-Maoris during his long term of office, it may be mentioned that this road -was mainly directed against Te Rauparaha’s flghtingi generap Te Rangihaeata, who after being driven out of the Hutt Valley, had fought, a rearguard action across the Horokiwi Hills, and retired to truculent passivity ip the Poroutawhao Pa. Even after the completion of this road it was' still found that Te Rangihaeata was inaccessible in the middle of the Poroutawhao swamps-and it waS then that- Sir George Grey had full scope for the exercise of the diplomacy for which he was notable. He presented the chief with a horse and gig, and when Te Rangihaeata asked of what use they were to him who > had no roads, suggested that the best thing, that he could do would be to ■make a road from his pa to the beach, when he could visit his*tribesmen at Otaki. It was further suggested that he should construct a) road from Poroutawhao to the Manawatu river from -which point his canoes could be used to take produce tb-Otaki-and the other settlements. The fiery old chief who would have repudiated any such suggestion j with scorn if made to him direct, agreed, the Government paying him J. for the work. The road to the river

'was afterwards incorporated in the main road from Levin to Foxton. WELLINGTQN-EOXTQN ROUTE. The road from Wellington to P ae * kakariki was constructed, by Colonel Russell, of the 58th Regiment, at that time in garrison at Wellington, the local Mauopoko and Ngati-Raukawa Maoris being largely employed in the work and, incidentally purchasing the first horses they pressed with the money derived in this way. One of the first horses in Otaki, Waka-rori, or “.work on the road,-’ was evidently named by a , Maori humorist who wished to record this I road as then constructed in the late 40’s is that which is at present in use. From Paekakariki the coach service whichx was instituted in the late 50’s, flret x as a tri-weekly and later ns a daily service, followed the beach to the Otaki river, which hot being fordable at the mouth necessitated a detour inland for some distance and is responsible-for. the present location of the town. The road struck inland from the beach a mile south of Otaki, crossed the river at the Rangiuni Flat and thence to the Otaki township. It then followed the present street past the Church _ of England mission grounds and catnolic Church property until it crossed the Waitohui creek, when it turned to the beach again. This road had been formed by the Maoris at the time when they obtained the first bullock drays in the 50’s and remained ■immptiilled until the earlv 70‘s, when Mr Hector McDonaJld obtained a grant for the- .purpose from tbe Provincial Government, this grant being spent under his direction.. Another detour was made inland in order to cross the Manawatu at Foxton. Further, when the Ohau river was in flood it was necessary to strike inland for three-quarters of a mile at that point, an hotel, still different points along the ibeach were accommodation houses, where horses were changed, and further half-way houses in between. These houses, Which were licensed hotels, were situated at* the Hokio, Oha-u, Otaki, Waikanae, Paraparaumu, etc., and as postnhouses and-the only place for travellers to break the journey on the trip to Wellington or vice versa drove a 1 flourishing trade. This, however; has nothing to do with the present matter. DIFFERENT TIMES, DIFFERENT NEEDS. ,

Such communication whilst admittedly crude, had sufficed for the needs of the early settlers. The whole of the clear land from Otaki to the ManaWiatu was held in large blocks as leaseholds from the Maoris, by six settlers, who, taking them, from Otaki north were Bishop Hadfleld, and Messrs Thomas Bevan, Robert '■ Ransfield; John jKebbell, Hector McDonald and John Davis. The purchase of the several blocks from the Rangitike! south -to Moutoa had not greatly affected the position, apd it was only when thei Horowhenua Block was bought in 1888 by the Government, and thrown open for settlement, together with a large area previously purchased by the Manawatu Railway Company, that 1 the necessity of roads to provide access to. the new settlements be came a cute.

Previous to this, however, on the passage of the Counties Act of 1876, the Manawatu, County had been formed, the present Horowhenua County forming the Southern Riding of that County, and being"* represented by Mr Hector iMoDonald as first member for the Riding. He was succeeded in that position after his death by firstly Dr. Hewson, of Otaki, -and afterwards by Mr Kehbell. Prior do the constitution of the County, the •beach road had received such grudging maintenance as had been given it by the Wellington Provincial Government. It was now determined, however, that the advent of the railway, which gave promise of wider settlement, demanded a more centrally situated road which, running down the middle of the coastal plain would bring the land on both sides within easy access. NATIVE OPPOSITION.

When Mr Kehbell joined the Manawatu County Council in November, 1878, he found that a party had been sent out some time before to make a trial survey of the proposed road, but had not accomplished l much as they had been stopped by the local .Mauopoko Maoris from proceeding through their land, they having tne usual Maori distrust of surveys, which they were of the opinion were designed to take their ■ land- from them.

Mr Kehbell at the first meeting which he attended, protested strongly .against the delay in the work which he recognised to. be of the first importance. One of the members of the Council (Mr F. Lowden); member for; the Foxton Riding moved that a second party should be sent out u find an alternative" route • and-'suggest-ed that Mr KebbeU make one of this party. This Mr Kebbell refused to agree to, declaring that it was unn3> essary and stating his determination to get the consent of the opposing Natives. / •

At a meeting held on the Oliau shortly after, he put the matter be fore the Mauopokos and obtained their signatures to a deed giving permission to take the road through 1 their property. In the meantime he had written to Major Kemp, who at this time, had been gazetted join;.trustee with Kawana* Hunia, of the whole of the land in respect of whnh the dispute had arisen, and received his unconditional consent to the( roading scheme and his promise to use his influence to prevent a recurrence of the trouble. FIRST SURVEY. Tbe work of laying off the road was immediately proceeded with, Mr Flyger, under Mr Haines,; the County Engineer, being entrusted wiljh the survey, which proceeded as far as Otaki, that portion from Simcox’s Hill .-to Otaki being afterwards altered by surveys made 'by ‘Mr Climie, at that time Engineer to the Horowhenua County,. and • Mr Morgan Carkeek! From Otaki to Waikanae was surveyed later on by Mr A. Carkeek, brother of the above, some difficulty- occurring at Waika.

nae where-Wi Parata objected to the road going through his property. The personnel of the- Manawatu County had been drawn in the proportion of four members from the western end of the County and four from the Eastern', these forming two distinct groups in the Council. Mr Kehbell representing Horowhenua, formed a third; party and by his ability to sway the balance either way, obtained a degree of consideration for his Riding which it would otherwise - not 5 have obtained. WORK ABANDONED. Mr Kebbell was at time succeeded; on the Council by Mr John Hadfleld, of Qtaki. This gentleman’s .brother-in-law, Mr E. Thynne, being member for Foxton and chairman of the County, Mr Hadfleld threw in his lot with Mr Thynne’s party. The result was the .‘abandonment of Horowhenua’s main road,! ar smalh portion of which in the Otaki Riding had already been cleared of bush, ready fo/ roaming, the work remaining at this stage until the commencement of surveying operations on behalf qf the newlyformed t Mainawatui Railway Company. A chain-wide strip of bush had been -cut along’ the whole. route from Poroutawhao to Otaki and the stumps levelled off for a width of 33 feet. It was a standing grievance later-' on with the early settlers after the seizure of parts of this road by the Railway and abandonment of other parts- of the- route, that they were paying rates for the County’s ■ mistakes.