Battle of Kepaniwai

As Kamehameha fought to control the islands, he won a decisive battle at `Iao Valley. Landing his war fleet at Kahului while Maui's chief Kahekili was on O`ahu, Kamehameha pursued Kahekili's son Kalanikupule and other Maui chiefs deep into `Iao Valley. Kamehameha, a brilliant and ambitious leader, was aided by two foreign advisors, John Young and Isaac Davis, and a Western cannon named Lopaka. He acquired the cannon and the Western sailors as a result of actions related to Captain Simon Metcalfe, perpetrator of the Olowalu Massacre.

Before arriving on Maui, Metcalfe had flogged a chief on the island of Hawai`i named Kame`eiamoku. Seeking revenge, Kame`eiamoku vowed to kill the next white men he saw. They turned out to be the crew aboard Metcalfe's companion ship, the Fair American, which had become separated from the Eleanora. After killing all the crew but one, a sailor named Isaac Davis, Kamehameha seized the ship and its cannon.

On the same day as the attack on the Fair American, John Young, an officer on the Eleanora, happened to be on shore nearby and was therefore aware of the incident. Hawaiians prevented him from joining his ship in order to keep word from reaching Simon Metcalfe. Metcalfe, unaware of the Fair American's fate, departed without Young.

With Young and Davis' help, Kamehameha routed the forces of Kalanikupule. So many died that `Iao Stream was dammed with bodies, giving the battle the name Kepaniwai, the damming of the waters. This battle proved to be significant in Kamehameha's campaign to conquer and unite all the islands.