Qualla: 1790 Footprints https://qualla.com/1790-footprints en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:09 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/8/e/3/w/1790-footprints-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: 1790 Footprints https://qualla.com/1790-footprints 1790 Footprints: Introduction https://qualla.com/1790-footprints/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. They were walking away from a battle they had not quite lost. In 1790, warriors loyal to the chief Keoua Kuahuula crossed the Ka'u Desert near the summit of Kilauea, retreating south after an inconclusive clash with the forces of Kamehameha I. The volcano erupted as they passed. A pyroclastic surge -- superheated gas, ash, and rock moving at lethal speed -- swept across the desert. Two of the three groups of warriors died where they stood. Their footprints, pressed into wet volcanic ash that hardened in the tropical sun, remain visible more than two centuries later.

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Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

]]> Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/8/e/3/w/1790-footprints-wp/8e3w-1790-footprints-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full 1790 Footprints: A War for the Island https://qualla.com/1790-footprints/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. The footprints cannot be separated from the war that brought these warriors to Kilauea. The 1782 Battle of Moku'ohai had given Kamehameha I control of Hawaii Island's western and northern districts, but his rival Keoua Kuahuula held the southern district of Ka'u, and Keoua's uncl...

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Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

]]> Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/8/e/3/w/1790-footprints-wp/8e3w-1790-footprints-a-war-for-the-island.mp3 0:06 2 full 1790 Footprints: Ke One Helelei -- The Falling Sand https://qualla.com/1790-footprints/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. Hawaiian oral histories recorded the eruption as Ke one helelei, meaning "the falling sand" -- a name that reflects how unusual this event was. Hawaiian eruptions are typically effusive, producing flowing lava rather than explosive blasts. The 1790 eruption was different. It prod...

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Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

]]> Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/8/e/3/w/1790-footprints-wp/8e3w-1790-footprints-ke-one-helelei-the-falling-sand.mp3 0:06 3 full 1790 Footprints: Ash, Rain, and Preservation https://qualla.com/1790-footprints/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. The footprints were discovered accidentally by HVO seismologist Ruy H. Finch while investigating a 1919 eruption that created Mauna Iki. Pressed into fine volcanic ash in the Ka'u Desert, they are sometimes called fossilized, but they are not old enough for true fossilization. Th...

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Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

]]> Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/8/e/3/w/1790-footprints-wp/8e3w-1790-footprints-ash-rain-and-preservation.mp3 0:06 4 full 1790 Footprints: What the Footprints Hold https://qualla.com/1790-footprints/ Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. Early geologist Thomas Jaggar, founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, attributed the footprints to Keoua's warriors who died in the eruption. More recent research has questioned whether all the prints belong to that single event -- the area saw centuries of foot traffic -- ...

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Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

]]> Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/8/e/3/w/1790-footprints-wp/8e3w-1790-footprints-what-the-footprints-hold.mp3 0:06 5 full