Puerto Ricans Arrival in Hawai'i

The Pacific Mail Steamer City of Rio de Janeiro — shown above in San Francisco in 1898 — was an iron-hulled steam-powered passenger ship that sailed between San Francisco and various Asian Pacific ports. On February 21, 1901, the vessel sank after striking a submerged reef at the entry to San Francisco Bay.
( Hawaiian Time Machine Blog - 12/2012 - Honolulu Steamer Days )

Two hurricanes devastated the island of Puerto Rico in August 1888. It rained continuously for twenty-eight days and left more than three thousand dead, the agricultural industry devastated, and thousands without shelter, food, or work.

This disaster caused a sugar shortage throughout the world markets; this placed a sudden demand on Hawai'i and other sugar-producing countries.

The Plantation owners started their recruitment of workers from Puerto Rico. The first group set sailed on a long journey from Puerto Rico, Guanica to New Orleans, then on to San Francisco. Upon arrival, they boarded a steamship named City of Rio De Janeiro and set sail to Hawai'i - in 1900 - with over 100 men. The trip was long and grueling, but it made it to O'ahu arriving in December 1900. On December 23, 1900, the first Puerto Rican laborers came to Maui by way of steamship “Lehua” to work on sugar — the sugar plantation in Spreckelsville, Maui.

It may have been desperation and sheer will to survive that forced the first Puerto Ricans to make the journey to Hawai'i. They wanted to find a better life for themselves and their families.

Despite the many hardships, within less than a year, over 5,000 Puerto Ricans (men, women, and children) had made their way to Hawai'i and established themselves on four islands.

Today, there are nearly 40,000 Puerto Ricans living in the islands of Hawai'i; their cultural traditions are powerful. The influence of their culture can be found in many of the local foods like pasteles (meat pies), arroz con gandule, and bacalao (salted codfish) salad.

Music is a large part of Puerto Rican culture. They brought their musical instruments and introduced to Hawai'i their cuatro, a four-stringed guitar, that later evolved into a ten-stringed model. Maracas and the guiro (a percussion instrument made from a dried gourd) were also introduced.