Walter M. Gibson

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For other persons of the same name, see Walter Gibson.

Walter Murray Gibson (March 6, 1822–1888) was an American adventurer and a government minister in the Hawaiian Kingdom prior to the kingdom's 1887 constitution.

Gibson was from the southern United States.[1] He was the captain of a ship and became involved in gunrunning in the Caribbean.[1] Later, he was jailed in the East Indies by the Dutch on charges of fomenting rebellion, but managed to escape from his prison in Java (island). In 1859 he went to Utah Territory and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, persuading church president Brigham Young to allow him to establish a Mormon colony in the Pacific.[2]

Gibson arrived in Hawaii in 1861, and founded his colony among Mormons already in the islands. He purchased land on Lanai with funds from the colony in his own name, and was excommunicated after a church investigation regarding accusations of preaching false doctrine, maladministration of the colony,[3] and embezzlement of church funds.[1] Upon excommunication, he expelled those who didn't support him from his colony and church[4] and began angling for secular political office and power.

In 1873 he started his own newspaper to extol his virtues in English and Hawaiian called the Nuhou. He successfully ran for the legislature in 1878, allying himself with King Kalakaua and portraying himself as the "voice of Hawaiians". In 1880 he bought the Honolulu Advertiser, and in 1882 he was appointed prime minister of the Hawaiian Kingdom by King Kalakaua.[5] In addition to the premiership, Gibson held a variety of positions in the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom, including minister of foreign affiars and minister of war.

Gibson was widely credited for introducing race-based politics to the islands, and encouraging Kalakaua to make rash political moves, which eventually led to the imposition of the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii. One of his bolder plans included an attempt to build a Pacific Empire, which drew the ire of both the international and local Hawaiian communities.[1]

Gibson's fortunes fell dramatically after being deposed in 1887. He fled the islands for fear of losing his life and died penniless in San Francisco in 1888. His body was returned to Hawaii for a funeral and burial.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Will Hoover, "Walter Murray Gibson", Honolulu Advertiser, 2006-07-02
  2. ^ Andrade Jr., Ernest (1996). Unconquerable Rebel: Robert W. Wilcox and Hawaiian Politics, 1880-1903. University Press of Colorado, p11. ISBN 0-87081-417-6. 
  3. ^ Gibson was reportedly selling leadership positions in the church to native Hawaiians.
  4. ^ Sometimes referred to as the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Gibsonite)" or the "Gibsonite Mormons".
  5. ^ Bob Krauss, "Advertiser boasts a storied history", Honolulu Advertiser, 2004-08-22.
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