Why 119,000 severed bird wings were found on this remote Hawaiian island

Roosevelt’s Marines Battle Japanese Poachers at Midway

In 1903, birds were dying by the millions in Hawaii’s remote islands.

Japanese poachers slaughtered albatrosses for their feathers, which sold for more than gold in the fancy hat trade. Teddy Roosevelt got mad.

He put Midway Atoll under Navy control and sent 21 Marines to stop the killing. Still, the slaughter went on.

In 1909 alone, poachers killed 300,000 birds on Midway and nearby Laysan Island.

Roosevelt then made history by creating the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation, America’s first Pacific wildlife sanctuary.

The story of these birds and the Marines who saved them lives on at Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

Bird Feathers Sold for More Than Gold in the Late 1800s

By the late 1800s, feathers cost more than gold. Egret plumes sold for $32 per ounce in 1915, while gold cost only half that price.

Japanese hunters found the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands full of millions of seabirds. They wanted albatrosses most for their white plumes that American and European women loved on their hats.

Hunters killed adult birds during nesting season, leaving babies to starve.

The hat business made $17 million yearly by 1900, pushing hunters to kill as many seabirds as possible.

Cable Workers Alerted Washington About the Bird Massacre

Cable company workers at Midway Atoll told Washington about Japanese hunters killing seabirds on American land. They reported men shooting albatrosses just to take their feathers and wings for fancy hats.

The Commercial Pacific Cable Company started work at Midway in 1903 to boost telegraph signals across the Pacific to the Philippines. This made Midway the final piece in the world’s first global communication system.

President Theodore Roosevelt got reports about the mass killing on this far-away island.

Roosevelt Took Action in January 1903 to Protect Midway

On January 20, 1903, President Roosevelt signed an order putting Midway Atoll under U.S. Navy control. The Navy opened a radio station that same day to show American presence and protect both the cable station and the birds.

This marked one of the first times the government stepped in to protect seabirds on remote Pacific islands from businesses killing them for profit.

The order gave the Navy power to stop poaching and keep Midway as American territory.

The First Marines Who Fought for Wildlife Arrived in 1904

Between 1904 and 1908, Roosevelt sent 21 Marines to Midway Island with clear orders: stop the bird killing.

The Marines landed in May 1904 to secure Midway as American land and protect both the cable staff and albatross colonies from poachers.

This marked the first time American military forces got sent specifically to protect wildlife. The Marines stayed on the remote atoll despite tough conditions, with little shelter and total isolation.

The "King of Laysan" Made a Deal That Doomed Thousands of Birds

Max Schlemmer, known as the “King of Laysan Island,” ran guano mining there.

In December 1908, he signed a deal with a Japanese company giving them rights to take “products of whatever nature” from Laysan.

Japanese feather hunters built structures on the island to process albatross feathers for hat markets.

By April 1909, poachers collected 2,000 pounds of feathers and 128,000 wings worth $131,000 (about $4.6 million today) in just one month. Schlemmer got caught between his Japanese contract and his lease requirement to protect birds.

America’s First Pacific Bird Sanctuary Created in 1909

On February 3, 1909, President Roosevelt signed an order creating the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation. The protected area covered islands from Nihoa to Kure Atoll, including Laysan, Lisianski, and Midway.

The order made it against the law for anyone to hunt, trap, capture, bother, or kill birds or take eggs within the reservation.

This became one of the first federal bird sanctuaries in the Pacific Ocean and among the earliest wildlife refuges in the United States.

Poachers Killed 300,000 Birds in a Single Year

In 1909 alone, poachers killed more than 300,000 seabirds on Laysan and Midway islands.

Japanese hunters targeted breeding albatrosses when their feathers looked best, leaving thousands of baby birds to die in their nests.

The killing grew so large that buildings on Laysan filled with bird feathers, wings, and processed plumes ready to ship to hat makers.

Even with Roosevelt’s new protections, the islands sat so far from anywhere else that enforcing the rules proved almost impossible without sending ships there.

The USS Thetis Found a Horror Scene at Laysan

After hearing rumors about continued poaching, the Navy sent the USS Thetis under Captain W. V. E. Jacobs to check on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The ship arrived at Laysan Island on January 16, 1910, and found a shocking scene. One building held piles of breast feathers while another stood two-thirds full of loose bird wings.

Piles of dead albatrosses lay scattered across the island. Captain Jacobs wrote down everything he saw in his official report to the Navy.

Navy Officers Seized a Ton of Feathers and Arrested 23 Poachers

Captain Jacobs arrested 23 Japanese poachers on Laysan and nearby Lisianski Island and took all their feathers and equipment.

The Thetis crew grabbed bales and bags of feathers weighing more than one ton, plus 119,000 individual bird wings ready for export.

They also found 259,000 bird skins and wings, two and a half tons of baled feathers, and several large cases of stuffed birds.

Max Schlemmer, who happened to be in Honolulu during the raid, faced charges for illegal poaching but got off on a technicality.

Poachers Got Away With Just One Day in Jail

Despite facing possible prison time of six months and $500 fines, the 23 poachers served only 24 hours in jail with no costs.

Courts let the poachers go as mere “instruments” of their Tokyo boss, Genkichi Yamanouchi, and Schlemmer, who had given them permission.

The light sentences made the public angry, with Honolulu newspapers running many stories about the slaughter and failed justice.

Poachers came back to Laysan in 1915 and killed almost as many birds as in 1909, showing that enforcement still fell short despite Roosevelt’s protections.

Roosevelt’s Bird Sanctuary Grew Into One of Earth’s Largest Protected Areas

A 1911 scientific team from the University of Iowa documented the ongoing damage, finding bleached bones and cut-off albatross wings covering Laysan.

Roosevelt’s Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation grew into the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge in 1940.

The Marine deployment to Midway and later enforcement actions became America’s first federal conservation work in the Pacific.

Today the area forms part of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, one of the world’s largest protected marine areas at 583,000 square miles.

Visiting Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

You can learn about Roosevelt’s marine deployment and seabird protection efforts at the visitor center on 76 Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo. The center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 4pm with free admission.

Interactive displays show how 21 Marines stopped Japanese feather poachers between 1904-1908, marking America’s first federal conservation action in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The exhibits cover Roosevelt’s conservation work and Hawaiian cultural heritage.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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