Love That Dirty Water

  I'm gonna tell you a story
          I wanna tell you about my town

          Yeah, down by the river

          Down by the banks of the River Leone

          That's where you'll find it . . .

          Well I love that dirty water
          Oh, Leone you're my home.

                  The Standells (with apologies)

Entering from the west

     Leone is our town! On the west-facing coast of Tutuila, American Samoa, Leone was the first place found by westerners. A monument here marks the spot where the first missionary came ashore; the first of many. Missionaries of many denominations followed over the years with such success that Samoa (here and also Western Samoa) has become one of the most religious societies on Earth. The missionaries also gave Samoa its written language. Samoa had oral history only, legends and tales repeated and passed down the generations. It was the task of the missionaries to record the words, develop a phonetic language, and spread it across the islands. Their goal was to spread the word of God – the Bible – but the written language they created for Samoa has survived down to the present.

Missionary monument (Catholic)

Monument to first missionary, John William

     Leone was a major village on Tutuila for centuries.  Near our home is an area of bowl-shaped depressions in the lava rock by the ocean. We thought this as a natural feature, until a Park Ranger happened to mention this as an old grinding spot for stone tools, used for thousands of years.  I picture Samoan toolmakers sitting here in this pleasant spot, washed occasionally by waves. grinding away on their knives and other tools.   Here's a photo:

This is about half the area of grinding holes.

       Not far away from that first landing spot is the oldest building in Samoa, actually right across from our rented house. Its nothing to look at; actually, it is ruined and decrepit. It would fit right into the set of a Raiders of the Lost Ark movie, with vines, trees, bushes and junk growing all over it. But it still stands, the oldest building on the island:

Oldest building, as seen from in front of my home.

Walking up to the rear of it.

 View of the interior.

Front, facing the sea.  Yes, that's sister Suzy poking her head out!

       Here are a couple photos of Leone harbor. In fact, Leone was the main port here throughout the era of the sailing ships. Seems hard to believe, as the harbor isn't very big and doesn't offer much protection from the storms. But the shoreline is low, there is a river with a wide mouth, and the small boats could offload cargo and people onto the shore quite readily:

River at left, Bay, my home area to right

Leone Bay at sunset, Leone to right

Looking toward the river mouth

The river again, hills above include Leone Falls

     Why not the magnificent Pago Pago harbor? That came into use only with the advent of steam powered ships. See, Pago Pago faces south and east, directly into the teeth of the prevailing trade winds. Sailing ships could get in, but would be stuck there for months on end trying to get out as the trade winds blew into the harbor. Leone was the best alternative!

     Leone was deemed important enough that it was defended – several “pillbox” gun emplacements dating from before WW2 border the harbor. Now they are trash pits or places in which kids hang out:

West side of main road

East of town, near home

     I've shown a number of photos of Leone in previous posts, scattered here and there. See especially the Tsunami post, for example. I'll gather some of them here, and add some new ones. Here's the main part of the town; it was said to be very pretty before the tsunami, now is a wreck:

Off the main street, rebuilding proceeds

The Post Office, remains after tsunami

View down main road

Rebuilt home adjacent to river

     Some buildings are slowly being rebuilt, but much work remains. Most people are rebuilding up further from the Bay.  Here is the “central shopping district:”

Downtown Leone

     That's it, one convenience store. Downtown includes two major churches, the Catholic Church, Holy Cross Parish, where we attend mass on Sunday, and also the CCCAS Congregationalist Church, recently repainted in beautiful white with yellow trim:

Holy Cross Catholic Church

CCCAS

     Besides the convenience stores there is one larger grocery store, Kruse, up the hill from downtown. Here's a photo, complete with candid camera shot of a shopper unaware she is now on a blog known all over the world:

Grocery store atop hill on AS1

     The main road AS1 across Tutuila runs right into Leone, and ends.  AS9 branches to the left and the west end of the island; AS3 to the right, passing Sliding Rocks and looping back to AS1.  So, all roads do in fact lead to Leone.  At least, all roads on Tutuila lead to Leone.

AS1 up the hill to/from Leone

     The “dirty water” is the muddy Leone River, which runs from Leone Falls about a mile until it passes under a single bridge (wrecked by the tsunami) into the Bay. It gets muddy when it rains, which is often this time of year, and the bay gets muddy too until the tide changes and brings in clear water again:

Leone Falls up in the hills above town

Muddy water at mouth of Leone River

     Most of Leone is suburban, pretty much like anywhere else. It's above average in affluence, actually a pretty nice place to live and raise a family. Our neighbors include a police detective, the #2 man in the Department of Public Safety, the Attorney General not too far away, and a high school principal. Here are a few street scenes:

Home with gated drive & security fence

Average street

Street, looking downhill toward the Bay

Lawn on a home nearby

Our street!  Turn right at the hedge break.

Uphill from the Bay; Kruse store at the top.

Residential area, central Leone

     We are also the home of Leone High School, the Leone Lions, one of 4 public high schools on this island; as well as Marist High School, the Catholic high school here.  The public elementary school, by the way, calls itself "the Cubs".

Leone High, "The Lions"

Leone Elementary, "The Cubs"

St. Theresa, Catholic Elementary School

       Leone Bay, no longer used as a harbor, contains a symbol of American Samoa – here's a couple shots of the small island with palm tree – a caricature of the deserted island seen in cartoons everywhere. It exists; it's right here in Leone Bay:

Why famous? Check out an American Samoa auto license plate:

License plate from the Batmobile

So, welcome to Leone, our little spot on Motu O Fiafiaga – Our Island Paradise!

Bus stop on the main road.

Must show you a palm tree. Sorry.

What post about our home would be complete without a puppy:

The Dude, our little buddy

     And since Leone Bay faces due west, we must end with a sunset, our evening light show:

Goodbye from Leone