| Skull Valley is a desert area in Tooele County, | | | | Hawaiian parents, George grew up in the small |
| Utah, about 80 miles southwest from Salt Lake | | | | community of Iosepa where he helped his family |
| City. Today this area accommodates military | | | | with farming and raising his younger siblings. My |
| training facilities, but over a century before, it was | | | | uncle recalled a time when his grandfather |
| the home to a community of Hawaiian settlers | | | | reminisced on the struggling times in Iosepa. It |
| who left their scenic island in 1889 to be in Utah, | | | | took him two days to travel to Salt Lake City to |
| their church's headquarters. The community was | | | | pick up supplies. At one time, he was sent to Salt |
| named Iosepa and remained there for 28 years | | | | Lake City to bring a milk cow back to Iosepa, a |
| before the Hawaiian settlers moved back to | | | | journey which took a full month. Despite the |
| Hawaii in 1917. | | | | hardships of living in Iosepa, the Hawaiian settlers |
| One of those settlers was my family ancestor, | | | | persevered to build a thriving community so that |
| George Alapa, my great-grandfather. Born to | | | | they could be close to their church headquarters. |