When the south shore of Maui was first visited by Captain George Vancouver it was dotted with small fishing villages and was said to be a retreat for Hawaiian royalty. Captain Vancouver was not the first European visitor to Maui, however, a landing site was erected in the form of a large totem pole. Kihei went mostly untouched for years. Captain George Vancouver settled in the Pacific Northwest in the area of the city of his namesake, Vancouver B.C. On the south Kihei shore the remains of the totem pole monument are present with inscriptions from the Canadian Prime Minister from 1969.