 In 1825 , Admiral George Byron , the 7th Baron Byron arrived , commanding the HMS Blonde , to return the remains of Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu after their deaths in England of Measles . While on Oahu , he would map the Pearl River ( known today as Pearl Harbor ) . The ship 's naturalist , Andrew Bloxam , spent time on Ford Island hunting rabbits and wild ducks ; its surveyor , Lieutenant Charles Robert Malden , called it Rabbits Island . In 1826 , Hiram Paulding became the first American naval officer to visit the island . Marín 's ownership claim to the island was cloudy ; Hawaiians generally refused to recognize land ownership by foreigners . Kamehameha II believed that the island had been loaned to Marín and by the 1850s the island was split between Kamehameha IV — who purchased 214 acres ( 87 ha ) — and High Chiefess Kekauōnohi , granddaughter of Kamehameha I , who was awarded 147 acres ( 59 ha ) in the Great Māhele . On August 28 , 1865 , the island was bought at public auction for $ 1 @,@ 040 by James I. Dowsett , who sold it to Caroline Jackson for $ 1 on December 28 . 
