 Although no historical records provide an exact date , researchers at the Hawaiian Historical Society believe that the island was given to Francisco de Paula Marín on February 9 , 1818 , and later named after him for his assistance in providing weapons used by Kamehameha I to conquer the island of Oʻahu . However , Marín wrote in an 1809 journal entry that he was given the island and its adjacent fishing waters as early as 1791 . He used the land to raise sheep , hogs , goats and rabbits as provisions for ships , and grew plants and vegetables which he had imported . 
