I te tau 1886, i te wā e mahi ana ia hei kaiārahi mō ngā tūāpapa (terraces) o Ō-tū-kapua-rangi me Te Tarata (Pink and White Terraces), ka kite a Te Paea (Sophie Hinerangi) i te waka wairua e tere ana i ngā wai o Tarawera. E ai ki te tohunga a Tūhoto Ariki o Tūhourangi, he whakatūpato tēnei. Ko tāna i māharahara ai, kei te kaha rawa te whai a te iwi i ngā mahi tāpoi, ka mahue ngā tikanga a te Māori. I te awatea o te rā 10 o Hune 1886 ka pahū ngā maunga o Wāhanga, o Ruawāhia, o Tarawera. Ka pakohu te tihi o te maunga, heke iho ki ngā tūāpapa, kia tae ki Rotomahana me Waimangu, 10 kiromita te tawhiti. Rongohia te rū puta noa i te motu. I pōhēhē ngā tāngata o Tamaki-makau-rau he pū repo kē a pakū ana mai tawhiti.
Aoake, kua pō kerekere te rangi mai i Rotorua ki Maketū – ko te ngārahu tērā i rukea ki runga. I taupokina katoatia a Rotomahana me ngā tūāpapa. Neke atu i te e 150 ngā uri o Tūhourangi rāua ko Ngāti Rangitihi i mate. Nā te mea kei tētahi riu te kāinga o Te Wairoa, kāore i pā kaha te whiu o te hū ki a ia, nā reira tokoiti anake i mate. Tokomaha ngā mōrehu i tāwharau ki te whare o Te Paea, kua hinga kē hoki ētahi atu. I ora anō a Tūhoto Ariki, e iwa rā e taupokina ana e te ngarehu me te pungarehu ki tōna kāinga, kātahi anō ka karia ki waho.
I manaakitia ngā mōrehu e ō rātou uri o Te Arawa, ka hoatuna he wāhi noho, kākahu, kai, whenua mō rātou. Ko te nuinga o rātou i haere ki Whakarewarewa (Ngāti Wāhiao), Ngāpuna (Ngāti Hurunga), Waitangi (Tapuika), Matatā (Ngāti Rangitihi), Moehau (Ngāti Hei). Kei aua wāhi tonu ngā uri e noho ana. Nō muri i te hū o Tarawera ka riro i te kāwanatanga ngā whenua o Tarawera, tē taea e Tūhourangi te hoki. I tēnei wā, e rapu ana a Tūhourangi i te tika mā roto i Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
