The uninhabited island of Baker was discovered and named in 1832 by the US whaler
Michael Baker. In 1835 he also discovered and named the island of Jarvis.
Some years later, during another journey (in 1839?), he toke possession of the two
islands in his personal name, but in 1855 he sold his rights to the American Guano
Company, which toke possession of the islands in 1856.
The uninhabited island of Howland was discovered and named in 1842 by the US whaler
George E. Netcher. In 1857 it was ceded to the United States Guano Company.
In accordance to the Guano Act which had been issued in 1856 (1) the US government
recognized the claims and occupations and soon afterwards guano mining on the three
islands started. (2)
This lasted until ca 1878 when the guano deposits on the islands declined and the
US companies abandoned them.
In 1886 the British John T. Arundel & Co - named after its founder John T. Arundel
(1841 - 1919) - resumed guano mining on the three islands, even making Baker Island
the headquarter of its "Guano Empire" which covered most of the Central Pacific
Islands and which gave the UK a reason to claim the whole area. (3)
Guano exploitation once again stopped ca 1891 and the three islands were once again
abandonned, both the UK and the US maintaining however their claims. Gradually the
UK lost its interest for the islands and in 1935 they were formally annexed by the
US, apparently without much British protest.
In 1936 they were brought under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior.
As to the internal history of the islands during the second US period :
1935 : The islands were colonized by US army personnel under the auspices of the
Bureau of Air Commerce of the Department of Commerce.
1936 : The Department of the Interior toke over the colonization attempt. (4)
The colonists were Hawaiians, students of the Kamehameha university.
1937 : In relation to the round-the-world flight of Amelia Earhart (1898 - 19..),
an airstrip and a lighthouse are build on Howland.
1941 : Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor the Japanese attacked Howland,
destroying the installations and killing some colonists.
1942 : The Hawaiian settlers were evacuated and the islands remained uninhabited
ever since.
Baker was then very briefly occupied by Japanese troops.
1943 : American troops occupied Baker and built a airstrip.
1944 : Considered no longer necessary to the war effort, Baker Island was evacuated.
(1) The Guano Act provided that whenever a US citizen discovered a deposit of
guano on any island, rock or key, not within the lawful jurisdiction of any
other government, toke peaceable possession of it and occupied the island,
rock or key, it appertained to the US.
The claim of the American Guano Company on Baker and Jarvis was recognized
in 1856. That of the United States Guano Company on Howland in 1858.
(2) The start of the exploitation on Howland was followed by a "war" between
the two companies :
- before the Unites States Guano Company could take possession of its
island in 1859, it was occupied by employees of the American Guano
Company.
- In 1861 the American Guano Company was ousted by a stronger force of
the United States Guano Company.
- In 1865 the Supreme Court of New York ruled that the island had to be
exploited in common by both companies.
(3) In 1897 John T. Arundel & Co, merged with other trading companies to form
the Pacific Islands Company (PIC) [Chairman 1897 - 1902 : Arthur Hamilton
Gordon, Baron Stanmore (1829 - 1912).
At first the company was also engaged in trading activities (among others
the cobra trade in the German Marshall Islands), but from 1900 onwards ir
only concentrated on the phosphate exploitation in the Nauru and Ocean
(Banaba) Islands, becoming the Pacific Phosphate Company in 1902.
See here for more.
(4) Heads of the Baker, Howland and Jarvis Colonization Scheme
1935 - 1937 William "Bill" T. Miller
1937 - 19.. Richard "Dick" B. Black
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