History Howland Island

1 history

1.1 prehistoric settlement
1.2 sightings whalers
1.3 u.s. possession , guano mining
1.4 itascatown (1935–42)
1.5 kamakaiwi field
1.6 japanese attacks during world war ii

history
prehistoric settlement

sparse remnants of trails , other artifacts indicate sporadic polynesian presence. canoe, blue bead, pieces of bamboo, , other relics of settlers have been found. island s prehistoric settlement may have begun 1000 bc when eastern melanesians traveled north , may have extended down rawaki, kanton, manra , orona of phoenix islands, 500 700 km southeast. k.p. emery, ethnologist honolulu s bernice p. bishop museum, indicated settlers on manra island apparently of 2 distinct groups, 1 polynesian , other micronesian, hence same might have been true on howland island, though no proof of has been found.

the difficult life on these isolated islands along unreliable fresh water supplies may have led dereliction or extinction of settlements, same other islands in area (such kiritimati , pitcairn) abandoned.

sightings whalers

captain george b. worth of nantucket whaler oeno sighted howland around 1822 , called worth island. daniel mackenzie of american whaler minerva smith unaware of worth s sighting when charted island in 1828 , named after ship s owners on december 1, 1828. howland island @ last named on september 9, 1842 after lookout sighted whaleship isabella under captain geo. e. netcher of new bedford.

u.s. possession , guano mining

howland island uninhabited when united states took possession of under guano islands act of 1856. island known navigation hazard many decades , several ships wrecked there. guano deposits mined american companies 1857 until october 1878, although not without controversy.

captain geo. e. netcher of isabella informed captain taylor of discovery. taylor had discovered guano island in indian ocean, agreed share benefits of guano on 2 islands. taylor put netcher in communication alfred g. benson, president of american guano company, incorporated in 1857. other entrepreneurs approached george , matthew howland, later became members of united states guano company, engaged mr. stetson visit island on ship rousseau under captain pope. mr. stetson arrived on island in 1854 , described being occupied birds , plague of rats.

the american guano company established claims in respect baker island , jarvis island recognised under u.s. guano islands act of 1856. benson tried interest american guano company in howland island deposits, company directors considered had sufficient deposits. in october 1857 american guano company sent benson s son arthur baker , jarvis islands survey guano deposits. visited howland island , took samples of guano. subsequently, alfred g. benson resigned american guano company , netcher, taylor , george w. benson formed united states guano company exploit guano on howland island, claim being recognised under u.s. guano islands act of 1856.

however, when united states guano company dispatched vessel in 1859 mine guano found howland island occupied men sent there american guano company. companies ended in new york state court, american guano company arguing united states guano company had in effect abandoned island, since continual possession , actual occupation required ownership guano islands act did not occur. end result both companies allowed mine guano deposits, substantially depleted october 1878.

in late 19th century there british claims on island, attempts @ setting mining. john t. arundel , company, british firm using laborers cook islands , niue, occupied island 1886 1891.

to clarify american sovereignty, executive order 7368 issued on may 13, 1936.

itascatown (1935–42)

in 1935, colonists american equatorial islands colonization project arrived on island establish permanent u.s. presence in central pacific. began rotating group of 4 alumni , students kamehameha school boys, private school in honolulu. although recruits had signed on part of scientific expedition , expected spend three-month assignment collecting botanical , biological samples, once out sea told, names go down in history , islands become famous air bases in route connect australia california .

the settlement named itascatown after uscgc itasca brought colonists howland , made regular cruises between other equatorial islands during era. itascatown line of half-dozen small wood-framed structures , tents near beach on island s western side. fledgling colonists given large stocks of canned food, water, , other supplies including gasoline-powered refrigerator, radio equipment, complete medical kits , (characteristic of era) vast quantities of cigarettes. fishing provided much-needed variety diet. of colonists endeavors involved making hourly weather observations , gradually developing rudimentary infrastructure on island, including clearing of landing strip airplanes. during period island on hawaii time, 10.5 hours behind utc. similar colonization projects started on nearby baker island, jarvis island , 2 other islands.

kamakaiwi field

ground cleared rudimentary aircraft landing area during mid-1930s, in anticipation island might become stopover commercial trans-pacific air routes , further u.s. territorial claims in region against rival claims great britain. howland island designated scheduled refueling stop american pilot amelia earhart , navigator fred noonan on round-the-world flight in 1937. works progress administration (wpa) funds used bureau of air commerce construct 3 graded, unpaved runways meant accommodate earhart s twin-engined lockheed model 10 electra.

the facility named kamakaiwi field after james kamakaiwi, young hawaiian arrived first group of 4 colonists. selected group s leader , spent more 3 years on howland, far longer average recruit. has been referred wpa howland airport (the wpa contributed 20 percent of $12,000 cost). earhart , noonan took off lae, new guinea, , radio transmissions picked near island when aircraft reached vicinity never seen again.

japanese attacks during world war ii

earhart light, pictured here showing damage sustained during world war ii, named amelia earhart during late 1930s.

a japanese air attack on december 8, 1941 14 twin-engined mitsubishi g3m nell bombers of chitose kōkūtai, kwajalein islands, killed 2 of kamehameha school colonists: richard dicky kanani whaley, , joseph kealoha keliʻhananui. raid came 1 day after japanese attack on pearl harbor , damaged 3 airstrips of kamakaiwi field. 2 days later japanese submarine shelled left of colony s few buildings ruins. single bomber returned twice during following weeks , dropped more bombs on rubble of tiny itascatown. 2 survivors evacuated uss helm, u.s. navy destroyer, on january 31, 1942. howland occupied battalion of united states marine corps in september 1943 , known howland naval air station until may 1944.

all attempts @ habitation abandoned after 1944. colonization projects on other 4 islands disrupted war , ended @ time. no aircraft known have ever landed there, although anchorages nearby used float planes , flying boats during world war ii. example, on july 10, 1944, u.s. navy martin pbm-3-d mariner flying boat (buno 48199), piloted william hines, had engine fire , made forced landing in ocean offshore of howland. hines beached aircraft , although burned, crew escaped unharmed, rescued uscgc balsam (the same ship later took unit 92 gardner island), transferred sub chaser , taken canton island.

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