Orote Peninsula

Last updated
Orote Peninsula in 2006, looking northwest US Navy 060920-N-0000X-001 An aerial view of U.S. Naval Base Guam Sept. 20, 2006. Naval Base Guam supports the U.S. Pacific Fleet.jpg
Orote Peninsula in 2006, looking northwest

The Orote Peninsula is a four kilometer-long peninsula jutting from the west coast of the United States territory of Guam. A major geologic feature of the island, it forms the southern coast of Apra Harbor and the northern coast of Agat Bay. Its tip, Point Udall, is Guam's westernmost point and also the United States' westernmost point by travel, not longitude. The peninsula historically was the site of the important Chamorro village of Sumay, as well as Fort Santiago of the Spanish colonial period. In modern times, the peninsula is politically in the village of Santa Rita, but it is controlled in its entirety by Naval Base Guam.

Contents

Geology

Southern coast of the peninsula along Agat Bay in 2010. Two beaches, Tipalao (also called "Old Wives')(nearer) and Dadi, are visible. Turtle Rock Island lies between. US Navy 100819-N-3620L-171 An aerial view of U.S. Naval Base Guam Aug. 19.jpg
Southern coast of the peninsula along Agat Bay in 2010. Two beaches, Tipalao (also called "Old Wives')(nearer) and Dadi, are visible. Turtle Rock Island lies between.

Orote Peninsula, like the eastern Guam, is a raised limestone plateau reaching heights of 190 ft (58m). [1] The limestone dates to the Pliocene to Pleistocene, known as "Mariana limestone." It thus differs dramatically from areas immediately inland, which are volcanic highlands. [2] It is believed that the Talofofo Fault that runs from Guam across the island and through Ordnance Annex runs along the southern edge of the Orote Peninsula. [3]

History

The peninsula was inhabited by multiple communities during the Pre-Latte Period from 3,500 BC to 500 AD. These include: [4]

Spanish period

A 1916-1917 map indicates Sumay was the only major inhabited area of the peninsula Guam Map - NARA - 100359928 (Orote Peninsula).jpg
A 1916–1917 map indicates Sumay was the only major inhabited area of the peninsula

In July 1676, during the period of the Spanish–Chamorro Wars, a Jesuit missionary was assigned to Orote. The job of this Jesuit was to conduct baptisms and marriages in the effort to solidify Spanish control of the island. [6] However, the village rebelled and was destroyed, with its population distributed to centralized villages where they could be better monitored and controlled. [4]

In the early 18th century, Spain's Council of the Indies grew increasingly concerned about competing navies threatening the Manila galleon trade and Spain's possessions in the Pacific. [7] This was aggravated by an attack in 1721 by the English privateer John Clipperton upon a supply ship from Cavite anchored at Merizo. [8] In 1734, Governor Francisco de Cárdenas Pacheco opened up new anchorage in Apra Harbor, which offered greater protection from attack. [7] Fort San Luis was built in 1737 near current-day Gab Gab to protect the new anchorage. [9] A second battery, Fort Santiago, was built at Orote Point to guard the entrance to the harbor. One account suggests Fort Santiago began to be constructed in 1721. The battery was large enough to house six cannon, and also had soldier's quarters and munitions storage. [10] In the 1800s, Sumay became a thriving port town, largely catering to the whaling ships. [5] However, the forts gradually deteriorated. In 1817, Otto von Kotzebue reported that Fort San Luis was no longer in use. [9] The three cannon at Fort Santiago were reported unusable in 1853 and, in 1884, Governor Francisco Olive y Garcia declared that Fort Santiago was useful only as an observation post. [7] As a result, during the 1898 Spanish–American War, the Spanish were unable to resist the American capture of Guam. [5]

20th and 21st centuries

Sumay in the 1930s US Naval Station Sumay1 Guam 930s.JPG
Sumay in the 1930s

The Americans continued making the peninsula a center of military and economic activity. In 1903, the Commercial Pacific Cable Company laid submarine communications cable for telegraph through a station at Sumay, linking the United States to Asia, and each to Guam, for the first time. In the 1920 census, Sumay was Guam's second most populous village with 1,209 residents. [5] On March 17, 1921, a U.S. Marine Squadron of 10 pilots and 90 enlisted men arrived and set up a base at Sumay for their amphibious aircraft, including a hangar. In 1926, the squadron built administration offices, but the next year was deployed to China to protect American lives in the Nanking incident of 1927. On September 23, 1928, Patrol Squadron 3-M arrived on Guam as replacements. However, the U.S. decided that Naval Air Station Sumay was too expensive and shut it down on February 23, 1931. [11]

Guam's first golf course, Sumay Golf Links, was established in the village in 1923. This was followed by Pan American Airways establishing a base for its China Clipper in 1935 in Sumay, establishing the first trans-Pacific passenger air service. Pan American also built Guam's first hotel in the village. [5]

Destruction of Sumay after the 1944 Battle of Guam US Naval Station Sumay Guam 1945.JPG
Destruction of Sumay after the 1944 Battle of Guam

During the Japanese invasion on December 8, 1941, Sumay was targeted for bombing. The residents fled inland but were soon entirely evicted by the Japanese, who turned the town into a garrison. Sumay residents were moved to various concentration camps over the Japanese occupation of Guam from 1941 to 1944. The Japanese also constructed Orote Field, using Korean and Chamorro labor. Unlike the air station at Sumay, Orote Field was land-based, and used to refuel and rearm Japanese aircraft in the June 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea, but the field was destroyed by American raids. The U.S. initial U.S. invasion of Guam in July 1944 was designed to attack either sides of the heavily fortified Orote Peninsula, cutting it off from inland support. After fierce fighting, U.S. forces declared the peninsula secured on July 29, 1944. An estimated 3,000 Japanese soldiers died defending Orote Peninsula. [11]

After the end of the Pacific War, the U.S. Navy refused to allow the Sumay residents to return, stating that the area was needed for the new Naval Base Guam, which would become a major military base into the 21st century. Sumay residents were relocated to Santa Rita, ending indigenous habitation of the peninsula. [5]

Other

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guam</span> Unincorporated US territory in the Pacific Ocean

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, and the most populous village is Dededo. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States, reckoned from the geographic center of the U.S.. In Oceania, Guam is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia.

The history of Guam starts with the early arrival around 2000 BC of Austronesian people ent American rule of the island began with the 1898 Spanish–American War. Guam's history of colonialism is the longest among the Pacific islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Guam</span>

Guam is a U.S. territory in the western Pacific Ocean, at the boundary of the Philippine Sea. It is the southernmost and largest member of the Mariana Islands archipelago, which is itself the northernmost group of islands in Micronesia. The closest political entity is the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), another U.S. territory. Guam shares maritime boundaries with CNMI to the north and the Federated States of Micronesia to the south. It is located approximately one quarter of the way from the Philippines to Hawaii. Its location and size make it strategically important. It is the only island with both a protected harbor and land for multiple airports between Asia and Hawaii, on an east–west axis, and between Papua New Guinea and Japan, on a north–south axis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Mariana Islands</span> Commonwealth of the United States

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States consisting of 14 islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The CNMI includes the 14 northernmost islands in the Mariana Archipelago; the southernmost island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory. The Northern Mariana Islands were listed by the United Nations as a non-self governing territory until 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagåtña, Guam</span> Capital city of Guam

Hagåtña is the capital village of the United States territory of Guam. From the 18th through mid-20th century, it was Guam's population center, but today it is the second smallest of the island's 19 villages in both area and population. However, it remains one of the island's major commercial districts in addition to being the seat of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apra Harbor</span> Seaport in Guam

Apra Harbor, also called Port Apra, is a deep-water port on the western side of the United States territory of Guam. It is considered one of the best natural ports in the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is bounded by Cabras Island and the Glass Breakwater to the north and the Orote Peninsula in the south. Naval Base Guam and the Port of Guam are the two major users of the harbor. It is also a popular recreation area for boaters, surfers, scuba divers, and other recreationalists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chamorro people</span> Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands

The Chamorro people are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, significant Chamorro populations also exist in several U.S. states, including Hawaii, California, Washington, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, and Nevada, all of which together are designated as Pacific Islander Americans according to the U.S. Census. According to the 2000 Census, about 64,590 people of Chamorro ancestry live in Guam and another 19,000 live in the Northern Marianas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villages of Guam</span>

The United States territory of Guam is divided into nineteen municipalities, called villages. Each village is governed by an elected mayor. Village populations range in size from under 1,000 to over 40,000. In the 2020 census, the total population of Guam was 153,836. Each village is counted as a county equivalent by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sånta Rita-Sumai, Guam</span> Village in Guam, United States

Sånta Rita-Sumai, formerly Santa Rita and encompassing the former municipality of Sumay, is a village located on the southwest coast of the United States territory of Guam with hills overlooking Apra Harbor. According to the 2020 census it has a population of 6,470, which is up slightly from 6,084 in 2010 but down from 11,857 in 1990. Santa Rita is the newest village in Guam, having been established after the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piti, Guam</span> Village in Guam, United States

Piti is a village located on the central west coast of the United States territory of Guam. It contains northern and eastern coastlines of Apra Harbor, including Cabras Island, which has the commercial Port of Guam and the island's largest power plants. Piti was a pre-Spanish CHamoru village and, after Spanish colonization, became the primary port town on Guam. The town was largely destroyed during the 1944 liberation of Guam and the population relocated during the wartime construction of Apra Harbor.

John Clipperton was an English privateer who fought against the Spanish in the 18th century. He was involved in two buccaneering expeditions to the South Pacific—the first led by William Dampier in 1703, and the second under his own command in 1719. He used Clipperton Island in the eastern Pacific Ocean as a base for his raids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Guam (1941)</span> WWII Battle by Japanese forces to capture Guam from the United States

The Battle of Guam was an engagement during the Pacific War in World War II, and took place from 8 December to 10 December 1941 on Guam in the Mariana Islands between Japan and the United States. The American garrison was defeated by Japanese forces on 10 December, which resulted in an occupation until the Second Battle of Guam in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orote Field</span> United States historic place

Orote Field is a former air base in the United States territory of Guam built by the Empire of Japan with Chamorro forced labor during the Japanese occupation of Guam (1941-1944). It is separate from the Marine Corps amphibious airplane base at located at Sumay village that was operational from 1921 to 1931. Following the liberation of Guam in 1944, the U.S. military repaired the field for further use in the Pacific War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolinian people</span> Ethnic group

Carolinians are a Micronesian ethnic group who originated in Oceania, in the Caroline Islands, with a total population of over 8,500 people. They are also known as Remathau in the Yap's outer islands. The Carolinian word means "People of the Deep Sea." It is thought that their ancestors may have originally immigrated from Asia and Indonesia to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago. Their primary language is Carolinian, called Refaluwasch by native speakers, which has a total of about 5,700 speakers. The Carolinians have a matriarchal society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward the matriarchs. Most Carolinians are of the Roman Catholic faith.

The Spanish–Chamorro Wars, also known as the Chamorro Wars and the Spanish–Chamorro War, refer to the late seventeenth century unrest among the Chamorros of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean against the colonial effort of Habsburg Spain. Anger at proselytizing by the first permanent mission to Guam, which was led by Diego Luis de San Vitores, and a series of cultural misunderstandings led to increasing unrest on Guam and a Chamorro siege of the Hagåtña presidio incited by maga'låhi (Chief) Hurao in 1670. Maga'låhi Matå'pang killed San Vitores in 1672, resulting in a campaign of Spanish reprisal burnings of villages through 1676. Local anger at the attacks against villages resulted in another open rebellion led by Agualin and a second siege of Hagåtña. Governor Juan Antonio de Salas conducted a counter-insurgency campaign that successfully created a system of collaboration in which Guamanians turned in rebels and murderers and transferred most of the people from about 180 villages to seven towns, a policy known as reducción. By the early 1680s, Guam was largely "reduced," or pacified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sumay, Guam</span> Village in Guam, United States

Sumay, also Sumai, was a village on the United States territory of Guam. It was located on the north coast of the Orote Peninsula along Apra Harbor. It was inhabited by Chamorro people before contact with Europeans. Sumay became a prosperous port town serving whalers and other sailors in the 1800s and the second most populous settlement on Guam after Hagåtña, the capital of the Spanish Mariana Islands. Following the Capture of Guam by the United States in 1898, the village was the site of Marine Barracks Guam. In the early 1900s, it was a link for two firsts connecting the United States and Asia: the first submarine communications cable for telegraph and the China Clipper, the first air service. After the Japanese invasion of Guam in 1941, the residents were evicted and the village turned into a Japanese military garrison. Sumay was leveled during the U.S. liberation of the island in 1944. The U.S. military prohibited the residents from returning, relocating them to the hills of nearby Sånta Rita-Sumai. In 1948, the U.S. military exercised eminent domain and took all private and commercial property at Sumay. Its former location is now on Naval Base Guam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberation Day (Guam)</span>

Liberation Day on the U.S. territory of Guam is an annual commemoration of the invasion by U.S. military forces on July 21, 1944, which ended the Japanese occupation that had begun in 1941. Begun in 1945, it is Guam's largest celebration. Festivities include a queen contest, summer carnival, fireworks display, and mile-long parade on Marine Corps Drive in Hagåtña from Adelup to Paseo de Susana, as well as solemn memorials and visits to massacre sites. It is organized by the Guam Island Fair Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Barrigada</span> U.S. military radio transmitter facilities on the island of Guam

Radio Barrigada, formally Communications Site Barrigada and previously Communications Annex Barrigada, refers to two adjacent U.S. military transmitter facilities located in the villages of Barrigada and Mangilao on the western Pacific territory of Guam. The larger facility is Naval Computer and Telecommunications Site (NCTS) Barrigada, operated by Naval Base Guam, located entirely within Barrigada.

Agualin, sometimes Aguarin or Diego de Aguarin, was a CHamoru chief who led a siege of Hagåtña (1676–1677) on Guam during the Spanish-Chamorro Wars. This was the second of three unsuccessful sieges of the Spanish presidio carried out by CHamorus seeking to eject the colonial presence, with the final widespread violence on Guam in 1683. While Spanish colonial history vilified Agualin as being anti-Christian and anti-civilization, a modern reevaluation reframes Agualin as a champion of CHamoru nationalism.

An epidemic of smallpox in 1856 on the west Pacific island of Guam, then under the control of Spain, resulted in the death of over half of the population, or about 4,500 people. The population collapse led Spanish authorities to transfer the population of Pago to Hagåtña, ending a settlement dating back before colonization. It also led the Governor of the Spanish Mariana Islands to encourage immigration to Guam.

References

  1. ↑ "Chapter 3. Geological and Soil Resources" (PDF). Guam and CNMI Military Relocation Final EIS. July 2010. p. 25. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "Geology of Guam". Digital Atlas of Southern Guam. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Chapter 3. Geological and Soil Resources" (PDF). Guam and CNMI Military Relocation Final EIS. July 2010. p. 11. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Draft Joint Region Marianas Access Plan" (PDF). Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-24. Retrieved 2015-06-24.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Babauta, Leo (October 14, 2019). "Sumay". Guampedia. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  6. ↑ Brunal-Perry, Omaira (January 19, 2021). "Matrimony and Social Change in the Marianas during Spanish Times". Guampedia. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 Haun, Daryl A. (October 10, 2019). "Fort Santiago". Guampedia. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  8. ↑ Murphy, Shannon J. (January 20, 2021). "Adventurers: John Clipperton and George Shelvocke". Guampedia. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Haun, Daryl A. (October 10, 2019). "Fort San Luis". Guampedia. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Spanish Forts of Guam Overview". Guampedia. October 16, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  11. 1 2 "Orote Air Field". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "The New Man in Charge". Karen's LOST Notebook. 25 August 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2021.

13°26′N144°38′E / 13.44°N 144.63°E / 13.44; 144.63

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.