This Month in Guam History: August

Before we say “Adios” to August, let us look back at this month and how important it has been in the past for Guam, Chamoru and Marianas history. When I first started working as curator at the Guam Museum in 2021, I was given some of the late Tony Palomo’s notes on Guam history. In addition to being a Guam war survivor, an author, a journalist, an elected leader and a historian, Siñot Palomo had worked as the administrator for the Guam Museum towards the end of his life. Part of his duties at the museum was to publish a regular series in the Pacific Daily News highlighting “This Month in Guam History.”

It is my honor as the curator of the Guam Museum to continue this tradition. Let’s look at some of the events that happened in Guam and the Marianas in the past during the month of August.

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343 years ago: In August 1681, Don Antonio de Saravia was appointed governor of the Marianas, and during the following month, he appointed Chamorus to the positions of assistant governors, judges, and district police officers. He named Antonio Ayhi as lieutenant governor in recognition of his services to the Spanish mission and troops.

330 years ago -On August 16, 1694, Don Jose Quiroga was named governor of the Marianas. He was the Spanish military leader who successfully subdued the Chamoru rebels both in Guam as well as the rest of the Marianas.

282 years ago -On August 22, 1742, Lord George Anson visited Tinian and was fascinated by the "flying proas," Chamorro canoes that "may run twenty miles an hour for they passed our ships like a bird flying." He found Tinian to be "exquisitely furnished with the conveniences of life" but was "entirely destitute of inhabitants." After the end of the Chamoru-Spanish Wars in 1695, no Chamorus were allowed to live north of Rota for more than 100 years.

140 years ago - On August 2, 1884, Spanish Governor Angel de Pazos was assassinated by Chamoru palace guards in an attempt to seize the government. About 36 persons were involved in the conspiracy, but only four were found to be guilty and executed. The ringleader and guard who fatally shot Pazos was Jose de Salas. The other three were Manuel Mendiola, Vicente Acosta, and Manuel Aguon.

125 years ago - On August 7, 1899, Navy Captain Richard P. Leary arrived and took formal possession of the island. In his first official report to the Secretary of the Navy, he said the people of Guam "appear to be a peaceful, orderly and very respectful community from whom I anticipate most hearty cooperation;" that the "most serious obstacles to overcome will be those of water supply, drainage and sewage," and that "there is not an ounce of medicine in this island."

94 years ago - In August 1930, the Navy Department announced that because Guam had "no further strategic value," the island was stricken from the Navy's list of Pacific bases, and plans were being prepared "to demilitarize it." The decision was made after a conference was held between President Herbert Hoover and Secretary of the Navy Adams, during which it was decided to reduce the Navy's budget by $10 million from $380 million for 1930, and further cut of from $10 million to $15 million in the ensuing year.

79 years ago -On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay flew from Tinian and dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, effectively ending World War II. About 80,000 people were instantly killed or seriously wounded. A second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki three days later. More than 50,000 Japanese were killed by the second bomb.

78 years ago- On August 31, 1945, Guam's total population was 223,556, of which 65,095 were Army troops, 77,911 were Navy personnel, 58,712 were Marines, and 21,838 were Chamorus. The military forces occupied three-fourths of the island. More than 160 installations, both large and small, were strewn throughout the island.

62 years ago - On August 23, 1962, President John F. Kennedy repealed the presidential executive order authorizing the naval security clearance requirement for persons entering Guam. The executive order was promulgated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, declaring Guam and American Samoa as naval sea and air defensive areas and prohibiting persons from entering the islands without permission from naval authorities.