Thursday, September 3, 2009

BAGUIO CITY : 100 years in the Making

When the Americans first came to Baguio in 1900, it was not yet even a town. It was then only a"rancheria" whose dominant feature was a large, low-lying area called Kafagway. There were only a few houses and there were no roads. The rancheria was owned by Mateo Carino who was at that time the wealthiest man in Benguet Province. During the dry season it was a pasture for herds of cattle and horses, but much of the year, it was a marshland with a shallow lake where residents hunted for ducks and snipes. Kafagway roughly covered the same area as the present city.

The Americans found Baguio an ideal site for a future city and a summer retreat from the sweltering heat of the lowlands. The hills were grassy and studded with pine trees and above all it had a cool and pleasant climate. The Americans also found a good source of water to supply the needs of a city. Gov. William Howard Taft and other officials did not hesitate to proposed that this be the location for the summer capital and health resort of the Philippines.

In November 1900, the Americans established the first civil government in Benguet. Kafagway was designated as the capital and was later renamed to Baguio.

Baguio City became the second chartered city in the Archipelago in September 1, 1909 and the townships were later reduced to 13 municipalities. The city prospered in the years before the outbreak of the Second World War.