October 19, 2024 • 39 mins
Located about 1500 miles to the east of the Phillipines in Micronesia, Guam is a small US territory with a tiny population, beautiful beaches and an incredibly complicated history. For almost four centuries it was a colonial possession of Spain -- but that all changed in 1898, when Guam, in a strange series of misunderstandings, became a possession of the American government. So what exactly happened? Join Ben and Noel as they explore the bloodless, somewhat ridiculous, capture of Guam.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous historians. We have a classic for you about a
place that neither of us have visited. A little place
called Guam, technically part of the US mm.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hmm, yeah, about fifteen hundred miles to the east of
the Philippines in Micronesia. A tiny place with a tiny population, idyllic,
beautiful coastlines, but a particularly fraud and ridiculous history.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah. For the better part of four centuries. This was
a colonial possession of Spain. How did it become a
US territory? Well, everything changed in eighteen ninety eight, not
really on purpose.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Unless you be concerned that this is going to be
a blood and guts kind of episode, you need not worry.
This is the story of the bloodless and quick capture
of Guam.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome to the show,
(01:23):
Friends and neighbors, Thanks for dropping by. Join us on
a journey. We are based in Atlanta, Georgia, here in
the United States, but today our adventures take us to
the northwestern Pacific Ocean, to a place that was formerly
known as the territory of Guam.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I'm ben Hi, my name is no.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So we're going on a bit of a tropical vaca.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Today we are and I have wanted to travel to
this area of the Pacific Ocean for such a very
very long time. Our longtime friend of the show and
co worker, Scott Benjamin is actually a very well traveled man.
He's hit this. No, he's been to Bora Bora.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
I know, man, I didn't even think. I thought that
was like an imaginary land. And then you've come to
find out Scott Benjamin, or as I like to call him,
F Scott Benjamin, has been there.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yes, yes, f Scott Benjamin. So today we're going a
true tale that still feels as surreal as a story
by Kurt Vonnegut or something he does.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That's a really good connection, Ben because it's got all
of the pathos and set up for a grand you know,
battle of epic proportions, a naval battle, you know, at
sea with cannons and all that good stuff that goes
along with it. But there's a twist, and then the
twist is sort of a very Vonnegutian que. Yeah, and
(02:50):
that you know, not much happens. I don't think that's fair.
I don't mean to pin like to say nothing happens
in Vonnagut books. I just mean it subverts what's your
expectations a little bit. Let's say that.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, it feels in a very relieving way, somewhat anti climactic.
And we're of course not going on this journey alone, folks.
We're bringing along, in our opinion, one of the best
parts of this show, super producer Casey Pegrum.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
May he be our spirit guide on this journey today, Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And hopefully our navigator as well, because I don't remember
if we packed the GPS.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I am garbage with directions.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
As you know, well, we already know where we're going,
and let's travel there through the magic of podcasting. But
first we have to get to Guam by way of Cuba,
because to paint the scene, we need to talk about
something called the Spanish American War.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The Spanish American War declared on April twenty fifth of
eighteen ninety eight. You see, the US was doing a
lot of business with Cuba.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
And Cuba wanted to become independent from Spain, which was
controlling it at the time.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
It's very true, and there were rebels. There was an
uprising in Cuba and they wanted to separate themselves from
Spanish rule, and the US had some pretty significant interests
in helping them accomplish this because they were doing trade
upwards of one hundred million dollars a year with Cuba.
(04:26):
One of those goods, the primary good in this equation
being sugar.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And that's in eighteen ninety five terms. Yeah, so it's
a huge amount of money. Shall we inflation calculator it,
my friend? Yes, this is an appropriate enough amount of
money that we may want a drum roll casey one
hundred million dollars in eighteen ninety five is equivalent to
(04:53):
two point seven five billion dollars as of twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That's like an economy of scale. It's massive. There's really
no there's really no way someone in the US could
argue against protecting this valuable trade. And the US public
was behind this as well. They were supporting American intervention
because people were checking out the newspapers of note at
(05:21):
the time, the yellow papers right of the like the
William Randolph Hurst era of the yellow journalism, where it
was kind of this alarmist or maybe not alarmist, but
more sensationalized coverage.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Right, Yeah, absolutely sensationalized by muck rakers. By people with
a strategic acts of grind. Spain was taking incredibly brutal
measures to repress the rebellion, and the US public learned
about this through graphic depictions in these newspapers, and this
caused American sympathy for the Cuban rebels to rise. As
(05:57):
we know, the best way to get a war going
is not to say it's in our economic interest, it's
to say we are doing a noble.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Thing humanitarian reasons. Have you heard of this guy, General Weyler,
the butcher. Lay it on me, this is nuts. I
did not know this was a thing. But this gentleman
was sent to deal with by Spain, to deal with
the Cuban rebels, and he actually rounded them up and
put them in concentration camps. They weren't, you know, gassed
(06:24):
like the Jews were during the Nazi regime, but they
were left in horribly unsanitary conditions to starve and just
wither away. And so you know that was happening, and
this was being reported, and so there was strong sentiment
for the humanitarian aid angle there.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And tensions are rising. Tensions are escalating at this point,
let's say around the early part of the year right.
The American public is largely behind or supportive of an intervention,
but there are people still on the fence, and that
all changes in less than a few days.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah. In fact, with the permission of the Spanish government,
President McKinley ordered a battleship, the USS Maine, to hang
out in the Havana Harbor to kind of safeguard American
interests during this time of upheaval in Cuba. And on
February fifteenth in the evening, an explosion sank that ship,
(07:28):
killing two hundred and sixty four sailors and two officers.
And this was a problem. This was bad what they
call bad optics, ben right.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
So the means destruction did not immediately launch a war
with Spain, but it pretty much guaranteed that there would
not be an easy, peaceful resolution to this conflict.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It's like a Pearl Harbor kind of moment, you know.
I mean it's not quite as extreme, obviously, because there
was no direct proof, but it is that powder keg
moment where the public really sees, oh there's a threat here.
They got our guys, right, and those yellow journalists we
talked about really pushed that line, didn't They like saying, oh,
they blamed Spain, even though there wasn't any proof that
(08:12):
that was actually what happened, But it seems likely that
that's what happened.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It was one of the biggest political, if not the
biggest political issues of that year. Let's fast forward a
couple of months. Spain realizes that the water is slowly boiling,
the flames arising, and they attempt to quell things. They
announced an armistice on April ninth of that year, and
they speed up a program to grant Cuba limited autonomy,
(08:38):
limited powers of government. So this would mean that Cuba
is still a part of the larger Spanish Empire, but
they have some latitude and agency with local decisions.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
And I'd read in a few places that there was
a sentiment that they weren't really that serious about doing
those things that they said that was all sort of
for show.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
It's either disingenuous or it's too little, too late, because
very shortly afterwards, the US Congress issued resolutions declaring Cuba's
right to full independence, demanding the withdrawal of all of
Spain's armed forces, and authorizing then President William McKinley to
use force to secure the withdrawal of the Spanish forces,
(09:21):
and at the same time to make sure that everyone
knows they're the good guys. I guess in this situation,
the US also says, we're not going to annex Cuba.
We want it to be its own thing. We're sticking
up for you. And you know, they gave the British
two finger salute to Spain.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
This is Congress doing this right, Yeah, and I think
the President had requested sort of a lighter version of that,
and then Congress sort of doubled down and said, Nah,
we're going to really go, you know, ham on this.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, they went hard on the paint for sure. And Spain,
in a game of geopolitical double dare, said oh, you
know what you're gonna dare us to get out? Well,
double dare, we're declaring war on the US on April
twenty fourth, And on the twenty fifth the next day
the US said, oh, yeah, well you too, buddy. You
can't declare war on us, We're declaring war on you.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
It's super confusing because the way it's written, the way
I've seen the chronology of this is that they had
to retroactively backdate it to April twenty first, which I
believe was when the US established a military blockade of
Cuba to protect their interests more or less again, and
that's not like the official reason. Again they're going with
(10:34):
this humanitarian thing. Oh oh, the poor Cuban people. You know,
the Spanish are just mistreating them so badly, you know,
because America, you know, we're all about taking care of people, right,
and that's what we do.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
And maybe we released the American leaders at the time,
maybe they really did believe that they were doing a noble,
altruistic thing.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I know, I'm being flipped, but it's just it's hard
to It's hard, man, it's hard to have that kind
of faith in the goodness of our leaders.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It would be somewhat anomalous. And it was not going
to be a fair fight because Spain was not prepared
in naval or military terms to have a war in
a foreign part of the planet with the US, who
is not you know, nothing to sneeze at militarily even
back then.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
And I mean we're talking Spain in general, not to
mention our little whipper snapper buddies there in guam Ah.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Yes, So we've set this stage and the Spanish American
War quickly expands beyond the bounds of Cuba and the
surrounding waters. One of the huge theaters for the Spanish
American War was going to be the Pacific Ocean, specifically
the Philippines. The Philippines at the time were under Spanish
control and had been for hundreds of years. The US
(11:54):
again was going to clean up this massive injustice for
everyone one who can't see I can't see us in
the studios. I just did a hard arm shake.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Kind of an awe shucks. Yeah, you know, hey, there
we go, like you might have done at Opryland when
you were a boy.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Oh, man, you're never gonna let me live that, dad?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Why should I? Man, it's a delight.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
But speaking of delights, when we consider the Pacific theater
at the time, or just when considered the geography of
the Pacific, we have to realize these folks did not
have very fast means of communication, and a lot of
these islands and archipelagos were so isolated that they could
(12:38):
learn about events and the rest of the world months after,
maybe even more than a year. And so this is
when we this is when we come to a captain,
a captain named Glass.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Captain Glass, which is a cool name, very cool name.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
And and Noel, what is what does Captain Glass do
on his way to the Philippines.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Well, Captain Glass actually received sealed orders and they went
a little bit like this, In fact, exactly like this,
dear sir. Actually they didn't say dear. They wouldn't have
been that polite in the military, just says sir, changes
the whole tone, didn't it. Upon receipt of this order,
which is forwarded by the steamship City of Peaking, which
(13:23):
was the name of the ship, to you at Honolulu
a place, you will proceed with the Charleston and the
City of Peaking in company to Manila, Philippine Islands on
your way. And here's the important part. You are hereby
directed to stop at the Spanish island of Guam. You
will use such force as may be necessary to capture
the Port of Guam, making prisoners of the governor and
(13:45):
other officials, and any armed force that may be there.
You will destroy any fortification on set island and any
Spanish naval vessels that may be there or in the
immediate vicinity. And then it goes on to say this
will probably only take you two days because they definitely
don't know who we're coming.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yes, yeah, that's we cannot emphasize that enough, but we
will attempt to through repetition. They were definitely not prepared
on the island of Guam the Spanish governing structure. So
Guam had their first contact with the Spanish Empire when
a fellow named Ferdinand Magellan, the famous Portuguese explorer, landed
(14:22):
there on March sixth, fifteen twenty one. And in the
intervening centuries, Spain also controlled Guam right as well as
you know, as well as the Philippines. But Guam was
on the edge of the Empire. For lack of a
better phrase, it wasn't and it still is not a
very large place geographically speaking, and it also wasn't at
(14:47):
the heart of a lot of conflict or a ton
of trade exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
And in fact, at the time, the Guam infantry consisted
of only fifty five soldiers and two, that's two lieutenants.
So Glass has these orders to capture Guam. He is
assured that it is going to be super easy because
they're so unprepared. Oh yeah, I mean they the way
(15:12):
the matter of fact nature of that order, the way
it's written it's just like this is gonna be cake.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
It's it's on the same level tonally as hey, will
you pick up some milk? Un your way, oh way way?
Literally yes. And so the Charleston enters Agana Bay on
the twentieth of June, and they were prepared for a
cannonade from Fort Santiago, the Spanish fort there. And so
(15:40):
Captain Glass got further into the harbor and he began
bombarding Fort Santa Cruz, but received no response because you see, folks,
the fort had long been abandoned, right.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
No one cared, no one, no one knew, no one
was looking except people were looking. And this is where
I kind of want to shift the perspective here to
I think our mutual favorite character in this story a
guy by the name of Francisco Porto Sash.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, or you could you could call him Frank if
you want to be familiar exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
He has We have an original source from a letter
that he writes recounting his experience. He was a naturalized
citizen in the US and on the morning of the
twenty second of June in eighteen ninety eight, his brother
Don Jose woke him up and said you gotta come
see this.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
You gotta come check this out. And just a little backstory,
I'm like, why was this guy on Guam? What was
he doing? It looks like he had had a career
as kind of like as a whaler. He seemed like
a real man about town, had done some interesting stuff
and like just wanted to see the world. But he
was from Chicago.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yeah, he was a US citizen. He did have whaling background,
and Guam he was pretty influential because he ran a general.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Store, a general store, and he was apparently the only
American on the island, which probably earned him some street cred.
I guess he seems like he was beloved and had
support from the community. He wasn't like some kind of outcasts.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
So in his letter the way he recounts it, he
had maybe heard of something about a conflict between Spain
and the US. In fact, his brother is the one
who hipped him to it. But his brother was a
little wishy washy about it too. His brother, also, by
the way, was just visiting from Europe. He had come
(17:43):
there by way of the Philippines and was just hanging out.
So I think it's probably pretty accurate when you see
this guy, Francisco being described as the only American naturalized
American citizen on the island who lived there. So his
brother says, come to the beach and see those ships
there and where they come from. And Frank, as I'm
gonna call him, started with him. Around daylight they went
(18:05):
to they went to the shore close enough to look
through a pair of glasses which probably binoculars, and he
recognized two of the steamships, China and Australia, and he
wasn't sure what the other one was. But at this
point his brother said.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
He said, do not say anything, as I think war
is declared between the United States and Spain. If so,
I will go on board and take with me the
Spanish officers and one of your boats, and you can
go on your whale boat afterwards. Because that's another thing
that's important about the story. Frank, you see had liqued
like a mini fleet of ships, and they call them lighters, Yeah,
which were these specialized boats that you would use to
(18:44):
transport goods to bigger.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Ships, right that couldn't get close enough to shore or
maybe didn't have a port they could pull in.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yes, So how do you think the brother knew the
war thing, though it seems like they were not hip
to this on them. Was he just kind of conjecturing.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Because he had traveled from Europe.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Ah, he didn't think to mention that earlier.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
You know, it's a laid back, laid back guy. They're
painting here. But as they arrive, they see the Charleston
begin to shell this fort, as we had mentioned, and
there's no response because as Frank and everybody else on
the island knows, that fort has been abandoned for years,
and they believe the ship the Man of War is
(19:26):
saluting the fort of Santa Cruz, and so on the
island side they say, okay, well, let's get somebody together,
let's get the artillery together, and we'll send a salute too.
And this sounds weird for a lot of people, the
idea of a salute. What is that? Why are you
are you just firing a gun to say hello to people?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I mean, there's the whole twenty one gun salute. It
always strikes me as queer. I mean, anytime people shoot
guns in a celebratory manner, that always is a little
strange to me.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Right, So we can give you a little bit of
background on what a salute actually is and why it exists.
This comes to us through the official blog of the
US Navy named Navy Live, and Tim comer Ford is
writing about the history of the salute in Salutations with
(20:17):
a Bang, the Military Salute. The idea here, according to him,
is that the origins of this practice run clear, but
we have some good estimates about this, and they date
back to some ancient warfare. It's intended to show deference
on the part of the person saluting to the person
being saluted. And it's also supposed to indicate that the
(20:41):
person or the people who are saluting are unarmed or
somehow defenseless, because in the old days of raising your
hand a salute, you were showing that you didn't have
a sword, didn't have like a.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
But Ben, they're saluting with live ammunition.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
They cann't. Yeah, yeah, how does this work? Great question.
The cannons, once you fire them in a salute, they
take a while to reload, and so the idea is
in a salute, the idea is they're shooting not to
not to hit anyone, yeah, but to say like okay, boom,
there you go. Now you know, we're not carrying loaded
cannons but this was clearly a mistake on the islander
(21:21):
side because they were trying to shell the fort.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I mean that would have interpreted it as a piss
poor salute. I'm like, come on, you're supposed to like
aim away from us or up in the air or something.
But no, they were definitely trying to shell that fort.
But that misunderstanding did happen, and so a sort of
envoy was gathered to row out to the ship the
(21:46):
man o war yeah this floating murder machine, uh huh
and say hello.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yes, yeah almost. I kept picturing, you know, the scenes
where they send a landing party in star Trek or something. Thing.
So Frank arrives, he gets on the ship and they
find out that he is an American citizen.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
And how's he ended up going along? Like he's already
there watching and he has like because I know there
was some actual officials that went as well, because there
was the commander of the Guam Navy who is a
guy named Don Pedro Duerte, and he is the one
who said, oh, they're saluting us, we should go to
dang it. We don't have we're all we're fresh out
(22:30):
of gunpowder, so we better go you know, be polite.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Everybody, get your own guns if you have them, right,
and we'll try to organize this. Yeah, they were they
were trying to be cool. They thought they were showing
customary deference or the rules of engagement. And to paint
the picture here, imagine a really small town where not
a lot of big stuff happens. Everybody in town is
(22:56):
who has heard about this is coming out to check
out the scene. They want to see what happens. So
this is not like a situation where there would be
a group of battle hardened veterans preparing to die.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Oh I know.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
This is someone saying like, oh, hey, Tim, did you
hear there are big ships out there, and the other
guy going, oh no, way, Like yeah, they said we
got to bring our guns to salute them. He's like,
oh yeah, all right.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Gotta say, though, this brother, this don Jose Porto sash
seems like a real piece of work. I mean, he is,
you know, hasn't clued anyone in to the fact that
there may be war going on. I think he's trying
to play it like he's trying to, you know, save
his own butt, because he is the one who assembles
this group of officials, military officials, which so the party
(23:44):
that went out there to meet the boat were Frank,
his brother, Lieutenant commander of the Navy and captain of
the port, Don Francisco Gutierrez, a naval surgeon, Don Jose Romero,
Captain Pedro Duade and du Car who was part of
the Marine Corps, and also Don Jose Sixto, who is
(24:04):
the civil paymaster. And they all are kind of roped
into doing this by the brother who still doesn't clue
them into the fact that this could be a problem.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Well, he told his brother. He was like, Frank, be cool,
but I think there's a war going on.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
So what does strike me? As he's looking out for
him and his brother's best interest and not the native people,
true of the land.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
True important point. Here's where it becomes, for a moment
as casual as a sitcom. So Frank and the rest
of the party are there and then they get on
board to Charleston and he's selling across the bow in
his own boat, and then he hears someone yell at him, Frank.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Come on board, hey buddy, and he lay, yeah, get
to see you.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Eddie looks up and it's a guy named Captain Hellett,
who he knew a number of years before as a
whaling captain in.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
His whaling days. And he's actually on a whaling ship
that was the one that he was flying the flag with.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Yeah, and so he he gets on board and he
recognizes somebody else. He sees a guy who used to
be a reporter for the Chronicle in San Francisco. The
guy walks up and he shakes his hands and he's like, man,
I'm glad to see you here in Guam. And then
someone comes up and says, why are you flying that
American flag?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Dude? Frank clearly got around. Man, what are the chances?
This is very strange?
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Yeah, this is really weird.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Yeah. So this this tough customer walks up in his
officer's dress, military dress and says, what right have you
to fly this American flag from thou ship? Thy ship?
That's how they spoke.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Any like grins Frank grins and you know, shrugs a
little and yeah, and says, well, I guess I have
the right to have that flag up, for if I
did not have the right, I would not have it there.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Oh snack whoa, okay, being smart with me?
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Boy, right, it's pretty much. Okay, I do what I want.
And the guy says, can you prove you're right?
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah, he sounds like a character from like Mad Max
Beyond Thunderdome.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Right, And he says, yes, sir, and he pulls out
his naturalization papers as a citizen of the US, and
the guy looks them over and his tone completely changes. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
At that point, they're just buzzom buddies. He says, okay, Chicago,
you're from Chicago, Illinois, United States, eighteen eighty eight, twenty
second of October. This is his birthday, Cook County, State
of Illinois, is what he says. And at that point
he says, follow me, chum.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, let's go meet the captain. And so they go
to meet the captain, who is thrilled to meet Frank.
This captain Glass and the officer hands Glass Frank's papers
and then Glass looks him over and says, I'm glad
to meet you. And then he says, look, your brother
Joe told me that you had some lighters and some boats,
(26:57):
and could you let me have some of those just
to get some coal on the steamer. I'll, i'll, I'll
pay you. And this guy, Frank says, you know, what
you don't have to pay me. I'm the only US
citizen on the island, and it's my duty to give
all aid i can because apparently we're in a war.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
It's true, it's true, and you know, so that happens.
He gives him. He says he can use his boats.
Frank goes back to his family. They have a nice meal,
and at that point the letter is delivered to Frank's
home from the governor. A man by the name of
Juan Marina signed El Gobernador this letter, and it says,
(27:41):
translation is, if you offer any assistance to the American
men of war, you will be executed tomorrow morning at
the beach. And you know, Frank's like, yeah, right to
big words El Gobernador.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So he reads the note and he's pretty much giggling
at it.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
He's like, but his wife, you know, she thinks it's
a serious business. But Frank knows something that she does
not know. Right.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
So he he said to his wife, who is beside
herself with fear and sorrow, he says, don't worry, cheer up.
If anything comes the worst, I'll have ships to take
care of you and the kids. And he shows the
note to his brother, and he said, look, I already
promised Captain Glass the lighters. I'm going to send him anyway.
(28:29):
And Jose said, hey, watch out man. So then he
went to the Charleston again. After lunch, he showed the
letter to Captain Glass, and Captain Glass.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Said, I got you, I got you.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Yeah, he said, look, I'm going to have the island
delivered before daylight. What they mean when they say island
delivered is it's going to officially become something under the
control of the United States.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yep. And the way that all went down, Let's give
you the quick and dirty, he said, an envoy to
meet with the governor, the man who very sinisterly threatened
the life of our of our buddy Frank. So as promised,
Glass decides he's ready to set this in motion. So
the next day, June twenty first, he sends an envoy,
(29:15):
a guy by the name of Lieutenant William Brown Streither
Brown Browner, Browner's Ruther.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
He also says that he's not sure if he's spelling
the neighbors.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
In the letter. That's right, yeah, very true, And I'm
not sure I'm saying it right. But that's I'm gonna
I'm gonna commit to that, and they send a letter
by way of the governor's people to deliver to him saying,
come on the ship, come hang with us, let's chat
on our turf on the ship, to which the governor
very civilly, at least the language, and his response declines
because he says it is against Spanish law to board
(29:46):
a foreign vessel.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
And at the same time, this is still the twenty
third of June. At the same time, Frank has probably
my favorite conversation in this story. He goes back on
board the Charles and he's talking to Captain Class and
Glass says, hey, Frank, you're the only US citizen on
(30:08):
the island. We got to go, so could you take
care of the island.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, because we're gonna have this stitched up real quick like,
because after the governor refused, he said, come hang with
me on the shore. Right, that's that's that's the best
I'm gonna do. So brownschreither, No, it's Browner, Browner's ryther,
I'm gonna say it like that. He goes with a
few buddies and he meets up with the governor and
(30:34):
he lets him know that hey, we've got a pretty
formidable gunship, you know, trained on your island, and we're
gonna give you thirty minutes to deliberate with your people,
and if you, you know, do not surrender, we're going
to shell you and take all you prisoner anyway, to which.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
The governor replies, all right.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Give me a minute.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Give me a minute.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
He goes and confers, returns with a sealed envelope. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
And what's in the sealed envelope?
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Well, the thing that's funny is he hands it to
Brown's Ruther. Browner's Ruther never gonna get it right. It's fine,
and it's addressed to glass. But our boy, mister B
opens it himself, to which the governor responds, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
That's not for you, man, that's not diplomacy. Slow your role,
to which mister B responds, I represent him here. Back off.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, and so long story short, maybe a little too late,
but this far story short. The Spanish officials are taken
into custody and they go aboard the boat and they're
bound for the Philippines.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, it's all very civil too, because they're like, whoa, man,
I don't have my toothbrush, I all got out of
the clothes on my back. And the Americans are like, yo,
it's cool. We'll let you write to your family. We'll
let them bring you a knapsack, you know, an overnight bag,
and you'll you'll be comfortable, you'll be taken care of
and and all we need you to do is get
all of your troops to line up and come aboard
(32:09):
our ship to be our prisoners. And you know what,
That's exactly how it went down.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Yeah, not a not a violent death at.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
All, nary a drop of blood was spilt, right.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Just an awkward salute that left both both sides of
the conflict feeling as lame as you know, someone who
had a high five that wasn't returned, if that's ever
happened to you, and you just hold your hand up.
But the story isn't over. It does get a little
bit fuzzy here because the Charleston and co. Set off
(32:42):
for the Philippines, and General Glass says, hey, Frank, you're
in charge because you're literally the only US citizen here yep,
to which Frank says, tight.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I'll figure, yeah, make it work.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
I'll make it happen. And the problem is that he
is not given any written appointment from Commander Glass, and
they're just meant to.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Be temporary, right, Like that's just sort of like in
the interim, it's like hold the spot while we fanned
things out.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, so this makes him the first American governor of
the island. But there's another character here, and it's not
a it's not a cut and dried story. The man
we mentioned earlier, jose six Stow, the paymaster.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Oh, the paymaster. It's always I knew there was a twist.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yeah, the paymaster still has a lot of control and
he is with the former Spanish government. And now these
two men are in kind of an informal fight for
power and salemate.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
I missed this part entirely. Go on.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Well, so after Glass leaves and after Frank becomes the governor,
six Stow refuses to surrender the island's treasury to Frank,
and there are no American sailors or marines. There's nothing
supporting his claim to power.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Why wasn't he arrested along with all the other officials.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
I guess he's just a just a uh a nimble guy.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Yeah, but he he just.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Said, I'm going to keep paying any Spanish bureaucrats. I'm
going to pay members of the militia. And this consolidates
his influence over the island. Sounds and he was bad
with money. Because he bankrupts the treasury, law and order
starts to break down. Uh. The native residents of Guam
and Filipinos that are living on the island began fighting
(34:26):
their riots. And for his part, Frank is doing his
best because he says, look, we need to make some
improvements on the island, specifically this road that was just
in piss poor shape. And Sixto is like, wait, I
control the money and you shandn't have a pity?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Was he like the troll that guarded the bridge a
little less? Yeah? Yeah, yes, what this does? This sound
like a real a real ship show.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
There we go, Hey, that's that's son of a fish.
Son of a fish in a ship show. We are
building this vocabulary pretty well.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
And the mythology. But so let you know, things happen.
It gets it. It's obviously anytime you occupy a territory,
it's going to be a little rough for a little while.
But ultimately, after the war ended with the Treaty of Paris,
that was signed. Guam and the Philippines were purchased from
(35:21):
Spain for a relatively paltry twenty million dollars, and these
lands were finalized as US territories when the US Senate
ratified the treaty in eighteen ninety nine, February sixth, to
be precise.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
So this goes, this goes pretty quickly, right. It seems
like from eighteen ninety five the Guam landing to the
Treaty of Paris, we're only looking at a few years.
But this had a massive effect on the US's geopolitical
position and a pretty nasty effect on Spain because Spain
(36:01):
began to focus inward, and the US emerged from this
war as a maybe not a superpower, but a legitimate
world power with possessions half a world away and a
new stake in international politics.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Like kind of like an empire or something.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
He yes, exactly, kind of like an empire. But luckily
no one and Guam was injured in that takeover.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
That is cool, because there is actually a conspiracy theory.
Let's just drop this here at the end, that in fact,
the US did not get involved in the Spanish American
War for these humanitarian reasons. We discussed earlier. Yeah, it
was reasons of pure greed and to extend their world
domination outward. And you know they ultimately succeeded in that,
(36:50):
at least in a couple of small ways.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Say it ain't so ah, you know it's a theory. Yes,
that is one of several theories. But you know what's
not a theory, the idea that we hope you enjoyed
this show. That's a clunky segue.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
No, no, man, you got from A to B and
that's all it segue needs to accomplish. And here we
are at B being the end of the show.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yeah, but I feel like we went circuitously through G
for guam.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Oh you are that's a fire, my friend.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
So thank you, as always so much for checking out
today's episode. We want to think, of course, super producer
Kasey Pegram, who has not to our knowledge, ever invaded
a Pacific nation.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
It's true. No, Casey is a peaceful man, and he's
got a peaceful plan.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Yes. And we'd also like to think, of course, Christopher Hasiotis,
Alex Williams yep, the Ridiculous History Crew yep.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
And you everybody, friends, neighbors.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
All of you countryman, you've already lent.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Them to us, and we for that we will be
forever grateful.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Yes, and if you would like to continue adventuring with
us throughout some of the strangest, silliest, and most ridiculous
stories in human history, then join us on Twitter, Instagram,
or Facebook. You can also find our community page, Ridiculous
Historians if you if you're wondering why sometimes Nolan and
(38:18):
I have mentioned karaoke or oper Land, the answers you
seek can be found there.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
And guess what, we finally made that Pinterest page we've
been talking about all these years. That's not true kidding, Okay,
We're never never gonna do It's not gonna happen. It's
not ever never gonna do that ever. But man, you guys,
thanks for joining us, and we hope you'll join us
for the next episode, wherein we talk about how Vermont
(38:44):
was in fact a pretty radical place back in the day.
I don't mean radical like in the skater parlance. I
mean radicals, and they had some pretty big ideas about
liberty and they in fact were their own independent republic.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Who knew? And this story doesn't end there. What the
heck are we talking about tune in and find out.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
See ya. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Ridiculous historians. We have a classic for you about a
place that neither of us have visited. A little place
called Guam, technically part of the US mm.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hmm, yeah, about fifteen hundred miles to the east of
the Philippines in Micronesia. A tiny place with a tiny population, idyllic,
beautiful coastlines, but a particularly fraud and ridiculous history.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah. For the better part of four centuries. This was
a colonial possession of Spain. How did it become a
US territory? Well, everything changed in eighteen ninety eight, not
really on purpose.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Unless you be concerned that this is going to be
a blood and guts kind of episode, you need not worry.
This is the story of the bloodless and quick capture
of Guam.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome to the show,
(01:23):
Friends and neighbors, Thanks for dropping by. Join us on
a journey. We are based in Atlanta, Georgia, here in
the United States, but today our adventures take us to
the northwestern Pacific Ocean, to a place that was formerly
known as the territory of Guam.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I'm ben Hi, my name is no.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So we're going on a bit of a tropical vaca.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Today we are and I have wanted to travel to
this area of the Pacific Ocean for such a very
very long time. Our longtime friend of the show and
co worker, Scott Benjamin is actually a very well traveled man.
He's hit this. No, he's been to Bora Bora.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
I know, man, I didn't even think. I thought that
was like an imaginary land. And then you've come to
find out Scott Benjamin, or as I like to call him,
F Scott Benjamin, has been there.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yes, yes, f Scott Benjamin. So today we're going a
true tale that still feels as surreal as a story
by Kurt Vonnegut or something he does.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That's a really good connection, Ben because it's got all
of the pathos and set up for a grand you know,
battle of epic proportions, a naval battle, you know, at
sea with cannons and all that good stuff that goes
along with it. But there's a twist, and then the
twist is sort of a very Vonnegutian que. Yeah, and
(02:50):
that you know, not much happens. I don't think that's fair.
I don't mean to pin like to say nothing happens
in Vonnagut books. I just mean it subverts what's your
expectations a little bit. Let's say that.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, it feels in a very relieving way, somewhat anti climactic.
And we're of course not going on this journey alone, folks.
We're bringing along, in our opinion, one of the best
parts of this show, super producer Casey Pegrum.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
May he be our spirit guide on this journey today, Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And hopefully our navigator as well, because I don't remember
if we packed the GPS.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I am garbage with directions.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
As you know, well, we already know where we're going,
and let's travel there through the magic of podcasting. But
first we have to get to Guam by way of Cuba,
because to paint the scene, we need to talk about
something called the Spanish American War.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The Spanish American War declared on April twenty fifth of
eighteen ninety eight. You see, the US was doing a
lot of business with Cuba.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
And Cuba wanted to become independent from Spain, which was
controlling it at the time.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
It's very true, and there were rebels. There was an
uprising in Cuba and they wanted to separate themselves from
Spanish rule, and the US had some pretty significant interests
in helping them accomplish this because they were doing trade
upwards of one hundred million dollars a year with Cuba.
(04:26):
One of those goods, the primary good in this equation
being sugar.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And that's in eighteen ninety five terms. Yeah, so it's
a huge amount of money. Shall we inflation calculator it,
my friend? Yes, this is an appropriate enough amount of
money that we may want a drum roll casey one
hundred million dollars in eighteen ninety five is equivalent to
(04:53):
two point seven five billion dollars as of twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That's like an economy of scale. It's massive. There's really
no there's really no way someone in the US could
argue against protecting this valuable trade. And the US public
was behind this as well. They were supporting American intervention
because people were checking out the newspapers of note at
(05:21):
the time, the yellow papers right of the like the
William Randolph Hurst era of the yellow journalism, where it
was kind of this alarmist or maybe not alarmist, but
more sensationalized coverage.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Right, Yeah, absolutely sensationalized by muck rakers. By people with
a strategic acts of grind. Spain was taking incredibly brutal
measures to repress the rebellion, and the US public learned
about this through graphic depictions in these newspapers, and this
caused American sympathy for the Cuban rebels to rise. As
(05:57):
we know, the best way to get a war going
is not to say it's in our economic interest, it's
to say we are doing a noble.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Thing humanitarian reasons. Have you heard of this guy, General Weyler,
the butcher. Lay it on me, this is nuts. I
did not know this was a thing. But this gentleman
was sent to deal with by Spain, to deal with
the Cuban rebels, and he actually rounded them up and
put them in concentration camps. They weren't, you know, gassed
(06:24):
like the Jews were during the Nazi regime, but they
were left in horribly unsanitary conditions to starve and just
wither away. And so you know that was happening, and
this was being reported, and so there was strong sentiment
for the humanitarian aid angle there.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And tensions are rising. Tensions are escalating at this point,
let's say around the early part of the year right.
The American public is largely behind or supportive of an intervention,
but there are people still on the fence, and that
all changes in less than a few days.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah. In fact, with the permission of the Spanish government,
President McKinley ordered a battleship, the USS Maine, to hang
out in the Havana Harbor to kind of safeguard American
interests during this time of upheaval in Cuba. And on
February fifteenth in the evening, an explosion sank that ship,
(07:28):
killing two hundred and sixty four sailors and two officers.
And this was a problem. This was bad what they
call bad optics, ben right.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
So the means destruction did not immediately launch a war
with Spain, but it pretty much guaranteed that there would
not be an easy, peaceful resolution to this conflict.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It's like a Pearl Harbor kind of moment, you know.
I mean it's not quite as extreme, obviously, because there
was no direct proof, but it is that powder keg
moment where the public really sees, oh there's a threat here.
They got our guys, right, and those yellow journalists we
talked about really pushed that line, didn't They like saying, oh,
they blamed Spain, even though there wasn't any proof that
(08:12):
that was actually what happened, But it seems likely that
that's what happened.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It was one of the biggest political, if not the
biggest political issues of that year. Let's fast forward a
couple of months. Spain realizes that the water is slowly boiling,
the flames arising, and they attempt to quell things. They
announced an armistice on April ninth of that year, and
they speed up a program to grant Cuba limited autonomy,
(08:38):
limited powers of government. So this would mean that Cuba
is still a part of the larger Spanish Empire, but
they have some latitude and agency with local decisions.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
And I'd read in a few places that there was
a sentiment that they weren't really that serious about doing
those things that they said that was all sort of
for show.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
It's either disingenuous or it's too little, too late, because
very shortly afterwards, the US Congress issued resolutions declaring Cuba's
right to full independence, demanding the withdrawal of all of
Spain's armed forces, and authorizing then President William McKinley to
use force to secure the withdrawal of the Spanish forces,
(09:21):
and at the same time to make sure that everyone
knows they're the good guys. I guess in this situation,
the US also says, we're not going to annex Cuba.
We want it to be its own thing. We're sticking
up for you. And you know, they gave the British
two finger salute to Spain.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
This is Congress doing this right, Yeah, and I think
the President had requested sort of a lighter version of that,
and then Congress sort of doubled down and said, Nah,
we're going to really go, you know, ham on this.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, they went hard on the paint for sure. And Spain,
in a game of geopolitical double dare, said oh, you
know what you're gonna dare us to get out? Well,
double dare, we're declaring war on the US on April
twenty fourth, And on the twenty fifth the next day
the US said, oh, yeah, well you too, buddy. You
can't declare war on us, We're declaring war on you.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
It's super confusing because the way it's written, the way
I've seen the chronology of this is that they had
to retroactively backdate it to April twenty first, which I
believe was when the US established a military blockade of
Cuba to protect their interests more or less again, and
that's not like the official reason. Again they're going with
(10:34):
this humanitarian thing. Oh oh, the poor Cuban people. You know,
the Spanish are just mistreating them so badly, you know,
because America, you know, we're all about taking care of people, right,
and that's what we do.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
And maybe we released the American leaders at the time,
maybe they really did believe that they were doing a noble,
altruistic thing.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I know, I'm being flipped, but it's just it's hard
to It's hard, man, it's hard to have that kind
of faith in the goodness of our leaders.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It would be somewhat anomalous. And it was not going
to be a fair fight because Spain was not prepared
in naval or military terms to have a war in
a foreign part of the planet with the US, who
is not you know, nothing to sneeze at militarily even
back then.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
And I mean we're talking Spain in general, not to
mention our little whipper snapper buddies there in guam Ah.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Yes, So we've set this stage and the Spanish American
War quickly expands beyond the bounds of Cuba and the
surrounding waters. One of the huge theaters for the Spanish
American War was going to be the Pacific Ocean, specifically
the Philippines. The Philippines at the time were under Spanish
control and had been for hundreds of years. The US
(11:54):
again was going to clean up this massive injustice for
everyone one who can't see I can't see us in
the studios. I just did a hard arm shake.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Kind of an awe shucks. Yeah, you know, hey, there
we go, like you might have done at Opryland when
you were a boy.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Oh, man, you're never gonna let me live that, dad?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Why should I? Man, it's a delight.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
But speaking of delights, when we consider the Pacific theater
at the time, or just when considered the geography of
the Pacific, we have to realize these folks did not
have very fast means of communication, and a lot of
these islands and archipelagos were so isolated that they could
(12:38):
learn about events and the rest of the world months after,
maybe even more than a year. And so this is
when we this is when we come to a captain,
a captain named Glass.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Captain Glass, which is a cool name, very cool name.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
And and Noel, what is what does Captain Glass do
on his way to the Philippines.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Well, Captain Glass actually received sealed orders and they went
a little bit like this, In fact, exactly like this,
dear sir. Actually they didn't say dear. They wouldn't have
been that polite in the military, just says sir, changes
the whole tone, didn't it. Upon receipt of this order,
which is forwarded by the steamship City of Peaking, which
(13:23):
was the name of the ship, to you at Honolulu
a place, you will proceed with the Charleston and the
City of Peaking in company to Manila, Philippine Islands on
your way. And here's the important part. You are hereby
directed to stop at the Spanish island of Guam. You
will use such force as may be necessary to capture
the Port of Guam, making prisoners of the governor and
(13:45):
other officials, and any armed force that may be there.
You will destroy any fortification on set island and any
Spanish naval vessels that may be there or in the
immediate vicinity. And then it goes on to say this
will probably only take you two days because they definitely
don't know who we're coming.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yes, yeah, that's we cannot emphasize that enough, but we
will attempt to through repetition. They were definitely not prepared
on the island of Guam the Spanish governing structure. So
Guam had their first contact with the Spanish Empire when
a fellow named Ferdinand Magellan, the famous Portuguese explorer, landed
(14:22):
there on March sixth, fifteen twenty one. And in the
intervening centuries, Spain also controlled Guam right as well as
you know, as well as the Philippines. But Guam was
on the edge of the Empire. For lack of a
better phrase, it wasn't and it still is not a
very large place geographically speaking, and it also wasn't at
(14:47):
the heart of a lot of conflict or a ton
of trade exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
And in fact, at the time, the Guam infantry consisted
of only fifty five soldiers and two, that's two lieutenants.
So Glass has these orders to capture Guam. He is
assured that it is going to be super easy because
they're so unprepared. Oh yeah, I mean they the way
(15:12):
the matter of fact nature of that order, the way
it's written it's just like this is gonna be cake.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
It's it's on the same level tonally as hey, will
you pick up some milk? Un your way, oh way way?
Literally yes. And so the Charleston enters Agana Bay on
the twentieth of June, and they were prepared for a
cannonade from Fort Santiago, the Spanish fort there. And so
(15:40):
Captain Glass got further into the harbor and he began
bombarding Fort Santa Cruz, but received no response because you see, folks,
the fort had long been abandoned, right.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
No one cared, no one, no one knew, no one
was looking except people were looking. And this is where
I kind of want to shift the perspective here to
I think our mutual favorite character in this story a
guy by the name of Francisco Porto Sash.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, or you could you could call him Frank if
you want to be familiar exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
He has We have an original source from a letter
that he writes recounting his experience. He was a naturalized
citizen in the US and on the morning of the
twenty second of June in eighteen ninety eight, his brother
Don Jose woke him up and said you gotta come
see this.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
You gotta come check this out. And just a little backstory,
I'm like, why was this guy on Guam? What was
he doing? It looks like he had had a career
as kind of like as a whaler. He seemed like
a real man about town, had done some interesting stuff
and like just wanted to see the world. But he
was from Chicago.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yeah, he was a US citizen. He did have whaling background,
and Guam he was pretty influential because he ran a general.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Store, a general store, and he was apparently the only
American on the island, which probably earned him some street cred.
I guess he seems like he was beloved and had
support from the community. He wasn't like some kind of outcasts.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
So in his letter the way he recounts it, he
had maybe heard of something about a conflict between Spain
and the US. In fact, his brother is the one
who hipped him to it. But his brother was a
little wishy washy about it too. His brother, also, by
the way, was just visiting from Europe. He had come
(17:43):
there by way of the Philippines and was just hanging out.
So I think it's probably pretty accurate when you see
this guy, Francisco being described as the only American naturalized
American citizen on the island who lived there. So his
brother says, come to the beach and see those ships
there and where they come from. And Frank, as I'm
gonna call him, started with him. Around daylight they went
(18:05):
to they went to the shore close enough to look
through a pair of glasses which probably binoculars, and he
recognized two of the steamships, China and Australia, and he
wasn't sure what the other one was. But at this
point his brother said.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
He said, do not say anything, as I think war
is declared between the United States and Spain. If so,
I will go on board and take with me the
Spanish officers and one of your boats, and you can
go on your whale boat afterwards. Because that's another thing
that's important about the story. Frank, you see had liqued
like a mini fleet of ships, and they call them lighters, Yeah,
which were these specialized boats that you would use to
(18:44):
transport goods to bigger.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Ships, right that couldn't get close enough to shore or
maybe didn't have a port they could pull in.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yes, So how do you think the brother knew the
war thing, though it seems like they were not hip
to this on them. Was he just kind of conjecturing.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Because he had traveled from Europe.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Ah, he didn't think to mention that earlier.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
You know, it's a laid back, laid back guy. They're
painting here. But as they arrive, they see the Charleston
begin to shell this fort, as we had mentioned, and
there's no response because as Frank and everybody else on
the island knows, that fort has been abandoned for years,
and they believe the ship the Man of War is
(19:26):
saluting the fort of Santa Cruz, and so on the
island side they say, okay, well, let's get somebody together,
let's get the artillery together, and we'll send a salute too.
And this sounds weird for a lot of people, the
idea of a salute. What is that? Why are you
are you just firing a gun to say hello to people?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I mean, there's the whole twenty one gun salute. It
always strikes me as queer. I mean, anytime people shoot
guns in a celebratory manner, that always is a little
strange to me.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Right, So we can give you a little bit of
background on what a salute actually is and why it exists.
This comes to us through the official blog of the
US Navy named Navy Live, and Tim comer Ford is
writing about the history of the salute in Salutations with
(20:17):
a Bang, the Military Salute. The idea here, according to him,
is that the origins of this practice run clear, but
we have some good estimates about this, and they date
back to some ancient warfare. It's intended to show deference
on the part of the person saluting to the person
being saluted. And it's also supposed to indicate that the
(20:41):
person or the people who are saluting are unarmed or
somehow defenseless, because in the old days of raising your
hand a salute, you were showing that you didn't have
a sword, didn't have like a.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
But Ben, they're saluting with live ammunition.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
They cann't. Yeah, yeah, how does this work? Great question.
The cannons, once you fire them in a salute, they
take a while to reload, and so the idea is
in a salute, the idea is they're shooting not to
not to hit anyone, yeah, but to say like okay, boom,
there you go. Now you know, we're not carrying loaded
cannons but this was clearly a mistake on the islander
(21:21):
side because they were trying to shell the fort.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I mean that would have interpreted it as a piss
poor salute. I'm like, come on, you're supposed to like
aim away from us or up in the air or something.
But no, they were definitely trying to shell that fort.
But that misunderstanding did happen, and so a sort of
envoy was gathered to row out to the ship the
(21:46):
man o war yeah this floating murder machine, uh huh
and say hello.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yes, yeah almost. I kept picturing, you know, the scenes
where they send a landing party in star Trek or something. Thing.
So Frank arrives, he gets on the ship and they
find out that he is an American citizen.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
And how's he ended up going along? Like he's already
there watching and he has like because I know there
was some actual officials that went as well, because there
was the commander of the Guam Navy who is a
guy named Don Pedro Duerte, and he is the one
who said, oh, they're saluting us, we should go to
dang it. We don't have we're all we're fresh out
(22:30):
of gunpowder, so we better go you know, be polite.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Everybody, get your own guns if you have them, right,
and we'll try to organize this. Yeah, they were they
were trying to be cool. They thought they were showing
customary deference or the rules of engagement. And to paint
the picture here, imagine a really small town where not
a lot of big stuff happens. Everybody in town is
(22:56):
who has heard about this is coming out to check
out the scene. They want to see what happens. So
this is not like a situation where there would be
a group of battle hardened veterans preparing to die.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Oh I know.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
This is someone saying like, oh, hey, Tim, did you
hear there are big ships out there, and the other
guy going, oh no, way, Like yeah, they said we
got to bring our guns to salute them. He's like,
oh yeah, all right.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Gotta say, though, this brother, this don Jose Porto sash
seems like a real piece of work. I mean, he is,
you know, hasn't clued anyone in to the fact that
there may be war going on. I think he's trying
to play it like he's trying to, you know, save
his own butt, because he is the one who assembles
this group of officials, military officials, which so the party
(23:44):
that went out there to meet the boat were Frank,
his brother, Lieutenant commander of the Navy and captain of
the port, Don Francisco Gutierrez, a naval surgeon, Don Jose Romero,
Captain Pedro Duade and du Car who was part of
the Marine Corps, and also Don Jose Sixto, who is
(24:04):
the civil paymaster. And they all are kind of roped
into doing this by the brother who still doesn't clue
them into the fact that this could be a problem.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Well, he told his brother. He was like, Frank, be cool,
but I think there's a war going on.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
So what does strike me? As he's looking out for
him and his brother's best interest and not the native people,
true of the land.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
True important point. Here's where it becomes, for a moment
as casual as a sitcom. So Frank and the rest
of the party are there and then they get on
board to Charleston and he's selling across the bow in
his own boat, and then he hears someone yell at him, Frank.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Come on board, hey buddy, and he lay, yeah, get
to see you.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Eddie looks up and it's a guy named Captain Hellett,
who he knew a number of years before as a
whaling captain in.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
His whaling days. And he's actually on a whaling ship
that was the one that he was flying the flag with.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Yeah, and so he he gets on board and he
recognizes somebody else. He sees a guy who used to
be a reporter for the Chronicle in San Francisco. The
guy walks up and he shakes his hands and he's like, man,
I'm glad to see you here in Guam. And then
someone comes up and says, why are you flying that
American flag?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Dude? Frank clearly got around. Man, what are the chances?
This is very strange?
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Yeah, this is really weird.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Yeah. So this this tough customer walks up in his
officer's dress, military dress and says, what right have you
to fly this American flag from thou ship? Thy ship?
That's how they spoke.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Any like grins Frank grins and you know, shrugs a
little and yeah, and says, well, I guess I have
the right to have that flag up, for if I
did not have the right, I would not have it there.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Oh snack whoa, okay, being smart with me?
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Boy, right, it's pretty much. Okay, I do what I want.
And the guy says, can you prove you're right?
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah, he sounds like a character from like Mad Max
Beyond Thunderdome.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Right, And he says, yes, sir, and he pulls out
his naturalization papers as a citizen of the US, and
the guy looks them over and his tone completely changes. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
At that point, they're just buzzom buddies. He says, okay, Chicago,
you're from Chicago, Illinois, United States, eighteen eighty eight, twenty
second of October. This is his birthday, Cook County, State
of Illinois, is what he says. And at that point
he says, follow me, chum.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, let's go meet the captain. And so they go
to meet the captain, who is thrilled to meet Frank.
This captain Glass and the officer hands Glass Frank's papers
and then Glass looks him over and says, I'm glad
to meet you. And then he says, look, your brother
Joe told me that you had some lighters and some boats,
(26:57):
and could you let me have some of those just
to get some coal on the steamer. I'll, i'll, I'll
pay you. And this guy, Frank says, you know, what
you don't have to pay me. I'm the only US
citizen on the island, and it's my duty to give
all aid i can because apparently we're in a war.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
It's true, it's true, and you know, so that happens.
He gives him. He says he can use his boats.
Frank goes back to his family. They have a nice meal,
and at that point the letter is delivered to Frank's
home from the governor. A man by the name of
Juan Marina signed El Gobernador this letter, and it says,
(27:41):
translation is, if you offer any assistance to the American
men of war, you will be executed tomorrow morning at
the beach. And you know, Frank's like, yeah, right to
big words El Gobernador.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So he reads the note and he's pretty much giggling
at it.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
He's like, but his wife, you know, she thinks it's
a serious business. But Frank knows something that she does
not know. Right.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
So he he said to his wife, who is beside
herself with fear and sorrow, he says, don't worry, cheer up.
If anything comes the worst, I'll have ships to take
care of you and the kids. And he shows the
note to his brother, and he said, look, I already
promised Captain Glass the lighters. I'm going to send him anyway.
(28:29):
And Jose said, hey, watch out man. So then he
went to the Charleston again. After lunch, he showed the
letter to Captain Glass, and Captain Glass.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Said, I got you, I got you.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Yeah, he said, look, I'm going to have the island
delivered before daylight. What they mean when they say island
delivered is it's going to officially become something under the
control of the United States.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yep. And the way that all went down, Let's give
you the quick and dirty, he said, an envoy to
meet with the governor, the man who very sinisterly threatened
the life of our of our buddy Frank. So as promised,
Glass decides he's ready to set this in motion. So
the next day, June twenty first, he sends an envoy,
(29:15):
a guy by the name of Lieutenant William Brown Streither
Brown Browner, Browner's Ruther.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
He also says that he's not sure if he's spelling
the neighbors.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
In the letter. That's right, yeah, very true, And I'm
not sure I'm saying it right. But that's I'm gonna
I'm gonna commit to that, and they send a letter
by way of the governor's people to deliver to him saying,
come on the ship, come hang with us, let's chat
on our turf on the ship, to which the governor
very civilly, at least the language, and his response declines
because he says it is against Spanish law to board
(29:46):
a foreign vessel.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
And at the same time, this is still the twenty
third of June. At the same time, Frank has probably
my favorite conversation in this story. He goes back on
board the Charles and he's talking to Captain Class and
Glass says, hey, Frank, you're the only US citizen on
(30:08):
the island. We got to go, so could you take
care of the island.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, because we're gonna have this stitched up real quick like,
because after the governor refused, he said, come hang with
me on the shore. Right, that's that's that's the best
I'm gonna do. So brownschreither, No, it's Browner, Browner's ryther,
I'm gonna say it like that. He goes with a
few buddies and he meets up with the governor and
(30:34):
he lets him know that hey, we've got a pretty
formidable gunship, you know, trained on your island, and we're
gonna give you thirty minutes to deliberate with your people,
and if you, you know, do not surrender, we're going
to shell you and take all you prisoner anyway, to which.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
The governor replies, all right.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Give me a minute.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Give me a minute.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
He goes and confers, returns with a sealed envelope. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
And what's in the sealed envelope?
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Well, the thing that's funny is he hands it to
Brown's Ruther. Browner's Ruther never gonna get it right. It's fine,
and it's addressed to glass. But our boy, mister B
opens it himself, to which the governor responds, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
That's not for you, man, that's not diplomacy. Slow your role,
to which mister B responds, I represent him here. Back off.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, and so long story short, maybe a little too late,
but this far story short. The Spanish officials are taken
into custody and they go aboard the boat and they're
bound for the Philippines.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, it's all very civil too, because they're like, whoa, man,
I don't have my toothbrush, I all got out of
the clothes on my back. And the Americans are like, yo,
it's cool. We'll let you write to your family. We'll
let them bring you a knapsack, you know, an overnight bag,
and you'll you'll be comfortable, you'll be taken care of
and and all we need you to do is get
all of your troops to line up and come aboard
(32:09):
our ship to be our prisoners. And you know what,
That's exactly how it went down.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Yeah, not a not a violent death at.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
All, nary a drop of blood was spilt, right.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Just an awkward salute that left both both sides of
the conflict feeling as lame as you know, someone who
had a high five that wasn't returned, if that's ever
happened to you, and you just hold your hand up.
But the story isn't over. It does get a little
bit fuzzy here because the Charleston and co. Set off
(32:42):
for the Philippines, and General Glass says, hey, Frank, you're
in charge because you're literally the only US citizen here yep,
to which Frank says, tight.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I'll figure, yeah, make it work.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
I'll make it happen. And the problem is that he
is not given any written appointment from Commander Glass, and
they're just meant to.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Be temporary, right, Like that's just sort of like in
the interim, it's like hold the spot while we fanned
things out.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, so this makes him the first American governor of
the island. But there's another character here, and it's not
a it's not a cut and dried story. The man
we mentioned earlier, jose six Stow, the paymaster.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Oh, the paymaster. It's always I knew there was a twist.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yeah, the paymaster still has a lot of control and
he is with the former Spanish government. And now these
two men are in kind of an informal fight for
power and salemate.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
I missed this part entirely. Go on.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Well, so after Glass leaves and after Frank becomes the governor,
six Stow refuses to surrender the island's treasury to Frank,
and there are no American sailors or marines. There's nothing
supporting his claim to power.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Why wasn't he arrested along with all the other officials.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
I guess he's just a just a uh a nimble guy.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Yeah, but he he just.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Said, I'm going to keep paying any Spanish bureaucrats. I'm
going to pay members of the militia. And this consolidates
his influence over the island. Sounds and he was bad
with money. Because he bankrupts the treasury, law and order
starts to break down. Uh. The native residents of Guam
and Filipinos that are living on the island began fighting
(34:26):
their riots. And for his part, Frank is doing his
best because he says, look, we need to make some
improvements on the island, specifically this road that was just
in piss poor shape. And Sixto is like, wait, I
control the money and you shandn't have a pity?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Was he like the troll that guarded the bridge a
little less? Yeah? Yeah, yes, what this does? This sound
like a real a real ship show.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
There we go, Hey, that's that's son of a fish.
Son of a fish in a ship show. We are
building this vocabulary pretty well.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
And the mythology. But so let you know, things happen.
It gets it. It's obviously anytime you occupy a territory,
it's going to be a little rough for a little while.
But ultimately, after the war ended with the Treaty of Paris,
that was signed. Guam and the Philippines were purchased from
(35:21):
Spain for a relatively paltry twenty million dollars, and these
lands were finalized as US territories when the US Senate
ratified the treaty in eighteen ninety nine, February sixth, to
be precise.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
So this goes, this goes pretty quickly, right. It seems
like from eighteen ninety five the Guam landing to the
Treaty of Paris, we're only looking at a few years.
But this had a massive effect on the US's geopolitical
position and a pretty nasty effect on Spain because Spain
(36:01):
began to focus inward, and the US emerged from this
war as a maybe not a superpower, but a legitimate
world power with possessions half a world away and a
new stake in international politics.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Like kind of like an empire or something.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
He yes, exactly, kind of like an empire. But luckily
no one and Guam was injured in that takeover.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
That is cool, because there is actually a conspiracy theory.
Let's just drop this here at the end, that in fact,
the US did not get involved in the Spanish American
War for these humanitarian reasons. We discussed earlier. Yeah, it
was reasons of pure greed and to extend their world
domination outward. And you know they ultimately succeeded in that,
(36:50):
at least in a couple of small ways.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Say it ain't so ah, you know it's a theory. Yes,
that is one of several theories. But you know what's
not a theory, the idea that we hope you enjoyed
this show. That's a clunky segue.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
No, no, man, you got from A to B and
that's all it segue needs to accomplish. And here we
are at B being the end of the show.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yeah, but I feel like we went circuitously through G
for guam.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Oh you are that's a fire, my friend.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
So thank you, as always so much for checking out
today's episode. We want to think, of course, super producer
Kasey Pegram, who has not to our knowledge, ever invaded
a Pacific nation.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
It's true. No, Casey is a peaceful man, and he's
got a peaceful plan.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Yes. And we'd also like to think, of course, Christopher Hasiotis,
Alex Williams yep, the Ridiculous History Crew yep.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
And you everybody, friends, neighbors.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
All of you countryman, you've already lent.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Them to us, and we for that we will be
forever grateful.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Yes, and if you would like to continue adventuring with
us throughout some of the strangest, silliest, and most ridiculous
stories in human history, then join us on Twitter, Instagram,
or Facebook. You can also find our community page, Ridiculous
Historians if you if you're wondering why sometimes Nolan and
(38:18):
I have mentioned karaoke or oper Land, the answers you
seek can be found there.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
And guess what, we finally made that Pinterest page we've
been talking about all these years. That's not true kidding, Okay,
We're never never gonna do It's not gonna happen. It's
not ever never gonna do that ever. But man, you guys,
thanks for joining us, and we hope you'll join us
for the next episode, wherein we talk about how Vermont
(38:44):
was in fact a pretty radical place back in the day.
I don't mean radical like in the skater parlance. I
mean radicals, and they had some pretty big ideas about
liberty and they in fact were their own independent republic.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Who knew? And this story doesn't end there. What the
heck are we talking about tune in and find out.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
See ya. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Ridiculous History News
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