Philippine E-Journals

RANCHERIA DE BAGUIO: SPANISH IMPRESSIONS ON BAGUIO (1878-1900)

Robert John I Donesa

 

Abstract:

The history of Baguio generally commenced with the arrival of the Americans in the early 1900s. Owing to unbearable lowland heat, the Americans developed and converted the area into the Summer Capital of the Philippines. According to historiography, the area, before it became the American Baguio, was known as Kafagway. However, a painstaking look into the books and maps written and drawn by the Spaniards and other nationals who lived or sojourned in the Philippines reveals that the area was already known as Baguio as early as 1878. Plans had been made for its pacification and incorporation into the Spanish colony by Spanish colonial authorities and the discalced Augustinians. This paper critically surveys extant books and maps in the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica of the Biblioteca Nacional de España, the Library Digital Collections of the University of Michigan and the Biblioteca Digital AECID of the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), which described Baguio and its inhabitants. Using historical methodology and triangulation, the paper brings to fore the 19th century images of Baguio and its inhabitants as perceived by the Spaniards. This paper is a contribution to the growing literature on the historical fact that Spanish colonization in the Philippines was never complete and continued even up to the fin de siècle.