Baguio City History...
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When the Americans discovered Baguio 100 years ago, it was not yet a city but was known as a "rancheria," the dominant feature of which was a large, low-lying area called "Kafagway." In the dry season it was a pasture for herds of cattle and horses, but for 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. The hills were grassy and studded with pine trees. They later found a great source of water and immediately decided to make Baguio an admirable site for the future summer capital and health resort of the Philippines.
On November 1900, the Americans established the first government of Benguet with Baguio as the capital. A camp was immediately established which later became Camp John Hay. On June 11, 1903, the Philippine Commission passed a resolution "making the town of Baguio the summer capital of the Archipelago and to construct suitable buildings to secure suitable transportation, and proper water supply, and to make residence in Baguio possible for all officers and employees of the Insular Government for four months during the year." Thus, the construction of the Kennon road started and Baguio rapidly became a mountain resort where the Americans could escape the hot tropical climate of the lowlands especially during the summer season.
On September 1, 1909, Baguio was chartered as a city. Baguio prospered through the Green Years before the outbreak of WW II. During the war, it was destroyed by repeated carpet bombings by American Forces who wanted to flush out the dreaded Japanese Army under General Yamashita. From the ruins rose another city which grew into the commercial and educational center of the Cordilleras. It has always been the great mountain resort it was meant to be.
On July 16, 1990 a great earthquake devastated the city destroying much of its buildings and infrastructure and killing many people. Barely a year after the great earthquake, Baguio has risen, a new city with a proud heritage.
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