Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands: History
=== Prehistory ===
Traces of human settlements on Saipan have been found by archaeologists ranging over 4,000 years, including petroglyphs, ancient Latte Stones, and other artifacts pointing to cultural affinities with Melanesia and with similar stone monuments in Micronesia and Palau.
Saipan, together with Tinian, was possibly first sighted by Europeans during the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, when it made a landing in the southern Marianas on March 6, 1521. It is likely Saipan was sighted by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa in 1522 on board the Spanish ship Trinidad, which he commanded after the death of Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan in Cebu, Philippines. This is likely to have occurred after the sighting of the Maug Islands between the end of August and the end of September 1522.
Gonzalo de Vigo deserted in the Maugs from Gómez de Espinosa's Trinidad and during the next four years, living with the local indigenous Chamorro people, visited thirteen main islands in the Marianas and possibly Saipan among them. The first clear evidence of Europeans arriving to Saipan was by the Manila galleon Santa Margarita commanded by Juan Martínez de Guillistegui, that wrecked on the island in February 1600 and whose survivors stayed on it for two years, until 250 were rescued by the Santo Tomás and the Jesús María.
The Spanish formally occupied the island in 1668, with the missionary expedition of Diego Luis de San Vitores who named it San José. After 1670, it became a port of call for Portuguese, Spanish, occasional English, Dutch and French ships as a supply station for food and water. The native population shrank dramatically due to European-introduced diseases and conflicts over land. The Chamorros were forcibly relocated to Guam fearing the spread of leprosy in 1720 for better control and assimilation. Under Spanish rule, the island was developed into ranches for raising cattle and pigs, which were used as provision for Spanish galleons originating from the Philippines on their way to Mexico and vice versa.
Around 1815, many Carolinians from Satawal settled Saipan, during a period when the Chamorros were imprisoned on Guam, which resulted in a significant loss of land and rights for the Chamorro natives. The Caroline Islands had suffered a devastating typhoon that destroyed their crops. The leader of this company was an individual named "Chief Aghurubw," who sailed to Guam to ask the Spanish governor permission to settle on the islands. The Spaniards allowed Chief Aghurubw to settle on the island of Saipan. The Marianas archipelago was under the protectorate of the Spanish General Government of the Philippines; the Civil Guard and soldiers of the city of Macabebe in the province of Pampanga frequently made port calls to the islands to ensure law and order.
After the Spanish–American War of 1898, Saipan was occupied by the United States. However, it was then sold by Spain to the German Empire under the terms of the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899.
The island was administered by Germany as part of German New Guinea, but during the German period, there was no attempt to develop or settle the island, which remained under the control of its Spanish and mestizo landowners. …