1899 Fort Dearborn Pocket Map of the Philippines

A rare c. 1899 pocket map of the Philippines or Philippine Islands coinciding with the American occupation of the archipelago and the resulting conflict with Filipino independence fighters. It was published in Chicago by the Fort Dearborn Publishing Company and issued on behalf of a local business in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

A Closer Look

Coverage includes the entire archipelago from northern Luzon to southern Mindanao and from Palawan to the Pacific. Settlements, islands, mountains, waterways, shipping routes, and other features are indicated throughout. A railway between Manila and Dagupan, the only intercity railway in the archipelago built by the Manila Railway Company in the preceding decade, is outlined in black. An inset in the upper right focuses on the 'seat of the war' on Luzon in the vicinity of Manila Bay, while a small inset at bottom-left includes the southern portion of Mindanao.

The Philippine-American War

The Philippine-American War lasted from February 4, 1899, until July 2, 1902, when the Philippine Organic Act established the Second Philippine Commission and Philippine legislature. The war immediately followed the Spanish-American War, once the Filipinos realized that the Americans were in the islands to stay. The Philippine people were doubtless happy to be rid of the Spanish, which they had been actively revolting against since 1896, but did not want another colonial overlord in the form of the United States, and so the struggle for independence continued.

Estimates of Filipino civilian casualties vary wildly, from at least 200,000 to over one million, the majority of which were caused by famine and disease. The war was notable for multiple instances of well-documented atrocities, embodied by one American general's order to 'kill everyone over the age of ten,' and led to considerable debate and discomfort in the United States. Armed resistance to the U.S. occupation of the Philippines continued as a guerrilla insurrection in many parts of the archipelago until June 1913. The U.S. passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act, also known as the Philippine Independence Act, in 1934. This law created the Commonwealth of the Philippines, increased self-governance, and scheduled Philippine independence for 1944. World War II delayed this process, and the U.S. did not grant full independence to the Philippines until 1946.

Publication History and Census

This separately-issued pocket map was published in Chicago by the Fort Dearborn Publishing Company and distributed to various businesses for use as a kind of calling card. Though not noted here, it is based on that by George Cram that appeared in his National Standard Atlas of the World. The present example was issued on behalf of J.A. and A.W. Walker, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, whose advertising and branding appear on the cardboard folio into which the map folds. The folio advertises the Walkers' business as not only importers and forwarders of coal, but also as purveyors of materials for masonry and carpentry work. We are aware of other variants of the map issued for Harper and Googin of Lewiston, Maine, importers of Asian hardwoods from the Philippines; the Capital Fire Insurance Company of Concord, New Hampshire; Vermont Fancy Butterine syrup; and the Northwestern Yeast Co. of Philadelphia. In these various issues, the map is held by seven institutions in North America.