;
2
y: 1526-197
or
st
Hi
d
n
a
Deseripuon
DISCOVERY ERA: 1526 - 1886
y and may be
Th e recorded history of Enewetak begins in the l6th centur
of discovery
era
the
was
these
of
‘vided into four distinct eras. The first
n
Protectorate
Germa
the
by
ed
Oi from 1526 to 1886. This was follow
the United
and
1944,
to
1914
an 1886 to 1914, the Japanese Mandate from
atoll
Sates Trusteeship from 1944 to its expected expiration in 1981. The
was first reported as sighted by Spanish explorers in [526. Three years
de Saavedra in October
iater. a landing was made on Enewetak by Alvaro
Captain Thomas Butler
by
1529. It was rediscovered on |3 December 1794
who was engaged in the China trade. The atoll was given the name
--Browne’s Range’’ for a Mr. Browne, one of the associates in the firm
employing Captain Butler. The name persisted, being used by the Japanese
and even appearing on recent U.S. Hydrographic charts, although the ‘‘e”’
had been dropped and the islands had become ‘*Brown Atoll.”’ According
to one source, the name Enewetak means “Land between West and
East," but this is uncertain. 38
GERMAN PROTECTORATE: 1886 - 1914
In 1886, Germany established a formal protectorate over the Marshall
Islands. The people of Enewetak, as well as other Marshallese, were given
coconut seedlings by German traders and instructed in the growing,
gathering, and converting of the meat of the coconut into copra. The
Germans were also interested in whaling and established the Jaluit
Company, a trading organization. Political and commercial administration
was merged with the imperial administrator acting as the company’s chief
official in residence. However,the atoll, being isolated, did not have much
direct contact with the central government, and visits by foreigners were
discouraged.39.40 German control was, on the whole, benign, and it did
not arouse much antagonism in the Marshallese. Roads were built, health
and sanitation were improved, and the islands were searched for potential
sources of economic wealth. The Germans provided the islanders with
protection from unscrupuloustraders and helped them to enter the culture
of the Western world.4!
JAPANESE MANDATE: 1914 - 1944
At the beginning of the First World War, Japan seized Enewetak, the
other Marshall Islands, and all other German possessions in Micronesia.