THE SAMOAN HISTORICAL CALENDAR
1606-2001

(PLEASE NOTE:  Due to the high volume of content contained in the
 historical calendar, we will be publishing each month separately.)

                         

DEDICATION:

 This calendar is dedicated to the teachers and schoolchildren of the Samoan Islands.

 ___________________________________________________________________

 

FEBRUARY:

February 1:

On February 1, 1659, Jacob Roggeveen, the European "discoverer" of Samoa, was born in Middelburg, Holland. (Sharp 1970: 1)

On February 1, 1919, Western Samoa's new Administrator, Colonel Robert Ward Tate of the New Zealand Army, was welcomed with a ta'alolo ceremony at Mulinu'u. (Rowe 1930: 131-135)

On February 1, 1930, American Samoa's Governor, Captain Gatewood Sanders Lincoln, amended the Codification of the Regulations and Orders for the Government of American Samoa by adding "Section 72: Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes," and "Section 104: Creating a Water Commission and Water Districts in American Samoa." (Noble 1931: 55-58; 93-96)

On February 1, 1934, "the German cruiser Karlsruhe (Commander Captain Baron Haradorf Endendorf) arrived at Apia on a goodwill visit, and remained for five days." (Burke 1945c: 114)

On February 1, 1940, American Samoa's civilian population was recorded as 12,908. 2,597 of these lived in Manu'a, and 147 on Swains Island. The non-Samoan population included 31 papalagi, four Japanese, two Filipinos and one Chinese. Naval station personnel totalled 263. (Denfeld 1989a: 12; Gray 1960: 233)

On February 1, 1998, Dr. Frank Brown, Professor of Education at the University of Hawaii and a pioneer educator and teacher trainer in American Samoa, passed away in Honolulu at age 68, following "complications related to a recent heart surgery." (Coleman 1998)

February 2:

On February 2, 1907, American Samoa's Acting Governor, Lieutenant W.G. Briggs, issued his "Regulation No. 2-1907: Customs Duties," which amended Commandant E.B. Underwood's "Regulation No. 4-1904," which in turn amended Commandant Benjamin Tilley's "Regulation No. 17-1900," both of the same title. (Noble 1931: 32-38)

On February 2, 1916, the Office of Military Administration in Apia wrote to Resch and Company, Brewers, Maitland, Australia, that "We must procure for the men absolutely the best quality beer that is on the market at the lowest possible price...In order to satisfy ourselves as to the best beer to provide for the men, we have tried almost every brand that is on the market here. Since July 13, we have purchased over £1,000 worth of beer for the troops....The men are bound to talk beer to their friends. What better advertising proposition can you have in Samoa than this! The soldier if given the opportunity will lay a foundation for the name Resch in Samoa which will remain long after the war is over." Mr. August Resch, the brewery's proprietor, "was a prominent German Australian, which did not, however, save him from being detained as a prisoner of war." (Hiery 1995: 317 n.20)

On February 2, 1990, Hurricane "Ofa" began its four-day rampage through the Samoan archipelago, causing widespread damage. (Sorensen 1997: OPR)

February 3:

On February 3, 1944, 110 officers and 2,080 enlisted men of the U.S. Army's 147th Infantry Regiment departed 'Upolu for Nouméa, New Caledonia, aboard USS General George Squier. (Burke 1945c: 70)

February 4:

On February 4, 1887, the Taimua and Faipule (the legislature of Samoa) approved the "Treaty of Political Alliance and Confederation," which Mr. John E. Bush, Hawaiian King Kalakaua's Envoy to the King of Samoa, had brought on January 3, 1887. This approval allowed Samoa to join King Kalakaua's Polynesian Confederation. (Kuykendall 1967: 328)

On February 4, 1911, Governor William Michael Crose asked the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery to send an eye specialist to the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila for temporary duty. (Crose 1911: 4)

February 5:

On February 5, 1917, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Logan, New Zealand's Administrator for Western Samoa, issued his "Proclamation No. 43," which stated that anyone going near the internment camp in Sogi, Apia (where many Mau members were incarcerated) would be guilty of a "war crime." (Field 1984: front endpaper)

February 6:

On February 6, 1878, Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon, Governor of Fiji, having been empowered as a High Commissioner under the Western Pacific Orders in Council, left Suva for Apia on board HMS Sapphire. (Morrell 1960: 220)

On February 6, 1912, Paramount Chief and Mau leader Mata'afa Iosefo, a leading figure in Samoan civil wars of the late nineteenth century, and oft-crowned (by the Three Consuls) "King of Samoa," died and was buried at Mulinu'u, Apia. (Davidson 1967: 88)

On February 6, 1936, Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich Solf, former Imperial Governor of German Samoa, died in Berlin, aged 73. (Theroux 1985)

On February 6, 1944, the Commandant, U.S. Naval Station Tutuila (Captain John G. Moyer) assumed control of the Marine Barracks (formerly commanded by a Marine Corps Brigadier General) as the war moved westward and American Samoa's importance decreased. (Burke 1945b: 74)

On February 6, 1975, Frank C. Mockler completed his term as American Samoa's tenth appointed civil governor (acting: since October 15, 1974). (ASG: Governors' List)

On February 6, 1975, Earl B. Ruth began his term as American Samoa's 11th appointed civil governor (until September 30, 1976). (ASG: Governors' List)

February 7:

On February 7, 1876, Malietoa Laupepa, appointed as "King of Samoa" by the Three Consuls and held aboard HMS Barracouta, was persuaded to sign a letter requesting the arrest of Samoa's "Premier" Albert Barnes Steinberger as "a liar and an impostor." (Morrell 1960: 218)

February 8:

On February 8, 1867, William Michael Crose, American Samoa's seventh naval governor (November 10, 1910-March 14, 1913), was born in Greencastle, Indiana. (Anonymous 1921: 673)

On February 8, 1876, Samoa's "Premier," Albert Barnes Steinberger was arrested and taken forcibly aboard HMS Barracouta by her captain, C.E. Stevens. (The "Three Consuls" forced Malietoa Laupepa to sign a warrant arresting him as "a liar and an impostor" on February 7, 1876). (Bryan 1927: 23; Morrell 1960: 218)

On February 8, 1877, Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes, USN, whose U.S. Exploring Expedition explored Samoa in 1839 and 1840, who first defined Antarctica as a continent, and whose expedition's collections were the basis of the Smithsonian Institution, died at his home in Washington, D.C., two months short of 79 years old. (Wilkes 1978: xxii)

On February 8, 1904, the Department of the Navy authorized the purchase of a site at Blunts Point, Togotogo Ridge, Tutuila for the construction of an observatory, and a trail leading to it. (Bryan 1927: 114)

On February 8, 1942, the 2nd Marine Brigade's intelligence officer, Lieutenant Colonel William L. Bales, completed his report on Western Samoa, and presented it to his commanding officer, Brigadier Henry L. Larsen. His reported stated that 'Upolu, with its "harbor facilities, road net and several potential airfield sites made it readily susceptible to base development." Savai'i, on the other hand, had no major safe anchorages and its lava-encrusted surfaces did "not offer airfield sites that could be developed quickly by the Japanese or anyone else." Bales concluded his report by saying that "In its present unprotected state, Western Samoa is a hazard of first magnitude for the defense of American Samoa. The conclusion is inescapable that if we don't occupy it the Japanese will and there may not be a great deal of time left." (Hough et al. 1958: 89)

On February 8, 1944, Captain Allen Hobbs relieved Captain John Gould Moyer and took office as American Samoa's 30th naval governor (until January 27, 1945). (USNHC: Hobbs RO)

February 9:

On February 9, 1942, the 2nd Marine Brigade established an observation post on Mount "Matafao, highest peak on the island [of Tutuila]." It was "manned continuously by the Intell[igence] Section." (Anonymous 1942: 2)

On February 9, 1942, the 6-inch gun batteries at Blunts and Breakers Points fired a combined total of 40 rounds at a target in Pago Pago Harbor which was being towed at a speed of 11 knots. (The Navy's history of this and subsequent practices does not mention whether the targets were hit). (Denfeld 1989a: 20)

On February 9, 1944, "The 'Upolu Detachment [of the U.S. Navy Seabees' 504th Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit] from the Marine Barracks, Naval Station, Tutuila arrived at 'Upolu on the USS PC-1130." (Burke 1945c: 70)

February 10:

On February 10, 1878, E. Liardet, the British consul in Apia, "whose mind had given way under the strain," died before he could hear of his recall to London. (Morrell 1960: 220)

On February 10, 1990, Tolia ("Tony") Solaita, Samoa's only Major League Baseball player, was shot to death in Tafuna, American Samoa. (Samoa News, 2/11/90)

February 11:

On February 11, 1875, the Catholic church's first school for catechists was opened at Vaea, 'Upolu. Father Léon Gavet was the first rector. (Heslin 1995: 97)

On February 11, 1911, Governor William Michael Crose asked the Secretary of the Navy, George von L. Meyer, to send a dentist to the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila. (Crose 1911: 4)

On February 11, 1918, the Governor-General of New Zealand informed England's Secretary of State for the Colonies that "The high chiefs and chiefs [of Western Samoa] are practically unanimous in wishing to remain under British [i.e., New Zealand] rule." (Davidson 1967: 98n; Hiery 1995: 172)

On February 11, 1948, President Harry S. Truman declared his intention to designate the Department of the Interior as the agency responsible for the administration of American Samoa, Guam and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. (Darden n.d.: ix)

On February 11, 1977, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited Western Samoa at the ounds at a target in Pago Pago H (WSFDC: 02/11/1977)

February 12:

On February 12, 1889, Edward William Hanson, 26th naval governor of American Samoa (June 26, 1938-July 30, 1940), was born in Alexandria, Minnesota. (USNHC: Hanson RO)

On February 12, 1921, Captain Waldo Evans, Governor of American Samoa, enacted his "Regulation No. 3-1921: Assessment and Collection of Taxes," which repealed Regulations Nos. 21-1900, 10-1907 and 1-1917, and was later amended by Governors Edward Stanley Kellogg on January 1, 1925 and Henry Francis Bryan on November 22, 1926. (Noble 1931: 81-82)

On February 12, 1974, the Courthouse of American Samoa was entered on the National Register of Historic Places. (Graf 1973)

February 13:

On February 13, 1878, the United States-Samoa Treaty of Friendship, signed in Washington, D.C. by Le Mamea and representatives of the State Department, was ratified by the U.S. Senate. (Gray 1960: 65)

On February 13, 1922, the Fitiuta School was opened on Ta'u, Manua. (Bryan 1927: 88)

On February 13, 1928, as his authority weakened due to the Mau-imposed sa (boycott) on papalagi- and afakasi-owned stores in Apia, Administrator Sir George Richardson sent a telegram to Wellington, requesting that three warships be sent to Samoa immediately and secretly, explaining that the Mau were in a "defiant and dangerous" mood. (Field 1984: 112)

On February 13, 1941, American Samoa's Governor, Captain Laurence Wild, replied to the Chief of Naval Operations' (Admiral Harold R. Stark's) directive of December 20, 1940 "by recommending the establishment of a Native Insular Force separate and distinct from the Fita Fita Guard, which was to function under and to be paid by the Government of American Samoa." This force subsequently came into being as the First Samoan Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. (Anonymous 1945: 1; Burke 1945b: 29)

On February 13, 1953, Tofa Tomasi (born Thomas George Nauer), a part-German member of Western Samoa's Commission of Inquiry on Government Reform, died in Apia at age 43. (Davidson 1967: 317)

February 14:

On February 14, 1872, Commander Richard W. Meade, USN, commanding USS Narragansett, anchored in Pago Pago Harbor to investigate the possibility of establishing a naval station there. He did this at the request of Mr. Henry A. Pierce, the United States Minister to Hawaii, who wanted to establish American interest and influence in Samoa. (Gray 1960: 58)

On February 14, 1913, three American Samoan boys were sent, aboard the Ventura at government expense, to Hawaii's Hilo Boarding School. The boys were "Faatoia (son of Tufele, district governor of Manu'a), Nelsone, of Leone (son of Uaine), and Toalei, of Leone (son of Leoso)." (Bryan 1927: 84)

On February 14, 1914, the American Samoan Nurses' Training School was opened in Fagatogo, next to the hospital, under the direction of Acting Chief Nurse Mary H. Humphreys and Nurse Corinne Anderson of the U.S. Navy's Female Nurse Corps. The first three student nurses (Initia, Fe'iloia and Pepe) were graduates of the London Missionary Society's Atauloma Girls' School. (Gray 1960: 172)

On February 14, 1931, Captain William Rea Furlong, USN, who had been the naval adviser to the American Samoan Commission on its visit to Samoa in September and October, 1931, prepared a report on the Territory after returning to Washington. "He noted that the naval station had no naval yard facilities, and that it existed only to administer governmental affairs. 'The naval station and the buildings in it, built and maintained by the Navy, constitute the capital of the island.' The naval officers were paid by the U.S. Government and not by the Island Government. He then listed those officers and their titles:

Governor (Captain)

Assistant Governor (Commander)

Comptroller (Lieutenant Commander)

Chief Customs Officer (Lieutenant)

Public Health Officer (Lieutenant Commander)

Assistant Public Health Officer (Lieutenant, Junior Grade)

Officer in Charge, Samoan Hospital (Lieutenant)

Dental Officer (Commander)

Treasurer (Lieutenant Commander)

Assistant Treasurer (Chief Pay Clerk)

Disbursing Officer (Lieutenant)

Assistant Disbursing Officer (Chief Pay Clerk)

Superintendent of Public Works (Lieutenant)

Chief Nurse, USN

Three Nurses, USN

Besides the Navy personnel and the Samoans, twenty-five white civilians and 818 'halfcastes' lived in American Samoa. Furlong believed it was the only place in the South Pacific where the natives had thrived in population and physical well-being. This situation came about, he said, because of the policy of non-alienation of land ('Samoa for the Samoans') and the attention the Navy had given to health." (Thompson 1989: 16-17)

February 15:

On February 15, 1846, Estonian navigator Otto Eustafevich von Kotzebue, the European discoveror of Rose Atoll, (who claimed to have introduced yams to Samoa) died in Reval (now Tallinn) Estonia. (Dunmore 1991: 145; Theroux 1985)

February 16:

On February 16, 1884, pioneer filmmaker Robert Flaherty, creator of Moana of the South Seas, was born in Iron Mountain, Michigan. (Theroux 1985)

On February 16, 1895, U.S. Secretary of State Walter Q. Gresham said that the United States was "unwilling to assume one third of the expense and maintenance of the wives and children of the banished Samoans [i.e., Mata'afa Iosefo and his followers] on the island of Jaluit" (in the Marshall Islands, whence they were banished by the "Three Consuls"). He further asserted that "it has never been the intention of the United States to cooperate in their permanent exile," and he felt that ample punishment had already been inflicted. (Bryan 1927: 39)

On February 16, 1900, the Berlin Agreement was ratified by the United States Senate. Under the terms of the treaty, the eastern Samoan islands (Tutuila, Aunu'u and Manu'a) became a U.S. Territory. Germany gained control of 'Upolu, Savai'i and the other western isles, and in return gave up her interests in Tonga and the Solomon Islands. Britain relinquished her claims in Samoa, colonized the Solomon Islands and retained a sphere of influence in Tonga. (Bryan 1927: 43)

On February 16, 1942, the first USS Tutuila (PR-4), having been decommissioned on January 18, was "delivered to an authorized representative of the Republic of China" at Chungking. (Mooney VII, 1981: 367)

On February 16, 1944, the destroyer repair base "at the foot of Mt. Alava, directly across the bay from the [U.S.] Naval Station" [Tutuila] was declared "ready for full operation." (Burke 1945b: 121-122)

On February 16, 1944, the U.S. Navy Seabees' 505th Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) was replaced by a detachment of the 504th CBMU. (Denfeld 1989a: 36)

On February 16, 1944, Major General Charles F.B. Price, USMC, Commanding General, Samoan Defense Group, and Mr. Alfred Clarke Turnbull, New Zealand's Administrator of Western Samoa, signed an agreement returning most of the Faleolo Military Reservation to New Zealand control. (Burke 1945c: 66-69)

February 17:

On February 17, 1887, the Honorable John E. Bush (Hawaiian King Kalakaua's Minister Plenipotentiary to the Kings of Samoa and Tonga) and Samoa's King Malietoa Laupepa signed a Treaty of Confederation between Hawaii and Samoa. Bush became Hawaii's Ambassador to Samoa. "The signature was celebrated by a drunken orgy, from which Malietoa, always decent, retired early. He said to one of the legation: 'If you have come here to teach my people to drink, I wish you had stayed away.'" (Bryan 1927: 31; Kuykendall 1967: 327-328)

On February 17, 1900, Commander Benjamin Franklin Tilley, United States Navy, became American Samoa's first naval governor (until November 27, 1901), although his official designation was "Commandant, U.S. Naval station Tutuila." Commander Charles Brainard Taylor Moore was the first governor to be so designated (as "Governor of Tutuila," on January 30, 1905). The first person designated as "Governor of American Samoa" was Commander William Michael Crose, on July 17, 1911. (USNHC: Tilley RO; Bryan 1927: 46; Gray 1960: 158, 163)

On February 17, 1941, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold Raynsford Stark, instructed the Commandant of the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila, Captain Laurence Wild, to construct "a double anti-torpedo net extending from Blunts Point to Whale Rock (300 yards), and then about 300 yards further to the east, leaving a channel of about 300 yards on the eastern side of the entrance" to Pago Pago Harbor. The cost was estimated at $137,000, not including the cost of the sono-buoy. (Burke 1945b: 29)

On February 17, 1944, the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila's destroyer repair base (located below Mt. Alava in Pago Pago Harbor) was completed, and was officially designated as "'U.S. Naval Ship Repair Unit, Navy 129.' The total cost for construction of buildings at this unit was estimated at $884,860.00; for machinery, $344,232.50; and vehicles, $48,489.63." (Burke 1945b: 122)

On February 17, 1948, USS Tutuila (PR-4), a U.S. Navy Yangtze River patrol boat leased to the Navy of the Republic of China on March 19, 1942 and renamed Mei Yuan ("of American origin") was permanently transferred to the Chinese Government on this date. During the last stages of the 1945-49 civil war, "as Communist forces advanced upon Shanghai, the Nationalists abandoned and scuttled Mei Yuan to prevent her capture. Her subsequent fate is unknown." (Mooney VII, 1981: 367)

February 18:

On February 18, 1903, German Samoa's Governor, Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich Solf, proclaimed the establishment of a Land and Titles Commission. (Davidson 1967: 81)

On February 18, 1930, a lengthy article on the Western Samoan Mau appeared in the Auckland Star. It quoted Commodore Geoffrey Blake of HMS Dunedin, which was engaged in operations against Mau members who were hiding in the bush in northwestern 'Upolu, as saying that law and order were being actively opposed in Samoa. Blake also stated that "It has been said---and it is true within certain limits---that the Samoan is very childlike and can be easily led. On the other hand, at the present moment he is in the position of a sulky and insubordinate child who had deliberately disobeyed his father, as the Administrator is generally termed, and no peaceful persuasion will induce him to submit. There is no alternative therefore, but to treat him roughly." (Field 1984: 179)

February 19:

On February 19, 1872, American buccaneer and blackbirder Bully Hayes was arrested "when two boat's crews from the U.S.S. Narragansett boarded the Leonora, took possession of her, and escorted her master to the warship to answer charges of oppression of the Caroline Islanders and of carrying too large a crew and armament for a peaceful merchant craft." Despite a thorough search of the Leonora's cargo, crew and papers, USS Narragansett's captain, Commander Richard Meade (who signed the first American-Samoan treaty with Mauga Manuma on March 2, 1872), could not find sufficient evidence to bring charges against Bully, and he was released. His undoubted threats of reprisals against the crew, along with the alleged connivance of United States Consul John Williams, Jr., aided in his release. (Michener and Day 1960: 215)

On February 19, 1900, President William McKinley put Tutuila and all the Samoan islands east of 171 degrees west longitude under the authority of the U.S. Navy. On the same day, Secretary of the Navy John D. Long named these islands "U.S. Naval Station Tutuila." (Bryan 1927: 46; Noble 1931: 98-99)

On February 19, 1910, American Samoa's Governor, Captain John F. Parker (USN, Ret.) enacted his "Regulation No. 1-1910: Preservation of Public Health." This regulation was amended many times, and by 1931 included the following subsections: "1. Disposal of Human Excreta; 2. Breadfruit; 3. Quarantine; 4. Importation and Sale of Medicines and Drugs; 5. Importation and Sale of Opium; 6. Compulsory Vaccination Against Smallpox; 7. Yaws (Tonas); 8. Drinking and Bathing Places; 9. Conjunctivitis; 10. Trained Samoan Nurses; 11. Medical Practitioners, and 12. Public Health Orders." (Noble 1931: 66-71)

On February 19, 1930, New Zealand's Minister of Defense, Mr. John Cobbe, "A hard-nosed farmer from a back-country settlement," arrived in Apia to discuss the status of Colonel Stephen Allen's administration, especially his dealings with the Mau. He was "shocked" at Allen's belligerent attitude. (Field 1984: 181)

On February 19, 1942, the six-inch naval gun batteries at Blunts and Breakers Points "fired a total of 40 rounds at a target moving at 11 knots." (Denfeld 1989: 28)

On February 19, 1943, U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General Henry L. Larsen, Commander of the Samoan Defense Group, reported 82 cases of "filarial lymphangitis" (filariasis) among his Marines between January 20 and February 19, 1943. (Hudson 1994: 33)

On February 19, 1944, "'Operation Roll-Up,' a South Pacific operation to close unneeded bases and move them to other locations" began. "Within a month many Samoan barracks, mess halls and administrative buildings had been removed." (Anonymous 1946: 217-218; Denfeld 1989: 52)

February 20:

On February 20, 1848, Uriel Sebree, American Samoa's second naval governor (November 27, 1901-December 16, 1902), was born in Fayette, Missouri. (USNHC: Sebree RO)

On February 20, 1929, the U.S. Congress approved the cession of Tutuila (which occurred on April 17, 1900) and Manu'a (which was signed by Tui Manu'a Elisara on July 14, 1904 and was recorded at the Courthouse on July 16, 1904). (Moore and Farrington 1931: 1; Darden n.d.: 6)

On February 20, 1929, the U.S. Congress created a Commission (the "American Samoan Commission") to recommend an organic act for the Government of American Samoa. The members were: Senator Hiram Bingham, Republican of Connecticut, Chairman; Senator Joseph T. Robinson, Democrat, Arkansas; Representative Carroll L. Beedy, Republican from Maine, and  Representative Guinn Williams, Democrat of Texas. President Calvin Coolidge had appointed Chiefs Mauga Palepoi (Eastern District Governor) Tufele Fa'ato'ia (Manu'a District Governor) and Magalei Siasulu ("a representative of the Mau") as the Commission's Samoan members. Captain William Rea Furlong, Chief of the Navy Department's Office of Island Governments, was designated to accompany the Commission to American Samoa as an advisor and paymaster. (Moore and Farrington 1931: 1-2)

On February 20, 1977, Captain Ralph Waldo Hungerford, American Samoa's 31st naval governor (January 27-September 3, 1945), died in Abingdon, Pennsylvania. (USNHC: Hungerford RO)

On February 20, 1992, American Samoan playwright and screenwriter John Kneubuhl (born July 2, 1920) died on the eve of the première performance of his last play Think of a Garden. (Samoa News, 2/21/92)

February 21:

On February 21, 1928, HMS Dunedin and HMS Diomede of the New Zealand Squadron sailed into Apia Harbor at 1:30 p.m., and dropped anchor in the main channel. The squadron's commander, Commodore T.G.B. Swabey, went ashore to meet Western Samoa's Administrator, Major General Sir George Richardson. Swabey observed that "the law was not quite functioning," but that the streets "were quite orderly and the Mau respectful." (Field 1984: 113)

On February 21, 1944, Taisi Olaf Frederick Nelson ("Fred" to his friends, "Frederick the Great" to his detractors)---businessman, journalist, often-exiled and -persecuted Mau leader, advocate of non-violence, "Samoa's Gandhi"---died in Western Samoa, four days past his 61st birthday. (Warburton 1996: 62-64)

On February 21, 1971, Afoafouvale Misimoa (Harry Moors, Jr.) of Western Samoa, the Secretary General of the South Pacific Commission, died on the island of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands and was buried there. (Theroux 1985)

On February 21, 1972, the second USS Tutuila (ARG-4) followed in the wake of her namesake (PR-4) and was transferred to the Navy of the Republic of China, in which she was renamed Pien Tai, and served as a supply ship. Prior to the transfer, Tutuila received seven battle stars, three Navy Unit Commendations and two Meritorious Unit Commendations for her Vietnam service. (Mooney VII, 1981: 369)

February 22:

On February 22, 1916, the first class of Samoan nurses graduated from the U.S. Navy's Nurses' Training School in Fagatogo, American Samoa. (Bryan 1927: 75)

On February 22, 1916, Mr. David Dykstra signed a contract to become the principal of American Samoa's high school, which was a small wooden building. Mr. Dykstra's contract included the following provisions: "salary $100 a month for the first year, then $110 a month; transportation furnished; free quarters; if not, $10 a month extra in lieu thereof." (Bryan 1927: 87)

On February 22, 1921, Western Samoa's Administrator, Colonel Robert Ward Tate of the New Zealand Army, in a letter to American Samoa's Governor, Captain Waldo Evans, USN, offered his opinion of equality and self-government for the Samoans: "This idea of equal rights for white and browns is responsible for much of the unrest." [referring to the Mau]. "It is too strong meat for them and their attempts to apply the idea are ludicrous at some times---pitiful at all times. They would like to govern the country themselves, and their only notion is the autocratic rule of chiefs." (Field 1984: 56)

On February 22, 1951, the U.S. Navy ended its administration of American Samoa. (Gray 1960: 259)

February 23:

On February 23, 1900, Commander Benjamin Franklin Tilley wrote to the Navy Department regarding his position as Commandant of the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila, saying that it would be better "if the officer charged with this responsibility has the explicit authority of this Government and knows its wishes." Unbeknownst to Tilley, President William McKinley had already signed the executive order giving him the authority that he wanted. Tilley did not receive his orders, and a copy of the executive order, until April 4, 1900, in Apia. (Bryan 1927: 54, 56)

On February 23, 1901, "the Secretary of the Navy [John D. Long], with the approval of the President of the United States [William McKinley], ordered that no license be granted for the sale of wines and liquors" at the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila. (Bryan 1927: 93)

On February 23, 1912, American Samoa's Governor, Commander William Michael Crose, issued his "Regulation to Enforce the Educational Rights of Children" and his "Compulsory Education Regulation of 1912." These regulations required all children between the ages of 6 and 13 to attend school at least four days a week during the school year. (Bryan 1927: 84)

On February 23, 1944, the U.S. Navy's First and Second Construction Battalions ("Seabees") returned to the United States from Tutuila. (Burke 1945b: 74 n.52)

On February 23, 1951, Captain Thomas Francis Darden, Jr., American Samoa's 35th (and last) naval governor (July 7, 1949-February 23, 1951), delivered his farewell address. (Thompson 1990: 27)

On February 23, 1951, Phelps Phelps took office as American Samoa's first appointed civilian governor (until June 20, 1952). (Thompson 1990: 27; ASG Governors' List)

On February 23, 1951, the Fono (Territorial Legislature) of American Samoa, in a program printed for the transfer of jurisdiction from the Navy Department to the Department of the Interior, paid this tribute to the Naval Administration: "The Fono, in behalf of the people of American Samoa, wishes to place in the record of history the significance of the termination of 51 years of naval administration. Mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation has been the keynote of our long relationship. Our appreciation for the guidance and leadership of the Navy in helping American Samoa to move forward is deep-seated and everlasting. Turning its head to the past, Samoa is sorrowful to bid farewell to a good and loyal friend, the Navy." (Hall 1985: 339)

February 24:

On February 24, 1841, Lieutenant William L. Hudson, USN, commanding USS Peacock, a sloop of war, was ordered to proceed to Saluafata, 'Upolu, and "obtain redress" for the murder of an American seaman there a year earlier. The schooner USS Flying Fish joined Peacock, and when they reached Saluafata, Hudson "made a peremptory demand for the murderer, which was answered by a positive refusal from the principal chief." This prompted Hudson to organize a landing party of "70 odd men," who were organized into three divisions. The Peacock was then "kedged to bring her broadside to bear on the town, and the 'long guns' made ready to fire," while the landing force waited in their longboats on the starboard quarter. Peacock then proceeded to "open fire on the village with round shot and grape." After 18 volleys had been fired, two of the divisions landed, and began "the destruction of the huts....The match was applied, and the village was soon in ashes." Upon returning to the ship, the men were held in the boats, given "a taste of grog," and ordered to destroy the neighboring villages of Fusi and Salelesi, which they did, torching "upward of 100 huts....The mission having been completed, the entire party assembled on the beach, destroyed all of the  canoes they could find and then returned to their ship, apparently satisfied that a well-deserved punishment had been promptly administered for the murder of an American Seaman." (Ellsworth 1934: 145)

On February 24, 1883, Future Mau leader Taisi Olaf Frederick Nelson was born at Safune, Savai'i to August Nilspiter Gustav Nelson and Sina Masoe Nelson. (Field 1984: 66; Warburton 1996: 62-64)

On February 24, 1928, landing parties of Royal Marines and Naval officers debarked from the cruisers HMS Dunedin and HMS Diomede of the New Zealand Squadron. They landed at the Customs and Tivoli wharves in Apia, in order to envelop 400 Mau members in a pincer movement. The Mau made no attempt to resist arrest, and, surrendering peacefully, they were taken to Vaimea Jail, which was too small to hold them. (Field 1984: 115)

On February 24, 1942, the First Samoan Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, was tactically assigned to the 8th Marine Regiment. "At this time, 40 cents per diem was authorized for commuted rations to Samoan Marines living in isolated bays and inlets to enable them to purchase Samoan foods from native civilians." (Anonymous 1945: 9)

On February 24, 1948, the American Samoa Code was amended to provide for a bicameral legislature, with a House of Ali'i and a House of Representatives. (Darden n.d.: 10; Gray 1960: 249)

February 25: