The creation of Baguio City is credited to American colonial officials, though the concept evolved through multiple contributors from early Igorot settlers, until the arrival of foreigners during the early 20th century under Spanish rule and eventual U.S. governance. History of course continues with the Japanese invasion, American Liberation and eventual Philippine independence and self rule. Our topic today tackles the question:
Whose idea was it to establish Baguio City, Philippines?
The establishment of a city in the cool mountain top of Northern Luzon is one of the best ideas in the history of the Philippines. Here we explore the Baguio pioneers and their contributions in making Baguio what it is today. Anyone of them could be a Father of Baguio but we make the case for one who we think made the most impact, Dean Conant Worcester.
Spanish Exploration
The Spanish presence in the Philippines, beginning in the 16th century, extended sporadically into the Cordillera region by the late 18th and 19th centuries. Spanish missionaries and military officials, seeking to expand control over Luzon, encountered the Benguet highlands, including the plateau that would become Baguio City.
The Spanish were particularly interested in the indigenous Igorot people for their gold. Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi had heard of mines in Ilocos as early as months after first setting foot on Philippine soil in February 1565.
His grandson, Juan de Salcedo launched an expedition to Northern Luzon in search of that gold in 1571 but was unsuccessful. Attempts to reach the Cordillera mountains continued in the 1580s and 1590s, with four expeditions sent between 1591 and 1594 resulting ins some villages along the Magat River welcoming the Spaniards and offering tribute. The Spanish would never come to completely control the interior of the Cordillera mountains, and were considered functionally independent. The Spanish repeatedly launched attacks into Igorot territory over the years but were always repelled
Colonel Guillermo Galvey, a Spanish military officer, played a significant role in the Spanish colonial efforts to assert control over the mountainous region of Benguet in the Philippines during the early 19th century. Galvey’s expeditions into Benguet, spanning from 1829 to 1839, were marked by both his fascination with the land and his ruthless tactics to subdue its inhabitants.
Galvey, a lieutenant colonel, was appointed by Governor-General Mariano Ricafort in 1826 as the Comandante General del País de los Igorrotes y las Partidas del Norte de Pangasinan (Commandant of the Land of the Igorots and Outposts of Northern Pangasinan). His mission was multifaceted: to map out the largely uncharted mountain territories, curb the Igorots’ lucrative contraband tobacco trade that evaded Spanish taxes, and establish a foothold in a region rich with gold and other resources that had long eluded colonial control. The Spanish had heard tales of the Igorots’ wealth, particularly their gold mines, since the 16th century, but previous expeditions had failed to penetrate the rugged Cordillera interior.
The Igorots, however, were not welcoming. They resisted Spanish intrusion fiercely, employing guerrilla tactics such as ambushes with spears, stones, and makeshift fortifications. His 1829 expedition alone saw significant destruction in the Trinidad Valley, reducing its 500 houses to a fraction of their number over time.
Between 1829 and 1839, Galvey conducted 45 punitive expeditions across Benguet, Lepanto, Bontoc, and Ifugao. These campaigns were brutal, aimed at dismantling the Igorots’ independence and their contraband tobacco trade, which undermined the Spanish Tobacco Monopoly established in 1781. His forces cut down hectares of crops, razed hundreds of homes, and inadvertently spread smallpox, decimating populations—some accounts suggest thousands died. Galvey himself reflected on the mixed outcomes, noting that while the Igorots of Benguet eventually sought peace and provided him with supplies like rice and cattle on later visits, the population of the valley dwindled to about 100 houses due to his actions and disease.
Galvey’s conquest left a complex legacy. He succeeded in establishing a Spanish presence in Benguet, establishing La Trinidad and, paving the way for its organization as a comandancia politico-militar in 1846, with La Trinidad as its administrative center. His expeditions opened the region to further colonial exploitation, including gold mining and agriculture, though at a steep cost to the Igorot way of life. He died in 1839, his health likely worn by years of campaigning in the harsh Cordillera terrain. While he wrote of efforts to rebuild, such as constructing a highroad to the valley, his reputation remains tied to the destruction he wrought—earning him the epithet “the greatest despoiler of the Igorots Spain ever sent to the Cordilleras.”
Historical accounts suggest that the term “Baguio” emerged during this period, likely in the mid-to-late 1800s, as the Spanish adapted bagiw into their language. The earliest documented Spanish reference to the area as “Baguio” appears in records tied to the establishment of a sanitarium in the 1880s or 1890s.
In 1882, Spanish Governor-General José Malcampo y Monge ordered an expedition to explore Benguet for a potential health resort, and reports from this mission—led by military engineers like Manuel Scheidnagel—mention “Baguio” as a named locale, indicating its use by then.
Scheidnagel, a Spanish engineer, mapped parts of Benguet and noted the plateau’s suitability for a retreat in his 1880s surveys, though he didn’t explicitly claim to name it. By 1892, under Governor-General Eulogio Despujol, a small sanitarium was built there, officially marking “Baguio” on colonial maps as a rest stop for Spanish officials escaping Manila’s heat. This suggests the name was in use by Spanish administrators before American colonization, likely formalized by military or ecclesiastical figures interacting with Ibaloi locals.
The land owned by Mateo Carino
The plateau known as Kafagway—a grassy expanse in Benguet—was owned by Mateo Carino. This land, encompassing what would later become central Baguio City (including areas like Burnham Park, Camp John Hay, and the Central Business District), was a rancheria, a communal settlement of about 20 Ibaloi households under his care. Mateo introduced rice cultivation and scaled up livestock trading, amassing vast tracts through customary usufruct—land used and improved by families over generations, recognized as theirs by the community.
His wife, Bayosa Ortega, came from another powerful Ibaloi lineage who were baknangs (wealthy elites) whose riches stemmed from gold and cattle. Together, Mateo and Bayosa expanded their family’s holdings, leveraging traditional Ibaloi practices and adapting to colonial influences.
During the Spanish colonial period (1565–1898), the Cordilleras remained largely unconquered due to fierce Ibaloi resistance, but by the 19th century, Spanish influence crept in. Mateo’s ownership of Kafagway evolved during this time. Historical accounts suggest the Spanish granted him titles to his lands in exchange for his conversion to Christianity—a common colonial tactic. Adopting the surname “Cariño” (meaning “affection” in Spanish) marked this shift, aligning him with Spanish norms while retaining his Ibaloi identity. Bayosa’s inherited lands, bought with gold and cattle wealth, further bolstered their holdings, estimated at hundreds of hectares.
The Spanish recognized Mateo’s authority, appointing him a local leader under their system. By 1846, they had organized Benguet into 31 rancherias, with Kafagway as one, and Mateo as its chieftain. They even moved their presidencia (administrative office) from Bag-iw (Guisad Valley) to his house—near where Baguio City Hall now stands—acknowledging his prominence. This blend of customary and colonial recognition solidified his claim, though the Spanish Regalian Doctrine (all untitled lands belonged to the Crown) loomed as a threat.
Mateo’s leadership took a revolutionary turn during the Philippine struggle against Spain. In 1899, as Filipino forces under Emilio Aguinaldo fought for independence, Mateo led a successful revolt against the Spanish garrison in La Trinidad, Benguet. Aguinaldo’s revolutionary government proclaimed him Capitan Municipal of Baguio, a title affirming his local rule. He reportedly sheltered Aguinaldo during his 1899 escape to Hong Kong, a move that showcased his defiance and loyalty to the Filipino cause—and later drew American ire.
When the U.S. took control after the 1898 Spanish-American War, they eyed Kafagway for a hill station. They expropriated his lands under military decrees, claiming them as public domain for their summer capital—a reprisal, some say, for his aid to Aguinaldo. Mateo, then selected as Baguio’s representative to the U.S. Insular Government in 1901, fought for ownership via the court system which he eventually won posthumously.
American Planning
The seeds for the City were planted in the late 1890s when the U.S. took control of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. American military and civilian leaders sought a “hill station”—a cool retreat from Manila’s oppressive heat, similar to British colonial outposts like Simla in India. Dean Conant Worcester, a zoologist-turned-administrator and member of the Philippine Commission, played a pivotal role.
In 1900, Worcester, during a trip to Benguet, identified the highland plateau of Baguio as an ideal site due to its elevation (around 5,000 feet above sea level) and pine-covered landscape. His reports to the commission, including vivid descriptions of the area’s climate and potential as a health resort, sparked official interest. Worcester’s advocacy is often cited as the initial push, having an early vision of the future city site.
As a member of the First Philippine Commission, his influence in creating Acts of the legislature and funding was evident. He eventually became the only member retained in the Second Philippine Commission which made laws that funded the construction of the roads and structures.
The formal plan took shape when William Howard Taft, the first U.S. Governor-General of the Philippines, endorsed the idea after Worcester’s urging. In 1903, Taft sent the commission to Benguet to scout locations, and Baguio’s suitability was confirmed. However, it was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the renowned American architect and urban planner, who crystallized the vision into a tangible blueprint.
Commissioned in 1904, Burnham visited Baguio and designed a master plan for a summer capital, blending American urban ideals with the natural terrain.
His layout included wide streets, parks (like Burnham Park, named after him), and government buildings, envisioning a city for 25,000 residents. Burnham’s report to Taft emphasized Baguio as a dual-purpose retreat—administrative and recreational—modeled after Washington, D.C.’s aesthetics.
American Implementation
Although Burnham’s Plan became the blueprint for which the City was eventually built, It was Architect William E. Parsons who implemented Daniel Burnham’s plan. Parsons was the consulting architect from 1905 to 1914, who drained the swamp, planted pines, and laid out initial paths, though funding delays stretched completion into the 1920s. By then, locals had rechristened it Burnham Park, honoring its visionary.
The actual establishment of the city gained traction under Luke Edward Wright, Taft’s successor, who in 1903 declared Baguio the official Summer Capital via an executive order, paving the way for infrastructure like Kennon Road (started in 1903 with a string of failed engineers but eventually completed by engineer Col. Lyman Kennon).
The native Ibaloi people, led by figures like Mateo Cariño, owned the land originally called “Kafagway,” and their negotiations (and eventual displacement) with the Americans shaped the city’s founding, though their role was less about ideation and more about adaptation to colonial imposition.
Another leader, William Cameron Forbes had a significant role in the development of Baguio City, Philippines, particularly as a key administrator who oversaw its transformation from a conceptual hill station into a functional summer capital during his tenure as Governor-General of the Philippines from 1909 to 1913. While he didn’t originate the idea—credited largely to Dean Conant Worcester and Daniel Hudson Burnham—Forbes was instrumental in executing and expanding the vision, earning him recognition as a driving force behind Baguio’s early growth.
Forbes assumed the governorship in November 1909, shortly after Baguio was officially chartered as a city on September 1, 1909, via Act No. 1963 of the Philippine Commission. By then, the groundwork had been laid: Worcester had identified Baguio’s potential in 1900, Burnham had drafted the master plan in 1904, and infrastructure like Kennon Road was underway. Forbes’s role was to turn these plans into reality. A Harvard-educated businessman with a passion for infrastructure and governance, he saw Baguio as a strategic retreat for American colonial officials and a symbol of U.S. progress in the Philippines.
Forbes’s major contributions was prioritizing the completion of Kennon Road, the vital artery linking Baguio to the lowlands. Forbes also shaped Baguio’s physical and administrative landscape.
He oversaw the construction of key structures aligned with Burnham’s plan, including The Mansion House, completed in 1908 as the Governor-General’s summer residence but refined under his watch with landscaping and expansions. His administration built government offices, cottages for officials, and facilities like the Baguio Country Club (founded in 1905 but expanded under his influence), catering to the American elite. Forbes envisioned Baguio as a “government city,” a cool-climate hub for colonial administration, and his policies attracted settlers and investments, boosting its population and economy.
Beyond infrastructure, Forbes left a cultural mark. His love for golf led to the development of Camp John Hay’s golf course, now a legacy of his recreational focus. He also navigated tensions with the native Ibaloi, whose lands were appropriated for development, balancing colonial goals with limited concessions—like naming rights or small payments—though often to their disadvantage.
In short, Forbes didn’t conceive Baguio but brought it to life. His tenure solidified its status as the Summer Capital, a role formalized in 1903 but realized through his pragmatic leadership. Historians note his diaries, where he detailed Baguio’s progress with pride, reflecting his personal investment. By the time he left office in 1913, Baguio was no longer just an idea—it was a thriving colonial outpost, thanks to his relentless drive and oversight.
So, while Worcester sparked the concept, Taft approved it, and Burnham designed it, the idea was a collective American colonial effort to create a strategic highland outpost—officially realized when Baguio was eventually chartered. It’s a story of ambition, adaptation, and, for the Ibaloi, bittersweet transformation.
Dean Conant Worcester’s Influence
The story of how Dean Conant Worcester learned about the place that would eventually became Baguio City is a tale of curiosity, exploration, and colonial opportunism, rooted in his earlier adventures as a zoologist before he became a key figure in American governance of the Philippines. It’s a narrative that unfolds in the late 19th century, blending scientific discovery with the seeds of a grand colonial vision.
Worcester, a University of Michigan graduate born in 1866, first encountered the Philippines not as an administrator but as a young scientist. In 1887, at age 21, he joined a zoological expedition led by his mentor, Joseph Beal Steere, to the Spanish-controlled archipelago. Over 18 months (1887–1888), Worcester trekked across islands like Luzon, Mindanao, and the Visayas, collecting specimens—birds, mammals, insects—and documenting indigenous cultures. This wasn’t his introduction to Baguio specifically, but it ignited his fascination with the Philippines’ diverse landscapes and peoples, setting the stage for later encounters. He returned to Michigan with over 3,000 specimens and a co-authored book, The Philippine Islands and Their People (1898), cementing his expertise.
In 1892, during a trip to Mindoro, while the Philippines was still a colony of Spain, he met a Spanish naturist who told him about the highlands of Northern Luzon at an elevation of about five thousand feet. It was described as a region of pines and oaks blessed with a perpetually temperate climate and even with occasional frosts. Although Worcester’s interest was then about special bird species that he might discover, the idea of a cool mountain retreat was planted in his mind.
A significant world wide event happened in 1898- the U.S. defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War, acquiring the Philippines. Worcester, now a recognized authority, was tapped by U.S. President William McKinley to join the First Philippine Commission in 1899, tasked with assessing the new territory. It was during this period that Worcester’s path converged with Baguio’s origin story.
In view of the probability that American occupation would continue for a long period, the necessity of a highland region near Manila with a temperate climate became apparent. Worcester remembered the cool mountain retreat so he researched and unearthed a detailed report made by a committee of three distinguished and competent Spanish officers who had spent some weeks at Baguio in the comandancia of Benguet, who confirmed the existence of such land with a source of water.
As Secretary of the Interior for the Second Philippine Commission (1900–1901), Worcester was responsible for exploring the islands’ resources and governance needs. In mid-1900, he embarked on an expedition to Northern Luzon, driven by said Spanish records and American soldiers about a highland plateau in Benguet known to the Ibaloi as “Kafagway.” The Spanish had briefly established a sanitarium there in the 1890s, called it “Baguio” (derived from the Ibaloi word bagiw, meaning moss), and noted its cool climate—averaging 18–20°C compared to Manila’s sweltering 30°C+. Worcester, ever the scientist, was intrigued by tales of pine forests and a respite from tropical heat, which plagued American troops and officials.
Accompanied by a small team, including interpreter Frank Bourns (a fellow 1887 expedition alum) and local Ibaloi guides, Worcester trekked up rugged trails—likely via what’s now Kennon Road’s precursor—reaching the plateau in July or August 1900. His account, later detailed in letters and reports to the commission, describes a “revelation”: rolling hills blanketed in pines, crisp air reminiscent of New England, and a sprawling meadow at 5,000 feet above sea level.
He noted the Ibaloi’s terraced fields and thatched homes, marveling at the area’s potential as a health resort and administrative retreat. Worcester saw parallels to British hill stations like Simla, a model he’d studied, and envisioned a “summer capital” to boost colonial efficiency.
His discovery wasn’t accidental—it built on Spanish knowledge and local Ibaloi presence—but Worcester’s enthusiasm turned it into action. Back in Manila, he pitched Baguio to Governor-General William Howard Taft and the commission, submitting a glowing report in late 1900. He highlighted its climate (a cure for “tropical fatigue”), strategic location (accessible yet defensible), and capacity for development. Taft, suffering from Manila’s humidity himself, bought in, and by 1903, Baguio was declared the Summer Capital, with Worcester pushing for surveys and road-building. In addition to being a member of the consequential First and Second Philippine Commissions, the improvement of Baguio was assured when Worcester became the Philippine Secretary of the Interior from 1901 – 1913.
The Taft Commission with Worcester as Secretary of the Interior enacted many laws that built the area into a thriving living area. These laws established civil administration, organized the region into provinces and sub-provinces, and set the stage for Baguio’s development as a chartered city. It funded roads and structures that became the foundation of the city.
Worcester was not universally loved, his critics fault him for advocating that the Filipinos in the early years were not ready to govern themselves and thus probably delayed Philippine Independence from the Americans. But, one thing is evident – he loved the Philippines as he spent the rest of his days in the country. After his stint in the government, he became a businessman until his death. Worcester died on May 2, 1924 in Manila at the age of 57.
He obtained his B.A. at the University of Michigan in 1889. He made a great impact in the founding and building of Baguio City. He died of a fatal heart attack on May 2, 1924, in Manila.
Worcester didn’t “find” Baguio in a vacuum—the Ibaloi had lived there for centuries, and Spanish colonizers had left traces—but his 1900 visit and subsequent constant advocacy transformed it from a remote plateau into a colonial project. His zoologist’s eye for terrain and administrator’s knack for opportunity made him the spark, earning him our vote as the informal title holder of “Father of Baguio City”. It’s a story of one man’s journey from specimen jars to city-building, forever tying his name to the pine-clad hills of the Cordillera.
