Page 215 - Vol_2_Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaport Trade

Chapter 11
The Development of Humåtak Village:
The Life-Line of the Acapulco-Manila
Galleon Trade

Joe Quinata

The Manila Galleon Trade Route was the !rst and most powerful economic global
trade missions in the Paci!c between Spain and the Philippines. The beginning of a
250-year long trade was under the command of Felipe de Salcedo, and navigated by
Andrés de Urdaneta, the San Pablo was the !rst Spanish galleon to successfully
return from Manila across the Paci!c carrying mainly spices. From 1565 to 1815,
Spanish galleons sailed the Paci!c Ocean between Acapulco in New Spain (now
Mexico) and Manila in the Philippine islands (Fig. 11.1).
The Mariana Islands, known at that time as Las Islas de Los Ladrones, became
the provisioning station between New Spain (now Mexico) and Asia. CHamoru
traders from Guam bartered food, water, and other provisions in exchange for iron
goods from Spanish trade vessels. The CHamorus would paddle their canoes out to
the ships, choosing to conduct their business away from their islands.

11.1 Humåtak Village: Manila Galleon Port

In 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi sailed into the village of Humåtak (Umatac) and
claimed Guam for Spain and subsequently, the village became the main port for
Spain’s galleons sailing from Acapulco, New Spain (Mexico) in route to the
Philippines (Fig. 11.2).
Between 1680 and 1810, the development of Humåtak Village began with the !rst
forti!cation built, the Bateria de Nuestra Senora Del Carmen, followed by Fort Santo
Angel (1756) at the entrance of the bay on top of a large rock out-crop. The third
structure, Fort San Jose was built around 1805 on a hill located north of the village and
thereafter in 1810, Fort Nuestra Senora de la Soledad or Fort Soledad was built.

J. Quinata (&)
Guam Preservation Trust, Hagåtña, GU, USA
e-mail: jqpreservation@guam.net
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 187
C. Wu et al. (eds.), Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaports and Early Maritime
Globalization, The Archaeology of Asia-Paci!c Navigation 2,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9248-2_11