Agana,
The principal town and district of the island of Guam, the largest of the Ladrone Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,500 miles east of Luzon, in the Philippines. As a result of the war between the United States and Spain, the former took possession of this island, and in the following year established a seat of government in this town with Capt. Richard P. Leary, U. S. N., as the first governor. The population of the island is between eight and nine thousand; three-fourths of the people live in the district of Agana, and four-fifths of this number, or 5,249, in the town. Under American control the town and its vicinity speedily took the appearance of greater activity and prosperity than was ever before seen there; and the process of Americanizing continued with excellent results till Nov. 13, 1900, when both the town and the island were swept by a typhoon, in which the United States auxiliary cruiser Yosemite was wrecked on a coral reef, after drifting 60 miles from her anchorage. The navy department promptly sent relief in the form of food, clothing, and building materials to the people, who had become greatly attached to their new national connection. See Guam.
