Coincident with the campaigns against Jikiri, American forces were carrying on operations against the Moros of Lanao. Ampaunagous, a Lanao Moro, had long evaded the authorities and was terrorizing the country with a force of forty well-armed followers.

A cholera epidemic appeared in Larao and Ampaunagous played upon the superstitious natures of the people. "Will you die, kris in hand, like your fathers, or like old women in your houses of the cholera the Americans have sent ?"

Under his leadership, the Moros attacked an American military wagon train on the Camp Kiethley road, after which a force under Lieutenant Wood took the field against him. Wood encountered the Moros on the shores of Lake Lanao and fought a pitched battle, which resulted in the death of eleven of the Mohammedans.

In retaliation, the Moros attacked the Constabulary barracks at Dansalan but were beaten off after wounding four of the soldiers.

A few days later, the Moros attacked the home of Road-master Smith, on the Malabang road, murdering the American and looting the house.

Ampaunagous then fortified himself in a strong position on the lake, where he remained a serious bar to peace for several years.

In March, 1908, Governor Allen Gard of Lanao received information that the murderers of Smith were in hiding near Camp Vicars. With six mounted soldiers of the 6th Cavalry, Governor Gard proceeded to the hide-out, which was held by Marmur, a lieutenant of Ampaunagous.

The Governor began to parley with Marmur, who during the interview slipped from the house by a back entrance and entered a field of sugar cane. From the protection of the cane, Marmur opened fire on the Governor with an old Tower musket. Slugs from the musket wounded the Governor in three places, breaking his right arm and left leg and severely lacerating his right leg. The troopers returned the fire but Marmur escaped into the jungle.

A week later, a Constabulary force surprised Marmur and killed him in an assault on his cotta led by Lieutenant Tarbell.

Lieutenant Wood encountered Ampaunagous near the headquarters of the Remain River where the outlaw had constructed a strong cotta. An effort was made to surround the place, but the outlaws escaped after a running fight which resulted in the death of five of the outlaws and two of the Constabulary force.

Ampaunagous himself remained at liberty until 1914, when Captain Allan S. Fletcher persuaded him to come in and accept amnesty.

In July, 1908, Lieutenant Burr was leading forty men through the Agus River country of Mindanao. Near Nyaan the party came to a cotta, well fortified and surrounded with a moat filled with brush. Resistance being encountered, the soldiers cut through the brush with their bayonets and assaulted the fort.

The first soldier to reach the cotta walls was attacked from the rear by a Moro with a kris. Hearing the cry of the soldier, Lieutenant Burr hurried to his assistance, killing the Moro with a pistol. Another Moro sprang from the shelter of the bush and struck Burr before he could turn to defend himself, dealing the American officer a terrible blow on the head with a campilane.

Burr died a few days later in the hospital at Camp Kiethley.

During the years 1908 and 1909, and for a number of years afterwards, the Butig Mountain range and the Lake Lanao and Buldung sections of Mindanao were infested with outlaw bands ranging in size from a few men to several hundred.

To combat them, it was decided to organize a Moro company, officered by Americans. Authority for the formation of this company, to be known as the 52nd Company of Philippine Scouts, was received from Washington on December 30,1908. Officers assigned to the company were Captain Edward Dvorak, Lieutenant Allan S. Fletcher and Lieutenant Andrew J, Conroy.

The organization of a company of Moro soldiers presented certain difficulties, as it was known that a service rifle and belt of ammunition could be sold for as much as 1000 pesos in the interior of Mindanao. The fact that a Moro has to pay a heavy dowry when he marries might furnish a good reason for many Moros wishing, to enlist, with the possibility of deserting with a rifle to be sold to secure funds for marrying the chosen girl.

In spite of these unfavorable considerations, however, twenty recruits were sworn in on February 24, 1909. In addition to the regular oath of enlistment, the men were sworn on the Koran by a Moro Pandita. By the end of October, the organization of the company was complete.

Previous to the completion of the enlisted personnel, it had been desired to obtain a few recruits from the Buldung country, the center of the trouble. Lieutenant Fletcher had been detailed for that purpose. The official army records indicate that the recruiting effort was not successful in Buldung. The report states; "Upon arriving in Buldung, it was learned that the, entire country was up in arms. On March 7, 1909, while the small force was eating their noon meal, thirteen juramentados rushed the detail with krises, campilanes, spears and daggers and in the melee which followed, the juramentados were exterminated and one soldier was killed with six wounded. Then and there, the idea of getting recruits from Buldung was abandoned."

When the company of Philippine Scouts finally took the field, it became famous for its activity in quelling the Moro guerilla warfare. In the main, the men proved loyal to their oaths. The company lost eighteen men, thirteen rifles and 1050 cartridges through desertion. All of the rifles were recovered and all of the deserters were apprehended or killed. The heads of two of the deserters, Uru and Rumaub, were brought in a sack to the American headquarters.

Up to the year 1909, there was a stretch of country of about 2000 square miles in the region of Lake Lanao and Lake Nunungan which was unexplored and which was inhabited by some of the fiercest tribes of the Moro province. It was a region of high mountain ranges and dense jungles and there were few trails to permit the passage of troops.

As early as 1904, Lieutenant Howland of the 23rd Infantry had attempted to penetrate this district with a force of picked men, and he did succeed in reaching the shores of Lake Nunungan. His report indicated that he had been repeatedly attacked by the Moros wiile on the trail and in camp and that he had remained at Lake Nunungan for one night, after which he had retired to Malabang.

Another officer of the 25th Infantry had also attempted to reach the Lake Nunungan country but had gone too far to the west, to become lost in the region of Panguile Bay. For several days the troops subsisted upon what could be found in the jungle. Many of the soldiers died and the remainder finally struggled through the forest to come out at Misamis.

These two attempts represented the total of American activity in this territory, and it was desired to explore and pacify the region as soon as possible. Therefore, on April 20, 1909, a detachment of sixty men under Lieutenant Fletcher departed from Malabang on a visit of exploration.

Fifteen hundred pounds of extra rations were carried by the party, with each enlisted man, in addition to his pack, extra ammunition and rifle, carrying a sack containing twenty pounds of food. The troops passed over a mountain range 4000 feet high and worked their way into a dense jungle swarming with hostile Moros..

Owing to the small size of the force, it was considered impracticable to put out an advance or a rear guard, and it was an impossibility to use flanking patrols as the jungle was so dense that nothing could be seen forty feet from the trail..

The column marched in a single file, well closed up and under the following marching orders:.

"No one to leave the column while it was in motion or at halt, without permission of an officer..

"Any man, while relieving himself, to put his ammunition belt over his shoulder, as a bandoleer is carried, his rifle in his hands and another soldier on guard behind him..

"No man to separate himself from his rifle for a single moment, night or day. If working, making camp, cutting trail, cooking or other camp work, he must sling his rifle or carry it in one hand; in camp, when lying down, the men to fasten their rifle to their arms by the sling and sleep with it under one leg.".

Before coming in contact with any Moros, the men were informed that any soldier caught in the act of raping, or attempting to rape any woman of the country would be shot; that nothing belonging to a friendly Moro was to be touched; that food was to be paid for; that there was to be no looting except when organized under officers.

Nightly camps, rectangular in shape and about forty yards by twenty, were made by dealing off everything except large trees and using the brush for an obstacle to prevent Moros from crawling into the camp. This was piled up on all sides, but not high enough to prevent the troops from firing over it or the sentries from seeing over it. An entrance was left in the center of each short side and the underbrush was cleared away for a distance of fifty yards from the camp..

On April 22, the troops had crossed the divide and came in sight of the Moro settlement of Catabuan. A halt was made and several friendly Datus were sent ahead to inform the inhabitants that the American forces were on a friendly scouting and mapping expedition and desired peace. The Datus returned to Fletcher and informed him that the whole country was under arms and that the Moros intended to prevent the troops from passing through their country..

Fletcher accordingly took to the jungle and re-entered the Moro clearing at a point where the Moros least expected the troops. Half way across the clearing, they were fired upon from the front and the left at a range of 500 yards. The Scouts took to the cover of the rocks and with volleys of well-directed fire emptied the cotta. The Moros retreated, leaving their dead and wounded on the field, and the Scouts moved into the abandoned cotta.

When the noon meal was finished, the troops began preparations for reconnoitering the country, but before they could evacuate the Moro fort the war cries of a large band of Moros were heard to the northwest of the camp. The Moros could be plainly seen, standing on a knoll 1000 yards away, waving krises and spears and bright colored flags. .

The combat report of the 52nd Company continues: .

"Upon investigating this matter with field glasses, a strong cotta was seen to their left and about 300 yards farther away. It was suspected, and correctly, that when the troops advanced toward the Moros, they would retire to the fort. Thirty men were left outside the camp in plain sight of the hostiles, and the others, with both officers, crawled through the grass and were able to get into the woods without being observed by the outlaws..

"By making a detour of about 2000 yards we were able to get nearly between the Moros and their cotta, from which point we opened fire on them from the left flank at close range..

"Owing to the roughness of the ground, covered with stumps, logs and boulders, the Moros were able to partly change their front and face the troops. They would probably have put up a stiff fight but for the loss of their leader..

"This Moro, a big, powerful fellow, rushed towards the troops and Lieutenant Fletcher shot him in the left temple, the bullet coming out the right side of his head, messing up the parietal bone. This deflected him and he ran like a deer to die right flank rear. Although terribly wounded, he had gone about one hundred yards when Lieutenant Moylan, who was to the left of the Scouts' line, shot him with a dum-dum Krag bullet through the side of the left shoulder, the bullet coming out between the shoulder blades. This shot knocked the Moro down but when the troops passed by two hours later on the way to camp, he was still alive.

"With their leader down, the Moros immediately scattered to the woods, leaving their dead and wounded, although one Moro was shot while trying to drag his wounded leader into the bush."

After this engagement, the troops marched in the general direction of Lake Nunungan, mapping the country en route.

On the slopes of Kukuk Mountain the fires of the Moros were seen in their camp at Masibay. To get into the camp at Masibay, the troops crawled a zig-zag course across the valley, hidden from sight by the tall grass.

At the edge of the valley the trail leading up to the Moro camp was blocked with fallen trees and entanglements of pointed stakes. As no noise was permitted, the Scouts could not cut a trail and were forced to crawl 500 yards through a thicket of thorn bushes.

They came out within fifty yards of a Moro sentinel, who stood on a low platform at the edge of the camp. When the men had rested a moment, the whistle was blown and the troops dropped into the cotta, completely surprising the Moros. A short battle cleared the cotta, as the Moros were completely disorganized. Mamintong, the Moro leader, was wounded by Fletcher as he escaped into the brush. One Moro, leaping upon a rock to hurl a last defiance at the Americans, was dropped in his tracks by a volley of rifle fire.

Proceeding on into the interior, the troops encountered forces of Datu Amai Makasimpan, who was thoroughly hostile to the Americans. Messengers to this Datu returned with the word mat not only would there be no parley but that "unless the Americans left the country, their heads would be cut off and thrown into Lake Dapulak."

Regardless of this threat, the American forces moved against the cotta and destroyed it, putting the surviving Moros to flight in the jungle.

The Scouts reached Lake Nunungan on April 25 after several more brushes with the Moros. Here the troops went into camp, and were disturbed a great deal at night by the Moros firing into the barricade. Night patrols were located on the camp's edges, and after a successful ambush of the nocturnal marksmen the annoyance ceased.

Some of the Moros on the eastern shores of Lake Nunungan were disposed to be friendly, for early on the morning of May 2, the "Datu Demaampao, with one man, came into camp and stated that all of his followers were on the shore of the lake and wished a conference with the Americans. Lieutenant Fletcher, with an interpreter, accompanied the Datu across the lake to the place where the Moros were assembled. There were about forty men, all armed, and fifty women and children."

"As the lieutenant stepped ashore, the women screamed and covered their heads. They had never before seen a white man. They gradually calmed down and small presents were distributed among them, such as small mirrors, needles, thread, talcum powder, red wax for the lips and cigarettes."

Friendly relations were soon established and the next day the troops moved on deeper into the Moro country.

One of the main objectives of the American expedition was the capture of a notorious outlaw named Carabao, who had deserted from the Constabulary, carrying with him a Springfield rifle.

The day following the departure from Lake Nunungan, the troops came definitely into the territory of Carabao. At eight o'clock in the morning, as the troops were crossing a field, they were fired upon from the dense jungle 200 yards away. The report of a Springfield rifle was plainly heard and with the first shot one member of the American force fell, shot through the heart.

The combat report again takes up the story: '

"The patrol now deployed and advanced into the woods to find that the Moros had retreated along a well-used trail The Scouts moved carefully down this trail, which, was very steep, dropping at an angle of 45 degrees.

"About two thousand feet down the trail, the Scouts, with Lieutenant Fletcher at their head, stepped into a cleared area. A rifle blazed almost in their faces, the bullet carrying away part of Lieutenant Fletcher's mustache and burning his lip.

"Carabao, who had fired the shot, was protected by the large trees from the volley fired by the Scouts.

"When the soldiers returned to their starting position, it was found that the Moros had been there during their pursuit of Carabao. The soldier who had been killed as the action commenced was found cut into four pieces. He was lying on his back and a Moro had struck him two blows with a campilane. The first blow had severed the body at the fourth rib and the second had completely severed both thighs from the crotch. The body was further mutilated by spear wounds in either eye."

The Americans closed this campaign after several weeks of exploration and guerilla warfare in the heart of the lake country. Lieutenant Fletcher brought his tired men safey back to Malabang. A wide circuit had been made through previously unknown country and the army became possessed of maps of the region to guide future expeditions.

The outlaw Carabao escaped the American troops, and it was not until 1914 that he eventually brought in his rifle and surrendered.

A word must be said for Lieutenant Allan S. Fletcher, who led this party into the hostile Lanao country. Fletcher was a jungle campaigner of the finest order and was, without doubt, one of the ablest field officers in the American army. He was a man without fear and he possessed qualities which endeared him to the Moros and earned their utmost respect.

Fletcher rose to the grade of Lientenant-Colonel, in that capacity commanding Pettit Barracks in Zamboanga from 1921 until shortly before his death an December 16, 1929. He lies buried today in Arlington.

He was a grand soldier, and was known affectionately and familiarly as "Papa" by thousands of old-timers and new-comers in Mindanao.

Original publication © 1936 E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.

Filipiniana Reprint Series © 1985 Cacho Hermanos, Inc.

This page (HTML format)© 2001 Bakbakan International. Transcription courtesy of Ashley Bass.