Palmyra Atoll is situated about one thousand miles south of Hawai‘i, part of the Line Islands, just northwest of Kiribati. It is located at 5 52 N latitude and 162 06 W longitude. The atoll contains 11.9 sq miles of land, which includes about 50 islets. The major islets of Palmyra include Home, Holei, and Cooper islets. The atoll is densely forested with mainly coconut (niu) trees and pandanus (hala) trees. These trees on the islets of the atoll reach heights of up to fifty feet. The atoll contains an unusually high concentration of vegetation, unlike any other equatorial atoll.

The climate of Palmyra is uncommon for a Pacific atoll because of its position in the equatorial zone where constant wind and rain buffet the islets. The number of islets has been constantly changing over time due to the constant shifting of sand, erosion caused by wave action, rising sea levels, and human activity.

Palmyra has had many human visitors, but no permanent residents. The early history of the islands was recorded within ship captains’ journals, scientific journals, and lies hidden in scattered shipwrecks. Much of this history recounts the long struggles to keep hold of the atoll under one nation and under one jurisdiction.

Early Explorers

Ancient Polynesians probably inhabited Palmyra atoll at one point in time. Written accounts by Joseph F. Rock, states that approximately 25,000 or more coconut trees were found growing at full maturity on the atoll upon his visit to Palmyra in 1913. Kenneth Emory also reported a high number of coconut trees growing on Palmyra, as well as the neighboring islands such as Washington and Fanning Islands. It was recorded in the journal of Joseph Rock in the early twentieth century that "Palmyra was once in the possession of the Pacific Navigation Company, which had sent a man named Dillon in September, 1885… to plant coconuts, make a strong effort to find pearl shell, coral, etc." Although the man named Dillon planted some 200-coconut trees, it would be highly unlikely that the trees could have multiplied into the 25,000 coconut trees that Joseph F. Rock counted in 1913. This evidence indicates that ancient Polynesians very likely settled Palmyra at one time, however, no real permanent settlement with a unique culture or peoples was ever established on this atoll.

Captain Fanning made the first recorded discovery of Palmyra in 1792. Captain Sawle of the U.S. ship Palmyra made the first "official discovery" of Palmyra on November 7, 1802. Captain MacKay also traveled to the atoll and gave the name Samarang, after the ship of Captain Scott who visited it on September 15, 1840. It is commonly called Palmyra today, but it can be found in old texts as Samarang.

When Palmyra showed up on the map of the Pacific explorers, no one attempted to claim Palmyra until October of 1859, when Dr. G. P. Judd, an agent of the American Guano Company traveled to Palmyra on the brig Josephine. A little over two years later, King Kamehameha IV, considered a petition by Z. Bent and J. Wilkinson, which requested that Palmyra become a part of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Bent and Wilkinson sailed to Palmyra and erected a pole with a Hawaiian flag and a message claiming the island for the Hawaiian Kingdom on April 15, 1862. Upon their visit, Bent and Wilkinson found coconuts, pandanus (hala), and a species of koa growing on Palmyra. They left one white man and four Hawaiians who built a house and started to plant vegetables and search for other possible products indigenous to the atoll.

Although the U.S. claimed the island before the Hawaiian Kingdom, the claim by the Hawaiian Kingdom was not challenged by the United States. In 1889, Captain Nichols of H.B.M.S. Cormorant also claimed the island for the Queen of Great Britain. This claim was a claim for Palmyra and nothing more. The Hawaiian claim had left people on the island in order to settle the island, while the British had made no further attempts at colonization on the island.

The ownership of the island was in the hands of Bent and Wilkinson under the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. The Hawaiian claim on Palmyra seemed to be the only valid claim at the end of the nineteenth century, when the island of Palmyra was annexed along with the other Hawaiian Islands to the United States in 1898 following the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.

Bent had sold his interest in Palmyra and transferred sole possession to Wilkinson who in turn left it in his will to his wife. She then sold it to Judge Cooper of Honolulu in 1911. In 1898, Mrs. Wilkinson, living in Australia, obtained the lease for the island later her heirs sold it in a series of transfers and conveyances. After granting control of Palmyra to the United States, the Pacific Navigation Company took control over the island, and leased it to Mr. Dillon from 1885-1886.

In 1911, Judge Henry Ernest Cooper Sr. of Honolulu obtained control of the island. At that point, he decided to sail to his new property. Judge Cooper’s crew consisted of Dr. C.M. Cooke, of the Bishop Museum, Joseph F. Rock, the president of the College of Hawai‘i, and a number of crewmen. Aboard Cooper’s schooner the Luka, they traveled to Palmyra in July of 1913, and recorded a detailed account of the flora and fauna of the atoll on each of the islets. Their detailed account recorded many new species of plants and animals and also recorded the unusually dense forests on this small equatorial atoll.

Soon after the hardships of their rough voyage to Palymyra (due to inadequate amounts of drinking water), Judge Cooper sold the atoll of Palmyra to the Fullard-Leo family of Honolulu in 1922. After the sale of Palmyra to the Fullard-Leo family (except two islets that Judge Cooper left to his heirs), the atoll was considered a stopping ground for Pan-Pacific flights between Hawai‘i and New Zealand. Although the island was not selected as the site for a base in the Pan-Pacific flights, the U.S. military did not ignore its potential as a military base.

The U.S. military sent a group of military personal and civilians to "colonize" the islands for the United States and the military in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Their work constructing airfields, buildings, and other projects helping airplanes land on the islands secured the presence of the United States in the Pacific Islands. The group of military personal and civilians consisted of four recent Kamehameha graduates and A. Judd, a descendent of G. P. Judd, from the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. These "colonizing" trips lasted from 1935 to 1942, in which they visited Palmyra atoll, along with a number of equatorial islands.

After these colonizing trips, the U.S. Navy was interested in constructing a naval base in Palmyra in 1941. Congress appropriated monies for the completion of naval bases at both Johnston and Palmyra atolls. Palmyra was a strategic location for the navy during its buildup of defense bases throughout the Pacific before, during, and after World War II.

On the islets of Palmyra, along with Johnston Atoll, the U.S. military started to build runways and other infrastructure in order to secure Palmyra as a refueling base for seaplanes stationed in Hawai‘i. The U.S. Navy stationed thousands of troops on the atoll, built a 6000-foot airstrip, dredged some lagoons, and used the material from the dredging to combine some of the islets.

Although the Fullard-Leo family owned the island, the military took over possession of the atoll from 1939 to 1947. The Fullard-Leo family sued the U.S. military for damaging their atoll during this period. The U.S. Navy claimed that the Fullard-Leo’s claim to the island was not legitimate; therefore they contended for ownership of the island in the Supreme Court. The Fullard-Leo’s claim was lost when the Supreme Court decided in favor of the Fullard-Leo family and granted a monetary compensation of $100,000 for the use of the atoll during the said period.

After the war, the island was virtually untouched by visitors. In 1959, when Hawai‘i became a state, the island was left out and remained under the territory of the Hawai’i; this resulted in Palmyra being the only unincorporated U.S. territory in the United States. In 1961, the Department of the Interior gained jurisdiction over the island, which is the only privately owned territory in the United States.

After the U.S. Navy left Palmyra, the island remained untouched for a period of time. The only other significant news coming from the atoll would be the double murder of a San Diego couple, Mr. And Mrs. Malcolm Graham by Buck Duane and his girlfriend Stephanie Stearns in 1974, which later became a best-selling book and a made for television movie in the early 90’s. Many ideas have been suggested for the use of Palmyra, including promoting the island as a tourist get-a-way, and even as storage for nuclear waste.

In a series of events in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the State of Hawai‘i prepared to purchase Palmyra atoll. In the 1989 Hawai‘i State Legislature, a bill was introduced which appropriated a certain amount of money for the purchase of the atoll, but it did not pass. According to Savio Realty, the asking price for the atoll was $33 million. The Fullard-Leo family eventually sold the atoll to the Nature Conservancy in 2000 for a price of $30 million.

Palmyra was sold to the Nature Conservancy in order to preserve the nature and beauty of the atoll. This purchase by the Nature Conservancy also coincided with the United States Fish and Wildlife overseeing control over the atoll. The conservation of this historic atoll is a very wise move by the United States and the Nature Conservancy. Palmyra is one of the only remaining Pacific atolls, which has not been ruined or destroyed by civilization. By saving the atoll, you have the chance to explore the environment of a tropical environment that has not been ruined by human activity.