Cradled by the lofty Cordillera Mountains was an ancient land known as Kafagway. Soaring five thousand feet above sea level, the area was blessed with a temperate climate in a tropical country. Its rugged terrain made it relatively inaccessible. Thus, while most of the Philippines languished under the yoke of Spanish rule, its inhabitants managed to keep foreign influences at bay and live as their ancestors had for centuries.

As a consequence, until the turn of the 20th century the grassy area that now covers much of the present-day central business district of Baguio -- stretching southward to the area occupied by Camp John Hay -- was part of the grazing land of the Cariño clan. Its patriarch, Mateo was the cabesilla and the acknowledged community headman of the prominent Ibaloi families of Kafagway. His gold trading and extensive flock of cattle made him a baknang (wealthy man).

As the fires of the Philippine Revolution reached Baguio, he and other Ibaloi leaders "provided intelligence information and sanctuary to revolutionary leaders in retreat. They also believed to have contributed to revolution’s coffers. When the Malolos Constitution was promulgated and the first Philippine Republic was declared, Ibaloi support for the revolution was rewarded with Juan Oraa Carino being named governor of Benguet under the new Republic and Mateo Carino being appointed president of the township of Baguio and captain of Igorot forces. Although he was offered similar positions by the Americans he asked that his son Sioco take his place.

As the 1800s ended, the idyllic way of life of Kafagway came to an end. There was little to stop the American’s determination to make a haven to seek refuge from the lowland heat and the gold in ‘em mountains made the lure of Kafagway too much to deny.

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