Although Captain Rudd had established the first American military outpost in Baguio, Dean Conant Worcester is credited with bringing the area to the attention of the officials in Washington DC. His familiarity with the place sprung from earlier visits to the Philippines as a member of a zoological expedition. Although he had been unable to visit the area, his interest had been caught by claims that there was a pine-covered highland with temperatures that were “cool, even cold at times.”

Returning to Manila as a member of the First Philippine Commission, Worcester thus searched for a report of the Spanish expedition to the area. The detailed report was found in an old Spanish medical journal. After his term expired, he returned to the States where he was named a member of the Second Philippine Commission under William Howard Taft. It was then that he brought the report to the attention of then Secretary of War Elihu Root.

The value of such a place was readily apparent to Root. He instructed the members of the Commission to verify the report, and if true, “to open up the country.” Like most natives of less humid climes, Americans found it difficult to adjust to the tropical heat and believed occasional furloughs to cooler climes would increase their resistance to tropical diseases.

In July 1900, Worcester set out for Baguio, not only to verify the findings of the report but also to validate accounts of rich mineral deposits in the area. Using San Fernando as a jump off point, the group proceeded up the old Naguilian Trail. During their stay, the team made their own readings of temperature, humidity and rainfall during the months of August, September and October of 1900. Comparing these with similar readings in Manila, they illustrated how fit the area was as a health resort. These findings were buttressed by a physician’s enumeration of the possible benefits of the climate in the treatment of various diseases and infirmities.

Their report set the stage for the development of Baguio and gave a sense of urgency to plans of building a military hill station. Having a refuge from the heat was viewed by Governor-General William Howard Taft as, “the means of recuperating the army of the United States in the most economic method.” Baguio and the military hill station, thus, became a practical alternative to sending troops back to the United States to recover from the rigors of a tour of duty in the tropics.

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