GEOGRAPHY(page 2)
Descriptions of the province have differed, depending on the time period and the people doing the writing. In 1899 Nueva Vizcaya was reported to have had "17,039 inhabitants, 8 towns, 12 barrios and numerous savage tribes," spread over 1,700 square miles. A civil governor ruled the province, assisted by a court of justice. The capital was Bayombong and the major towns were Bambang, Dupax, and Aritao. This description of Nueva Vizcaya under the Spanish was written just before the Americans took over, so it probably was the last survey under Spanish jurisdiction. Earlier records of the area are more vague. In 1591 an encomienda survey indicated: "Balissi, Moyot, and Camaguil (probably the area � of the lower Magat): 550 tributes, or 2,200 souls, "in rebellion." Purrao Culit (not identified, but probably in Paniquy� around the present Bayombong): 500 tributes, or 2,000 souls, "in rebellion." Taotao (possibly the Aritao area in the upper Magat): 500 tributes, or 2,000 souls, "in rebellion.Actual villages within the regions were named and described in 1591 within two valleys, the Dumagui(Magat) or Todos Santos and Dangla(Ganano). Within the Dumagui valley there were the settlements of: "Tuy: 60 houses; Bantal: 30 houses; Barat and Bugay or Bugney: 500 houses; Guilaylay: 40 houses; Anit: 70 houses; Sicat and Marangui: house numbers not recorded." Bugay would become Aritao, and Sicat may have been the old name for Dupax. The area was commonly known as Tuy or Ituy in the Spanish records, after the village of Tuy. Dangla was part of Paniquy and included the villages of "Dangla or Agulan: 80 houses; Yrao: 60 house; Palan or Japalan: 80 houses: Bayaban, Balayan, Chicanen, Yabios, Bugai, Bayocos, Banete, Lamut or Pamut, Palilamot, Bolo or Bolos, Balabad or Balabat, Nacalan, and Paita or Paitan: none with houses recorded." Bayaban possibly was Bayombong and Balabad was Bagabag.
The number of people living in the area of Nueva Vizcaya under Spanish rule in 1591 must be taken as an estimate, although the number of houses listed in each settlement should be fairly accurate. Spanish presence in the valley may have been extensive, but they did not establish themselves in the upland other than outposts for soldiers and missions established by the religious orders, as in Kiangan. When the Spanish did establish a mission or outpost it was on the western side of the province in the Cordillera Central. They did not venture very far into the eastern side.� Name changes that occurred as the Spanish established themselves in Nueva Vizcaya could have been caused by their misunderstanding the names of the local communities. The Spanish also named places themselves, ignoring the old names. Larger areas such as valleys or provinces probably did not have a common name used by the people living in the area before Spanish contact. The wide dispersal of people living in Nueva Vizcaya would suggest that there were no names shared between the different peoples for larger geographical areas, such as a common name for the province or the river valley. As the Spanish gained more control of the area of the upper Cagayan Valley, they established the names that would become permanent, at least until the American occupation.
The first mention of Nueva Vizcaya by the Americans was in the Philippine Commission report of 1900, just after the United States gained control of the Philippines. According to the report, Nueva Vizcaya was located between the provinces of Lepanto, Bontoc, Quiangan, Isabela, Principe, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, and Benguet. This excludes most of Ifugao, except for Quiangan or Kiangan. The province was seventeen leagues from north to south and eight leagues from east to west. The mountains of Nueva Vizcaya were rugged but there was a fertile river valley, the Magat, that was "almost all under irrigation. Nueva Vizcaya covered 4,384 square kilometers, and had 19,379 registered people. There were, however, estimated to be many unregistered "pagans" in the mountains: no less than 12,000 Igorrotes, 13,000 Tinguanes, 4,000 or more Ilongot and 10,000 Isinayas. People who would have been considered civilized would have been fairly accurately counted, but numbers of "pagans" in the mountains would not have been known as precisely. There was little contact between the upland people and those in the low lands, other than the upland people coming down to trade. Other contact between the two groups was usually in the nature of raids and violent conflict.� Major towns of the province included Bayombong, with 3,550 people; Diadi, with 2,114; Bagabag, with 1,600; Ibung, with 1,097; Solano, with 4,411; Bambang, with 3,000; Dupax, with 3,000; and Aritao with 1,000. The population of the towns would not include the people living in the mountains and who did not live in settled communities. They lived in small family groups scattered throughout an area, usually close to their farms and rice land.� By 1918, the towns in Nueva Vizcaya included Aritao, 610 people; Bagabag, 3,730; Bambang, 2,564; the capital Bayombang, 5,627; Dupax, 3,669; Imugan, 1,705; Kayapa, 1,111; Santa Cruz, 2,300; and Solano, 7,118.
In 1939, the municipalities were Aritao, 6,208 people; Bagabag, 10,702; Bambang, 8,545; the capital Bayombong, 12,146; Dupax, 6,767; Imugan, 2,043(became part of Kayapa); Kasibu, 1,591; Kayapa, 3,808; Pinappagan, 3,923(located where Maddela is today); Pinkian, 4,894; and Solano, 17,878.��20�"� During the thirty-nine year period, some of the municipalities changed in Nueva Vizcaya. This was because of boundary changes and the changing of town names. Of the municipalities that stayed the same there was a definite pattern of expansion. Municipalities that increased the most in population- Bayombong, Bagabag, Solano- were in the lowlands near the Magat River and on the northern side of the province. Those municipalities that increased the least, Kayapa and Imugan, are in the uplands and at the southern end of the province. There were, and still are, a large number of ethnic groups living in the province of Nueva Vizcaya. People who originally lived in the area were the Gaddang, Yogad, Isinai, Ifugao, Ibaloi, and Ilongot. Some of the people, as much as the geography, contributed to the isolation of Nueva Vizcaya. Because of their ferocious nature they discouraged expansion into their domain.
The Gaddang and the Yogad lived in the area of Paniquy, the Gaddang numbering about 20,000 and the Yogad more than 8,000. These two groups are closely related. The Gaddang have been divided into five dialect subgroups; Gaddang proper, Yogad, Maddukayang, Katalangan, and Iraya. There are differences but they have a basic culture in which they share, through legend, a common ancestor. Each village formed its own political unit, but there were political alliances with other villages. They are able to sustain a trading relationship and peace agreements between communities.
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