Editing Johnston Atoll (section)

===Early history===
[[File:Johnston Island Reservation EO 4467 illustration.png|thumb|Johnston and Sand island when it was a bird reserve]]
The first Western record of the atoll was on September 2, 1796, when the Boston-based American [[brig]] ''Sally'' accidentally grounded on a shoal near the islands. The ship's captain, Joseph Pierpont, published his experience in several American newspapers the following year, accurately portraying Johnston and Sand Island along with part of the reef. Still, he did not name or lay claim to the area.<ref>"DISCOVERY. In lat. 16, 45, N. long. 169, 38 W. from London, on my passage from the Sandwich Islands to China, the 2d. of Sept. 1796, at midnight, in company with the sch. Prince William Henry, William Wake, master, of London, we both ran ashore on the North-side of a reef of Coral rocks and sand, where we continued until the next day noon─at which time the weather being very clear, we saw two small Islands of Sand, bearing W by N. 4 or 5 miles distant; and from our topgallant-mast-head, we saw the shoal extending E.S.E. southerly round to W.S.W.─but how far we were not able to determine. Keep the lat. 17. N. and the shoal will not be seen. JOSEPH PIERPONT." ''The Boston Price Current and Marine Intelligencer,'' September 14, 1797. Also in the ''Philadelphia Gazette,'' September 18, and ''Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser'' (Philadelphia, Pa), September 19, 1797.</ref> The islands were not officially named until [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] Charles J. Johnston of the [[Royal Navy|Royal Naval]] ship {{HMS|Cornwallis|1805|6}} sighted them on December 14, 1807.<ref>{{cite book|first=Alexander George|last=Findlay|title=A directory for the navigation of the Pacific Ocean|url=https://archive.org/details/adirectoryforna00findgoog|year=1851|pages=[https://archive.org/details/adirectoryforna00findgoog/page/n486 1106]–}}</ref> The ship's journal recorded: "on the 14th [December] made a new discovery, viz. two very low islands, in lat. 16° 52′ N. long. 190° 26′ E., having a dangerous reef to the east of them, and the whole not exceeding four miles in extent".<ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Marshall|title=Royal Naval Biography: Supplement I|location=London|publisher=Longman|date=1827|page=173}}</ref>

In 1856, the United States enacted the [[Guano Islands Act]], which allowed US citizens to take possession of uninhabited and unclaimed<ref name=LCDR>{{cite book|author=LCDR L.R. Bauer, USN|title=Historical Report of Johnston Atoll|year=1964}}</ref> islands containing [[guano]] deposits. Under this act, William Parker and R. F. Ryan chartered the schooner ''Palestine'' specifically to find Johnston Atoll. They located guano on the atoll on March 19, 1858. They proceeded to claim the island as U.S. territory.<ref name="US Insular Areas Report">{{cite web|title=GAO/OGC-98-5 – U.S. Insular Areas: Application of the U.S. Constitution|date=November 7, 1997|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OGC-98-5/content-detail.html|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|access-date=March 23, 2013|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508223051/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OGC-98-5/content-detail.html|url-status=live}}</ref> That same year, [[S. C. Allen]], sailing on the ''Kalama'' under a commission from [[Kamehameha IV|King Kamehameha IV]] of Hawai{{okina}}i, sailed to Johnston Atoll, removed the American flag, and claimed the atoll for the [[Kingdom of Hawaii]] (June 14–19, 1858).<ref name=LCDR/> Allen named the atoll "Kalama" and the nearby smaller island "Cornwallis."<ref>{{cite book|last=Rauzon|first=Mark J.|date=2016|title=Isles of Amnesia: The History, Geography, and Restoration of America's Forgotten Pacific Islands|publisher=University of Hawai{{okina}}i Press/Latitude 20|pages=136–137|isbn=9780824846794}}.</ref><ref name="Memorieshistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.johnstonmemories.com/|title=Johnston Island Memories Site|access-date=September 17, 2014|archive-date=August 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803173941/http://johnstonmemories.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Returning on July 22, 1858,<ref name=LCDR/> the captain of the ''Palestine'' again hoisted the American flag to re-assert US sovereignty over the island. On July 27, however, the "derelict and abandoned" atoll was declared part of the domain of Kamehameha IV.<ref name="Memorieshistory"/> On its July visit, however, the ''Palestine'' left two crew members on the island to gather [[phosphate]]. Later that year, Kamehameha revoked the lease granted to Allen when he learned the atoll had been claimed previously by the United States.<ref name="US Insular Areas Report"/> 

In 1872, Parker's widow sued for title to the island based on her husband's development work there. The US Attorney General denied that claim because Parker had sold his share several years before.<ref>US Naval Institute Proceedings, vol. 69, p. 1178</ref>

By 1890, the atoll's guano deposits had been almost entirely depleted (mined out) by U.S. interests operating under the Guano Islands Act. In 1892, {{HMS|Champion|1878|6}} surveyed and mapped the island to determine its suitability as a telegraph cable station. (This investigation was dropped when it was decided to run the cable via [[Tabuaeran|Fanning Island]]).<ref name=LCDR/> 
By 1898, the United States had taken possession,<ref>When Hawaii was annexed by the US in 1898 during the [[Spanish–American War]], the name of Johnston Island was not included in the list of 'Hawaiian Islands'.</ref> and a US Territorial Government was established. On September 11, 1909, this office leased Johnston Atoll to a private citizen, Max Schlemmen of Honolulu, for agricultural purposes. The lease stipulated planting of coconut trees, and that "lessee will not allow use of explosives . .  in the water immediately adjacent . . for the purposes of killing or capturing fish . . lessee will not allow destruction or capturing of birds . . "<ref name=LCDR/> The lessee soon abandoned the project, however, and on August 9, 1918, the lease was reassigned to a Honolulu-based Japanese fishing company. A sampan carried a work party to the island; they built a wood shed on the SE coast of the larger island and ran a small [[tramway track|tramline]] up the slope of the low hill to facilitate the removal of guano. Neither the quantity nor the quality of the guano was sufficient to cover the cost of gathering it, and the project was soon abandoned.<ref name="Memorieshistory"/>