Editing Midway Atoll (section)

===Early 20th century===
[[File:Aerial view of Midway Atoll on 24 November 1941 (80-G-451086).jpg|thumb|Midway Atoll in November 1941, looking west]]

In 1903, workers for the [[Commercial Pacific Cable Company]] took up residence on the island as part of the effort to lay a trans-Pacific [[electric telegraph|telegraph]] cable. To make the island more verdant, these workers introduced many non-native species to the island, including the [[Domestic Canary|canary]], [[Cycas|cycad]], [[Araucaria heterophylla|Norfolk Island pine]], [[Casuarina|she-oak/Ironwood]], [[coconut]], and various [[deciduous]] trees; along with some {{convert|9000|ST|t}} of soil from Oahu and Guam. Ants, cockroaches, termites, centipedes, and countless other organisms were unintentionally introduced to Midway and the soil.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preserving the Past: Cable Company |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Cable_Company.html |date=2016-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001011508/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Cable_Company.html |archive-date=2017-10-01 |url-status=dead |website=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service}}</ref>

On January 20, 1903, the United States Navy opened a radio station in response to complaints from cable company workers about [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[squatting|squatters]] and [[Poaching|poachers]]. Between 1904 and 1908, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] stationed 21 [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] on the island to end wanton destruction of bird life and keep Midway safe as a [[United States territory|U.S. possession]], protecting the cable station.<ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Midway Islands." ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', December 6, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/place/Midway-Islands</ref>

In 1935, operations began for the [[Martin M-130]] [[flying boat]]s operated by [[Pan American Airlines]]. The M-130s island-hopped from [[San Francisco]] to the [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|Republic of China]], providing the fastest and most luxurious route to the [[Far East]] and bringing tourists to Midway until 1941.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-24 |title=Pan Am Era |url=https://www.midway-island.com/history/pan-american-airlines/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=Midway Island |language=en}}</ref> Only the wealthy could afford the trip, which in the 1930s cost more than three times the annual salary of an average American. With Midway on the route between [[Honolulu]] and [[Wake Island]], the flying boats landed in the atoll and pulled up to a float offshore in the lagoon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pan American Airlines |url=https://www.treasureislandmuseum.org/youarehere/pan-american-airlines |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=timuseum |language=en}}</ref> Tourists transferred to the Pan Am Hotel or the "Gooneyville Lodge", named after the ubiquitous "Gooney birds" ([[albatross]]es), in this case [[Laysan albatross|Laysan Albatross]] and [[Black-footed Albatross]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pan American Airways on the Home Front in the Pacific (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/pan-american-airways-on-the-wwii-home-front-in-the-pacific.htm |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>