200 



REESE 



TABLE 1 (cont'd) 



natural history, including the first chart of the Marshall Islands. The surgeon and zoologist Frederick Eschscholtz made zoological 

 collections Enewetak Atoll in its extreme northwesterly position seems to have been missed; however, he visited Bikini Atoll 

 which he named Eschscholtz Island Kotzebue again visited the Marshall Islands for further exploration in 1824 

 In 1841 Lt. Charles Wilkes, commanding the U. S. Exploring Expedition in the Peacock and the F/ying Fish, visited the north- 

 em Marshall Islands Charts were made of some of the atolls along with valuable observations on their natural history. For 

 example, while chartering Rongerik Atoll, Wilkes observed no coconut or pandanus trees and saw no humans There were other 

 visits during the second half of the 19th cpntury, particularly by whaling ships 

 The first missionaries arrived in the Marshall Islands in 1857 It is not clear when their influence was first felt at Enewetak. 



10 



11. 



12. 



German Protectorate. 1885 to 1914. 



No Europeans lived on Enewetak Atoll during this period The German administration was on Ponape The Germans encouraged the 

 Enewetak people to grow coconuts for copra, which they sold to German traders This had the effect of shifting the Enewetak society 

 from a subsistence economy to a mixture of cash and subsistence 

 Japanese Mandate, 1914 to 1944 



The Japanese seized Enewetak and all other German possessions in Micronesia in 1914 Subsequently, they continued to control the 

 islands under mandate from the League of Nations Although a Japanese trader and two assistants resided on Enewetak, the adminis- 

 tration continued to be from Ponape A number of Japanese scientific parties visited the Marshall Islands, but little happened until 

 1939 when the Japanese began to fortify Enewetak including building a landing field on Enjebi Island There were several thousand 

 Japanese military personnel living on Enewetak from 1941 to 1944. 



United States Forces captured Enewetak in February 1944 Heavy aerial and naval bombardment preceded the battle which lasted 

 several days, from February 17 to 22 The Battle of Enewetak was the last assault against a defended atoll in World War II 

 At the end of World War II, the United States was given trusteeship of the Micronesian Islands, formerly under Japanese control, by 

 the United Nations 



In December 1947, the Enewetak f)eople were transferred to Ujilang Atoll. At this time the population was about 141 people. 

 From 1948 to 1958, the United States undertook a series of 43 nuclear tests at Enewetak From 1958 to 1977, the atoll was used 

 for other quasi-military purposes. This was a time of major environmental disturbance to the atoll. Buildings, testing facilities, roads, 

 and airfields were constructed The human population fluctuated from several dozen to several thousand during this period, depend- 

 ing on the testing oper.-ition. 



In 1954 the Enewetak Marine Biological Laboratory was established It was operated by the University of Hawaii from 1954 to 1983 

 with funds allocated by the Division of Biology and Medicine of the U S. Atomic Energy Commission. The name of the laboratory 

 subsequently was changed to the Mid Pacific Marine Laboratory and later, to further reflect the scope of its operation, to the Mid- 

 Pacific Research Laboratory For a history of the laboratory and its operation, see Chapter 1 of this volume. 



In 1972 the U. S Atomic Energy Commission began radiological surveys of the atoll in preparation for the rehabilitation and reset- 

 tlement of the Enewetak people. 



In 1977 the United States Government began the radiological cleanup and rehabilitation of the atoll. The work was completed in 

 1979. 

 In April 1980, Enewetak Atoll was officially returned to the Enewetak people (see Chapter 2 of this volume for further details). 



fire and flamethrowers almost denuded some of the 

 islands — especially Eniebi, Enewetak, and Medren — of 

 their vegetation In the 1960s and 1970s a single tail coco- 

 nut palm on Enewetak Island, which had a bend halfway 

 up its trunk presumably due to damage sustained in 1944, 

 was said to be the only coconut tree to survive that turbu- 

 lent period. From 1944 to 1980, Enewetak was under 

 U. S. trusteeship granted by the United Nations. 



In 1947, the Enewetak people were removed to Uji- 

 lang Atoll, and the United States government began 10 

 years of testing of nuclear explosives on the atoll, 1948 to 

 1958. Again there was a major impact on the relatively 

 fragile biota due to the construction of the test facilities 

 and the 43 nuclear tests. Finally, in 1977 the U. S. gov- 

 ernment undertook a major cleanup of the atoll in prepara- 



tion for its return to the Enewetak people (Kiste, Chapter 

 2, this volume). 



From the standpoint of terrestrial ecology the most sig- 

 nificant aspect of the clean up operation was the removal 

 of radioactive soil from many of the islands on the north- 

 east rim of the atoll. The contaminated soil was interred 

 with a slurry of concrete in two nuclear craters on Runit 

 Island. 



Only the five islands on the south rim of the atoll, lying 

 west of the deep south channel, and Biken Island on the 

 west rim were relatively unscathed by these events. On 

 Ikuren, Mut, and Boken Islands the gradual replacement of 

 the coconut trees, Cocos nucifer, planted in rows under 

 German influence and now nearing senescense, by Pisonia 

 grandis trees is especially evident. 



