The feeling of friendship between the Igorot and insurrectos was so strong that when the insurrectos asked the Igorot to go to Manila to fight the new enemy (the Americans), 400 warriors, armed only with spear, battle-ax, and shield, went a three weeks’ journey to get American heads.  At Caloocan, just outside Manila, they met the American Army early in February, 1899.  They threw their spears, the Americans fired their guns —­ “which must be brothers to the thunder,” the Igorot said —­ and they let fall their remaining weapons, and, panic stricken, started home.  All but thirteen arrived in safety.  They are not ashamed of their defeat and retreat; they made a mistake when they went to fight the Americans, and they were quick to see it.  They are largely blessed with the saving sense of humor, and some of the warriors who were at Caloocan have been known to say that they never stopped running until they arrived home.

When these men told their people in Bontoc what part they and the insurrectos played in the fight against the Americans, the tension between the Igorot and insurrectos was at its greatest.  The insurrectos were evidently worse than the Spaniards.  They did all the things the Spaniards had done, and more —­ they robbed through falsehood.  Consequently, insurrectos frequently lost their heads.

Major Marsh went through Bontoc close after Aguinaldo in December, 1899.  The Igorot befriended the Americans; they brought them food and guided them faithfully along the bewildering mountain trails when the insurrectos split and scattered —­ anywhere, everywhere, fleeing eastward, northward, southward, in the mountains.

When Major Marsh returned through Bontoc, after following Aguinaldo into the heart of the Quiangan area, he left in the pueblo some sixty shoeless men under a volunteer lieutenant.  The lieutenant promptly appointed an Ilokano presidente, vice-presidente, secretary, and police force in Bontoc and also in Sagada, and when the soldiers left in a few weeks he gave seven guns to the “officials” in Bontoc and two to those in Sagada.  A short time proved that those “officials” were untrustworthy men; many were insurrectos who had dropped behind Aguinaldo.  They persecuted the Igorot even worse than had the insurrectos.  They seemed to have the American Army behind them —­ and the Igorot stood in awe of American arms.

The crisis came.  An Igorot obtained possession of one of the guns, and the Ilokano chief of police was killed and his corporal wounded.

This shooting, at the time apparently unpremeditated, but, in reality, carefully planned and successfully executed, was the cause of the arrival in Bontoc pueblo of the first American civilians.  At that time a party of twenty Americans was at Fidelisan, a long day northwest of Bontoc; they were prospecting and sightseeing.  The Ilokano sent these men a letter, and the Igorot sent a messenger, begging them to come to the help of the pueblo.  Three men went on August 27, 1900; they were Truman K. Hunt, M.D., Mr. Frank Finley, and Mr. Riley.  The disagreement was settled, and several Ilokano families left Bontoc under the protection of Mr. Riley.