The Igorot struggle for independence: William Henry Scott.

migrated into the present province of Ifugao after the Spaniards
invaded the upper Magat River Valley.
Modern Filipino writers seem to be just as slow as the
Spaniards to give credit to the Igorots for their defense of their
homeland. History professors in Manila classrooms have been
known to say that it was all just an accident of history or geography.
By this they mean either that it was too much trouble for the
Spaniards to invade the mountains or that they didn't want to do
so in the first place.
The idea that the Spaniards didn't want to invade the
mountains of the Igorots is just flatly contradictory to their own
records. They heard about the Ilocos gold mines before they
ever set foot in Luzon, and it only took them five years after
the founding of Manila to reach the Baguio mines. They established
short-lived forts in Boa and Antamok in 1620, 1623 and 1624, and
in Mankayan and Lepanto in 1668-but they were never able to
stay until after the invention of the modern repeating rifle. A
hundred years later they tried to open a road through Igorot territory between Pangasinan and Cagayan, and in 1750 began a 150 -war with the Ifugaos. In 1767 they were repulsed in Kiangan itself,
in 1793 they were met by natives wearing metal armor, and during
the 19th century they made literally dozens of expeditions into
that province. Yet in the 1850's the-Ifugaos killed or drove out all
the Spanish missionaries in Mayoyao, Bunhian and Kiangan. In the
1880's they were-picking off members of the new occupation forces
one by one, and during the revolution they completely massacred
the Kiangan garrison and sent a war party of 600 down to attack a
garrison in Isabela.
As far as saying that the Spaniards couldn't invade the mountains is concerned, is it the case that all lowlanders were conquered
and all highlanders remained independent? What -about the
Muslims? They defended their liberty against Spanish invasion
whether they lived in mountains, or in tiny little islands, or right
on the seacoast. On the other hand, not everybpdy who lived in
the mountains resisted Spanish conquest or, for that matter, even
wanted to. The mountains called the Caraballo Sur between Nueva
Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija are a case in point. For these are moun

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