Envoy seeks more info on US settlement
Published on: Wednesday, December 03, 2014
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KOTA KINABALU: US Ambassador to Malaysia Joseph Yun said his Government may be interested in developing the American Settlement known as "Ellena" which existed in Kimanis in the late 1860s for tourism, once documents related to it were made available. It is understood that he had approached the Sabah Museum for more details on the first American presence in Borneo.He said he was unaware of it until tipped off by the Daily Express, whose Special Writer Kan Yaw Chong once did a special report in the 1980s on the failed attempt to set up an American colony there during the administration of Abraham Lincoln.
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Kan also took a picture of the tombstone of US citizen Thomas Bradley Harris, Hon. Chief Secretary, of the Colony of Ambong and Maroodu, on a hilltop in Kimanis which and serves as historical evidence of the past American settlement in the State. Thomas died in 1866, at age 40. He and Joseph W. Torrey purchased the land from Claude Lee Moses in 1865, who was the United States Consul to Brunei. It was a 10-year lease on a land near the mouth of the Kimanis River. Claude was given the rights by the Sultan of Brunei. Other Americans were also part of the group to set up the settlement with a total of about 12 Americans altogether.This meant that in 1865, the American flag was raised on then North Borneo (Sabah) and history would have taken a different course had circumstances favoured the group.
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However, the long forgotten colony of Ellena never flourished and was wracked by tropical disease which soon led to its abandonment in 1867. By 1875, Torrey sold the land to an Austrian baron named Von Overbeck.The Austria-Hungary government considered Kimanis to be useless, forcing the baron to sell the land to Alfred Dent, a British officer. The land became part of the British North Borneo Chartered Company and remained as such until 1897.
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To another question by Daily Express, Yun said the Embassy would be willing to liaise with the US Library of Congress to obtain for the Sabah Government a copy of several miles of unseen footage from the world's first wildlife documentary titled "Jungle Adventure" produced by famed Hollywood couple Martin and Osa Johnson about the life in the Kinabatangan in 1920."We assure you that we will help out," said the Ambassador. "We promise you that we will now look for them." The Johnsons spent four months on a houseboat to record wildlife and tribals along the 560km Kinabatangan under a special arrangement with the colonial administration.They returned to Borneo for a second visit in 1935 the result of which was the movie "Borneo". However, Martin died in a plane crash in 1939 in the US while Osa died in 1953. Their images of Sabah in the 1920 and 1930 were compiled into a special collector's coffee-table edition entitled, "Spirit of Borneo". It was presented to Prince William and his wife as a special gift during their visit to Sabah two years ago by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.The ambassador complimented Sabahans for their dedication on issues like the environment and green economy. "We went to the Heart of Borneo conference. We can see energy from the Sabah side to control deforestation, to have sustainable development. The government officials' side was also very energetic."Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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