BRIEF HISTORY

Sixty years after Magellan landed in Cebu in 1521, the first Spanish settlement in the Cagayan Valley was founded in Lal-lo, Cagayan in 1581. From there, the colonizers slowly moved south following the Rio Grande de Cagayan. It was another sixty years when they were known to have obtained foothold in Isabela.

The first known town established in Isabela by the Spaniards was Cabagan which was founded on May 15, 1647. It took them another 80 years before they established communities in southern Isabela, the last of which was Carig which was formally established on May 04, 1743.

However, as early as 1702, a place known as Carig was already in existence. In an old document found among the papers of the late Ventura Panganiban, a "Jues" of Santiago in 1871, and a "Cabeza de Barangay" in 1886, mention was made of a Padre Andres Gonzales Baltazar Y Jose Rezabal, as being a member of a mission which reached as far as Carig in 1702. Again, when the construction of the road to Manila through the Caraballo Mountains was begun in 1736, one Padre Diego La Torre, a missionary from Ilagan was sent to attend the ground breaking ceremonies passing through Carig. A year later, another missionary, a Pedro Jose Omas Martin, went to Aritao, passing through Carig, and whose party was ambushed by Igorots. But one Padre Antonio del Ocampo was generally known to be founder of the towns from Cauayan, Isabela to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya.

In another document found in the National Archives, the town of Carig was mentioned in a statistical report submitted to the Prior Provincial of the Province of the Holy Rosary run to the Sacred Orders of Preachers.

It seems that by virtue of a "Decree of Request" promulgated in October 30, 1713, the inhabitants of Carig, Cordon, Diffun, and Santa Barbara de Lappao, were required to give rice and stipends to the missionaries in these places.

As can be gleaned from the early records found, the town was already known as Santiago de Carig. It is understandable that the same "Santiago" was already a part of the town’s name because it was under the advocation of Santiago Apostol, the Patron Saint of Spain. Carig is a river running thru the town from west to east to south now known as Diadi River. It is no wonder, therefore, that this town was popularly known as Carig even when it was a barrio of Echague, then a bigger and more progressive town because of its location along the Cagayan River, which was the principal route of travel in Isabela and Cagayan. There were no roads connecting the towns of Cagayan and Isabela. The people in those places traveled thru the Cagayan River using sailboats carrying tobacco, corn, coconut and salted fish. There are no historical documents to show how the town finally got its name "Santiago". A legend down from generations has it that it was named after a local hero by the name of Santiago Lumidao, whose exploits in battle against the head hunting pagans was enduring and wondrous.

According to the legend, the three communities which had been perennial targets of the pagan incursions were Cordon, Santiago and Echague. The raids were common occurrences, especially during the mating season when the tribes sent head-hunters to bring home trophies in the form of Christian heads. Such were the exploits against the Christians that they were sometimes forced to give tributes in order to be spared from those bloody incursions. Among the more notorious warlike tribes were the Igorots, Aetas, Ilongots and Kalingas.

When the Christians could no longer tolerate the aggressions, they decided to organize a defense group to resist the invasions. The pagans learned of this and boasted that they could overrun these three towns, breakfasting in Cordon, taking their lunch in Santiago, and their supper in Echague.

The Christian defense forces consisting of volunteers from Echague, Santiago and Cordon, assembled at the bank of the Ilut River, which divided the town of Cordon and the mountain where the pagans lived.

A hail of arrows and spears hurled across each bank signaled the beginning of the battle. All of a sudden, as the infidels prepared to ford the river, a great shout not unlike that of thunder was heard behind the defense lines. There, on top of a hill was a lone warrior on a white stead dressed in white, brandishing a flaming sword. Shouts of "Santiago, Santiago" came from both forces. The sight gave courage to the defenders but spurred the invaders to greater fury.

Hardly had the infidels touched the river’s edge when as if a great wind swept over the place and the river dried up. In a rush, they advanced but just as suddenly, when half of the invaders reached the middle of the river bed, the river filled up again in a swirling and churning fury, drowning those on its wake. Again and again, the invaders attacked only to be repulsed by the defenders and thwarted by the raging current. Seeing their opportunity, the defenders in turn counter-attacked. Led by the unknown soldier, the invaders were soon in a rout, shrieking "Santiago, Santiago", as they fled in terror and disarray.

The shouts of fear were drowned by the louder victory cries of the victors. In their elation , however, they failed to note that their champion disappeared. No one saw him leave. His identity remained a mystery but many thought he was Santiago Lumidao, a local warrior known for his bravery and powers in battle. But not a few believed that he was Senior Santiago Apostol, Carig’s patron saint himself who led the Christians to victory. This belief was confirmed next morning when the early church goers found the patron saint’s statue on horseback full of amorsecos, a kind of grass which should be on the battlefield the day before. Since then, the town of Carig came to be called Santiago in memory of the great battle and its hero who was either Santiago Lumidao or the patron saint Santiago Apostol.

Historical records show that the Municipality of Santiago was officially created by a Royal Decree on May 1858. At this time this decree was promulgated, the towns of Diffun and Saguday, in the province of Quirino and the towns of Cordon, Ramon and San Mateo, in the province of Isabela, were barrios of this Municipality. Notwithstanding the creation of these municipalities from the original land area, Santiago has developed and progressed to become the leading commercial, industrial and educational center of Cagayan Valley today.