One of the nicest Kampis I have seen to date. The Moros from Bayang are Maranaos.
Just to chime in on the paper tag. It goes against military records and personal accounts. This is a well known and documented event and not hard to research. Pershing is one of America greatest military heroes(and it is not because of his accomplishments during the Moro rebellion era). During WWI, he was promoted to General of the Armies(all military forces), only other person to have this rank is George Washington. Pershings background is well documented and tracked.
- Camp Vicars was not established yet in 1901 because 1st Lt Thomas Vicars was still alive in 1901.
- Battle of Pandapatan is also Battle of Bayang, which took place on May 2, 1902. 1st Lt Thomas Vicars died in this battle.
- Pershing did not participate at the Battle of Bayang. But he was a commander at Camp Vicars after the fact.
There might be some truth to the tag...my guess it was added later being it is just a bit off. Possibly a misinterpretation of an event by someone who knew the provenance of the item but was thinking back 10-20 years ago while adding the tag.
As for giving or donating the Kampilan back to the location of origin in the Philippines. To be honest, they would gladly accept it, but I dont see them throwing a parade over it...Im sure they still have plenty. And realistically speaking, museums in the Philippines are not the greatest. Most really do not know how to take care of their items. Example, original documents, they would just laminate them to preserve them..swords, I doubt they know what Ren Wax is. Also, many are not stored in environmental controlled displays or rooms. Philippines is a tropical environment with some seriously high humidity. God forbid if a typhoon that struck Manila the other month ever hit the museum...the sword would be underwater and possibly washed away. Ive been to several museums there and most of their swords on display have rust on them. On top of that, corruption. It is well known fact for items to disappear from museums. I seriously wouldn't be surprised if you see your kampilan up on eBay by next year. The most expensive painting in the Philippines(the Parisian Life by Juan Luna) is an example of this. Painting was tucked away for years, and then finally sold off by a 5th degree family member...ended up on Christies auction and was bought back by a Philippine government company for close to $1millUS. Sorry, but I just have to say I would be against giving it to a Philippine Museum unless it were the National Museum in Manila where they have the capabilities to take care of the piece. Im just rambling now...its Friday, Im happy. haha
