High-resolution pics at Cornell's website

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Dimasalang

Vandoo, I have looked in to this picture in the past. From what I understand, the photo of the skulls were taken at the 'second' Battle of Bud Dajo(Dec 1911). The skulls were left over from the 'first' Battle of Dajo(March 1906). Bud Dajo is an extinct volcano, and the battles took place inside the crater. After the 1st initial battle ended, the Americans did not bury the dead...they threw the bodies in to the trench and they were left uncovered to rot...which sparked controversy and became a famous photograph in all US newspaper that same year due to some of the dead being woman and children. Here is the photo I am talking about from the 1st Battle of Bud Dajo 1906(estimated at 900 Moros killed):

The skulls in the 1st post are remnants of these dead bodies. It is unsure of who staked them(but I have a feeling the Americans wouldn't touch them).

Hi Vandoo,

As Dimasalang mentioned, the skulls are from the first Bud Dajo [pronounced bood DAH-ho] battle, on March 1906.

In Robert Fulton's Moroland book (2007), he refers to this photo in the chapter, "clean the place up":

"An unanswered question about Bud Dajo is why the Tausug leaders did not send their people up to bury their dead the next day, according to Muslim tradition and belief. It is known that many witnessed the assault from nearby hills and that some went up to view the carnage – Maharajah Indanan was one – but the dead there left where they lay, in mass graves with only the thin covering of dirt on their bodies. It may have been superstition or fear, given that this place had become such a terrible abattoir. Some said the principal datus simply did not care and were glad to be rid of their recalcitrant subjects. Or it may have been seen as a way to shame and rebuke the Americans. It certainly could not have helped matters that Capt. Koehler, unwittingly or not, had immolated sixty-seven bodies in the cotta at the top of the west trail, probably unaware that he was violating Muslim proscriptions against cremation. Maybe those slain on Bud Dajo were left unburied to be angry, unappeased, and tortured souls that might someday seek revenge.

"Shortly before Scott left for the U.S., he brought up to General Bliss the fact that the dead on the hill had never been properly buried and their shallow graves were regularly disturbed by American soldiers and sailors wanting to see the battle site and return with a few choice souvenirs. Many years later, a rather macabre photograph was deposited together with the papers of General John J. Pershing in the Library of Congress. It has written across it, “Six weeks after the Battle of Dajo” (late April) and shows about a dozen American soldiers who had lined up at least twenty skulls on top of a tree trunk spanning one of the trenches. A number of those present appear to be officers. Bliss, possibly having seen the photograph and heeding Scott’s advice, gave instructions to Scott’s successor, Col. E. Z. Steever, to “clean the place up.”

Based on Fulton's recounting of the events above, it would appear then that these skulls having been photographed just merely six weeks after the battle, were from the 67 bodies burned by Capt. Koehler on the day of the battle.

Alternatively, the skulls could have come from the other 800+ dead bodies. Because from the same book, we read:

"[Right after the battle] Wood ordered Bundy to dynamite the cottas [forts], burn all remaning structures, and have the Moro cargadores [porters] bury the dead under a light of cover of dirt."

Wood wanted to the troops to return to the camp immediately right after the battle, thus the "light cover of dirt" order. And so wild animals and birds would have easily and quickly made skeletons out of the hundreds of dead bodies lying around.

PS - This book is a treasure trove of info on Moro wars. Thanks again to the person who gave me this book -- you know who you are