History of Agusan, Cagayan de Oro City

The name Agusan means in Visayan as a place of strong flowing water. The headwaters of the mighty Agusan River is in Bukidnon. Some prehistoric artifacts have been recovered in several sites along this river.

Like Iponan, Agusan was among the places established by the Recollect missionaries as a ‘visita’ in 1674.

It was also a part of the Partido de Cagayan in 1818 and when Cagayan de Misamis became the new capital of the Misamis Province in 1871, this barangay together with Iponan and Gusa became its visitas.

In 1884, it became one of the ten barrios of Cagayan. It was in Agusan that travelers start their journey to Bukidnon via an old road built by the Spaniards.

But this was closed indefinitely when the Americans constructed the Sayre Highway from Barangay Puerto to Bukidnon in the late 1920s.

Agusan is the site of two important events that occurred in two historical war. On the hills near the river, Capt. Vicente Roa y Racines and most of his men belonging to the 1st Company of the Mindanao Battalion perished in a bloody battle against the Americans on May 14, 1900.

A national historical marker was unveiled on the battle site by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (formerly National Historical Institute) on the centenary of the Battle of Agusan Hill.

On May 10, 1945, the Regimental Combat Team of the 40th Division of the US Army landed unopposed in the beaches of barangays Agusan and Bugo.

From there, they pushed southward to link up with the troops of the US 31st Division in Impalutao, Bukidnon where they fought for the last time a battle with the Japanese and defeated them.

Today, Gusa is not the sleepy barangay of yore. It is a prosperous and highly urbanized area of the city.

So with Agusan. While Iponan is the place that has several new residential subdivisions and is known for promoting their cultural heritage through their annual festivals.