Page "Clipperton Island" Paragraph 14

Other claimants included the United States, whose American Guano Mining Company claimed it under the Guano Islands Act of 1856 ; Mexico also claimed Clipperton due to activities undertaken there as early as 1848 – 1849.

On November 17, 1858, Emperor Napoleon III annexed Clipperton as part of the French colony of Tahiti.

However, this did not settle the question of Clipperton's ownership.

On November 24, 1897, French naval authorities found three Americans on Clipperton working for the American Guano Company, who had raised the American flag on the island.

However, U. S. authorities denounced their act, assuring the French that they did not intend to assert American sovereignty over Clipperton.