Returning on July 27, 1858, the Captain of the Palestine again hoisted the American flag and reasserted the rights of the United States. The same day, the atoll was declared part of the domain of King Kamehameha IV.
On this visit, however, the Palestine left two crew members on the island to gather phosphate. While Palestine was at the atoll and these two men were still on the island, a July 27, 1858 proclamation of Kamehameha IV declared the annexation of this island to Hawaii stating that it was “derelict and abandoned.” However, later that year King Kamehameha revoked the lease granted to Samuel Allen when the King learned that the atoll had been claimed previously by the United States. However, this did not prevent the Hawaiian Territory from making use of the Atoll or asserting ownership.
By 1890, the atoll’s guano deposits had been almost entirely depleted by U.S. interests operating under the Guano Islands Act. In 1892, HMS Champion made a survey and map of the island, hoping that it might be suitable as a telegraph cable station. On January 16, 1893, the Hawaiian Legation at London reported a diplomatic conference over this temporary occupation of the island. However, the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown on January 17, 1893. When Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898, during the Spanish–American War, the name of Johnston Island was omitted from the list of Hawaiian Islands. On September 11, 1909, Johnston was leased by the Territory of Hawaii to a private citizen for fifteen years. A board shed was built on the southeast side of the larger island, and a small tramline run up onto the slope of the low hill, to facilitate the removal of guano. Apparently neither the quantity nor the quality of the guano was sufficient to pay for gathering it so that the project was soon abandoned.
The Tanager Expedition:
The Tanager Expedition was a joint expedition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Bishop Museum of Hawaii and visited the Atoll in 1923. The expedition to the atoll consisted of two teams accompanied by destroyer convoys, with the first departing Honolulu on July 7, 1923 aboard the USS Whippoorwill, which conducted the first survey of Johnston Island in the 20th century.
Aerial survey and mapping flights over Johnston were conducted with a Douglas DT-2 floatplane carried on her fantail, which was hoisted into the water for take-off. From July 10–22, 1923, the atoll was recorded in a pioneering aerial photography project. The USS Tanager left Honolulu on July 16 and joined up with the Whippoorwill to complete the survey and then traveled to Wake Island to complete surveys there. Tents were pitched on the southwest beach of fine white sand, and a rather thorough biological survey was made of the island. Hundreds of sea birds, of a dozen kinds, were the principal inhabitants, together with lizards, insects, and hermit crabs. The reefs and shallow water abounded with fish and other marine life.