The first interest in Enderbury came in 1860, with guano mining.
In the 1880s and 1890s a large amount of material was recovered during guano mining.
It shares historical similarities with Mona Island since both are U.S. territories, were once centers of guano mining, and presently are nature reserves.
The Diana was a vessel engaged in guano mining.
From 1865 until 1912 Redonda was the centre of a lucrative trade in guano mining, with many thousands of tons of phosphates shipped to Britain.
A captain named Peter Duncan gave it to the U.S. in the late 1850s, for the purpose of guano mining.
In 1874, the guano mining ceased, but the damage to the vegetation of the island was absolute.
The perfection of the aerial tramway through mining lead to its application in other fields including logging, sugar fields, beet farming, tea plantations, coffee beans and guano mining.
It has a long history of agricultural use as well as of guano mining.
The Wheelers, working for the Nevada State Parks Commission, were surveying possible archaeological sites to prevent their loss due to guano mining.