Towards an ethno-history of liberia: the early colonization of the Dan

The first contact of the Dan of Nimba County, Liberia, with the outside world – coastal traders and government agents – did not occur until the beginning of the 20th century. Their first contacts were with agents of the Liberian Rubber Company, which had set up collection stations in several places identified as Dan or Mano. Reports from station managers in the interior mention several confrontations between the Dan and the Americo-Liberian traders. The disturbances increased with the so-called ‘pacification’ of the hinterland by the Liberian Frontier Force, an assortment of undisciplined desperados. By 1911, the Dan called upon the Liberian government for protection. With the establishment of the administrative system of 1923, the Dan were incorporated into a new province, Central Province. Bibliogr., notes, ref.