the American Army remained in Puerto Rico where a provisional military government was installed. It was during this time in Puerto Rico that Myer was commissioned to mayor the city of Ponce. Major Myer was appointed by the first military governor of Puerto Rico, Major General Nelson A. Miles. Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico On 8 August 1899, while the provisional American military government ruled Puerto Rico, the devastating Hurricane San Ciriaco hit Ponce and the southern coast of Puerto Rico. General Nelson A. Miles had been installed by the President of the United States as the first American military governor of the Island, and Francisco Porrata Doria had been elected mayor by the people of Ponce as was the custom for many decades under the former Spanish system. San Ciriaco, however, proved to be the test of the mayorship of Porrata Doria. As a result of the impact of the hurricane, a number of demonstrations took place around the island to denounce the municipal governments’ poor response to the disaster. “The most serious demonstration of tension took place in Ponce, where damage and mortality had been extensive, especially for the poor. A large crowd of several hundred indigent residents gathered to denounce mayor Porrata Doria for not giving the population adequate warning or taking appropriate measures. A detachment of the U.S. Fifth Cavalry broke up the demonstrations, but the mayor was eventually forced to resign.” At this point the military governor of the Island, General Miles, appointed Major Albert L. Myer, then U.S. military commanding officer for Ponce, as interim mayor of the municipality. Major Myer did not, as intended, perform all the functions of the mayor. Instead he assumed only some of the authority of the municipal government. Despite the mayoral change, however, tensions remained high, with the blame being placed back and forth on various factions. In 1900, Major Myer was replaced by popularly elected civil mayor Pedro Juan Rosaly. In December 1900, Myer together with the 11th Infantry Regiment left Puerto Rico and returned to the United States. Post-Puerto Rico military career Myer continued his service to the U.S. Army and, in 1906, he became a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Also in 1906, he was assigned 600 men to assist in the cause of the San Francisco Earthquake. On 23 March 1907, Myer was promoted to brigadier