evidence: The great distances that separate Wake Atoll from the northern Marshall Islands and from other islands in the region, and its barren nature, suggest that Wake Atoll may never have been permanently inhabited by the migrants from the Malaysian-Indonesian region that settled the Marshall Islands to the south thousands of years ago. There have been no reports of artifacts from that wave of migrations. Wake was discovered by Captain William Wake of the British schooner Prince William Henry in 1796, although there are claims that it was visited by Europeans as early as 1568. The position of Wake was determined in December 1841 by Charles Wilkes, leader of a U.S. exploring expedition. The two smaller of the three islets on Wake Atoll were named in honor of Wilkes and the artist Titian Peale on the same cruise by A. Wetmore of the USS Tanager expedition in July 1923. The U.S. flag was raised on Wake in 1898 by General F.V. Green from the SS China and again by General Merritt from the U.S. Army Transport Thomas.