evidence: Wake Island is claimed by the Marshall Islands but is administered by the United States as an unorganized and unincorporated territory and comprises part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The island is administered by the Department of the Interior and managed by the United States Air Force. While there are no permanent residents, approximately 300 people are present on the island at any given time, primarily military personnel and contractors. [...] - Commander Edward D. Taussig, U.S.N., - Commander U.S.S. Bennington, - this 17th day of January 1899, took - possession of the Atoll known as Wake - Island for the United States of America.[26] [...] Wake Island was now clearly a territory of the United States, but during this period the island was only occasionally visited by passing American ships. One notable visit occurred in December 1906, when U.S. Army General John J. Pershing, later famous as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in western Europe during World War I, stopped at Wake on USAT Thomas and hoisted a 45-star U.S. flag that was improvised out of sail canvas.[30]