Cuba is the island where Rowan must go to get McKinley’s message to Garcia during the war between the US and Spain. Rowan disappears into its deep jungles in search of Garcia; he emerges three weeks later, on the other side of the island, having delivered the message.

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea. For 400 years it was a colony of Spain; during the late 1800s, a Cuban resistance movement emerged to fight for freedom from Spain. Several wars were fought without success, and it was not until the US entered the fray and defeated Spain that Cuba became free of its master.

Hubbard gets his history slightly mixed up: Rowan traveled to Cuba in April 1897, and the Spanish-American War began a year later. Hubbard is correct, however, in linking Rowan’s work to the war effort, as the US and Spain already were fast approaching a crisis when Rowan made contact with the rebels.

After the war and Spain’s defeat, Cuban sovereignty was guaranteed by the US, which, as a practical matter, meant that the US had great influence in the conduct of the island’s new government. General Garcia, who received Rowan’s missive, was critical to the war effort, but his armies were forbidden entry into Havana, where they’d hoped to celebrate victory.