In the olden days, long before the Spaniards set foot on Northern Cagayan in particular there existed along the banks of the Cagayan River a small community of natives, led first by chieftain named Bucaranay then by Guiab. These natives were pagans who worship spirits (Anito) and the elements of nature .Datu Guiab's  settlement was originally located in Dammang ,west of the river. Disturbed by constant haunting of the Kalingas from the Cordilleras Guiab and his people moved to the side of river, finally settling in a place where trees grew abundance. They called the Camalaniugan,meaning where "malaniug trees abound" . The people were Ibanags, meaning "people of the river.

        The Malaniug tree from which Camalaniugan derived its name , is a palm tree that can easily be mistaken for a coconut and that of the beetle nut. those who have tasted it says, it's delicious  but taking too much it can cause dizziness and severe headache that could eventually  lead to death due to food poisoning.

          When Juan de Salcedo ,grandson of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi , landed on the shores of Cagayan in 1580's he found in Camalaniugan , a flourishing community of farmers and fishermen led  by Guaib, with thier own culture and system of government. At that time, Camalaniugan encompassed a large area that included what we know as the towns of Buguey, Sta teresita,Gonzaga and Sta ana.

         At the time ,Aparri was not yet in existence and the mouth of the sea was called "minanga nac Camalaniugan not of Aparri. Tallungan was then the entry point to Camalaniugan from the sea.

         In 1583, the region we know as Cagayan Valley was organized into a single province and named Cagayan (it was divided into two (2) provinces-Cagayan and Nueva Viscaya in 1856. The existing settlements were organized into puebos ot towns.

         It was in1595 when the Spaniards succeeded in winning  over Guaib and his people to the Catholic fold. Soon afterwards they organized the settlements in a pueblo.

         On June 15,1595, the ecclesiastal administration of Camalaniugan was accepted by Dominicans,and San Jacinto de Polonia,whose feast day falls on August 17 was choosen as  the town's patron saint.

         Established as Municipality and as Parish,Camalaniugan was one of the first towns in Cagayan to orgnized . The reason for these was its proximity to Nueva Segovia, now Lal-lo, then was seat of the government in the province. Capitan Pablo De Carreon, a native of Nueva Viscaya,Spain, said to have founded Camalaniugan.