History

Cape Suzette (or "Port Largo," as she is fondly known in cargo pilots' songs) was founded about one hundred years prior to the Great War, during Usland's great expansion period. The city's founders wanted an easily defendable harbor large enough to accomodate the many ships and cargo vessels of that day. Close to shipping lanes and within reach of many major ports, Cape Suzette was ideally located on the very tip of Usland's northernmost peninsula. The surrounding cliffs and inland mountains were also important considerations, natural barriers which protected the city on all sides.

In its earliest years, Cape Suzette was nothing more than a collection of crude warehouses and fisheries lining the periphery of the city's bay. The population was extremely sparse, consisting of a few hopeful settlers and a rapidly-shifting number of sailors and dock workers frequenting the waterfront. However, the majestic surroundings of the humble port — as well as the safety it offered — soon transformed Cape Suzette into Usland's major shipping center.

As the decades passed, Cape Suzette grew into a bustling municipality complete with its own city administration and public service departments. Eventually the harbor city became the nucleus of Usland's business and world trade. Shipping businesses and cargo houses sprang up to handle the tremendous flow of goods into and out of Cape Suzette. Businesses and major industries made Cape Suzette their home — the most prominent of which was Khan Industries, an ambitious corporation which also had the honor of erecting the city's first skyscraper.

Of course, the greatest contribution Cape Suzette had to offer was in the field of aviation. With the invention of the airplane, Cape Suzette's industries realized the massive benefits it would produce for travel and shipping. One of the first cities in the world to realize the full potential of air travel, Cape Suzette laid down airfields in outlying areas of the city while inviting several fledgling design plants to take root in the corporate district. This gave rise to a revolution in aircraft development, a factor which would soon become crucial.

When the Great War broke out, Usland joined other countries in a series of conflicts. Cape Suzette contributed heavily to the war effort, shipping raw materials to war factories and enlisting the city's leading designers to develop new aircraft and technology for the military. Because the city was such a vital part of Usland's war effort, enemy forces continually sought to capture it. However, the heavy artillery installed on the cliffs prior to the War, as well as a squadron of defense fighters, made Cape Suzette a virtually unconquerable citadel.

After the War ended, Cape Suzette flourished like never before. As the final tides of conflict swept away, designers were able to adapt wartime technology for peacetime applications. The new surge in cutting-edge devices caused more sophisticated businesses to flock in droves to the seaport city, making Cape Suzette's economy the healthiest in Usland. Postwar advances in aviation also transformed Cape Suzette into a haven for pilots. However, there were new dangers to contend with, the greatest of which were Air Pirate attacks. Led by Don Karnage, the Air Pirates for years made persistent attempts to invade Cape Suzette, only to be rebuffed by the cliff guns and defense fighters protecting the city.

The conflict between Cape Suzette and the Air Pirates reached its zenith with the historic "Attack on Cape Suzette" (or "Invasion of Cape Suzette"). Armed with a powerful lightning gun, Don Karnage and his men overwhelmed Cape Suzette's defenses during a nighttime raid, plundering and laying waste to much of the city. Fortunately, through the heroic efforts of Baloo, Kit Cloudkicker, and Rebecca Cunningham, the lightning gun was destroyed and Karnage's men were successfully turned back. Never since the Great War had the city experienced a crisis of that magnitude. It was equalled only by a second invasion, this time by the flying city of Panda-La — an attempt thwarted, once again, by Baloo and his friends.

Despite these attacks, Cape Suzette has survived and indeed thrived more than ever. It has become a symbol throughout the world of peace, prosperity, freedom, and courage — as well as a home for ordinary civilians and heroes alike..