text: On 13 May 1870, the fort faced an attack by 3,000 Kanowit Dayaks, led by a Dayak chief named Lintong (Mua-ri). They attempted to breach the fort's doors with axes but were eventually repelled by the Brooke administration.
  As per records from the Sarawak Gazette on January 24, 1871, Sibu boasted 60 wooden shops. In 1873, the town of Sibu was incorporated into the newly created third division of Sarawak.
  The first Chinese settlers arrived in Sibu during the 1860s, with a group of Hokkien people constructing two rows of 40 shophouses around Sibu Fort. These early Chinese settlers were a minority, primarily consisting of Kekhs and Min Nan individuals engaged in commerce. A small number of Chiang Chuan and Amoy people also settled in Sibu for commercial purposes.
  By 1893, Munan anak Minggat and his followers arrived in Sibu, establishing a longhouse on Pulau Kerto, an island at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan rivers near Sibu. Munan was a loyal ally to the Brooke government and played a crucial role in suppressing Iban rebellions in the Upper Katibas and Lupar rivers during the 1860s and 1880s. In 1903, Munan became the first Iban to operate a rubber plantation in Kuching and subsequently invested the profits in shop-houses and lands in Sibu.