The Pig War

The Pig War is not an all out attack on swine due to the H1N1, but instead the longest armed military conflict between the United States and Great Britain. Today is the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Pig War. Sesquicentennial is a fancy way of saying 150th anniversary, if you are curious. Anyway on this date back in 1859, Lyman Cutlar, an American settler, fired the first and only shot of the great Pig War, killing a pig that was the property of the Hudson's Bay Company. The Pig War came about due to ambiguities within the Oregon Treaty that set the northern border of the United States, the border was to run down the middle of the channel that separated Vancouver Island from the mainland. Problem being there were two channels, one to each side of the San Juan Islands, naturally both the U.S. and Great Britain assumed that treaty afforded them ownership of the Islands. So for a number of years more and more British and Americans came to San Juan Island to ensure ownership for their flag.

Then on June 15th, Cutlar shot a Hudson's Bay pig and when the Brits went to arrest him, the local Americans took up arms and requested military assistance, which sent in the form of one Captain George Pickett (of Pickett's charge fame). The British en turn sent three warships to dislodge Pickett. However cooler heads prevailed and with the help of Mexican-American War Hero Winfred Scott, the Britsh and Americans agreed to a joint occupation, until such time as resolution could be agreed upon. So for 12 years the Americans were stationed on the southern side of the island and the British on the north. Then in 1871 the Kasier ruled that the boundary should be set between the San Juans and Vancouver Island, therefore awarding the Americans a crown jewel.

If you have never been to the San Juans you really should go, they are almost like heaven.

If your brain has lots of extra space or if you would like to know more about the Pig War, check out the HistoryLink page on the conflict: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5037 , or read Michael Vouri's book, The Pig War.

Tonight, in honor of the sesquicentennial, there's that fancy word again, pictures of both the American and British camps on San Juan Island. Sorry no Pickett's fence jokes this year...

Enjoy

Dan