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The "Pig War"

© Elizabeth Gibson

The Pig War was not really a war, nor were any shots even fired. But hostilities had been brewing between the British and the Americans for months, and it wouldn't have taken much to set off either side. The dispute erupted over possession of the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound in Washington State, uncertain because of the unknown international boundary location.

The stand-off took place on San Juan Island. On June 15, 1846, the two countries signed the Oregon Treaty, establishing the border at the 49th parallel from the Rockies to the middle of the channel that separates the continent from Vancouver Island, south through the middle of the channel, and through the Straits of Juan de Fuca to the Pacific Ocean. But the exact location of the boundary through the channel was unknown, and the San Juan Islands were located right in the middle of the channel. The Americans claimed the boundary was the Haro Straight, so that the islands would fall in Americans territory. The English insisted it was the Rosario Strait on the eastern side of the islands, making the islands English.

In 1854, a U.S. customs collector and his deputy landed on San Juan Island to collect duties from the Hudson's Bay Company sheep farm. The farm manager swore out a warrant for the deputy's arrest for trespassing on British soil. Nothing came out of this incident, but people were very unhappy about it.

In March 1855, U.S. Sheriff Ellis Barnes of Whatcom County and ten armed men captured 35 sheep belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company as payment for back taxes. Governor Douglas immediately appealed to Governor Stevens of Washington territory and to the British colonial office, claiming $15,000 in damages. There was enough concern in Washington D.C. that Secretary of State William L. Marcy urged that neither Americans nor British should try to claim exclusive rights until the ownership of the islands was settled.

A Joint Boundary Commission met in the disputed area several times during 1857 but didn't resolve the problem. Meanwhile the Fraser River gold rush in 1857-58 brought more people to the area. By 1859, 18 U.S. citizens had settled on San Juan Island. In June of that year, Lyman A. Cutlar shot a pig that was rooting in his garden. Shortly afterwards he realized the pig belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company and offered to pay for it. When informed the pig was a champion breeder and was valued at $100, he refused to pay. He was told he was trespassing and would be arrested if he did not pay.

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