This Little Piggie Went to War

Take a good look at that face. Cute little porker, isn't he? One would not think such a face could start a war, but they would be wrong. It is said that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand marked the beginning of World War I; the shooting of a hungry pig, on the other hand, sparked what is known as the Pig War.

In 1818, an Anglo-American agreement declared joint occupation of the Oregon Country, but by 1845 both parties had grown displeased with this settlement. The British, determined to resist the movement of American migration across the Rocky Mountains, argued the Americans infringed upon land guaranteed to Britain in earlier treaties and explorations, as well as through trading activities of Britain's esteemed Hudson's Bay Company. Americans, on the other hand, saw the British presence as an offense to their "manifest destiny" and were not keen on the idea that the land west of the Rockies should remain under foreign control.

The Oregon Treaty of June 15, 1846 resolved the Anglo-American dispute by dividing the Oregon Country/Columbia District between the United States and Britain "along the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of [Juan de] Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific Ocean." Sounds evenhanded, no? Unfortunately, there are actually two straits one could refer to as the middle of the channel: Haro Strait, which rests alongside the west of the San Juan Islands; and Rosario Strait, located on the east side. Thanks to this ambiguity, both the United States and Britain could claim sovereignty over the San Juan Islands.

By 1859 there were about 18 Americans inhabiting San Juan Island who settled on redemption claims that they expected the U.S. Government to recognize as valid, but which the British considered illegal. Neither side recognized the authority of the other. Needless to say, the Brits and Americans were not exactly feeling neighborly at this point in time and it would take little for an American to upset a Brit, and vice versa.

Enter the pig.

On June 15, 1859, the uncertainty presented by the Oregon Treaty resulted in direct conflict. Lyman Cutlar, an American living on San Juan Island, shot and killed a pig fiddling in his garden. Little did Cutlar know, Charles Griffin, an Irish employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, owned the ravenous culprit. The relationship between Cutlar and Griffin had been an amicable one until this episode, and Cutlar offered the Irishman $10 to compensate for the death of the pig. Unsatifised, Griffin asked for $100. Surprised by Griffin's reply, Cutlar believed he did not have to pay such a high price since the pig was trespassing on his land, after all. In what is possibly an apocryphal exchange, Cutlar said, "Your pig was eating my potatoes," to which Griffin snidely replied, "It is up to you to keep your potatoes out of my pig." When British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar for the shooting of the pig, American citizens drew up a petition requesting U.S. military protection.

Enter the 9th Infantry, comprised of 66 U.S. soldiers.

Concerned that a squatter population of Americans would begin to occupy San Juan Island if the Americans were not kept in check, the British sent in three warships under the command of Captain Geoffrey Hornby to counter the Americans. By August 10, 1859, 461 Americans were opposed by five British warships mounting 70 guns and carrying 2,140 men. While forces grew on both sides, their guns remained quiet. British Rear Admiral Robert L. Bayes, did his best to avoid war. He would not, he said, "involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig." Local commanding officers on both sides were given the same orders: defend yourselves, but absolutely do not fire the first shot. For many days, the British and U.S. soldiers slung insults, each side attempting to goad the others into firing the first shot. Alas, not one bullet was fired throughout the entirety of the war, save for the one that killed that little piggie.

When news of the Pig War reached Washington, officials were amazed that the shooting of a pig could stir such an international commotion. U.S. President James Buchanan dispatched General Winfield Scott, commanding general of the U.S. Army, to investigate, and hopefully terminate the potentially deadly encounter. It wasn't until 1872 that the question was put to a third party for a decision. On October 21, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany declared the San Juan Islands American property; land north of the 49th parallel was Canadian, to the south it was American.

Exit the British.