The Oregon Treaty of June 15, (today!) 1846, gave the United States possession of the Pacific Northwest south of the 49th parallel, (get out your globe), extending the boundary to:
"the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island; and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca's straits to the Pacific Ocean."
(This is in our son's soon-to-be neighborhood!)
This treaty left out any clear guidance as to who owned San Juan Island, which is between Vancouver Island and the coast of Washington. (check your map...) There were two channels on either side of the San Juan Island: Haro Strait, (on the west), which was used by the United States, and Rosario Strait, (on the east), used by the British. And both sides claimed the San Juan Island as their own. A few dozen Americans settled on the island. A British company, Hudson's Bay Company, set up a sheep operation on the island.
Exactly thirteen years after the Oregon Treaty, on June 15, 1859, an American named Cutlar shot and killed a pig that was out rooting in his garden. The pig, apparently, was eating his potatoes. Well, the pig was owned by a British Hudson's Bay Company employee (Griffin) who let his pigs roam freely. And until this point, the Yankee and the Brit had lived in peace. There is a lot of talk about what happened next; who knows? But according to history, Cutlar offered Griffin $10 to compensate for the "offing" of his pig. Griffin counter-offered, as it were, for $100.
Cutlar said he should not have to pay for the pig because the pig had been trespassing on his land: "It was eating my potatoes."
Griffin replied, "It is up to you to keep your potatoes out of my pig."
Well, British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, and the American settlers called for military protection. (This, while there were (?) 25-29 American settlers on the island...)
In the meantime, the British were concerned that a squatter population of Americans would begin to occupy San Juan Island. So they sent three British warship to San Juan Island.
And great Scott! The escalation continued! By August, 460 American soldiers were met with British warships holding 2,140 men. All this, because of a DING-DONG pig???!
When word of this crisis reached Washington, officials there were shocked that the simple action of an irate farmer had grown into an explosive international incident. Let this be a lesson to all of us: LOVE THY NEIGHBOR. Or become an International Incident.
Husband Paul asks, "Did they roast the pig?"
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