io
at
l
on a
i
t
)
a
1872
tern
n
n
i
I
d
d
pte
pose
o
o
d
r
a
.P
lly
a
U.S
m
r
(Fo
na
WALDRON
ISLAND
ou
lB
nd
y
ar
STUART
ISLAND
ISLAND
I
T
SHAW
ISLAND
ENGLISH
CAMP
H
BLAKELY
ISLAND
SAN JUAN
ISLAND
A
R
O
S
R
T
0 1 2 3 4 5
R OS AR IO
ST
R
A
ORCAS
km
A
Lyman
Cutlar's
Home
IT
AMERICAN
CAMP
CYPRESS
ISLAND
The Oregon Treaty of 1846 defined the border between Britain
(present day Canada) and the United States but was unclear
as to the San Juan Islands. Both countries wished to claim the
islands and made proposals for where the border should go.
On June 15th, 1859 an American named Lyman Cutlar shot
and killed a pig eating vegetables from his garden on San Juan
Island. This pig belonged to British employees of the
Hudson’s Bay Company and the British planned to arrest and
exile Cutlar. He looked for protection from the American
military and a standoff ensued. At the peak of this clash
American troops totaled 461 soldiers and three ships and British
troops numbered over 2,000 men and five ships. With all of this
animosity, news soon reached London and Washington D.C.
Both sides were appalled and a halt of all action followed. It was
agreed that joint military occupancy would continue until a
settlement was reached. Joint occupancy remained until the
Treaty of Washington in 1871 sent the dispute to international
arbitration which settled the matter and in 1872 the U.S. was
awarded the San Juan Islands. This "war" is infamous for
the fact that the only casualty was a pig!
Great Britain
DECATUR
ISLAND
LOPEZ
ISLAND
(Canada)
UNDISPUTED
AMERICAN TERRITORY
San
Juan
Islands
U.S.A.
Ramon Feskens 12-1-2010
y
dar
n
u
Bo
rn
te
In
sed
opo
Pr
sh
The Pig War
iti
Br
UNDISPUTED
BRITISH TERRITORY