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The War of Griffin’s Pig: A Bibliography of the
Anglo-American Northwest Boundary Dispute
John A. Drobnicki
CUNY York College
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Drobnicki, John A. 2002. The War of Griffin's Pig: A Bibliography of the Anglo-American Northwest Boundary Dispute. Bulletin of
Bibliography 56 (1999): 65-68.
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The War of Griffin’s Pig: A
Bibiiography of the Anglo-American
Northwest Boundary Dispute
'
John A. Drobnicki
Although the United States and Great Britain had signed the Oregon Treaty in 1846, which established America’s northwest boundary as the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains west
to the channel separating Vancouver Island from the mainland, in reality it did not settle their
ongoing dispute. Specifically, there were differences in interpretation of the treaty regarding
ownership of the San Juan Islands, which lay in the middle of the aforementioned channel.
The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) had a fishing station and a sheep ranch on the largest
of the islands, which itself was called San Juan (although the HBC referred to it as Bellevue Island). The United States, however, considered the islands to be part of the newly created
Washington Territory, and an early provocation occurred in 1855, when an American sheriff
from Washington seized 35 Hudson’s Bay Company sheep as payment for “back taxes.” A
Joint Boundary Commission met during 1857, but the boundary was not settled. The gold rush
in the northwest had brought more settlers to the area, along with an increased military presence to protect them from Indian uprisings. The British, needless to say, considered the Americans on San Juan to be squatters.
Into this already tense situation stepped one American settier, Lyman A. Cutler (sometimes
also spelled “Cutlar”), who was originally from Ohio. On June 15,185 9, a frustrated arid annoyed Cutler shot and killed a black pig that had repeatedly “trespassed” and eaten from his
potato patch. He then went to the house of the pig’s owner, Charles Griffin, the Hudson company agent on San Juan, and offered to pay $10 for the pig. Griffin informed Cutler that the pig
was a prize breeder, rejected his offer, and demanded $100, which Cutler thought outrageous
and refused to pay. The British wanted Cutler arrested and brought to Victoria for trial, but he
refused to surrender. Thus began the so-called Pig War.''
Acting on his own authority and responding to pleas from American settlers. Brigadier General William S. Harney, the commanding officer of the Pacific Coast forces, sent Captain George
E. Pickett from the mainland along with a company of 50 men to establish a post on San Juan,
while Vancouver’s governor. Sir James Douglas, sent the frigate Tribune to Griffin Bay, where the
American soldiers had made camp. (Pickett would later become a general in the Confederate
army and lead the famous charge at Gettysburg.) By mid-August, the United States had nine
companies there (over 400 men), along with eight cannon and over 100 civilians, while the
British had eventually increased their forces to over 1,000 men, including five warships.
On the brink of a shooting war, however, cooler heads prevailed. Captain Hornby, commander of the Tribune, resisted Douglas’ pressure to land troops and attack Pickett and was
backed up by .Rear Admiral Baynes, commander of the British fleet in the Pacific. President
James Buchanan, who had been surprised to learn of Harney’s actions, sent Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, the army chief of staff, to defuse the situation. After arriving in mid-October, Scott (who had clashed with Harney during the Mexican War) met with both sides and
negotiated a reduction in forces, leaving only one U.S. company there. Harney attempted to
interfere with the agreed-upon joint occupation of 100 men for each side and was relieved of
his command and reprimanded. The Civil War, of course, occupied America’s attention for the
Vol. 56, No. 2
Bulletin of Bibliography
next half decade, and when the United States and Britain negotiated the Treaty of Washington in 1871 to settie outstanding ciaims between the two countries, they agreed to refer the
San Juan issue to Kaiser Wilhelm I for arbitration. On 21 October 1872, the German emperor’s decision placed the U.S. boundary to the west of the archipelago, giving the San Juan Isiands to America, and the British withdrew their troops a month iater. Aithough the Pig War
had lasted for over a decade, the total casualties consisted of one pig.
The foliowing bibliography is limited to published materials about the Pig War itseif, including
both primary materials and secondary sources, as well as some Internet sources and unpublished dissertations. It does not contain materials on the earlier boundary disputes over the
Oregon Territory per se, aithough relevant material can be found in severai of the large collections of documents. The manuscript and archival materials, which are principally located in the
Pacific Northwest, can be accessed via the bibiiographies and notes in the published works.
NOTE
1. Historians have also used the phrase “Pig War” to refer to several other confrontations, including a dispute in
1841 between the Republic of Texas and France's charge d’affaires there, as well as an economic dispute between
Austria-Hungary and Serbia in 1906.
PRIMARY SOURCES
I. Memoirs/Documents
Miller, David Hunter, ed. Northwest Water Boundary:
Report of the Experts Summ oned by the German
Em peror as Arbitrator under Articles 3 4 -4 2 o f the
Treaty of Washington of M ay 8, 1871, Prelim ina^ to
His Award D ated October 21, 1872. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1942.
---------- . Treaties and O ther International Acts o f the
United States o f America. 8 vols. Washington, DC:
GPO, 1948. There are many relevant documents in
Vol. 8 (1 8 5 8 -1 86 3 ), 2 8 1 -4 4 8 .
Moore, John Bassett, ed. History and Digest o f the International Arbitrations to Which the United States
Has Been a Party: Together with Appendices Containing the Treaties Relating to Such Arbitrations,
a n d Historical a n d Legal Notes ori O ther International Arbitrations Ancient and Modern, and on the
Domestic Commissions o f the United States for the
Adjustment o f International Claims. 6 vols. Washington, DC: p P O , 1898. Contains a section on “The
San Juan W ater Boundary” in Vol. 1, 2 2 3 -2 3 5 ,
which includes the background of the dispute, the
text of Kaiser W ilhelm’s decision, and several related documents.
Peck, William A. The Pig War and Other Experiences
o f William Peck: Soldier 18 5 8-1 8 6 2 , U.S. Army
Corps o f Engineers. San Juan Islands, Washington
Territory. ‘The Journal o f William A. F^ck, Jr. Medford, OR: Webb Research Group, 1993.
Richardson, James D. A Compilation o f the Messages
and Papers of the Presidents Prepared under the Direction o f the Joint Committee on Printing, of the
House and Senate, Pursuant to an Act of the FiftySecond Cdngress of the United States.20 vols. New
York: Bureau of National Literature, 1897.
United States. Departm ent of State. The Northwest
Boundary: Discussion o f the Water Boundary Question; Geographical Mem oir of the Islands in Dispute;
and History of the Military Occupation o f San Juan
66
Island; Accompanied by M ap and Cross-Sections of
C hannels. . . Washington, DC: GPO, 1868.
---------- . Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the
United States. Over 350 vols. to date. Washington,
DC: GPO, 1 8 6 1 - . Published annually since 1861,
with slightly varying titles, this series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S.
foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic
activities.
United States. North-West American Water Boundary.
Maps Annexed to the M em orial and R eply o f the
United States' Government, Submitted to the Arbitration and Award o f His Majesty the Em peror of
Germany, under the Provisions of the Treaty of
Washington, June 12, 1872. London: Harrison,
1 8 7 3 .1 4 maps.
United States. President. Message o f the President of
the United States Communicating. . . Information in
Relation to the Occupation o f the Island o f San
Juan, in Puget Sound. 40th Congress, 2d session.
Sen. Exec. Doc. No. 2 9 ,1 8 6 8 .
Wilson, Charles William. Mapping the Frontier: Charles
Wilson's Diary o f the Survey o f the 49th Parallel,
1858-1862, While Secretary of the British Boundary
Commission. Ed. George F. G. Stanley. Seattle: University of Washington Press. 1970.
II. Newspapers
For contemporary newspaper accounts, researchers are
advised to consult (aside from the N ew York Times)
the British Co/on/sf (Victoria, V.I.: 1858-1860), which
was continued by the Daily British Colonist
(1860-1866) and the Daily British Colonist and Victoria Chronicle (1866-1872); and the Washington
P/oneer (Olympia, WA: 1853-1854), which was continued by the Pioneer and Democrat (18 5 4 -1 86 1 ),
The Overland Press (18 6 1 -1 86 4 ), The Pacific Tribune (18 6 4 -1 86 8 ), and The Weekly Pacific Tribune
(1868-1879). See the cited article by Richard D. Fulton for an excellent overview of the press war.
The War of Griffin’s^Ptg: A Bibliography
SECONDARY SOURCES
While this section is (hopefully) comprehensive in listing the many sources specifically about the Pig Wat. it
includes only a small fraction of the many books about
the Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Vancouver, etc.)
and imperial rivalries.
Adams, George Rollie. “General William Selby Harney:
Frontier Soldier, 1800-1889.” Ph.D. diss.. University
of Arizona, 1983.
Archer, Jules. Indian Foe, Indian Friend: The Story of
William S. Harney. New York: Crowell-Collier Press,
1970.
Bailey-Cummings, Jo, and Al Cummings. San Juan: The
Powder-Keg Island. The Settler’s Own Stories. Friday
Harbor, WA: Beach Combers, 1987. Has chapters on
“The W ar of the Pig” (3 3 -5 6 ), “The Peaceful War
Years” (57-90), and “The Encfof an Era” (91-98) and
intersperses excerpts from documents and reminiscences into the narrative. Also contains a useful list of
commanding officers of the Americarv and British
camps in an appendix, 181—182.
Ballaine, Wesley Charles. “Personalities in the Military
Occupation of San Juan Island.” Reserve Officer 15
(Sept. 1938): 1 7 -2 0 .
Ballard, Dave. “Pig War Threatened.” Wiid West 2 (Apr.
1990):26-<33.
Bave, Emelia L. San Juan Saga: A Unique History of
the San Juan Islands and the Pig War Toid in Words
and Pictures from the Long-Running Histoiicai
Pageant. Rev. and enlarged 3d ed. Friday Harbor,
WA: Bave, 1976.
Benson, C. C. “Pickett, George E.” In Dictionary of
American Biography. Vol. 7, Part 2. Ed. Dumas Malone. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1934,
5 7 0 -5 7 1 .
Dallas. A. G. San Juan, Alaska, a n d the North-West
Boundary. London: K. S. King and Co., 1873. Alexander Dallas was one of the directors of the Hudson's
Bay Company and Governor Douglas' son-in-law.
Dawson, Will. The War That Was Never Fought.
Princeton: Auerbach Publishers, 1971.
Dunn, Jerry Camarillo, Jr. “War Games.” National Geographic Traveler 10 (M a y -0 u n e 1993): 108.
Ebstein. Frederick H . “A Chapter of American History.”
Journal o f the Military Service Institution o f the
United States 12 (July 1891): 7 7 0 -7 8 1 . The author
was a second lieutenant in the fast American garrison on San Juan before the British officially evacuated.
Eisenhower. John S . D. Agent of Destiny: The Life and
Times of G eneral Winfield Scott. New York: Free
Pf6SSi 1337
Fish, Andrew. “T h e Last Phase of the Oregon Boundary Q u e s tio n T he Struggle for San Juan Island.”
A.M. thesis. University of Oregon, 1921; published in
Quarterly of the Oiegon HistoriceJ Society 22 (Sept.
1921): 1 6 1 -2 2 4 .
Fowler, Albert G. “The Other Gulf War.” The Beaver 72
(Dec. 1 9 9 2 - ^ . 1 9 9 3 )r2 4 -3 1 .
Fulton, Richard D. “ ‘Consistent with Honor’: The AngloAm erican Press W ar over San Juan Island, 1859."
American F ^rio d talsH (1993); 1 1 -3 1 .
Goodheart, Adam. “For Want of a P ig . . . ” Civilization 5
(Dec. 1998/Jan. 1999): 3 4 -3 5 . Also available on the
Internet at http://www.civm ag.com /articles/C9812time.html.
Gough, Barry M. “British Policy in the San Juan Boundary Dispute.” Pacific Northwest Quarteriy 62 (1971):
5 9 -6 8 .
“The Great Pig War." Monkeyshines on Am erica (Jan.
1986): 15.
Green, Lewis. “Yankees Go Home.” Saturday Evening
Post 260 (Nov. 1988): 7 0 -7 1 .
Gregory, V. J. “Divided Waters.” M iiitary Review 44
(Feb. 1964): 8 7 -9 6 .
---------- . “The Last Shot.” M ilitary Review 55 (Dec.
1975): 4 9 -5 5 .
Guterson, David. “Northwest Passage: The San Juans.”
New York Times Magazine, 15 May 1994, S34.
“Haller, Granville O.” In The Nationai Cyciopaedia of
American Biography. Vol. 1 1 .19 0 1 ; repr. Ann Arbor:
University Microfilms, 1 9 6 7,4 9 3 .
Haller, Granville Owen. The Dismissal o f M ajor
Granville O. Haller, o f the R egular Army, o f the
United States by Order o f the Secretary of War, in
Speciai Orders, No. 331, o f July 25th, 1863; Also, a
Brief Memoir of His Miiitary Servipes, and a Few Observations. Paterson, NJ: Daily Guardian, 1863.
Brevet Major (later Colonel) Granville Haller was
commander of the 4th Infantry.
_________ . “Reminiscences of the San Juan Island Imbroglio.” Journal of the M ilitary Service Institution of
the United States 25 (July 1899): 3 8 -4 4 .
---------- . San Juan and Secession: Possible Relation to
the War of the Rebeilion. D id General Harney Try to
M ake Trouble with English to Aid the Conspiracy? A
Carefut Review of His Orders and the Circumstances
Attending the Disputed Possessions during the Year
1859. [Tacoma?]: n.p., 1896; reprinted in Washington State Geneaiogicat a n d Historicaf Review 1, no.
3 (1 9 8 3 ).
Hawkins, R. S. “A Boundary Affair in the Far West.”
Royai Engineers Journal 9 8 (June 1984): 9 8 -1 1 0 .
Haydock, Michael D. “The San Juan Island’s ‘Pig War.’ ”
American History 32 (Aug. 1997): 4 2 -4 6 ,5 4 .
Howard, Joseph Kinsey. “Manifest Destiny and the
British Empire’s Pig.” Montana: The M ag azine of
Western History 5 (Autumn 1955); 1 9 -2 3 .
Hunt. Herbert, and Floyd C. Kayler. Washington West
of the Cascades. Seattle: S. J Clarke, 1917.
Jordon, Mabel E. “The British on San Juan Island.”
Canadian Geographical Journal 59 (July 1959):
1 4 -1 9 .
Kirzinger, Georg'e. “Pfg W ar Proves How Strange History Can Be." Greensboro News & Record^ 10 June
1998, RIO.
Landes, Cheryl. “T he San Juan Island Pig War.” Canadian l/Vesf 10 (Summer 1994): 16-4 8.
Long, John W., Jr. “The Origin and Development of the
S an Juan Island Boundary Controversy.” Pacific
Northwest Quarterly 43 (July 1952): 187—213.
---------- . “The San Juan Island Boundary Controversy: A
Phase of 19th Century Anglo-American Relations.”
Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1949.
MacEwan, Grant. “Pig W ar on S an Juan.” In Coyote
Music and Other Humorous Tales of the Early West,
by Grant MacEwan. Calgary; Rocky Mountain
Books, 1993.
Magnuson. Warren G. “One-Shot W at with England.”
American Heritage 11 (Apr. 1960); 6 2 - 6 4 ,1 0 ^ 1 0 7 .
Voi. 56, No. 2
Bulletin of Bibliography
McCabe, J^mes O. The San Juan Island Boundary
Question. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1964.
McElfresh, Douglas. “Spirit of Independence Can Still
Be Felt in San Juan Islands." San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Aug. 1989, C4.
McKay, Charles. “History of San Juan Island.” Washington Historical Quarterly 2 (July 1908): 2 9 0 -2 9 3 .
McKay was a settler and blacksmith on San Juan Island.
McKinney, John. “In a Pig’s Footsteps." Los Angeles
Times, 24 Oct. 1993, Sec. L, 21.
Merk, Frederick. “The Oregon Pioneers and the Boundary.” American Historical Review29 (1924): 681-699.,
Miller, David Hunter. San Juan Archipelago: Study of
the Joint Occupation o f San Juan Island. Bellows
Falls, VT: Windham Press, 1943.
Milton, William Fitzwilliam. A History of the San Juan
Water Boundary Question, as Affecting the Division
of Territory between Great Britain and the United
States. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1869.
Murray, Keith A. The Pig War. Tacoma: Washington
State Historical Society, 1968.
-----------. “Pig W ar Letters: A Romantic Account of the
San Juan Crisis.” Columbia 1 (Fall 1987): 1 1 -2 0 .
Contains excerpts from letters written by Captain
Lewis C. Hunt to a Mrs. McBlair in New York.
Neal, Harry E. “The Pig That Nearly Caused a War.”
Army 24 (Feb. 1974): 3 9 -^ 1 .
Nogaki, Sylvia Wieland. “U.S., Canada in Second Pig
War.” Seattle Times, 26 Sept. 1989, F I , F6.
Owsley, Frank Lawrence. “Harney, William Selby.” In
Dictionary o f American Biography. Vol. 4, Part 2. Ed.
Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1 9 3 2 ,2 8 0 -2 8 1 .
“Queen Recalls the British Pig That Almost Caused a
War.” UPl wire service article, 7 Mar. 1983.
Raymond, Steve. “Charge Account: Exhibit Traces
Pickett’s Exploits.” Seattle Times, 28 Feb. 1995, E7.
Reavis, L. U. The Life and Military Services o f Gen.
William Selby Harney. St. Louis: Bryan, Brand, 1878.
Richardson, David. Pig War Islands. Eastsound, WA:
Orcas, 1971.
Sage, W. N. Sir James Douglas. Toronto: Ryerson
Press, 1930.
Smith, Albert Goldwin. “Notes on the Problem of San
Juan.” Pacific Northwest Quarterly, 31 (Apr. 1940):
1 8 1-186.
Tunem, Alfred. "The Dispute over the San Juan Island
W ater Boundary.” Washington Historical Quarterly
23 (Jan. 1932): 3 8 -4 6 ; (Apr. 1932): 1 3 3 -1 3 7 ; (July
1932): 196-204; (Oct. 1932): 2 8 6 -3 0 0 .
Van Alstyne, Richard W. “International Rivalries in the
Pacific Northwest.” Oregon Historical Quarterly 46
(1945): 1 8 5-218.
-----------. “San Juan Island, Seizure of (July 1859).” In
Dictionary of American History. Vol. 6. Rev. ed. New
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1976, 214.
Woodbury, Chuck. “How One Pig Could Have Changed
American History.” Out West, no. 15 (July 1991).
Available on the Internet at httpy/vmw.outwestnewspaper.com/ pigwars. html.
“Major General George E. Pickett”: http-J/www.javanet.com/~talosian/index.html.
“The Pig War”: http://www.nps.gov/sajh/pig_war.htm.
“The Pig War of 1859”: http://spellbinder.dowco.com/
pig.html. Part of the San Juan Island National Historical Park’s W eb site. Also contains a valuable bibliography, particularly of unpublished manuscripts.
“The ‘Pig War,’ San Juan Island, 1859.” A reference bibliography prepared by the U.S. Army Military History
Institute. Available on the Internet at http://carlislewww.army.mil/usamhi/refBibs/canada/pigwar.htm.
“San Juan Historical Museum": http-J/www.sjmuseum.
org/museum 1.html.
“San Juan Island History and Photos”: http://www.fridayharbor.com/d-history.html.
“Wiiiiam Selby Harney.” A reference bibliography prepared by the U.S. Army Military History Institute.
Avaiiabie on the Internet at http-J/cariisie-www.army.
mil/usamhi/refBibs/biogs/harney.htm.
HISTORIES OF THE HUDSON’S
BAY COMPANY
This section is by no means comprehensive but rather a
representative sample of the many books about the HBC.
Morton, Arthur Silver. A History o f the Canadian West to
1870-71: Being a History o f Rupert's Land (the Hudson's Bay Company's Territory) and of the NorthWest Territory (Including the Pacific Slope). 2d ed.
Toronto: Published in cooperation with University of
Saskatchewan by University of Toronto Press, 1973.
Newman, Peter Charies. Company o f Adventurers. 3
vols. New York: Viking, 1985-1991.
---------- . Empire of the Bay: An Illustrated History of the
Hudson's Bay Company. New York: Viking Studio,
1989.
Rich, E. E. The History of the Hudson's Bay Company,
1670-1870. 2 vois. London: Hudson’s Bay Record
Society, 1 9 58-59.
Tharp, Louise Hali. Company o f Adventurers: The
Story of the Hudson's Bay Company. Boston: Little,
Brown, 1946.
HISTORICAL PARK
Thompson, Erwin N. San Juan Island National Historical Park/Washington. Historic Resource Study series. Denver; Denver Service Center, National Park
Service, 1972.
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Interior and Insuiar Affairs. Establishing the San Juan Island National Historical Park in the State of
Washington, and for Qther Purposes. Report no.
510. Washington, DC: GPO, 1965.
---------- . Subcommittee on Parks and Recreation. Pig
War National Historical Park. Hearing, Eighty-ninth
Congress, first session, on S. 489, 17 April 1965.
Washington, DC: GPO, 1965.
FICTION
WEB SITES
Fraley, Kevin. “The Pig W ar”: ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/
pub/usgenweb/wa/sanjuan/military/ pigwar. txt.
68
Baker, Betty. The Pig War. Ilius. by Robert Lopshire.
New York: Harper & Row, 1969. A chiidren’s picture
book based on the historical events.