The Almost, “Pig War” of 1859

Our Post 25 resident historian, Larry Gerlack always delivers fascinating, little-known, and mostly forgotten American history stories. Larry’s monthly history lessons are on the back of the monthly Post 25 Calendar of Events.

Here’s Larry’s essay for April 2024, “The Pig War of 1859”.

One of the little-known and strange wars of the United States took place in 1859.

The crisis came on June 15, 1859, when Lyman Cutlar, an American, shot and killed a British pig rooting in his garden. When the British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, and evict all Americans from the island as “trespassers”, a delegation sought military protection from a Brigadier General.

This was not the first time that one of the Belle Vue Sheep Farm’s pigs had invaded Cutlar’s farmstead on one of the San Juan Islands, between Vancouver Island (present-day Canada). But when Cutlar woke up to find a herdsman named Jacob laughing that the pig “was up to his old game”, he picked up his gun and in a moment of irritation, killed the pig!

The killing of a British pig by an American settler triggered an international confrontation that almost set the U.S. and Britain to war. (actually, it didn’t take much, as there was still a lot of animosity towards the Yanks from the British)

The war is celebrated as “The Pig War” and it was ultimately resolved by negotiations and compromise, instead of guns and force. There were no casualties, except for the pig.