In June 1859, ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty of 1846 left San Juan Island in a geopolitical gray zone, claimed by both American settlers and the British Hudson's Bay Company. Enter Lyman Cutlar, an American farmer who woke up one morning to find a massive Berkshire boar devouring his prized potato patch. Frustrated by the swine's repeated trespassing, Cutlar lost his temper and shot the pig dead.
The hog belonged to Charles Griffin, an Irish employee of the Hudson's Bay Company. When Cutlar offered Griffin ten dollars in compensation, Griffin indignantly demanded one hundred. Cutlar famously retorted that the pig was eating his potatoes, to which Griffin replied, 'It's up to you to keep your potatoes out of my pig!'
Tensions escalated dramatically when British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, prompting American settlers to request military protection. The US Army dispatched 66 soldiers under Captain George Pickett—who would later gain Civil War fame. In response, the British deployed three Royal Navy warships.
As the weeks dragged on, the military presence expanded to nearly 500 Americans and five British warships carrying over 2,000 men. Despite orders from British local officials to land marines, British Rear Admiral Robert L. Baynes refused, famously remarking that he would not involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig.
The tense standoff persisted until Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany arbitrated the border dispute in 1872, awarding the island to the United States. Ultimately, the conflict stands as one of history's most absurd military crises, ending with zero human casualties and a single, very well-fed hog paying the ultimate price.