In June 1859, American farmer Lyman Cutlar shot a black boar belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company after finding it digging up his potato patch on San Juan Island. What began as a local dispute over property rights quickly spiraled into an international crisis because both nations claimed sovereignty over the San Juan Archipelago under vague treaty language. When British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, American military commander Brigadier General William S.
Harney dispatched 66 soldiers under Captain George Pickett to secure the island. In response, the British Royal Navy sent three warships armed with 62 guns to the area. By August, over 400 U.
S. troops faced off against five British warships carrying over 2,000 men. Rear Admiral Robert L.
Baynes, commander-in-chief of the British Pacific Station, famously refused orders from local governor James Douglas to land troops, declaring it foolish to involve two great nations in a war over a pig. Washington and London were shocked when news reached them, prompting President James Buchanan to send General Winfield Scott to negotiate a peaceful resolution. Both powers agreed to a joint military occupation until the border dispute could be formally settled.
For twelve years, American and British soldiers shared the small island peacefully, even hosting social events together. In 1872, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany was appointed as an independent arbitrator and ruled entirely in favor of the United States, establishing the boundary line through Haro Strait and bringing an end to one of history's most absurd diplomatic standoffs, where the only casualty was the original trespasser: the pig.