America and Britain Almost Went to War Over a Pig

In 1859, America and Britain sent warships, cannons and hundreds of soldiers to one small island. Because a farmer shot a pig. This is the true story of the Pig War: a border treaty nobody read properly, two straits, the San Juan Islands, Lyman Cutlar's potato patch, Charles Griffin's very expensive pig, Captain George Pickett and his 64 soldiers, five British warships, an admiral who refused to start a war "over a squabble about a pig", twelve years of the friendliest standoff in history, and a German emperor who finally settled it. Images (Wikimedia Commons, all public domain): George Pickett (photo, c. 1860s); Winfield Scott (portrait by Robert Walter Weir, National Portrait Gallery); Rear Admiral Robert Lambert Baynes; Sir James Douglas; Kaiser Wilhelm I (portrait by Gustav Richter, 1877); the blockhouse at English Camp (photo by Asahel Curtis); British troops leaving San Juan Island, 1872. ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 A War Over a Pig 0:21 Nobody Read the Small Print 1:12 The Potato Incident 2:31 Send in the Army 3:46 Five Warships vs One Dead Pig 4:43 A Squabble About a Pig 5:59 The Friendliest War Ever 7:05 The Kaiser Decides 📚 Sources National Park Service, San Juan Island National Historical Park: "The Pig War" Mike Vouri, The Pig War: Standoff at Griffin Bay (1999) Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Pig War" The Oregon Treaty (1846) and the German Emperor's boundary award (1872) 🐦 Pigeon Post: history, delivered. New episodes every week. Subscribe so the pigeon can find you: https://www.youtube.com/@PigeonPostHi... Some scenes are comedic exaggerations, but the history is real. Music: "Five Armies" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music: "Investigations" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music: "Fluffing a Duck" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music: "Sneaky Snitch" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music: "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music: "Heroic Age" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music: "Lord of the Land" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music: "Sad Trio" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...