'Pig War' That Nearly Destroyed The United States Was Fought Over The Strangest Dispute

As colonizers settled into the United States, killing the indigenous peoples who already resided there for thousands of years, they ran into conflict with other immigrants also trying to take over the vast swath of America. The U.S. fought in various wars over land rights, like the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. There were plenty of other disagreements that could have resulted in another massive battle — like a fight about a pig, for instance...

How It Started

The Pig War incident started over a treaty conflict between the U.S. and Great Britain. As the two nations settled into their stolen lands, they wrote up a stack of treaties, which they each hoped would define the borders around their new territories. These treaties were created to deescalate inter-country squabbles — at least, that was the plan.

Islands in the Strait

In the northwest corner of the U.S., the countries used the Oregon Boundary Treaty of 1846 to separate the Strait of Juan de Fuca between the bordering nations. Unfortunately, there were plenty of islands in the straight that weren’t seen as valuable at the time of the treaty writing.

Vague Wording

The treaty proclaimed the water boundary was “the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver’s island.” If this sounds a little vague to you, then you're not alone. This discrepancy caused confusion over which nation owned the San Juan Islands — enough confusion to spark some tense conversations between the Americans and the Brits.

Two Channels

They were attempting to divide one channel, but there were actually two channels in the region: the Haro Strait, closer to Vancouver Island, and the Rosario Strait, which was nearer to Washington state. The disputed San Juan Islands were between the waterways, and since both the U.K. and the U.S. were eager to claim them as their own, tensions were brewing.