Sometimes history is just incredibly stupid, and sometimes you learn that a war almost started right in your backyard. That is the story of the pig war.
In the 1840s the border between the US and British Canada was ambiguous in the pacific north west.
“along the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver Island, and thense southerly through the middle of said channel…”
-The Oregon treaty of 1846
Problem:
There’s a bunch of islands in the middle of the channel, So which government has control of the San Juan Islands?
No one came to any sort of agreement so people just started settling and arguing.
Then the pig happened.
The pig dug up and ate the potatoes, and the farmer Cutlar shot the pig and refused to pay Griffin as the pig was “trespassing”.
How everything got even worse
This dispute escalated very quickly. The British authorities threatened to arrest Potato man, in response 66 American soldiers were stationed on the island, in response the British sent three warships with cannons aimed at the camp, in response the Americans sent more soldiers and cannons, so the British sent more soldiers. Finally an admiral showed up and refused to escalate the conflict to a war because of “a squabble over a pig” When the respective governments found out what was happening they were appalled ( though both still refused to compromise an inch)
Some believe this ridiculous escalation was planned by General William S. Harney (an all around awful guy), the man who first ordered troops stationed on the Island. While generally agreed he wanted to start a war, the why is disputed. It may have been to play the hero to help him aim for the presidency, it may have been to distract the national government from addressing slavery. Either way it was a stupid plan by a terrible man.