The “pig war”, the conflict of gluttony
FUNNY WARS 3/5. How a Canadian pig who was too fond of an American colonist's potatoes almost sparked a conflict between London and Washington in 1859. A story told by the Seattle Times, which constitutes the third episode of our "Funny Wars" series.
Like all great fairy tale classics, “The Pig War” contains all the ingredients of a moral lesson: it is about folly, courage, arrogance, wisdom, and restraint. Add to that an enchanted setting—San Juan Island—and this fascinating page in the history of the Pacific Northwest is well worth a look.
Once upon a time, on June 15, 1859, a 27-year-old islander named Lyman Cutlar noticed a pig raiding his potatoes. The lanky Yankee had chased the tuber-loving pig off his land many times before, more times than he could remember, and the $10 he had invested in a quarter bushel of potato seeds was dwindling with every bite. “On impulse, ” he later wrote, “I grabbed my rifle and shot the hog.”
It is to Cutlar's credit that he immediately admitted his crime. His nearly 80-hectare plot of land lay within a disputed area that the Canadian Hudson Bay Company managed as a sheep ranch, under the direction of Charles Griffin, the owner of the deceased pig. Cutlar offered to replace the animal with one of his own or pay him in cash.
“You Americans are nothing but a source of trouble on
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