Pig War (1859)

Pig War
Proposed boundaries:   Through Haro Strait, favored by the US   Through Rosario Strait, favored by Britain   Through San Juan Channel, compromise proposal The lines are as shown on maps of the time. The modern boundary follows straight line segments and roughly follows the blue line. The modern eastern boundary of San Juan County roughly follows the red line.
Date June 15 – October 1859 (troops stationed on San Juan Island until 1874) Location San Juan Islands Result A bloodless war—San Juan Islands awarded to the United States following third-party arbitration by the German Empire.
Belligerents
United States Washington Territory	United Kingdom Colony of Vancouver Island
Commanders and leaders
Silas Casey William S. Harney George Pickett	James Douglas R. L. Baynes Geoffrey Hornby
Strength
461 combatants, 14 cannons	2,140 combatants; 5 warships mounting 70 cannons

The Pig War was a confrontation in 1859 between the United States and the United Kingdom over the British–U.S. border in the San Juan Islands, between Vancouver Island (present-day Canada) and the Washington Territory (present-day State of Washington). The Pig War, so called because it was triggered by the shooting of a pig, is also called the Pig Episode, the Pig and Potato War, the San Juan Boundary Dispute, and the Northwestern Boundary Dispute. Despite being referred to as a "war", there were no human casualties on either side.