Episode 2 of 3
Shooting of the Pig
- When
- June 15, 1859
- Where
- San Juan Island
Lyman Cutlar shot a pig eating his potatoes on San Juan Island, sparking the dispute.
On June 15, 1859, Lyman Cutlar shot a pig owned by Charles Griffin. The incident occurred because the animal was eating Cutlar's potatoes. British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, prompting American settlers to request military protection from the U.S. Army in Washington Territory.
Sources
- Pig War (1859) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-02
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.