Join Historic Whidbey for an educational ‘Walk & Talk’ tour with 2 speakers talking about the boundry dispute on San Juan Island.

The Pig War

In 1872 arbitration settled a 13-year stalemate in the battle for legal possession of the San Juan Islands archipelago. Both Great Britain and the U.S. had been claiming the islands since the poorly written Oregon Treaty of 1846 had left a fog over the islands’ fate. The argument escalated to a military crisis on San Juan Island in 1859 when an American settler shot a Berkshire boar owned by his English neighbors at the Belle Vue Sheep Farm – owned by the Hudson Bay Company. Conflict ensued and before long, American soldiers from the 9th Infantry occupied the south end of San Juan Island, and warships of the Royal Navy were pointing their big guns at them. The stand-off resulted in a joint occupation that lasted 13 years, ending only when arbitrator Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany decided the islands belonged to the U.S. in 1872. Thus ended the last international boundary dispute between Britain and the United States – 150 years ago this year.

What did it have to do with Whidbey Island?

The “special relationship” between the U.S. and Great Britain did not exist in the mid-19th century. Veterans of both the Revolution and the War of 1812 were still telling their tales. The Landing’s namesake, Isaac Ebey, was a committed anti-British agitator and played a big role in fomenting friction between the two nations. Although he died shortly before the Problem of the Pig, Coupeville’s own Major Granville Haller was an active participant in the military engagement on San Juan Island. It fell to Haller and the Army to resolve the brouhaha that Ebey helped start.

Want to know more? Join us at Ebey’s!

This event has passed.

Event included an introductory presentation at the Pratt Sheep Barn by Historic Whidbey’s Lynn Hyde and a delegation from San Juan Island National Historical Park. Where a hike began at the Jacob & Sarah Ebey House via the Prairie/Ridge Trail; continuing to Bluff Trail; ending at Ferry House. Following was a presentation on the significance of the Ferry House at Ebey’s Landing by former Reserve preservation coordinator Sarah Steen.

For more info, please contact us at historicwhidbey@comcast.net.