In the early 1800s, several nations set out to explore what we now call the Pacific Northwest, and to take possession of those lands, despite the fact that the area was already populated by natives. In 1846, a line was drawn between the claims of Britain and the claims of the United States along the 49th parallel, except for a small part that followed “the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver Island and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel.
” The could be interpreted in more than one way, and between those two interpretations lay the island of San Juan. The British sent sheep to the island. The Americans sent a tax collector to bill the shepherd, Charles Griffin. The British…The post In 1859, the United States and Britain Almost Went to War Over a Pig appeared first on FeedBox.