Pig War (1859)

Pig War

     San Juan Islands
     USA
     UK
      — Border proposed by the USA
      — Border proposed by the UK
      — Compromise proposal
     Modern border
DateJune 15 – October 1859 (troops stationed on San Juan Island until 1874)
Location48°27′42″N 123°00′24″W / 48.46167°N 123.00667°W / 48.46167; -123.00667
Result A bloodless war—San Juan Islands awarded to the United States following third-party arbitration by the German Empire.
Belligerents

 United States

 United Kingdom

Commanders and leaders
Strength
461 combatants, 14 cannons 2,140 combatants; 5 warships mounting 70 cannons
Vancouver's 1798 map, showing some confusion in the vicinity of southeastern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and Haro Strait

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.