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Episode
5 min
Lissin
· Jun 1, 2026
Unbelievable Truths Weekly
Absurd But True: Deadpan Deep Dives into History's Strangest Real Events
Each week, we unravel a bizarre-yet-true story—like the war nearly sparked by one unlucky pig.
Absurd But True: Deadpan Deep Dives into History's Strangest Real Events
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About this episode
Each week, we unravel a bizarre-yet-true story—like the war nearly sparked by one unlucky pig.
0:00
In the summer of 1859, the United States and Great Britain brought warships, cannons, and over two thousand soldiers to the brink of conflict.
0:10
The trigger was a single pig.
0:13
This story feels like a direct successor to last week's episode on the War of the Wooden Bucket.
0:20
Another case where a trivial object becomes the focus of immense national pride.
0:26
And immense military force.
0:28
The conflict took place on San Juan Island, which sits between modern-day Washington State and Vancouver Island.
0:37
The problem started with the Oregon Treaty of 1846.
0:41
It set the border along the 49th parallel, but when it hit the water, the language got vague.
0:48
It said the line should run through "the middle of the channel" that separates the continent from Vancouver Island.
0:57
But there wasn't one channel.
0:59
There were two.
1:00
The Haro Strait and the Rosario Strait.
1:03
San Juan Island was caught right in the middle.
1:07
Exactly.
1:07
So both American and British citizens started settling there, each believing the island belonged to their country.
1:16
The British were mostly represented by the Hudson's Bay Company.
1:21
Which brings us to the pig.
1:23
It does.
1:24
An American farmer named Lyman Cutlar found a large black pig eating potatoes in his garden.
1:31
This had happened before.
1:33
This time, he shot and killed it.
1:35
And the pig belonged to a British subject.
1:39
It belonged to Charles Griffin, an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company.
1:44
Cutlar offered to pay for the pig.
1:47
Griffin demanded an outrageous sum—one hundred dollars.
1:51
Cutlar refused.
1:52
So the British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar.
1:56
They did.
1:57
And the American settlers, feeling threatened, called for U.S.
2:02
military protection.
2:03
The request went up the chain of command.
2:06
And the army responded.
2:08
Wait, they sent troops?
2:10
For a pig dispute?
2:11
They sent Captain George Pickett—yes, the same Pickett of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg—with a company of 66 soldiers.
2:20
He landed on the island and declared it American soil.
2:25
How did the British react to that?
2:27
Not well.
2:28
The governor of British Columbia, James Douglas, dispatched three warships under the command of Captain Geoffrey Hornby.
2:37
They arrived carrying over a thousand troops and marines.
2:42
So you have 66 American soldiers facing down three British warships.
2:47
And the British commander had orders to land his troops and remove Pickett's men.
2:53
He was ordered to start a war, if necessary.
2:56
But he didn't.
2:57
He didn't.
2:58
Captain Hornby looked at the situation and saw the absurdity.
3:03
He reportedly said it would be "foolish" to involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig.
3:11
So he refused the order to land.
3:14
That’s a career-ending move for a military officer.
3:18
It could have been.
3:19
But for weeks, the two sides just sat there, in a standoff.
3:23
The soldiers on the island actually got along quite well, visiting each other's camps.
3:30
So what broke the stalemate?
3:32
Word finally reached Washington D.C.
3:35
and London.
3:36
Both governments were alarmed that a local dispute had escalated so far.
3:41
They immediately sent negotiators to de-escalate.
3:45
And they reached a deal?
3:47
They agreed to a temporary joint military occupation of the island, with one hundred soldiers from each side.
3:55
That joint occupation lasted for twelve years.
3:59
Twelve years?
4:00
What was the final resolution?
4:02
In 1872, they submitted the border dispute to international arbitration.
4:08
The arbitrator was Kaiser Wilhelm the First of Germany.
4:12
He reviewed the treaty and sided with the American claim.
4:16
The border was officially set through the Haro Strait.
4:21
So the San Juan Islands became U.S.
4:23
territory.
4:24
And the only casualty in the entire Pig War… was the pig.
4:28
The only one.
4:29
It’s a perfect historical pattern.
4:32
A small, almost comical event reveals a deep structural flaw—in this case, a poorly written treaty.
4:40
We see it again and again.
4:42
You just hope there's a Captain Hornby on the other side, refusing the order.
