On June 15, 1859 just east of Victoria B.C, an innocent pig wandered into Farmer Lyman Cutler's garden. Lyman Cutler stepped onto his balcony and very madly shot the pig owned by the Hudson Bay Company. The British went to war with the Americans over the pig and tried the arrest Cutler. This incident lasted for 12 years and caused Canada and the United States to become allies. The peaceful agreement was that they would establish the international boundary line that lay in mid- channel in the Strait of Juan De Fuca, which they claimed made San Juan Island American territory. The problem was that there were at least two channels. The argument held for months until the Americans called in the military. On July 26, 1859 Captain George Pickett arrived and immediately proclaimed the Island U.S territory. The following week 61 Marines, with a very different point of view, stepped ashore from a British warship. For the next long twelve years, armed troops faced each other across the western end of the long international boundary. In 1871, under the Agreement of Washington, the matter was referred to Emperor Wilhelm 1 of Germany. He awarded the land to the United States. After that day the problem was solved and all of San Juan Island was happy!!!!