Off to a slow start yesterday (Wednesday), which feels luxurious. Coffee, bananas, yogurt with muesli and gabbing occupied the morning. Getting towards noon, the natives got restless. Time to DO something, like a hike. San Juan Island National Historic Park is nearby. Historic because of English Camp.
On the map, you can see that San Juan island is very close to Canada. But back when Canada was a British colony, that boundary line was not so clear.
In 1846, the Treaty of Oregon set the boundary on the 49th parallel, from the Rocky Mountains “to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver’s Island” then south through the channel to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and west to the Pacific.
There was disagreement about the “channel” which is actually two channels: the Haro Strait, nearest Vancouver Island, and the Rosario Strait, nearer the mainland. The San Juan Islands lay between, and both the U.S. and Britain claimed the entire chain of islands.
And then came the pig.
In 1859, an American, Lyman Cutlar, living on the island, got upset when a roaming pig rooted up his garden. Cutlar shot and killed the pig. Turns out the pig was owned by a British guy. The British threatened to arrest Mr. Cutlar and to evict all Americans from the island. The Americans responded by sending in troops whereupon the British did the same. Two months of military jockeying ensued.
Rear Adm. R. Lambert Baynes to the rescue.
Baynes, commander of British naval forces in the east Pacific, was appalled at the situation, and declared that he would not “involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig”.
In 1859, Great Britain and the United States agreed to a joint occupation of San Juan Island until the water boundary between the two nations could be settled. Each country would establish a military camp. English Camp at the northern end; American camp at the southern end.
From pigs to cellphones
In current times, there is a non-human technology war in the area. Cellphones have the ability to cast their signal-searching net looking for the nearest signal to latch onto in order to keep their owners happy. For example, my cellphone, innocently riding in my back pocket while hiking around the island, may pick up signals from Canadian carriers, theoretically invoking international charges. Fortunately, most carriers have settled this dispute by including Mexico and Canada in the standard cell plan. No war needed. Sweet!
Anyway, back to our exploits of the day. We had a relaxed ramble around the historic park.
Back to the house for a late lunch, a walk to a small grocery store to gather ingredients for dinner, naps, book reading, wine, strolls along the bay, wine, dinner, long conversations, sleep.
