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Posting with love and respect for our neighbors to the north


readwithem
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And the tip of Vancouver Island that's American almost started a war over a dead pig...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War

 

 

On June 15, 1859, exactly thirteen years after the adoption of the Oregon Treaty, the ambiguity led to direct conflict. Lyman Cutlar, an American farmer who had moved onto the island claiming rights to live there under the Donation Land Claim Act, found a large black pig rooting in his garden.[2][5][7] He had found the pig eating his tubers. This was not the first occurrence. Cutlar was so upset that he took aim and shot the pig, killing it. It turned out that the pig was owned by an Irishman, Charles Griffin, who was employed by theHudson's Bay Company to run the sheep ranch.[2][5][7] He also owned several pigs which he allowed to roam freely. The two had lived in peace until this incident. Cutlar offered $10 to Griffin to compensate for the pig, but Griffin was unsatisfied with this offer and demanded $100. Following this reply, Cutlar believed he should not have to pay for the pig because the pig had been trespassing on his land. (A possibly apocryphal story claims Cutlar said to Griffin, "It was eating my potatoes." Griffin replied, "It is up to you to keep your potatoes out of my pig."[7]) When British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, American settlers called for military protection.

 

(snip)

"two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig" was foolish.[5][7] Local commanding officers on both sides had been given essentially the same orders: defend yourselves, but absolutely do not fire the first shot. For several days, the British and U.S. soldiers exchanged insults, each side attempting to goad the other into firing the first shot, but discipline held on both sides, and thus no shots were fired.

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That was great!

 

Another border fun fact. The Haskell library (and opera) in Stanstead, Quebec was built straddling the border. Part of the building is in Canada, and part is in the U.S. I remember from our visit that the border line was clearly marked in black on the hardwood floor. Naturally, the kids amused themselves jumping back and forth from one country to the other.

 

Seems that we do indeed play nice most of the time.

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Wow. Who actually maintains that no- touch zone? Someone has to travel that wilderness and cut down trees? Crazy.

 

I imagine there'd have to be TWO teams, each cutting down trees on their respective sides of the not-so-straight line running down the middle of the no touch zone! Or is there an International Commission for the Maintenance of the US-Canada No-Touch Zone, perhaps?

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We all loved the video. Thanks for posting.

 

We live very near that no-touching zone. My kids actually use it as a landmark to find their way when they're hiking in the mountains. They always joke that they don't need a compass because if they ever get lost they'll just head for the border and wait for Border Patrol to pick them up.

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