Probably lost much of the group with the extended length of the last post, but
if either of the remaining readers would care to discover how the situation
ultimately played out, here is Part II.......


The Pig War, Part II
A Visit to "English" Camp, and the Resolution of the War


British Columbia Governor James Douglas was not amused when US Army Captain
George Pickett landed an infantry company on San Juan Island. Pickett had
declared the disputed island "US territory" and threatened to rally American
settlers against the interests of the Hudson Bay Company. Douglas ordered the
Royal Magistrate of San Juan Island, John DeCourcy, to demand that Pickett and
his forces leave the island. DeCourcy's demands were summarily rebuffed by
Pickett.

Governor Douglas decided to raise the ante. He called on a Royal Navy Captain,
Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, to expel the Americans using whatever force was
necessary.
Douglas additionally ordered Hornby to land a company of Royal Marines on the
island, equal in number to the American forces.

Hornby was reluctant to force a landing on San Juan. He set up a meeting with
Pickett on August 3, 1859, and as a military courtesy informed Pickett that
Douglas had ordered the marines sent ashore. Pickett replied that his men would
open fire on any British troops landing on San Juan.

Hornby's commanding officer, Rear Admiral R. Lambert Baynes, was enroute to
Victoria from Chile, and an imminent arrival was expected. Despite Douglas'
impatient demands for immediate military action, Hornby stalled for time until
August 5, (when Baynes landed in Victoria). Baynes and Hornby ultimately
persuaded Douglas that armed confrontation with the Americans would be less
than prudent, and might have widespread repercussions. Douglas agreed to
consider diplomatic solutions, but ordered Hornby's flotilla to remain on
station in Griffin Bay to prevent reinforcement of Pickett's company. (This
plan was frustrated on August 10 when, under cover of a thick fog, 180 US
soldiers commanded by Silas Casey landed on South Beach.)

Rear Admiral Baynes attempted to explain his preference for diplomacy rather
than military engagement in a letter to the Admiralty. The message read, in
part, "Throughout this untoward affair we have been perfectly passive,
exercising a degree of forbearance which their Lordships may not, perhaps,
altogether approve, but called for, in my opinion, by the almost certainty of a
collision at this distant point causing a rupture between the two nations; and
I felt that as long as the dignity and honor of the British flag was in no way
compromised, I should be best carrying out the views of Her Majesty's
Government, and the interests of these colonies, by avoiding the risk of it.
Acts of discourtesy on minor points were, on more than one occasion, shown by
the authorities of the United States, though the military behave with perfect
propriety. This was all an irritating matter."

US President James Buchanan also recognized the delicate nature of the
situation. The President dispatched retired General Winfield Scott, veteran of
the War of 1812 and hero of the Mexican War, to negotiate a solution with
Governor Douglas. Scott took a steamer to Panama, crossed the isthmus, and took
another steamer to the village of Port Townsend. Scott arrived in Port Townsend
on October 25, and began daily correspondence with Governor Douglas in
Victoria. Mail packets sailed back and forth with diplomatic dispatches.

James Douglas demanded the removal of all American troops from San Juan Island.
Scott offered to remove Silas Casey's reinforcements and all the American
artillery, leaving only Pickett's company in place. Under Scott's proposal,
Captain Hornby's flotilla would be reduced to a single ship. By early November,
Scott and Douglas negotiated a plan for an armed truce, agreeing to "joint
military occupation" of San Juan Island until their respective governments
could agree on an international border. The "war" was officially suspended, and
the only victim of hostile fire was a Hudson Bay Company pig.

Silas Casey and his reinforcements withdrew, leaving Pickett in charge of the
US forces on San Juan Island once again. The Americans continued construction
of their installation on the Cattle Point highlands. In deference to the
season, the British troops waited until March of 1860 to land on the north end
of the Island and begin constructing the camp at Garrison Bay. A few of the
original buildings still remain at British Camp, and a series of unobtrusive
but informative placards relate the history of the site for modern visitors.

We approached Garrison Bay from Roche Harbor, transiting Mosquito Pass. The
pass should not be attempted without an adequate chart. The safe passage at the
north end of Mosquito Pass is to the east of the low islet off Henry Island,
and close to the shoreline of Bazalgette Point. Vessels southbound in the pass
must take red nun buoy #6 to port, and select a midchannel course between
Delacombe and White Points. Just past Horseshoe Bay, a turn to starboard raises
Garrison Bay; as lovely a body of water as one could ever wish to find. We
anchored just NW of Guss Island, in 15-feet of water over a sticky, mud and
clay bottom. A 200-yard dinghy run brought us to the dinghy dock, built years
ago by yachtsmen from British Columbia. A sign at the head of the dock
identifies the site as "English Camp National Historic Park," but the forces
camped here beginning in 1973 represented individuals from a number of
countries in the British Empire. It does seem somewhat incorrect to refer to
the area as "English Camp," although many people do.

The Royal Marines came ashore very nearby the current dock. Color Sergeant W.
Joy commented, "We landed in a bay completely landlocked, our camping ground
being on a shell bank- the accumulation of years, evidently, as it averaged ten
feet high, from thirty-five to forty feet through, by 120-yards long. It was
the work of Indians, as they live very much on a shellfish called "clams" and
of course deposit the shells just outside their huts, hence the bank I
mentioned. The brush wood grew quite down to the water's edge, in the rear the
forest was growing in undisturbed tranquility."

Remains of the shell midden are still discernable on the shores of Garrison
Bay. Archeologists have analyzed the midden to establish a record of human
occupation dating to 25 BC. The earliest inhabitants apparently lived in pit
houses, and at some point in time that civilization was dislodged by people
living in houses built of planks stacked against log frames.

Approaching the British Camp from the dinghy dock, we encountered a stand of
extremely mature, still productive pear trees. The pear trees survive from an
orchard planted by the Crook family. William Crook was a British immigrant who
claimed the English Camp site in 1876. His descendants lived here until 1972.
The Crook family used many of the British buildings for housing and farming
purposes, explaining why the original structures have survived for over 125
years since they were abandoned by the British military.

A tidy blockhouse fortifies the beach, with an upper story twisted 45 degrees
from the plane of the lower story walls. The eight-faced result was intended to
more effectively repel attacks from all directions. The blockhouse was
established to provide some defense against marauding Indians, not the
Americans, but was never needed at British Camp.

Near the Royal Marine barracks, (now used as an information center during the
summer months), a monstrous Bigleaf Maple tops a domed root mound surrounded by
a rail fence. The tree is well over 300 years old, and until some large
branches fell off in the 1970's it was considered among the largest maple trees
in the world. Contemporary sightseers relax in the shade of the giant arbor,
just as native Americans, Royal Marines, and homesteaders have done for
centuries before.

The original commander of the British occupation forces on San Juan Island was
Captain George Bazalgette. Bazalgette served until 1867, when he was replaced
by a Captain Delacombe. Delacombe was accompanied by a wife and several
children. Delacombe left his mark on British Camp by converting a small
vegetable garden into a formal, geometric, ornamental flower garden. That
garden was located on the far edge of the beachfront, at the base of the trail
leading to the officers' quarters on the hillside above. The current garden,
prolific with flowers that would have been favorites in English gardens in the
19th Century, was established on the same site and duplicates Bazalgette's
design.

The original housing for British officers and a small barn were built on the
first ledge in the cliff above the shoreside camp. Today, the area is a
pleasant clearing offering an excellent vista of the formal garden and Garrison
Bay.

The British and American officers routinely visited the opposing camp on San
Juan. The Americans would host the British officers to celebrate the Fourth of
July, while the British would return the favor on the Queen's Birthday. British
and American officers frequently raced horses on the meadows at Cattle Point.
Captain Delacombe ordered a larger and fancier commandant's house built, on the
second ledge above the Camp, and partially justified the expense with the
explanation that the larger quarters were needed to properly entertain visiting
officers from the American Camp.

The Confederate Navy Effects the Final Resolution:

The armed truce between US and British forces on San Juan Island remained in
effect throughout the War Between the States. During the war, Britain
repeatedly professed neutrality, but less-than-clandestinely assisted the
Confederates. The British textile industry was concerned for the supply of
cotton from southern states. Confederate blockade runners exchanged cotton for
armaments at British ports in the Bahamas, but the most significant violation
of the official neutrality was the construction of the Confederate warships
"Alabama" and "Florida" in the shipyards of Liverpool. The ships built in
Britain sank or captured over 250 northern merchant ships, and inspired another
700 to covert to foreign flags.

The assassination of Lincoln profoundly changed the post civil war history of
the United States. Lincoln had announced plans for a quick reconciliation with
immediate restoration of amicable relations between the Union and the defeated
Confederacy. After Lincoln's death, political interests bent upon punishing the
south, (and her British ally), ascended to the most powerful roles in the US
government. The southern states were, (in many respects), economically
oppressed by the north following the war.

Most Americans believed the Confederate Navy, most particularly the "Alabama,"
was the sole reason the Confederacy could continue to finance the war after the
defeat at Gettysburg. Senator Charles Sumner was Chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, and he vigorously condemned Britain for extending the war.
He claimed the British should be held accountable for all the losses to US
merchant shipping, as well as the total cost of prosecuting that portion of the
war following Lee's defeat in Pennsylvania. Sumner and his supporters demanded
a payment of two billion dollars, and additionally recommended that the US
seize all British territory in Canada! If the US had invaded Canada as Sumner
proposed, the Hudson Bay Company pig would surely not have been the only victim
of hostile fire on San Juan Island.

Cooler heads prevailed, but saber rattling continued while the US continued to
press demands for compensation from Britain and the British steadfastly refused
to consider the claims. The US and Britain finally agreed to arbitrate the
"Warship Alabama Claims" and other outstanding disputes and drafted the Treaty
of Washington in 1871. Under terms of the treaty, the President of the United
States, the Queen of England, the King of Italy, the President of Switzerland,
and the Emperor of Brazil each appointed a member to a Court of Arbitration.

The Court of Arbitration ultimately agreed that Britain was indeed liable for
damages, but reduced the level of compensation from two billion dollars (and
the surrender of Canada demanded by Sumner's faction) to a cash payment of
fifteen million dollars.

The Court of Arbitration appointed the Emperor of Germany to settle all
outstanding boundary disputes between US and British territories in North
America. Possibly influenced by the Court of Arbitration's finding that Britain
was culpable for damages to the United States, the German Emperor decided in
favor of the US interpretation of the "main channel between Vancouver Island
and the mainland." The border was established in Haro Strait, where it has
remained ever since.