Day 69. Anacortes, WA

We took the ferry back to Anacortes this morning, spending a couple days here visiting one of Trish's friends and getting some work done on the rigs.

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Yesterday we hiked up Mt Young, one of the highest points on San Juan Island. The mountain is part of SJI National Historical Park - English Camp, and has great views of SJI and surrounding islands.

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In the mid 1800s, SJI ownership was claimed by both the US and Great Britain, and both had military camps on the island. In 1859, a US farmer by the name of Cutlar shot a pig owned by Griffin, a Brit farmer. The pig had repeatedly raided Cutlar's potato patch, and Cutlar had warned Griffin about it. The event got both military camps riled up and became known as The Pig War, a long term conflict that lastest several years; the US President even got involved. Although there was much spear rattling, ultimately there was only one casualty: the pig.

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The Brit camp outnumbered the Yank camp 5 to 1, plus the Brits had several warships in the area. No doubt, had it come to actual combat, the Yanks would have been toast.

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Here's a link to the full story: http://www.outwestnewspaper.com/pigwars.html.
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Had I been there, I would have suggested to Cutlar that he throw a barbecue with the pig as a main course, lots of potatoes on the side and a keg of beer, and that he invite Griffin and the staffs of both camps to attend. True, it could have turned into a brawl, but odds are, the party would have resulted in an amicable resolution of the conflict.

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Last night, we had fresh Dungeness crab that Phil and a friend harvested the day prior. Excellent!

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The pix were taken from the top of Mt Young; the smiling couple are Phil and Kirsten, our hosts.