Beautiful Roche Harbor |
A great way to start the day |
There is some very interesting history on San Juan Island. Either I never paid attention in school, or the 'pig war' was something that never came up in history class; which is hard to believe considering it happened in our own backyard. Let's see how concisely I can summarize for those of you who didn't pay attention in school either: "Oregon Country" (more than just Oregon--much of Washington and extending into Canada as well) was jointly occupied by both the US and Great Britain until 1846, when a treaty was signed to declare the 49th parallel as the border line. The problem was the treaty verbiage was not specific enough to clarify who owned San Jan Island. When an American farmer killed a pig that wandered onto "his" land, and it turned out the pig belonged to the British owned company Hudson Bay, then all hell broke loose. Troops were sent in from both countries and camps were formed and stayed formed for the next 12 years, prepared to kick some butt if need be. Thankfully though, war never did break out, and the dispute was finally settled when a three man arbitration commission from Germany ruled in favor of the U.S. And so this "war" ended with only one casualty...the poor pig. (Hopefully somebody at least got some good bacon out of it.)
Even when preparing for war, the English need their gardens |
The view from where the officer's quarters were |
The blockhouse. Used for defense with guns on top, and as a jail on the bottom. Told you I read the signs! |
Can you believe this is a wine opener? |
A perfect picnic spot. Dang it. |
The trail to the left. |
The top...and more informative signage! |
A few recommendations for anyone planning a trip to San Juan Island:
--Doughnuts at Lime Kiln Cafe
--Pig War martini at McMillin's Dining Room
--Free pool tables at Herb's Tavern
--Wine tasting in town at San Juan Vineyard's Piano and Wine
And if you miss your ferry, just take the wine you bought at the tasting room and head up to end of West Street. Sit yourself down on one of the nice park benches, enjoy the amazing view of Friday Harbor, and make a toast to "island time". And while your at it, why not throw in a "cheers" to the pig war; a lesson that every once in awhile arguments can be settled peacefully. We can all drink to that.
A late (but happy) ride home |
Thanks for your information specially for Pig War its quite interesting that for only a single Pig dispute was created for the 12 years. Keep Blogging like this you done a nice Job. Last pic is great.
ReplyDeleteHi Kell,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jane and I'm with Dwellable.
I was looking for blogs about Roche Harbor to share on our site and I came across your post...If you're open to it, shoot me an email at jane(at)dwellable(dot)com.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Jane