American Camp today .
would eventually establish a camp 13 miles north on Westcott Creek , now Garrison Bay . The contingents were to be limited to 100 men each and no artillery .
Before leaving , Scott was more than happy to comply with a back-channel request by Douglas to deny Pickett ’ s company the honor of being the first official U . S . contingent . The governor was still seething over what he considered the Virginian ’ s provocative and “ punctilious ” behavior that summer . But believing he had only been following orders , Pickett was distressed by the slight . And his frustration grew when the ship returning his arms and stores to the mainland foundered in a December blizzard , and his men ended up spending the winter in a barn .
But Harney was not done . Restored to command on Scott ’ s departure , he ordered Pickett back to the island in April , when he then declared Scott ’ s agreement null and void . For this , he was quickly sent packing back east . Meanwhile , Pickett had learned the “ arts of peace ,” and established with his counterpart , Royal Marine Capt . George Bazalgette , a precedent for friendship and cooperation between the two garrisons that would continue through 1872 . In fact , before the final decision , they would spend holidays together , marching en masse to the respective camps to engage in athletic contests ( including log rolling ), picnicking , drinking and horse racing .
Unfortunately , not everyone agreed with the diplomats concerning jurisdiction . Fueled by wishful thinking and misinformation campaigns , citizens and elected officials living in Washington Territory still believed the San Juans belonged to the United States alone . That was one issue . The other was the American distaste for martial law in any form , which dated to the occupation of Boston on the eve of the American Revolution by these same Redcoats .
British civilian authorities were not allowed on the island , so incidents between British subjects and Royal Marines were rare . Not so among the Americans . While most willingly accepted , and profited , from the tax-free status and frontier security of military camps , friction prevailed on the southern end of San Juan . There , a noisy minority based in San Juan Village was eager to smuggle or distill whiskey , purvey prostitutes and thumb their noses at the law in any guise . This created no end of frustration for U . S . military commanders , who finally resorted to evictions to maintain the peace .
Finally , on May 8 , 1871 , the Treaty of Washington was signed by the British and Americans and ratified by Congress the following month , proscribing that the dispute be settled through binding arbitration by a third power — Imperial Germany . Kaiser Wilhelm I selected a three-man commission that met in Geneva over the next year to determine whether the boundary should be Haro Strait or Rosario Strait . The commission voted two to one that the Haro Strait be designated the “ southerly channel ” dividing Vancouver Island from the mainland , as cited in the Treaty of 1846 , because it touches Vancouver Island . The Rosario Strait does not . The ruling was issued on October 21 , 1872 .
A month later the Royal Marines marched peacefully out of English Camp leaving behind a tidy garrison replete with two docks , cisterns , gardens and 27 structures , four of which can be visited today in the National Park . The Americans immediately rushed in with a huge garrison flag to proclaim their “ victory ,” but arrived to find the 80-foot pole had been chopped down . In 1998 the United Kingdom replaced a replica pole , underscoring the peace and goodwill that has endured for a century and a half .
American Camp ’ s garrison departed two years later . Buildings that were not auctioned off became barns and farmhouses , and the prairies were cultivated for cereal crops . The one feature left untouched was the Redoubt , the earthwork engineered by Henry M . Robert for the placement of naval guns . This young officer would one day write “ Robert ’ s Rules of Order .”
Today the Redoubt remains as sound and recognizable as it was the day the Army left , with a sprinkling of wildflowers every spring and 180-degree views of humpbacked islands and faraway peaks . More importantly , it remains the only tangible reminder of that intense summer of 1859 , and the “ war ” in which the only casualty was a pig .
Continued Reading
Dive deeper into drama of defining a Northwest boundary in Vouri ’ s lively , in-depth account .
Introduce your kiddos to this bit of history with Emma Bland Smith ’ s new children ’ s book .
amehime photo
50 explore : NW | The Official Magazine for kenmore air