Historical Article on the Pig War and Denman Island Connection

other · 1859 · San Juan Islands and Baynes Sound

An article recounts the 1859 Pig War dispute between Great Britain and the United States over the San Juan Islands, involving a pig killed in a potato patch. Rear Admiral Robert L. Baynes, who refused to engage in military action, is the namesake of Baynes Sound between Denman and Vancouver Island, connecting Denman Island to this historical event.

This is the archive, not the newspaper. Between 2018 and 2026 this site compiled these items automatically from public community sources — chiefly The Islands Grapevine, regional news feeds and community groups. They were not written by a reporter and were not held to the standards this publication now applies. The archive is kept because it is a useful dated record of what happened on Denman, and it is labelled because pretending otherwise would be the first thing we would tell you not to trust. Current reporting is at The Denman Firestarter.

Sources

• “The lovely stretch of water between Denman and Vancouver Island was named after the redoubtable Rear Admiral Baynes, the sailor who refused to fight.” — The Islands Grapevine – December 14th, 2017 (December 14th, 2017)

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