Editing San Juan Islands (section)

===Border dispute===
[[File:American Camp, San Juan Island, July 4, 1867.jpg|thumb|July 4, 1867, celebrated on San Juan Island. U.S. Army soldiers and Royal Marines mingle in the American Camp.]] 
{{Full article|Pig War (1859)}}

In 1843, the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] established [[Fort Victoria (British Columbia)|Fort Victoria]] on [[Vancouver Island]]. The 1846 [[Oregon Treaty]] established the [[49th parallel north|49th parallel]] as the border between Canada and the US, with Vancouver Island remaining British. The treaty did not specify which channel the border should follow between the Strait of Georgia and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, leading to a boundary dispute. In 1852, the [[Territory of Oregon]] created [[Island County, Washington|Island County]], including the San Juan Islands. In 1853, Island County became part of the [[Washington Territory]],<ref name="ScholefieldHoway1914">{{cite book |last1=Scholefield |first1=Ethelbert Olaf Stuart |last2=Howay |first2=Frederic William |author-link2=Frederic William Howay |title=British Columbia from the earliest times to the present. Vol. 2 |url=http://www.nosracines.ca/e/page.aspx?id=3724301 |access-date=2011-06-22 |year=1914 |publisher=The S.J. Clarke publishing company |oclc=697901687 |page=301 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527180455/http://www.nosracines.ca/e/page.aspx?id=3724301 |archive-date=May 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> which created [[Whatcom County, Washington|Whatcom County]] out of parts of Island County in 1854. The San Juan Islands were finally split off into present-day San Juan County in 1873.

In 1855, Washington Territory levied a property tax on properties of the Hudson's Bay Company on San Juan Island, which the HBC refused to pay. This led to a dispute with the [[Colony of Vancouver Island]] over the ownership of the San Juan Islands, with the US claiming Haro Strait as the border and Britain claiming Rosario Strait.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/northwestboundar00unit/page/3 <!-- quote="Haro archipelago". -->  ''The northwest boundary: discussion of the water boundary question : geographical memoir of the islands in dispute and history of the military occupation of San Juan Island, accompanied by map and cross-sections of channels ...'', pp. 3–5, United States Dept. of State, Northwest Boundary Commission, 1868]</ref> The resulting [[Pig War (1859)|Pig War]] and San Juan Dispute were a diplomatic stalemate until the boundary issue was placed in the hands of Emperor [[Wilhelm I of Germany]] for arbitration in 1871. The border through Haro Strait was established in 1872.