The occupation of San Juan Island by the Royal Marines between 1860 and 1872 marked the last time "redcoats" would be stationed in lands south of the 49th parallel. Following the nearly disastrous "Pig War" crisis, their primary mission with their U.S. Army counterparts was keeping the peace on an island considered ripe for the taking by Britons and Americans alike. Drawing on historical, archaeological and photographic research, Outpost of Empire offers an intriguing glimpse of a frontier garrison in the Victorian age.

When Friday Harbor, Washington, was incorporated in 1909, some wanted the town's name changed. In a misunderstanding, the British had named it in 1858 for a shepherd named "Friday," who thought they were making introductions, not asking the name of the sheltered bay where he minded sheep. But the name stuck. As with many of the young state's small port towns, timber, salmon fishing, and farming fueled Friday Harbor's early economy. However, by midcentury, the lumber mill was gone, the introduction of irrigation in Central Washington swamped fresh produce markets, and the fish and pea...

The Pig War of 1859 wasn't really a war over a pig but a loud disagreement that almost came to fighting over a much more important issue between Great Britain and the United States. What they both wanted was the group of 175 named islands known as the San Juan Island.