With bipartisan support, a resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Pig War.

The name, age, sex, and size of the pig has long been forgotten but the dispute its death triggered is the reason the border is where it is today between Washington state and Canada.

The pig was part of a herd owned by the Hudson's Bay Co., a British outfit. An American farmer shot it in the summer of 1859.

Killing livestock on the frontier was a serious offense. The farmer offered to pay restitution. Hudson's Bay wanted $100, an exorbitant sum back then. The farmer balked. Both countries sent in troops, with weapons were locked and loaded.

Nearly 500 U.S. Army regulars were commanded by Capt. George Pickett, who four years later would lead the charge almost 3,000 miles away at Gettysburg. The British had 400 battle-tested Royal Marines who had fought in conflicts such as the Opium War