Both the United States and Britain claim…
June 1859 CE
During this period of disputed sovereignty, Britain's Hudson's Bay Company has established operations on San Juan and turned the island into a sheep ranch.
Meanwhile, by mid-1859, twenty-five to twenty-nine American settlers have arrived.
San Juan Island holds significance not for its size, but as a military strategic point.
While the British hold Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island to the west, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the entry point to Haro Strait, leading to the Strait of Georgia, the nation that holds the San Juan Islands will be able to dominate all the straits connecting the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the Strait of Georgia.