Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Career Growth and Leadership

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It's me, Don Toliver. If I could describe the open hair, but I would describe it just very seamless. It's like you clip it onto your ear and then sometimes you can forget it's there, but it's not going anywhere because it's like clipped.

It's kind of crazy. If I could bring my music with me wherever I go, it would just make life easier and seamless without interruption. To be able to have the music on hand like that without any interruptions would be great.

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And it turns out the easiest choice for you. Learn more at HowLifeUnfolds.com slash paper terrion. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Colonel Harlan David Sanders was an American businessman known for founding the fast food corporation, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Colonel Sanders did something that no other restaurant founder dared to do. He became his company's own mascot and brand ambassador. Here to share the story of KFC and a little about who Colonel Sanders was is Adam Chandler, the author of Drive Through Dreams. Take it away, Adam. The story of Colonel Sanders and KFC is one of the best stories there is in fast food.

There's nothing else like it. This is a guy who was born into poverty, grew up on a rural farm. He's basically an orphan. He raises his own family while his mother's working after his father dies at a very young age. And he works every job imaginable for the first six, seven decades of his life. He's selling tires. He's working for the Chamber of Commerce. He's building ferries. He's working on trains. He's trying to become a lawyer. He does all of these different things and he finds success in some of them and he fails at other ones. And he just he keeps trying and he ends up in a small gas station that he owns in southeastern Kentucky.

And basically his entire focus is trying to beat out the other gas stations for customers on the newly built roads that are happening in southeastern Kentucky, the Dixie Highway. And he ultimately succeeds by having excellent service and excellent food. And that's the beginning of fried chicken. He loves it. He creates a electric pressure cooker, patents it to make fried chicken faster than anyone has ever made fried chicken before.

And it is a hit. He gets written up in national publications and eventually he turns this idea into a franchise. He goes around and patents the recipe and sells the idea on handshake deals to small mom and pop shops and diners all around Appalachia and the Midwest, basically just saying, here's the recipe for my chicken. I'll send you the seasoning. And you give me five cents for every chicken that you cook.

It's the most homespun thing imaginable. It sounds completely insane today, but this is how he built his empire. Eventually, he started opening these standalone stores. And mind you, he was 66 when this happened. He was old.

That was the standard age that you were suspected to possibly pass on at that point. That was the life expectancy was where he was basically at when he decides to turn KFC into an empire. And he could have just retired.

He would have been fine doing it. But instead, he goes out on the road and he just creates this brand that everyone falls in love with. And it expands around the world and he becomes one of the most famous men in the world after living in obscurity for so long because he's got this big personality.

He's got this drive and he's got this really strong belief in his product. And, you know, the white planter suit with the tie, that's all something that he came up with as a way to kind of brand himself. He was a Kentucky colonel, which is an honorary title in Kentucky. And he uses this to market himself as the colonel.

There are thousands of Kentucky colonels out there. There's only one Colonel Sanders and everybody knows who he is. He gets on television. He's in movies. He becomes this character.

He becomes the second most recognizable figure in the world, according to one poll in the 1970s. And that's not something that happens to a lot of people, but through sheer force of will and a lot of skill, he manages to do this. And that idea is still a cherished part of the brand's motto is doing things the hard way, the way that the colonel did it. So this story of sort of perseverance and a real belief in self and in your own invention is a huge reason why we know KFC the world around. What's great about the fast food story, and this is still true to some extent today, is you didn't need a college degree or really great connections to make it in the fast food industry when it was starting out. Looking at the early stories of the founders, most of them didn't graduate high school, much less go to college. They were salespeople. They were salesmen driving around the country trying to sort out a way to create a business model that would be sustainable.

A lot of them served in the armed forces at some point and kind of learned what the meaning of regimented service and operations are. And they just worked hard and created a system that was very popular. So all of these really big American ideals that we cherish as hard work and that part of the American story really come to bear in fast food.

And it's not just the big recognizable names. You know, there are also these small entrepreneurs who open franchises and are able to become wealthy in a way that you would think you would need connections or advanced degrees to get. And that's just not the story of fast food. There are so many different people, all ages, all backgrounds, all ethnicities that managed to create something special in that post-war era. And you can hear the full story of so many of the other fast food and drive through restaurants that were formed and founded by men and women just like Colonel Sanders.

And this is the distinct nature of this business. It didn't take a Ph.D. or a J.D. or a B.S.

or even a high school degree. He wanted to provide better service for his customers and his gas station. He kicked around a long time in his 60s. He finally lives that American dream, but boy does he hustle. And he's driving from town to town selling his recipe and his patent. And by the way, the number of people who got wealthy owning KFCs and owning these restaurants, that's the other flip side of this American dream.

It wasn't just the product he created for himself, but the wealthy spread and by the way, the yummy chicken. The story of Colonel Sanders here on Our American Stories. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, we're asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation.

A monthly gift of seventeen dollars and seventy six cents is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to our American stories dot com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming. That's our American stories dot com. The 2024 presidential election is here. MSNBC has the in-depth coverage and analysis you need. Our reporters are on the ground. Steve Kornacki is at the big board breaking down the races. Rachel Natto and our decision 20 2014 will provide insight as results come in. And the next day, Morning Joe will give you perspective on what it all means for the future of our country.

Watch coverage of the twenty twenty four presidential election Tuesday, November 5th on MSNBC. Attention, parents and grandparents. Are you searching for the perfect gift for your kids this holiday season?

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Happy riding. Hi, I'm Cindy Crawford and I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but like I never liked being told, oh, wow, you look so good for your age.

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Visit you dot org forward slash give to learn more about what they do and how you can show your support. And we return to our American stories. Up next, a story from Zorro the drummer. He's worked for musicians the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Frankie Valli and Lisa Marie Presley.

But before he was a renowned drummer, he was a poor kid from California named Daniel Donnelly. Let's get into the story. Take it away, Zorro. My life is very much like Forrest Gump. All the things that were not supposed to happen to Forrest happened. If you remember in the movie, you know, he's in the White House with Elvis. All these amazing things to this kid, the unlikely kid.

That was pretty much me. My mother, Maria, had the enormous task of raising seven children alone in the area known as Compton, the hood. So I was straight out of Compton, like the rap song says. She was an immigrant. She actually came from an aristocratic family. She was the daughter of a Supreme Court justice.

She had married my father about six months of age. He took the only car we had and abandoned us. So life was very difficult. We moved around a tremendous amount because we were getting evicted for either being late with the rent. And back in those days, in the 60s, they could kick you out if you had too many people. All that has changed now, but my mother tried to hold down as many jobs as she could, but it still wasn't enough. So we struggled a lot just to make ends meet. In fact, there were times when we moved when there was no money for a U-Haul or anything to move from one apartment to the next. So I would use literally my red Radio Flyer wagon and we could load up furniture on there if you stack it a certain way.

And me and my brothers would hoist it and haul it down the street a couple of miles to the next place. But at the same time, my mother had this incredible faith. She had this vision and dream.

And something pretty amazing happened when I was going into the second grade. Even though we were poor, she always dressed very dignified. And so she always carried herself as the person she grew up being in Mexico. So she never saw herself like that poor person. She carried herself in a different way, even though we were poor. But she wore these scarves and she always looked fabulous in these scarves. And inside of me was like a budding rock star, which I had no idea was there at the time.

But there was this artistic flair about me. And I asked her if I could wear her orange silk scarf she was wearing. I asked her if I could wear it for my second grade school picture. And she looked down at me and she laughed. Oh, mijo, you can't wear my scarf.

The boys will beat you up. This is not Mexico. This is the United States. But I wanted to wear it really bad, so I kept reasoning with her and I said, I don't care what they think. I said, the scarf looks cool. Elvis Presley wears one.

Tom Jones wears one. I want to wear a scarf. I want to be different. And so she knelt down and tied her orange silk scarf around my neck. And then she whispered in my ear, she says, one day, my precious son, you will do something fantasmical with your life. Fantasmical was the word she used. It was a mixture between fantastic and amazing and wonderful.

And it was her own own word that she coined. But that's how she truly felt. So I grew up in this household full of love, even though we were in abject poverty. And I think during those years of being sort of heartbroken, because I remember trying to send letters to my father.

He never responded to any of the letters or the report cards or the pictures. So I grew up with this incredible sense of rejection. It would have been different if he like died or died in the war than I would just have to have dealt with.

This no longer can be. But there was always this glimmer of hope inside this kid that something he would write or do or say would make his dad respond. And so he never did. And that sent a big spear of hurt, pain and rejection in me, which became the fuel later for me doing what I end up doing, really. One great thing that happened during those days we lived in Compton was all of my brothers and sisters love music. And so I grew up in a house where everyone is playing different records, all the great rock and roll records, soul music and Motown jazz. My mother loved Big Band and Mariachi.

And then I had the great fortune. A neighbor bought us some tickets, took me to go see Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations when I was seven or eight years old. And I got so excited from the concert that the next day I just wanted to play drums. You know, I was drawn to the rhythm of soul music. I didn't own any drums, but I was creative.

So I looked at my mother's cupboard and found some Tupperware canisters and some salad spoons and then looked at the trash cans and found like some Folgers coffee cans, almond roca cans. And I made a ghetto drum set, put it in my red Radio Flyer wagon, took it out on Compton Boulevard, turned on my transistor radio to Wolfman Jack and put on soul music. And then I just commenced to pounding on the drums and all the people around me were digging it, throwing coins into my wagon. Something sparked in me that day and something came alive.

That rhythm and that drummer thing was calling to me. We end up moving to Grants Pass, Oregon. It's beautiful up there. There's mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, and they hated us because my mother was Mexican. But this is fully the American dream. My mother was tired of renting and she had this dream of having a house one day. So we scrimped and saved. All of us worked and put a little tiny piece of down payment on a little plot of land out in the middle of nowhere in the country. But we didn't have any money for a dwelling. We lived in our 1962 Chevy Nova, which was hot as hell in the summer.

No running water, no electricity, no outhouse. But I remember for all the harsh people that we met, we met some godly Christian people as well. And there was a reverend. His name was Reverend Ed Williamson. He is the one who let us shower at his house. And he also bought me and my brother's shoes. We didn't have the money to buy the shoes because we wanted to go on this church camping trip.

So he bought us the shoes. That's what allowed us to go to the summer church camp. And that's actually the camp where I gave my heart to Jesus.

So sometimes it takes just a pair of shoes to get a kid to find Jesus. And the most beautiful part of that story, I was in Grants Pass, preaching at a church and doing some book signings. And that pastor showed up 50 years later and we had this beautiful full circle moment. And I had been tracking him down because I wanted him to know what I had done with my life and how many people I've affected because of the love of God he showed to me and my family.

So it was just the most beautiful thing. But anyway, so in Grants Pass is where I officially wanted to be a drummer. So I entered a talent show. They were putting a band together and I just told them that I was a drummer, even though I didn't have any drums or had never played any drums other than the ghetto drum set on the streets in Compton, which was not a drum set. So I conned my way into this band. And when we had the first rehearsal, they were like, hey, where's your drums? And I said, they're in the shop getting fixed, but I can play with my hands on the back of the chair just to keep time for you guys. And so I faked my way through that until the day of the show, in which, of course, I wasn't going to have the drums.

I didn't own any. We found a big giant box. We end up painting a drum set on it by hand with glitter and glue and all that stuff.

And I end up playing at the talent show on the box with my hands like I had been playing on the chair. The kids in the band were totally disappointed, but I just wanted to be in that talent show. And kind of what sparked that whole thing was watching Elvis Presley on the big televised satellite show he did called Elvis Aloha from Hawaii.

It was the world's first satellite broadcast broadcast all over the world at the same time. I watched the drummer behind Elvis. His name was Ronnie Tut. And when I saw him play, man, the guy looked like he was having so much fun. I'm like, that's what I want to do.

I want to do what that guy's doing. But then it kind of went dead for a while because I didn't get in the school band. So at that point, I needed a new dream. And so living in rural Oregon, everyone raised animals. We couldn't afford like cows and horses and goats and stuff. So I decided I was going to raise chickens because they were really cheap to buy and they were small. I wanted to be the world's greatest chicken farmer. Then I raised a couple of St. Bernard's.

And then one of them got loose and destroyed my entire chicken farm in one day. And that's what sort of God's plan for my life. I needed a new dream. And so I thought about I'm like, man, music's what I always really wanted to do, but I didn't know how to get into it.

I didn't own any drums. So. And you've been listening to the story of Zorro the drummer.

His mother, Maria, raised seven kids alone in Compton, but his mom's incredible faith. Well, it was always in evidence when we return more of Zorro the drummer's story here on Our American Stories. But 2024 presidential election is here. MSNBC has the in-depth coverage and analysis you need.

Our reporters are on the ground. Steve Kornacki is at the big board, breaking down the races. Rachel Mano and our Decision 20 2014 will provide insight as results come in. And the next day, Morning Joe will give you perspective on what it all means for the future of our country.

Watch coverage of the 2024 presidential election Tuesday, November 5th on MSNBC. Attention, parents and grandparents. Are you searching for the perfect gift for your kids this holiday season?

Give the gift of adventure that will last all year long. A Guardian bike, the easiest, safest and quickest bikes for kids to learn on. Kids are learning to ride in just one day.

No training wheels needed. What makes Guardian bikes special? They're the easiest to ride thanks to thoughtful engineering, lightweight frames and kid friendly components. Kids love how fun and easy they are to ride. And parents appreciate the safety features like the patented braking system that prevents head over handlebar accidents. Guardian bikes are the only kids bikes designed and assembled in a USA factory, ensuring top notch quality and durability. They're built to last and make perfect hand-me-downs. Join the hundreds of thousands of happy families by getting a Guardian bike today. Their holiday season sales have begun, offering the biggest deal of the year. Save up to 25% on bikes.

No code needed. Plus, get free shipping and a free bike lock and pump with your first purchase after signing up for their newsletter. Visit Guardian bikes dot com to take advantage of these deals and secure your holiday season gifts today.

Happy riding. Hi, I'm Cindy Crawford and I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but like I never liked being told, oh, wow, you look so good for your age.

Like, why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age, every age? That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about. We create products that make you feel confident in your skin at the age you are now. Meaningful Beauty.

Beautiful skin at every age. Learn more at Meaningful Beauty dot com. Did you know that 70 million people in the U.S. have learning and thinking differences like ADHD and dyslexia? I know firsthand how challenging it can be to find the right support, which is why I'm excited to tell you about understood dot org. This nonprofit has been a game changer for millions of people like me. They provide free expert vetted resources on ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia and other learning and thinking differences. And it goes beyond articles. You can listen to podcasts, watch videos, engage with them on social media, joint support groups on Facebook.

The list goes on and on. Understood dot org is all about helping people who learn and think differently thrive, whether it's in school, at work or in daily life. I've seen the positive impact understood can make and I want to help them reach others like me.

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Learn more at howlifeunfolds.com slash paper terrion. And we return to our American stories and the story of Daniel Donnelly, a.k.a. Zorro the drummer. When we last left off, Daniel had set aside his dream of being a drummer because, well, he couldn't afford a drum set, didn't get into the high school band and chickens were cheap. But he'd soon have a meeting with his school counselor that would change the course of his life. Let's return to the story. He said, what do you like?

I said, music, can you find me a job that puts me around music? He goes, I'll see what I can do. A week later, he comes back and he goes, man, I'm sorry, I couldn't find anything like what you wanted, but I did find you a job. And I'm like, well, what is it?

He goes, well, it's a custodial position. And I'm like, OK, where? He goes right here. Right where? Right here at the school?

My school? He goes, yeah. Oh, man, like that's like an embarrassing job, like the school bell rings and all the kids are seeing you clean the toilets. But he said, well, the good news is you get to clean the band room.

So I was like, wow, great. I get to clean the band room. Well, at the end of the two hours of the job, last 10 minutes, I reserved to sneak into the band room after I cleaned it. And then I would sneak on the drums and play.

Now, I never took a lesson. I didn't own a set of drums, but I guess you could say I was given a gift because from day one I could play. I would do that every day, you know, just daydream about being on stage one day. And then one day unbeknownst to me, the band director was in his office. He came out and startled me. He caught me drumming on the job. So he goes and says, wait right there and goes and get somebody else.

And I know I'm getting fired. So I think he's bringing my boss, Clarence, to tell him this kid sneaking on the drums and playing instead of the swing choir director. He says, play again like you were playing in it.

So I played and they both looked at each other and they're mumbling while I'm playing. And then they said, stop, kid, you've got an incredible amount of talent. You're like a rhythmic genius. I need you in the swing choir, the stage band, the marching band, all the school bands. And that is how my career started. So I graduated high school, then I auditioned for and landed a gig with a local band, Italian family, a bunch of brothers and a sister. They had an opportunity to go down to L.A. to audition for Disneyland as the house band at the Tomorrowland Terrace, which was the stage that would rise from the ground, like hydraulically. And then all of a sudden it would be up and the band would be playing. And they had held that job a couple of years earlier as the house band.

So I was certain we'd get the job again. And now I'd be back in my Southern California, L.A. area, living my dream of playing at Disneyland with a show band. For whatever reason, we auditioned and they didn't get the gig. It was heartbreaking. So I end up quitting the band and I was ready to go back. And I called my mother, told her what had happened.

The band was falling apart. She said, she said, son, don't come back. I said, what do you mean?

She goes, if you come back, you'll never make it. She said, you have real talent, but you've got to stick it out in L.A. You've got to be there. That's where all the gigs are. That's where all your potential is. That's where opportunities are.

There's nothing for you up here. And I was scared as can be. I didn't really know what to do.

But I listened to her advice and said, OK. And then I drove all around L.A. for a couple of few days. You know, Hollywood and Beverly Hills trying to figure out the lay of the land, reading newspapers, looking for ads about drummers, just couldn't figure out where to meet the people, you know, hadn't been there since I was a kid. And I drove by Beverly Hills High School and I thought, wow, it looked like a college campus, like an Ivy League college campus, like Harvard or something. Gee, I wish I would have went to school like this. And then this idea came to me. I wanted to meet kids my age to play. So I went one day, spent the last bit of money I had on the latest Panasonic boombox.

And then I went to Beverly Hills High School one day in the afternoon and I got there around lunchtime. And I sat on the lawn of this pristine, well-manicured lawn, a beautiful fall day. I'm going to play my boombox. I'm going to crank some Earth, Wind and Fire and the Earth, Wind and Fire platinum boombox. I'm bringing my practice pad and my sticks. I'm just going to play on the lawn.

And if there's any musicians within an earshot, they're going to go, hey, who's that new kid on the lawn? You know, I was trying to bring attention to myself. I wore like a yellow silk shirt, silk pants.

I had a Panama jack hat with a sash around it that was yellow, had some shades. I was like Big Bird out on that lawn. I was yellow.

You're going to find me within 10 minutes of doing that. This kid comes walking up to me and goes, hey, man, are you new here? And I just said, yeah, because, you know, I'm not really supposed to be there. You know, you're not supposed to be just walking in on the campus.

So I said, yeah. And then he was like, where'd you come from? So I just transferred from Eugene. So I kind of pretended like I was a new student there.

He played the bass. His name was Kennedy and we became fast friends. And then another kid came up to me about 10 minutes later and it was the same thing. It was like, hey, man, you're new here.

You look like you have some mean chops. You know, I was practicing fast on the pad and his name was Lenny. Well, later he turned out to be Lenny Kravitz and Kennedy turned out to be Kennedy Gordy, who was the son of Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records. It wasn't long after I met Kennedy Gordy. I'm up at the Gordy compound.

And one day I see two Rolls Royces pulling up. Kennedy's the only kid I knew who had pinball machines and had an arcade in his front living room. But you didn't have to put coins up. So I was in there playing arcades by myself. He was upstairs in his bedroom taking a shower.

His dad was upstairs. Then the doorbell rings. And I opened the doorbell and it's Michael Jackson and the Jackson five, which is another one of my favorite groups I grew up with. I had all their forty fives. I belong to the fan club. So I'm there trying to talk Michael and the brothers into jamming with me like Michael, Jermaine, Jackie, Tito, Marlon. Man, I know all your songs, man. ABC, The Love You Save, you know, One More Chance.

I named them all. You know, I want you back. Michael just looked at me with this smile.

He goes, Oh, kid, you got a lot of heart. But anyway, I ended up chatting with them for like 20 minutes, entertaining them while they were waiting for Berry Gordy to come downstairs. So it was like a dream come true. So all these like amazing things were happening. And then within a couple of years, I had got a gig with Philip Bailey, who was the lead singer of Earth, Wind and Fire. My favorite group, the group whose music I played on the boom box that day. And that's how everything started.

My biggest break that really put me on the map was in 1985. The group, The New Edition, was looking for a drummer. And Lenny Kravitz had met the managers up at MCA Records and said, I got just the guy. And he goes, hold all your calls. I got just the guy.

But by that time, the word had gotten out and now every other great drummer in L.A. had heard about it. It was like a cattle call. There's no way I'm going to get this gig over these guys. These guys are pros.

Lenny's like, no, come on, man. You're funkier than those guys and you're cooler. You got an image. You got a vibe. You get your Zorro vibe and your Zorro hat. So he talked me into believing I could do it. But through playing with them, I became a teen star on my own right.

So there were Zorro posters and centerfolds and the white teen magazine, black teen magazine, Latin teen magazine, every kind of teen magazine you could imagine. So my story is an overcoming story of epic proportions in the spirit of like Rocky. But it's about a musician with a dream and a family. It's about this mother and this faith that my mother had that God could still provide, that God could still do incredible things, that nothing could count us out. I adopted that same faith myself. And I've preached everywhere from San Quentin Prison to the most hardened criminals in the world to Hollywood Oscar parties. Probably the most beautiful thing about my story, this overcoming story, I got to become the very thing that I never had.

I never had a loving father who mentored me, supported me, did anything for me in any way or shape or form. But I got to become a father to my children. The most important kind of success, the one that really matters when you're on your deathbed. And a special thanks to Zorro the drummer. His book is called Maria's Scarf. And by the way, as a final note, Zorro the drummer still wears a scarf to this very day when he plays an homage to his mom. The story of Zorro the drummer, an overcoming story of epic proportions here on Our American Stories. On what it all means for the future of our country.

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Take it away. In spite of its name, the pig war didn't have much to do with farm animals. Rather, the unfortunate demise of a pig who ventured into the wrong garden in 1859 almost led to an armed conflict, another armed conflict between Britain and the United States. In the early 1800s, multiple countries had sent explorers to the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. These explorers laid claim to territory in the New World. However, as there weren't markings on property lines, Britain, Spain, Russia and the fledgling United States all ended up with overlapping claims. Now, by 1819, Spain was out of the running for Pacific Northwest real estate thanks to the Transcontinental Treaty. President James Monroe's 1823 speech outlining the Monroe Doctrine warned Russia that seeking interest in North America wouldn't be tolerated, but this still left Britain and the United States having to work out their conflicting claims.

Both nations had reasons why they felt their claim was more legitimate. On the British side, Captain James Cook had conducted important explorations of the coastal areas of the territory. One of his crew members, George Vancouver, returned and became the first non-native to explore Puget Sound, giving it its name in the process.

The Hudson Bay Company had been active in the area for years, establishing trade and putting down ruts. However, the Americans had the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery exploration to point to, and the subsequent setting up of trading posts and forts. A decade before Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific, Thomas Gray, sailing from Boston, had explored and named the Columbia River. This whole idea also of Manifest Destiny, that the United States not only would expand but was meant to expand to the Pacific, bolstered the voices calling for the Oregon Territory to become officially American Territory. Britain and the United States had already agreed to set their borders from Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains along the 49th parallel. Why not, moderate American voices asked, agree to just keep the same line all the way to the Pacific? This would also conveniently give the United States Puget Sound, which would be America's first good deepwater harbor on the Pacific.

But no, the Hudson Bay Company also recognized the value of Puget Sound. The 49th parallel was too far to the north for their plans. However, by 1843, so many American families had moved west along the Oregon Trail and began settling in the Oregon Territory that they set up a provisional government to keep the territory in order.

Possessions nine-tenths of the law, right? As the debate wore on, some American voices clamored that a border on the 49th parallel wasn't enough land anyway. President James K. Polk won his 1845 election on the slogan, 54-40 or fight. In other words, he called for a border that went up to 54 degrees, 40 minutes, which would extend the United States border all the way north to Alaska or thereabouts or else.

However, once he was in office and by a slim margin of votes, President Polk wasn't really feeling the fight part of his slogan anymore. So the conflict when it came was not at the dictates of Washington, D.C. In 1846, Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Oregon in London. This treaty finally positioned the border between the two nations on the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains West until it hit the water. Then the line would swing south through the middle of the channel, which separates the continent from Vancouver Island. So they thought the problem was solved, except that this treaty did not specify which channel the border should pass through when it swung south.

Harrow Strait near Vancouver Island or Rosario Strait near the mainland and the San Juan Islands lay between those two straits. So naturally, both Britain and the United States claimed them as their rightful property and began trying to establish their claims through action. The Hudson Bay Company at Fort Victoria, which was only seven miles from San Juan Island, has set up salmon curing stations on the island. When the United States claimed the island, the HBC upped its game and established the Bellevue sheep farm as well. American settlers, all 18 of them, established their own claims, settling in and building homes right in the middle of the sheep grazing land.

The settlers were confident that the U.S. government would recognize their claims, while the British were equally sure that these new residents were just squatters. Finally, on June 15, 1859, came the incident. An American resident of San Juan Island, Lyman Cutler, found a British company pig in his garden. He shot and killed it.

This didn't go over well. The British authorities threatened to evict all of the Americans from the island except Cutler, whom they wanted to arrest. The Americans dug in their heels and refused to move, but they sent messages to the American authority in the territory, Brigadier General William S. Harney. He sent a company of 64 infantrymen under Captain George E. Pickett, who would later be a well-known name in the American Civil War.

Pickett encamped his men just north of the British sheep farm. Word of the situation reached Vancouver Island and the ears of the British governor, James Douglas. In response, Douglas sent Captain Geoffrey Phipps-Horne and his 31-gun steam frigate, the HMS Tribune, to San Juan Island. They were ordered to get rid of Pickett without bloodshed, if possible.

The Tribune was soon followed by the HMS Satellite with her 21 guns and the HMS Plumper with her 10, plus 46 Royal Marines and 15 Royal Engineers. Faced with almost one ship gun for each of his men, Pickett still refused to withdraw. He did, however, request reinforcements. In the meantime, the British should not take aggressive action waiting for the commander of the British naval forces in the Pacific, Rear Admiral R. Lambert Baines, to arrive. Now, I don't know anything else about Admiral Baines, but I think his reaction to the situation speaks well of him.

Baines was appalled and advised Douglas that he would not involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig. Now, on the island, Pickett received his reinforcements, 171 men and a replacement commander in the form of Lieutenant Colonel Silas Casey. Casey tried to parley with Baines, but after Baines refused to leave his ship, or maybe it was after seeing the 84 guns on Baines' ship, Casey also sent word asking for more reinforcements. So by the end of the month, 461 Americans were encamped in the woods just north of the sheep farm, and there they waited. And the British also waited, drilling and firing their guns into the island's bluffs.

Now, among all the absurdities of this situation, officers on both sides attended church together on the satellite and socialized. Now, at last, the story of this conflict reached Washington, D.C. and the then-president, James Buchanan. He hurriedly dispatched General Winfield Scott, a veteran of the War of 1812 and also a veteran of calming down border disputes. In the end, both parties agreed to withdraw their reinforcements. Britain and the United States would share San Juan Island in a joint occupation until the matter was finally resolved.

The Americans would leave one company of soldiers on the island, and the British would keep one warship in Griffin Bay. Now, this temporary solution worked, though with one thing and another keeping the decision-makers occupied, including our Civil War, the temporary solution dragged on for 12 years. In 1871, Britain and the United States agreed to let Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany arbitrate their dispute.

He gave the project to a three-man commission who met on the subject in Geneva for nearly a year. They ruled in favor of the United States. This set the final boundary between the U.S. and British, now Canadian, territory. And so, the Pig War ended, a war in which the only casualty was a pig and in which diplomacy finally triumphed. And a terrific job on the production by Monty Montgomery and a special thanks to Ann Clare for telling us what is a seemingly humorous but important point to make about border disputes and how they change and borders have been battled over for centuries over big and small things, even a pig. And by the way, if you have stories, history stories yourself, send them to OurAmericanStories.com. So many of you are actually closet historians or are actually history teachers. Send them in and send them to OurAmericanStories.com.

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