AI PlannerVictoria This Week
Nov 17-23, 2025
Exciting events and experiences happening this week in Victoria.
The “Pig War” in History and Memory
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Did you know the border between Canada and the US was determined because of a pig? On November 20th at 7:30, visit Ross Bay Villa Historic House Museum in Fairfield, and learn about an unusual chapter of early settler history with UVic historian Gordon Robert Lyall. In 1859, an American settler on San Juan Island shot and killed a pig owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company during a dispute between Great Britain and the United States over a small group of islands in the Salish Sea. Known today as the “Pig War,” this conflict captured historical imaginations, making a Berkshire boar the star character in the final settlement of the international border between Canada and the US. A summary of key moments in the San Juan Island “imbroglio” will engage questions of causality and how historical memory can be reframed by subsequent historians for contemporary purposes. This discussion concludes with comments on how the resolution of the so-called Pig War and the creation of the US-Canada border has impacted Coast Salish peoples. Tickets are $10/person. As seating is limited, they must be prebooked. All proceeds support the Ross Bay Villa Society, the entirely volunteer based society which runs and owns Ross Bay Villa, a restored historic house museum built in 1865.
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Shawn Desman
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Guided Tours of the Ross Bay Villa Historic House and Garden
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Journey back in time at Ross Bay Villa Historic House Museum, a volunteer-run museum and restoration project located in Fairfield. On Saturdays at 2PM, walk down the path past heritage apple trees and beautiful gardens and step into one of only a few 1860s houses still standing in Victoria. From the bright and airy drawing room to the charming children’s bedroom, the house has been restored with extraordinary care to appear as it did when the Roscoe family called it home. Built in 1865, the Gothic Revival Ross Bay Villa was built for Victoria businessman Francis Roscoe and his wife, Anna Letitia Roscoe. Located far away from the bustling streets of the upstart gold rush town and a short distance from the beach at Ross Bay, the property offered a bucolic country idyll for the Roscoes’ and their growing family. Admission is $7.50 plus tax per person. Tours must be booked ahead of time. All funds support the volunteer-based Ross Bay Villa Society which owns and operates Ross Bay Villa. Drop in a little early for your Saturday tour for our Ross Bay Villa Gift Shop and Book Nook. This unique vintage store has handcrafted items made by volunteers, plus everything from clothing and books to fine china and unexpected treasures. Stop by between 10-2 and find something special! Please note, donations of smaller, gently used household items are gratefully accepted.
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