Egg War - The Egg War

The Egg War

The Egg Company attracted rivals, due to the amount of money to be made from the trade. Many fishermen collected eggs on the smaller and more treacherous North Farallones (which were not claimed by the Egg Company), but others attempted to egg on the main islands. The company’s claims to exclusive ownership of the island were dealt a further blow by an Executive Order issued by President James Buchanan in 1859 which claimed the islands for the federal government in order to build a lighthouse (which had already been built in 1853). The then lighthouse superintendent of the area, Ira Rankin, did not attempt to push the Egg Company off the island and instead asserted their right to collect over that of the other companies. In 1863, when a company of men, led by a David Batchelder sailed to the islands, Rankin sent a boat of armed men to remove them from the island, seizing several weapons. Batchelder returned a few weeks later and, reinforced, tried again to remove the Egg Company; Rankin again sent forces to evict him and his men from the island.

Batchelder returned once more to the Farallones, on June 2, 1863. Rankin’s forces again encountered them moored off North Landing, but Batchelder convinced them that he was intending to egg the North Farallones, not SEFI. Rankin’s men left for San Francisco. With the government cutter gone, three rowboats with twenty-seven armed men attempted a landing on the morning of the 4th. As Batchelder’s men landed, they were fired upon by men from the Egg Company. Batchelder’s men returned fire. The defenders had the advantage, having been able to pick their positions ahead of time, and after twenty minutes Batchelder’s men retreated. One man was killed on each side, and four of Batchelder’s men were wounded.

The aftermath of the conflict left the Egg Company in sole control of the islands, and David Batchelder was convicted of murder (he was acquitted on a technicality). The presence of the eggers on the island was tolerated for another twenty years, but they were finally evicted in 1881.