1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: I'm Tree C. V. Wilson, and I'm Holly Frying. Holly, 4 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: do you like oysters? I love oysters. I won't do 5 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: raw oysters. I mean I have, It's just not my thing, 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: but almost any other iteration of oysters I will eat 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:35,200 Speaker 1: that involves cooking. Yeah, Oyster stew is a big favorite. 8 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: Fried oysters, oyster po boys that you used to be 9 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: able to get at a restaurant here delicious. Yeah, so 10 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: nowadays we thanks to you know, their scarcity and also 11 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: the pearl making, oysters are associated pretty well with luxury, 12 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: or at least with being is sometimes food. They're not 13 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: for most people something that you eat every day, And 14 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: that pearl association is aloft because most pearls are cultured now. 15 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: But still I'm having a flash to the Japan Pavilion 16 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: at Epcot. You know that big department store they have 17 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: in the bottom, they have like a little oyster tank 18 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: where you can pick your oyster and pop it open 19 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: and maybe there's a pearl. And it's a big excitement 20 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: when people find a pearl. They'd like clap and ring 21 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:26,839 Speaker 1: a bell that is super fun. So, like with many scarcities, 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,320 Speaker 1: this one is completely man made. Before the eighteen hundreds, 23 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: oysters were plentiful in North America, but in the years 24 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: after the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War, the oyster 25 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: supply became so scarce that people actually turned to oyster piracy. 26 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: The bloodshed peaked in the late eighteen hundreds, but the 27 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: strife that we're talking about went on for almost a 28 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: hundred years. So what we're talking about today the Chesapeake 29 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: Bay oyster War. Uh. And I think a couple of 30 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: listeners have requested this one. And I tried to go 31 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: back looking through the spreadsheet to find names, and and 32 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: I did not record the names. So I am sorry. 33 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,639 Speaker 1: The spreadsheet became unusable and in its scope and length 34 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:21,959 Speaker 1: it reached epic proportions. Uh. Not easily wrangled by man. Uh. So, people, 35 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: as we know, have been eating oysters pretty much for 36 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: all of human history. There's archaeological evidence of oyster eating 37 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: that goes all the way back to the Neanderthals, and 38 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: pretty much every place there were oysters, there were people 39 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: eating them. In colonial America, they really became a staple 40 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: and they weren't used just for food. Their shells were 41 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: also important and used in everything from plaster to animal feed. 42 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: When European settlers arrived in North America, oysters were, as 43 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: we've been suggesting, quite abundant. Oyster beds were really expansive, 44 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: so much so that unsuspecting ships could easily run aground 45 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: on them. And you may also recall from our episode 46 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: on Jamestown Serving Time that at one point John Smith 47 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: actually tried to reduce the fort's food demands by sending 48 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: people away to live on oysters because they were plentiful, 49 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: full of protein, eating everywhere. Yeah, pretty easily acquired to 50 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: These Oysters were also a whole lot bigger than they 51 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: are today. A market size oyster today is at least 52 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: three inches long, but foot long oysters were a common 53 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: site back then. Oysters are a lot like lobsters in 54 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: this way. Early settlers told stories of giant and plentiful lobsters, 55 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: but once people started eating a lot of them, they 56 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: didn't have the chance to grow that big anymore. And 57 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: if you're interested in the lobsters side of this story, 58 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: you can hear it in the Memory Palace episode The 59 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: Lost Lobsters. And for a while after the arrival of 60 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: the European settlers, the oyster population in North America was 61 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: just fine. It was easily keeping up with the demands 62 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: of consumption, and even with the influx of people there, 63 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: there still weren't enough people here consuming oysters to put 64 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: a dent in what was at that time a very 65 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: robust oyster population. Then came the Industrial Revolution, and sometimes 66 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: I think we should call this podcast thanks industrial Revolution. 67 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: It uh was indeed quite impactful in a variety of 68 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: ways I'm good and some I'm really not. With advances 69 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: and harvesting, food preservation, and transportation, all of that changed. 70 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: Once people could harvest giant masses of oysters and then 71 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: can big batches of them in factories and ship them 72 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: everywhere by railroad, over harvesting immediately became a problem. The 73 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,919 Speaker 1: dredge was introduced in the late seventeen hundreds of New England, 74 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: and this was actually a big twocy jaw that would 75 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: scrape up huge numbers of oysters all at the same time, 76 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: so when one fell, swoop and on top of steeply 77 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: reducing how much time it took to harvest all those oysters. 78 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: The dredges, unfortunately were scooping up so many that they 79 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 1: didn't leave behind enough oyster is to repopulate those beds, 80 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:04,600 Speaker 1: and they would throw back the ones that were too 81 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: small for the most part, but sometimes not when they 82 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: were desperate for oysters. But even so, it wasn't enough 83 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: to really restock the area, and the effect on the 84 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: New England oyster population was almost immediate. By the eighteen hundreds, 85 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: oyster populations in New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut had 86 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 1: pretty much collapsed, but demand had not gotten any smaller, 87 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: so people turned south to find more oysters, and in 88 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: Virginia and Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay its name actually 89 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: comes from an Algonquin word meaning great shellfish. May oysters 90 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: were still really abundant, but Virginia, which had claimed to 91 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: the southern half of the bay, and Maryland, which had 92 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: the northern part uh and the Potomac River leading off 93 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 1: of it, we're not super keen on the Yankee interlopers 94 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: coming along to eat up all of their oysters, and 95 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: so each of those municipalities past laws allowing oyster harvest 96 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: only by state residents. That sounds like a good idea 97 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 1: on paper on paper, and led to some problems. By 98 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: the mid eighteen hundreds, people had figured out how to 99 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: steam can oysters, and railroads were also starting to connect 100 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: coastal towns to bigger cities, making it so much easier 101 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: and faster to transport the oysters once they were canned. 102 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: And all of these factors combined with the influx of 103 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: labor and investment after the Civil War to make the 104 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: chest Peak Bay a prime opportunity for a new industry. 105 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: Uh it was basically a giant oyster rush. People were 106 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: just swooping right in there to get in on the 107 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: oyster action. Chris Field, Maryland, on the eastern shore of 108 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: the bay, became a nexus of oyster activity. Railroads led 109 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: out of town was actually named for John Chrisfield, who 110 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: was the president of the Eastern Shore Railroad, and it 111 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: had easy access to some of Maryland's richest oyster beds. 112 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: These were in the Tangier Sound and could only be 113 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: reached by dredge. By eight seventy two, you about six 114 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 1: hundred oyster vessels were sailing out of Chrisfield. And meanwhile Baltimore, Maryland, 115 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: became the capital of oyster canning with more than one 116 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: hundred processing houses, and these cannaries were largely the work 117 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: of New England investors. The city was at a prime 118 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: location because it was connected to Chrisfield by the Eastern 119 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: Shore Railroad, and it was connected to the rest of 120 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: the world by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, so it 121 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: was really like the perfect geographical location. Oyster harvesting was 122 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: also really lucrative work. In the eighteen sixties, the captain 123 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: of an oyster dredging ship might make two thousand dollars 124 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: a year, which does not sound like much, but the 125 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: average Maryland income was only five hundred dollars a year. 126 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: And of course there's a reason it was so lucrative, 127 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: and that's because it was also extremely dangerous. Uh. The 128 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: legal oyster season, you know the months with an r uh, 129 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: it was during cold, wet weather. An oyster man had 130 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: to be strong and really hardy, so being constantly exposed 131 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 1: to the elements would bring on all kinds of ailments, 132 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: so you really did have to be in great health 133 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: and really strong of body. Watermen were prone to a frostbite, 134 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: they could get broken bones and what's called oyster hand, 135 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: which is an infection that you get if you are 136 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: cut by an oyster shell. And it was especially hazardous 137 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: for inexperienced workers, as you can imagine being swept off 138 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: to sea by the water or knocked off the deck 139 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: by a swinging boom on a dredging ship happened pretty 140 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:37,319 Speaker 1: commonly and uh as a consequence, they also would sometimes 141 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: accidentally uh fish up the bodies of men who had 142 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: fallen in previously, so also kind of a gruesome activity 143 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: and a job not for people faint of heart or 144 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 1: weak of stomach. Towns along the waterfront became a lot 145 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 1: like gold Rush towns in the Old West, except on 146 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: water and for oysters. They were full of brawling saloons, brothels, 147 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: and a generally seedy element, much to the chagrine of 148 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: the also thriving Methodist community there. The situation was bad 149 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: enough in Chrisfield that it actually went dry in eighteen 150 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: seventy five, but speakeasies continued to thrive and they had 151 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: to arrest so many illegally drunk people that they needed 152 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: to build an extra jail. And they're continued to be 153 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: a huge demand for oysters, so much so that there 154 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: were not always enough qualified laborers to man the boats, 155 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: so captains would actually sometimes kidnap men from these gold 156 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: rushed style towns and actually forced them to work on 157 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: the boats. Immigrants who didn't speak English were particularly high 158 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: risk for being abducted, and they were effectively imprisoned on 159 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: these dredging ships. There are horrible stories of beatings, torture, 160 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: and killings, and those stories became pretty common during this time. 161 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: In the middle of all this lawlessness, by the mid 162 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties, people were hauling millions of bushels of oysters 163 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: out of the Chesapeake Bay annually, fifteen million bushels in 164 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty four alone, the Chesapeake Bay was supplying about 165 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: half of the world's oysters. But of course, just as 166 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: claim jumping plagued the West during the gold Rush, tensions 167 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: ran high among multiple factions during this oyster boom, And 168 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: since we've already described it as kind of a lawless 169 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,199 Speaker 1: and wild space, you can imagine what starts to happen. Yes, 170 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: there were two main methods of harvesting oysters. And shallow 171 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: water people would lean over the side of the boat 172 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 1: and collect oysters from the bed using these long tongs, 173 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:41,199 Speaker 1: so they scraped up small loads of oysters at a time, 174 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: and then in deep water ships would use the dredges 175 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: that we talked about earlier. So obviously the Tongers couldn't 176 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: go into deeper water, but the dredging ships could work 177 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: their way into the shallows, so the Tongers were constantly 178 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:59,199 Speaker 1: trying to fight off the dredgers. The Tongers petitioned the 179 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: government for action, but they really didn't get a lot 180 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: of response, As continues to be the case. Some people 181 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 1: felt like it was the people with the most money 182 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: and the biggest ships that were getting the most attention. 183 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: So the Tongers armed themselves, and it wasn't just the 184 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: people who were out on the water. Coastal towns had 185 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: to arm themselves too. By eighteen seventy one, Tongers were 186 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:25,679 Speaker 1: regularly firing on dredgers that worked into their territory. And 187 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: on top of that, Virginia and Maryland could not agree 188 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,560 Speaker 1: where the state line was, nor could they patrol it adequately, 189 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: so when it came to the area's closest to the 190 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: state line, the Maryland and Virginia oystermen were also fighting. 191 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 1: They were at each other's throats, and sometimes there were 192 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: even disputes between oyster harvesters from neighboring counties, so it 193 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: was kind of a free for all of people with 194 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: various issues all going at it in the Chesapeake Bay. 195 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: With all the fights between the tongers and the dredgers 196 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:02,439 Speaker 1: and between Maryland and Virginia rosters, things got bloody fast. 197 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: People who were in one way or another on the 198 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: wrong side of oyster law became known and the news 199 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: and to the rest of the population as oyster pirates. 200 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 1: Apart from all of this violence, all this suggressive harvesting 201 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: was really damaging the oyster population. So by the mid 202 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: eighteen sixties, just about every jurisdiction had put some laws 203 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 1: into place to try to protect the oysters from being 204 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 1: harvested to extinction. So regulations like what sizes of oysters 205 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 1: could be harvested and when, and there were also taxes 206 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 1: imposed on the oyster harvests, but the enforcement was not 207 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: really uh there. It was pretty lax. Nobody was really 208 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: willing to take up the political risk of dampening the 209 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: oyster trade, which was so um lucrative and was such 210 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: a vast network of waterways to monitor. There really wasn't 211 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 1: anybody with resources to do it anyway. So they passed laws, 212 00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: but they were really just on the books. And not 213 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: some hich In practice, Maryland formed an oyster police force 214 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty eight. It was commanded by a man 215 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: named Hunter Davidson, and he patrolled in a steamboat named Layla, 216 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 1: which was a decrepit tug from the Civil War. But 217 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: he only stayed with it for a handful of years. 218 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:21,680 Speaker 1: The oyster pirates outnumbered him and had much better, nimbler, 219 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: faster ships. He would actually use a howitzer to try 220 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,959 Speaker 1: to sink illegal vessels and that did sometimes work. Uh 221 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: and he set armed blockades at the mouths of some 222 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 1: of the most highly contested waterways. Neither of these was 223 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: a popular move, to the surprise of no one. At 224 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 1: least once, somebody tried to assassinate him. Oyster pirates boarded 225 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: the Layla in the middle of the night on January 226 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: seventy one, where he was asleep in a locked cabin. 227 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: When the pirates started struggling with the door, it woke 228 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: him up and gave him time to grab her revolver 229 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: and defend himself, so the assassination attempt was not successful, 230 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 1: but he did not stay on the job too much longer. 231 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 1: After that, the Maryland government added more ships and staff 232 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy following a number of rather unflattering articles 233 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,679 Speaker 1: about how many bodies had been washing up on the shore, 234 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: so it actually did become a slightly more effective force. 235 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy one, the dredgers actually began to claim 236 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: that law enforcement was targeting them unfairly for minor or 237 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: even non existent infractions, and Virginia kind of lagged behind 238 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: this enforcement effort. Financially strapped state government had sold the 239 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: three vessels that used for maritime police work in eighteen 240 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: seventy five, which left it no real way to enforce 241 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: any of the laws for several years. By the late 242 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 1: eighteen seventies, things were really becoming dire. In eighteen seventy eight, 243 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: Francis Winslow, who was a former Navy officer, actually conducted 244 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: a survey of the bay's oysters and documented that harvesting 245 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: was vastly outpacing the oyster's ability to reproduce. And at 246 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: this point both states started to get much more serious 247 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: about trying to conserve and to stop the piracy. Like 248 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: once he realized this business was going to completely dry 249 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: up if they didn't get on it, Suddenly everybody was 250 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: a little more motivated between eighteen eighty two and eighteen 251 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: eighty five, William Evelyn Cameron, who was the actual governor 252 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: of Virginia, personally led a series of anti pirate attacks 253 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: up the Chesapeake through Maryland to the mouth of the 254 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: Rappahannock River. He had a military background and had been 255 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: a captain in the Confederate militia, and he had taken 256 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: a serious wound at the Battle of Second Manassas also 257 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,359 Speaker 1: known as Second Bull Run. He led a small flotilla 258 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: of heavily armed ships under the cover of night in 259 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 1: an attempt to stop the piracy. In his first trade 260 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty two, he had his fleet sale in 261 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: a formation so that it would look like a tug 262 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: was pulling a disabled freighter. So they kind of arranged 263 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: themselves in a disguise, which is really fun to think about. Uh. 264 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: He managed to capture several illicit dredgers this way, and 265 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: their captains and crew stood trial and had their boats 266 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: and gear confiscated. The governor did, however, eventually pardon them. 267 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: This was really the best of both worlds situation for 268 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: Governor Cameron. He had shown himself to be brave and 269 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: daring and getting something done, but then he didn't actually 270 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: punish them too harshly, and they had the sympathy of 271 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 1: a lot of voters, so he kind of satisfied all 272 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: of the people. At that point, he got a boost 273 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: in popularity off it had his cake and ate it 274 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 1: too did That's pretty smart. It only happened one. You 275 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:42,479 Speaker 1: can't keep pulling those because people start calling you wishy washy. 276 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: The boost of his popularity, of course, quickly faded and 277 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: the Dredgers went right back to dredging. The raids he 278 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 1: led after that point weren't nearly as successful, and they 279 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: actually became the target of ridicule. There was even a 280 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 1: comic opera at the Norfolk Academy of Music that was 281 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: performed about the whole thing on April third of eighteen 282 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: eighty three, called Driven from the Seas or Pirate Dredgers Doom. 283 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:10,399 Speaker 1: Although Governor Cameron's administration became kind of a shambles, in 284 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: March of eighteen eighty four, Virginia enacted a bill that 285 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: established a Board on the Chesapeake and its Tributaries, which 286 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: created and funded an actual naval force to protect Virginia's 287 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 1: oyster interests. Virginia had steamers patrolling the bay. By December 288 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: of that year, and in its first year of service, 289 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: the Aquatic Police Force created by the Board had actually 290 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: apprehended sixty one illicit oyster vessels, and with that enforcement 291 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: in place, the state's tax revenue from oysters magically started 292 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: to climb again. Law enforcement also became a much bigger 293 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: focus following the murder of Otto Mayor. He was a 294 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: German immigrant, and he was killed in eighteen eighty four. 295 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: He had been beaten daily and tortured aboard the dredging 296 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: ship EVA. Two of his German shipmates reported what had 297 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: had been to the German consulate in Baltimore once they 298 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: returned to shore, and at this point, since it was 299 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: basically an international incident, uh the effort to get things 300 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: under control really started in earnest, but unfortunately those efforts 301 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: were hampered by the ongoing tensions between Virginia and Maryland, 302 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: and by the spring of eighteen the two states governments 303 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: had completely stopped trying to negotiate with each other. They 304 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: just gave up. On top of that, in spite of 305 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:31,439 Speaker 1: the fledgling conservation efforts, the oyster population really started to 306 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,680 Speaker 1: bottom out. By the eighteen nineties, there were so many 307 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: oyster men on the water that they couldn't break even 308 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: on the halls they were bringing in, So they started 309 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: taking oysters that were under three inches long, and those 310 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,200 Speaker 1: are the ones that normally would have been thrown back 311 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: to repopulate. Oyster packing houses also started to fail, since 312 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 1: oysters are of course filter feeders. Water quality in the 313 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,440 Speaker 1: bay plummeted as well, and this was a downward spiral 314 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: since the dirty water was also harder for oysters to 315 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: live in. A lot of things changed after the turn 316 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: of the century. In nineteen o six, the introduction of 317 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,919 Speaker 1: gasoline powered dredging equipment made dredging possible with less manpower, 318 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: so that cut out the need to flce people into labor, 319 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: while also of course putting some people who chose to 320 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 1: do work out of work. By the nineteen twenties, the 321 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: annual oyster yield had dropped from that impressive number of 322 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: fifteen million bushels from the eighteen eighties to a mere 323 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:34,160 Speaker 1: three million annually, So that's a very significant drop off. 324 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:37,640 Speaker 1: And in spite of there being so much less oyster, 325 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: you know, moon to to haul in. Tensions continued on 326 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,359 Speaker 1: and off for the next thirty years. In ninety two, 327 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 1: a new oyster bed was discovered on Swamp Point up 328 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: the Potomac River from the Bay in Maryland, and law 329 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,679 Speaker 1: enforcement had real trouble keeping poachers away from that area 330 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,120 Speaker 1: because a lot of Maryland's boats at that point were 331 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: engaged in World War Two. Poachers from Virginia that were 332 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,200 Speaker 1: known as the Mosquito Fleet would cross the state line 333 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:08,919 Speaker 1: to plunder oysters and then run from the police in 334 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:13,119 Speaker 1: high speed boats. The last bloodshed in the oyster Wars 335 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: was in nineteen fifty nine, when a Virginia man named 336 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,479 Speaker 1: Berkeley Muse was shot by police after harvesting oysters from 337 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: the Potomac in Maryland. He died from his injuries, and 338 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:26,439 Speaker 1: at that point there was there were a lot of 339 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,800 Speaker 1: people who just called this out as absurd that the 340 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: the refrain was kind of it is nineteen fifty nine, 341 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: we should not be killing people ober oysters. Virginia and 342 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:40,679 Speaker 1: Maryland were at this point already trying to work out 343 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,640 Speaker 1: their oyster differences, and so muses death, as Tracy said, 344 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,640 Speaker 1: kind of put that into high gear. They started negotiating 345 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 1: in earnest again and eventually a six member by state 346 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: commission actually worked out in agreement, which is called the 347 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: Potomac River Fisheries Bill, and that agreement made it to 348 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: the ballot. It passed the popular vote, and it was 349 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:05,159 Speaker 1: eventually sent to Washington for congressional ratification. John F. Kennedy 350 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 1: signed it into law on December five, nineteen sixty two, 351 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:13,160 Speaker 1: at which point then Governors Taus of Maryland and Harrison 352 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: of Virginia met and had a seafood launch with oysters 353 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: to celebrate. But unfortunately, the oyster population in the Bay 354 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 1: has continued to fall, especially following new diseases appearing there 355 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:29,200 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties, and it really 356 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 1: bottomed out in the nineteen eighties. Today's harvests of native 357 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: oysters are less than one percent of what they were 358 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 1: at their eighteen eighties peak. However, the twelve Fall Oyster 359 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: Survey reported a nine percent survival rate among the state's 360 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 1: oyster population, the highest it has been since nineteen three. 361 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,240 Speaker 1: So things are maybe starting to look up a little 362 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 1: for native oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. And also no 363 00:21:55,880 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: one is killing people over them anymore. It makes me 364 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: want to naught eat oysters for a little while, like 365 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 1: I'm doing my part well oysters. So many, so many 366 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: seafoods that I love to eat so much are are 367 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 1: in some way or other a conservation problem. I think 368 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,360 Speaker 1: it's the Monterey Bay Aquarium has that Seafood Watch program 369 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: where you can look up and see whether the seafood 370 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: that you were eating is sustainably harvested or not. Which 371 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: is I think they're actually working in conjunction with other aquariums, 372 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 1: and a lot of aquariums have banded together to kind 373 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,439 Speaker 1: of fund that initiative and promote it. Yeah, I think 374 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:39,639 Speaker 1: they're sort of just the spearhead of a much bigger effort. So, yes, 375 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: oysters are delicious, not worth killing people over. Yeah, although 376 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 1: I'm you know, if it were your only livelihood, you 377 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: can understand how it could escalate. Still little think you 378 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:57,399 Speaker 1: should be doing that obviously, But you see, you know 379 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: how all these things happened very quickly. Uh money, yep, 380 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: kind of all comes down to it. And now I 381 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,360 Speaker 1: think you have listener mail. I knew our listener mail 382 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: is from Spencer, and it came in an actual envelope 383 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: on physical paper, and it's so awesome that you pretty 384 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: much scampered over to me as soon as you opened 385 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,879 Speaker 1: and I think I did, Spencer, says dear Holly and Tracy. 386 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: I recently listened to your episode on Boudica and I 387 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 1: loved it. I thought I would tell you about my 388 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,959 Speaker 1: own experience with the Rebellious Queen. I recently spent two 389 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 1: weeks at a camp for the arts and well in Court, Ontario, 390 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 1: where I specialized in stage combat. The first day I 391 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 1: was there, I was thrilled to learn that our final 392 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 1: performance would be on the Celtic rebellion against the Romans 393 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:49,399 Speaker 1: led by Boudica. We began to train with broadswords, daggers, javelins, 394 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: spears and hand to hand combat to match with the 395 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,400 Speaker 1: Celts and the Romans would have used as best as 396 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: we could. We learned Roman marching, celt battle cries, and 397 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: even some Latin. On the final day, I was even 398 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,679 Speaker 1: covered in Celtic wode and had my hair dyed with 399 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,399 Speaker 1: white temper paint to look as much like a Celtic 400 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,920 Speaker 1: warrior as I could. Our performance showed a Celtic ambush, 401 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,760 Speaker 1: the humiliation of Boudica, the sacking of Londinium, and the 402 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,360 Speaker 1: final battle in which the Celts were defeated. In the end, however, 403 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: we decided to show Buddhica kill herself, even though it 404 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: is disputed what did happen to her. I was so 405 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 1: glad that you had done on an episode. When I 406 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: got back that I thought I should write you this letter. 407 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: You were a humble Fan spencer. That is the greatest story. 408 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: And I want to go to Buddhica Camp. Yeah. That 409 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,199 Speaker 1: was Tracy's first reaction when she read it was, I 410 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: want to go to Buddica. Came. Could we have Budhica 411 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:45,400 Speaker 1: Camp for grown ups? We will set that up. Yeah, 412 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: it would be cool to go to Boudia Camp. Yeah. 413 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:50,400 Speaker 1: I have a friend that's kind of going to Buddhica Camp. 414 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,360 Speaker 1: Not at all really, he's going to go to Italy 415 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: to study physical theater for two years. I know it's 416 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,880 Speaker 1: going away parties this weekend. His name is Aaron. I'm 417 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: wishing you will Aaron. So if you would like to 418 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 1: write to us on this or any other subject, you can. 419 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,440 Speaker 1: We are at History Podcast at Discovery dot com. We're 420 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,679 Speaker 1: also on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash History class 421 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,920 Speaker 1: Stuff and on Twitter at missed in History, are tumbler 422 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 1: Is it missed in History dot tumbler dot com, and 423 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: we are on Pinterest. If you would like to learn 424 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: a little bit more about one of the things that 425 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,840 Speaker 1: came up in today's episode, come to our website and 426 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 1: put the word oyster in the search bar. You will 427 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,400 Speaker 1: find an article call on how do oysters make pearls? 428 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:35,680 Speaker 1: You can do all that and a whole lot more 429 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:42,720 Speaker 1: at our website, which is how stuff Works dot com. 430 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,199 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, is 431 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:58,439 Speaker 1: it how stuff works dot com. Netflix streams TV shows 432 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: and movies directly to your home, saving you time, money, 433 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: and hassle. 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