The Great Farallones Egg War¹
By the time the California Gold Rush overburdened San Francisco with hungry miners and profit-hungry businesses, one business found itself hurting from the lack of infrastructure. With no chicken farms to meet rising demands, bakers were desperate for eggs. Six men decided to profit from the demand chose to venture off the coast for other options.
150 years ago, the common murres' favorite egg-laying perch just happened to be within sailing distance. In 1851, the men traveled to the murres’ islands and gave themselves ownership, complete with company shares. The Egg Company began making a sizable profit selling the freely collected common murre eggs to San Francisco bakers.
By the early 1860s, the Egg Company had some serious competition. On a summer day in 1863, 27 armed challengers sailed toward the island. After 20 minutes of war, the challengers sailed back to home base defeated. Thus, ended the Great Farallones Egg War of 1863.