GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 9O9
BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES 

AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Photograph of Mount McKinley courtesy of the National Park Service.
1-

-1 

^

MOUN HE HIGHEST PEAK IN THE UNI 

ALTITUDE 2O,320 FEET.
BOUNDARIES OF THE 

UNITED STATES AND 

THE

BY FRANKLIN K. VAN ZANDT

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 9O9

With miscellaneous geographic information 

concerning areas, altitudes, and geographic centers

This publication supersedes

U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1212

issued in 1966

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1976
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

THOMAS S. KLEPPE, SECRETARY

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

V. E. MCKELVEY, DIRECTOR

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,

U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, B.C. 20402-Price $5.20 

Stock No. 024-001-02758-5 Catalog No. I 19.16:909

Library of Congress catalog-card No. 75-37452
PREFACE

The first Geological Survey record setting forth the history of the boundaries of the United States and the several States and Territories was prepared 

by Henry Gannett, assisted by Franklin G. Butterfield, and was published as 

Bulletin 13 of the Geological Survey in 1885. The second edition, revised and 

enlarged by Henry Gannett, was published as Bulletin 171 in 1900. The third 

edition, also revised by Gannett, was published as Bulletin 226 in 1904. A 

revision and enlargement of Bulletin 226, which included additional matter 

incidentally connected with boundaries, was prepared by Edward M. Douglas 

and issued in 1923 as Bulletin 689. It was again revised by Douglas in 1930 as 

Bulletin 817. Bulletin 1212, prepared in 1964 by Franklin K.Van Zandt, is a 

revision of Bulletin 817.

This professional paper, prepared in 1974 75, is a revision of Bulletin 

1212. The revisions include clarification and modification of descriptions of 

certain boundaries. Some of these changes are a result of resurveys and 

remonumentation by competent authority, which make it easier to trace the 

boundary on the ground. Some follow agreements between neighboring States, 

which have then been approved by Congress. Interest in the sovereignty of 

off-shore areas has called for'definition of the lateral maritime boundaries between neighboring States that border the oceans or the Gulf of Mexico.

Disputes over land boundaries have been resolved by actions brought 

before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Changes in the national boundaries are brought about by treaties. Some 

islands where the United States no longer retains sovereignty are omitted 

from this publication.

Statistical data, mainly in the back of this paper have been brought up-todate, and there are numerous minor additions and deletions as appropriate.

Many Government agencies and officials, particularly the following, supplied useful information: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the 

Interior; Office of Territories, Department of the Interior; Bureau of the Census, 

Department of Commerce; Coast Guard, Department of Transportation; National Geodetic Survey, Department of Commerce; The Geographer, Department of State; and Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation.

State agencies have contributed information which has aided to bring this 

paper up to date.

To aid in the maintenance of current data for this publication, readers 

are requested to report any errors or obsolete information that comes to their 

attention.
CONTENTS

Page

Preface _________________________________ V

Expansion and growth of the United States __-_______ 1

Boundary problems __————————————————————_——_ 2

How boundaries are established and changed _—_______ 3

Boundaries of the United States ——————————_——————— 10

Provisional treaty with Great Britain, 1782 _________ 10

Treaty with Great Britain, 1783 _________________ 12

Treaty of London, 1794 ______——__——___________ 12

Treaty of Ghent, 1814 _____-_______________ 12

Convention with Great Britain, 1818 —_——__—__—— 14

Arbitration by King of the Netherlands ___________ 15

Webster-Ashburton treaty with Great Britain, 1842 ____ 17

Treaty with Great Britain, 1846 ————_———_——_——_ 18

Treaty with Great Britain, 1908 _______________ 18

Treaty with Great Britain, 1910 ___-____________ 20

Survey and marking of the northern boundary ______ 20

Treaty with Great Britain, 1925 _________________ 21

Treaty with Spain, 1795 ______________________ 22

Distances along the boundaries of the United States ___ 22

Additions to the territory of the United States ————————__ 23

Louisiana Purchase —————————————————————__ 23

Florida Purchase _——————————————————————__ 26

Texas accession __————_——______———————__ 27

First Mexican cession ————————————————————_ 28

Gadsden Purchase ——————————————————————— 29

Alaska Purchase _——————————————————————__ 29

Hawaiian Islands -————-——————_—-——————— 33

Palmyra Island __————————————————————————_ 34

Puerto Rico ______________________________ 35

Guam _______—_——————————-—__—____ 35

American Samoa _———————_——_——_—————— 36

Wake, Midway, and Johnston Islands _——_———____ 38

Canal Zone ____________________________ 38

Virgin Islands of the United States ______.___—— 39

Guano Islands _____—__—__—____________ 40

Interests of the United States beyond its borders _——_——_ 41

Antarctica _______—______-__-________ 41

Military and naval base leases __——________—_ 43

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands _______________ 43

Territorial waters and the Continental Shelf __—____ 44

The public domain and the changes made therein _—_———— 47

Cessions by the States _____________________ 47

Territory northwest of the Ohio River _—__—__—_ 49

Territory south of the Ohio River ______________ 50 

Louisiana, the areas formerly belonging to Mexico, and the

Oregon region _————————————————__—____ 51

Payments to the States _-__—__—____________ 54

The boundary lines of the States __________________ 55

Maine ______________________________ 55

New Hampshire —————_————————————————__ 60

Vermont _______——_——__—___________ 64

Page

The boundary lines of the States—Continued

________-_-_-_-_ 65

___________________ 71

____-_____________ 72

________-__________ 74

—_________________ 79

___________________ 80

.__________________ 84

—__________________ 85

—__———__———_— 88

___—__—_——_—_._ 92

—__—____—_———_ 95

___________________ 96

_________-_—_—_— 99

__________________ 100

___________________•_ 104

Mississippi ———————————————————————————— 105

Louisiana _____________________________ 106

Alabama __——__________———————————————— 108

Tennessee ,———————————————————————————— 109

Kentucky ______-__________-__—_______ 111

Massachusetts..———

Rhode Island _____

Connecticut. -_______

New York ________

New Jersey ———— 

Pennsylvania _____

Delaware ________

Maryland __——_.__ 

District of Columbia 

Virginia _________

West Virginia _____

North Carolina ____

South Carolina ____

Georgia —________

Florida _______-__

Ohio __ 

Indiana _ 

Illinois _ 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Texas __

______________ 111

—___________.__ 114

.___________ 116

.___________ 117

—___________ 118

._________i. ___ 120

Michigan ___-___-______-_________________ 127

—_____——___ 128

—__—__——__ 131

—__________ 133

____________ 134

—_—_______ 136

—_______-__ 138

———————————__ 139

—__________ 141

Wyoming ____—_——__—______________ 144

Montana _______________________________________

. California — ————_———_——_______.—_———____

Oregon -_——————————__—____——_______ 

Washington ————————__—_____________ 

Idaho _______________________________

Nevada __________________________

Utah __________________________________ 

New Mexico ____-___________________________

Arizona __——————-_-——_________________

Alaska ___—_——______:____________________

Hawaii ___-____________.______

Wisconsin _—_—__________

Iowa _______________

Minnesota _——_———________

North Dakota and South Dakota 

Nebraska _——————————___ 

Kansas ___—, ———_______

Oklahoma —————————_____

Colorado _——____________

145

151

153

155

156

158

159

160

165

165

166

General statistics relating to the United States __________ 167

Organization of the U.S. Government ————————————— 167

The U.S. flag ___—__._.___————__—————————— 167

VII
VIII CONTENTS

Page Page

General statistics relating to the United States—Continued General statistics relating to the United States—Continued

Early sessions of Congress __——_______________ 167 Extreme and mean altitudes of U.S. territory and the

Areas of the States and overseas territory __________ 167 continents —————————————————————————————— 171

Facts of geographic interest concerning U.S. territory___ 176

Geographic centers of the continental United States and of Biblio raph _______________ _____________ 181

the several States _________________________ 170 Index _________.______________________ 187

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Frontispiece. Photograph of Mount McKinley, Alaska. 

Figures 1—2. Photographs:

1. Boundary monuments _—____—————————————————__ 6

2. State boundary monuments __————_———_———__——___ 7 

3-4. Maps:

3. Conterminous United States showing accessions of territory from

1803 to 1853 ______________________________ 11

4. Maine, showing claims of the United States and Great Britain __ 16

5. Landsat image of the Puget Sound region ——__———————__—___ 19

6. Map showing acquisitions of territory since 1853 ——__—__——__ 30

7. Photograph of the Arctic Ocean terminus of the Alaska-Canada boundary. _ 31 

8-9. Maps:

8. U.S.-Canada boundary for southeast Alaska ————————————— 32

9. Relative size of Alaska and the conterminous United States __ 34 

10. Photographs of the northernmost and southernmost points in U.S. territory— 37 

11-17. Maps:

11. Canal Zone _______________________________ 39

12. Antarctica ____________——__—__——__—____ 42

13. The Trust Territories of the Pacific ———————_—————————__ 45

14. Arrowsmith map of 1814 ————————————————————————__ 52

15. Principal meridians and base lines of the public land surveys__ 56

16. Principal meridians and base lines in Alaska _———————__ 58

17. The Gore, at the northeast corner of Vermont __——__—____ 63 

18—19. Historical diagrams:

18. New York ________________________________ 76

19. Pennsylvania __________——__—___——_______ 81

20. Photograph of a section of a tree that had been used as a boundary mark 89 

21—22. Historical diagrams:

21. Virginia _______________-___-____-__________ 92

22. Georgia _________________________________- 101 

23. Stone set by Andrew Ellicott in his survey of the 31st parallel _______ 102 

24-29. Historical diagrams:

24. Mississippi ________________________________ 106

25. Louisiana ______________.—______—_________ 108

26. Indiana __________________________________ 114

27. Missouri _____________________________________ 117

28. Arkansas _________________________________ 119

29. Texas __________________________________ 121

30. Apollo photograph showing the boundary between Texas and New Mexico 125

31. Historical diagram of Michigan ———————————————————————————— 128

32. Boundaries of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in the Great Lakes __ 132

33. Common boundaries of Montana, South Dakota, and North Dakota —___ 135 

34—36. Historical diagrams:

34. North and South Dakota __________-___-__________ 136

35. Nebraska ____________________________________ 137

36. Oklahoma ______________——__——__——__——__ 140

37. Photograph of telescope used by Arthur Kidder in determining longitude_ 143

38. Photograph of the junction of four States ————————————————————— 144

39. Early topographic map of the Green River area in Wyoming, Utah, and

Colorado ______________________________________ 146

40. Boundaries of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado as surveyed _________ 148
ILLUSTRATIONS IX

Page

Figure 41. Photograph of part of the U.S.-Canada boundary _———————————————_ 149 

42. Map showing a portion of the Arizona-California boundary —————————— 154 

43-45. Historical diagrams:

43. Washington ______-___________________——___ 156

44. Idaho ____________________________________ 157

45. Utah ___________________________________- 160

46. Photograph of butte on the Utah-Arizona State line __-__—__———— 161

47. Historical diagram of New Mexico _———_——_———————————————— 162

48. Photograph of Ship Rock, New Mexico, point of departure for the ArizonaNew Mexico boundary survey ___________________________ 164

49. Diagram of the marks on the tablet at the southeast corner of New Mexico 165 

50—54. Photographs

50. Mount Whitney, highest point in the conterminous United States 172

51. Death Valley, lowest point in the conterminous United States _- 173

52. Mount Rainier, highest point in the State of Washington ____- 176

53. Dead Sea, lowest point on the Earth __________________ 178

54. Mount Everest, highest point on the Earth __——__——_______ 179

TABLES

Page

Table 1. Conversion of feet to metres _ —————— ————————————————_——_———__ 8

2. Conversion of miles to kilometres ___________________________ 9

3. Outlying areas of the United States ______________________________ 35

4. Date and order of admission of' the 50 States into the Union _____—______ 167

5. Land and water area of the United States, by States ——__——_—__——______ 168

6. Area of the United States __________________________________ 170

7. Geographic centers of the several States ________________________ 170

8. Extreme and mean altitudes in the United States and its overseas territories _—— 174

9. Extremes of altitude in the continents ——————_——__———_——_——_____ 175

10. Points of extreme latitude and longitude of the United States ________——__ 177
BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES

AND THE 

SEVERAL STATES

BY FRANKLIN K. VAN ZANDT

EXPANSION AND GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES

The original territory of the United States, as defined by the treaties of November 30, 1782, and September 3, 1783, with Great Britain, was bounded on the 

north by Canada, on the south by the Spanish Colonies 

of East and West Florida, on the east by the Atlantic 

Ocean, and on the west by the Mississippi River. It 

included the Thirteen Original Colonies and the areas 

claimed by them.

One of the difficult problems of the new nation was 

the existence of extensive unoccupied territory between 

the Thirteen Original Colonies and the Mississippi 

River. Seven of the Colonies claimed large parts of 

this territory and some of the claims were conflicting. 

Recognizing the possibilities for dispute in this situation, 

the Continental Congress on October 30, 1779, passed a 

resolution recommending to Virginia and the other interested States that they refrain from granting the unappropriated lands in the western territory during the 

continuance of the Revolutionary War.

The seven States claiming these areas responded 

favorably to this action and during the period from 

1781 to 1802 .ceded the lands to the Federal. Government. These lands, which became the nucleus of the 

public domain, included the area that is now Ohio. 

Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, part of Minnesota, Alabama, and Mississippi. The United States 

continued to hold title to the unappropriated lands and 

to administer the laws relating to them.

The remainder of the original territory, embracing 

what is now included in the States of Kentucky, West 

Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, and Vermont, was claimed 

by various States as being within their original limits. 

Kentucky was part of Virginia and Tennessee a part of

North Carolina. Maine was a part of Massachusetts 

until it entered the Union in 1820. Vermont was the subject of conflicting claims of the States bordering upon 

it. The parent States all relinquished their claims and 

consented to the admission of the new States. West 

Virginia was separated from Virginia in 1863 and became a State by act of Congress. All these new States 

retained title to the vacant unappropriated lands within 

their limits.

Additions to the original territory the acquisitions 

of Louisiana from France in 1803 and of Florida from 

Spain in 1819, the Texas annexation in-1845, the establishment of American title to Oregon Territory in 1846, 

the Mexican cession of 1848, and the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in 1853 brought the aggregate area 

of the conterminous * United States within its present 

boundaries to 3,022,387 square miles. All the vast area 

west of the Mississippi except the State of Texas became a part of the public domain, the United States 

retaining the ownership of the public lands. Congress 

made an exception for Texas, consenting to its admission into the Union with the provision that Texas should 

hold title to all vacant unappropriated lands within its 

limits.

The Thirteen Original States organized the Federal 

Union under the name of "The United States of America" by ratifying the Articles of Confederation and, subsequently, the Constitution. The boundaries of these 

States were not defined in the Acts of ratification, but 

in general the States maintained their claim to their 

colonial boundaries which had been established by

1 The word "conterminous" is used to refer to the 48 States, excluding 

Alaska and Hawaii. "Continental" United States includes Alaska.
BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

royal decree or by agreement. Some overlapping territorial claims were not finally settled until many years 

later by decision of our highest court.

The other States were admitted into the Union by 

acts of Congress, usually upon petition of the citizens 

residing in the territories in question. The boundaries 

of these States were defined in the enabling acts. However for some States, notably Missouri and Texas, the 

boundaries were changed by subsequent legislation.

BOUNDARY PROBLEMS

The boundaries of the United States and of the several States were determined as a result of treaties, 

purchases, colonial charters, and Acts of Congress. The 

actual location of the boundary on the ground has frequently been a difficult problem because of lack of 

knowledge of the physical features of the topography 

by those who defined the course of the boundary, lack 

of clarity in the description, and errors in surveying 

the prescribed lines.

These difficulties are understandable. The need for 

a determination of jurisdiction arises early in the settlement of a new country, frequently before much exploration has been done. Old maps show many mistakes 

easily recognizable from our knowledge of geography 

today. Often the remarkable thing about these maps is 

how accurate they are. 2 The mapmaker knows that 

much data and many position determinations enter 

into making an accurate map. The historian has given 

us a picture of the vast regions unexplored in the 18th 

century, the lack of roads, the hostile Indians, and the 

small population for so large an area. It is little wonder, 

then, that the treatymakers found it difficult to define 

the limits of national sovereignty and that it is even 

more difficult to mark them on the ground.

Inexact wording has frequently made ambiguous the 

intent of the signers of the document fixing a boundary. 

Disputes over the meaning of treaties have led to long 

negotiation and sometimes to war. Court records are

2 A map of the colonial period, the "Map oi the British and French 

dominions in North America," by Dr. John Mitchell, was possibly printed 

between 1762 and 1775 but retained the original publication date, 1755.

Copies of Mitchell's map were used at different stages of the negotiations 

In Paris between the American and British framers of the peace .treaties 

oi 1782-83.

John Adams wrote regarding this map: "We had before us, through the 

whole negotiations, a variety of maps; but it was the Mitchell's map upon 

which was marked out the whole boundary lines of the United States." No 

particular copy has so far been identified as the one thus referred to.

A copy of the Mitchell map used by John Jay, one of the American commissioners, on which a red line was drawn to indicate one of the prelimfull of suits brought to settle ownership of property. The 

same type of disagreements arise over limits of political 

divisions: nations, states, and even counties. Unfortunately, in the case of nations, there usually exist no 

courts that can make a decision and enforce it. Bitter 

quarrels have arisen over boundaries and some surprising claims have been advanced, such as the cry 

of "Fifty-four forty or fight." Yet almost always cooler 

judgment has prevailed and the matter was settled 

fairly. The surrender to the Federal Government of land 

in the Northwest Territory claimed by some of the 

Thirteen Original States illustrates the concessions that 

were made which permitted the orderly development 

of the new nation.

Surveying methods and practices have been greatly 

improved since the days when most of our State and 

national boundaries were located. Latitude and longitude determinations are made with greater accuracy 

today, as are angle and distance measurements. This 

accuracy is due to better instruments and higher requirements. The early surveyor had to endure many 

hardships. Sometimes it is surprising that his work was 

as good as it was.

It is legally well established that a boundary or 

property line once marked on the ground and accepted 

by the interested parties becomes the true line, whether 

or not it follows the written description. The surveyor 

who reruns the line must find where it is rather than 

move it to conform to the wording of the original document (148 U.S. 503; 103 U.S. 316; 137 U.S. 584; 267 U.S. 

39). Conflicting boundary claims and lack of knowledge 

as to the exact location of the boundary have presented 

problems to the courts and to the surveyor through the 

years. Disagreements between adjoining States, or between States and the Federal Government, that cannot 

be settled by negotiations are brought to the Supreme 

Court for decision.

The following discussion on how boundaries are 

established and changed, on the boundaries of the 

United States and additions to its territory, and on the 

formation of the various States and the establishment 

of their boundaries are presented for their historical 

and geographical interest and for a reference to those 

who do not care to take time to go to original source 

material. Certain factual information concerning areas, 

altitudes, and geography is presented at the end of the

inary boundary proposals, is now in the library of the New York Historical 

Society.

In the British Museum there is a heavily annotated copy of Mitchell's 

map that has on it a red boundary line, which differs from that on the 

Jay copy (Moore, 1898, p. 154, 161).

The Library of Congress has many copies of the Mitchell map besides 

those published in England, including 7 French, 2 Dutch, 2 Italian, and 

2 Spanish issues, as well as 40 or more reproductions of parts of the map.

Although there are many errors in this map, in 1782-83 it was the best 

available. Martin (1927) stated, "It appears to be the most important map 

in American history."
book with the thought that it is of general interest and 

is readily available to the Geological Survey.

HOW BOUNDARIES ARE 

ESTABLISHED AND CHANGED

Boundaries between countries are established by 

treaties made by the sovereign powers concerned 

(Brigham, 1919, p. 201-219).

A boundary between two States of the United States 

may be changed by agreement of the State legislatures, 

but this agreement must be approved by Congress. 

The U.S. Congress cannot change a State boundary 

without the consent of the State, nor can two States by 

mutual agreement change their common boundary 

without the consent of Congress. The consent of Congress to a change in a boundary need not be granted 

by a special act but may be inferred from subsequent 

legislation.3 Several times Congress has given its consent in advance for adjoining States to fix an indefinite 

water boundary between them.4

A boundary between a State and a Territory was 

fixed by joint action of Congress and the State. Boundaries between Territories were fixed by congressional 

action alone. Disputes between States regarding boundaries must be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court, whose 

decisions are final. (148 U.S. 503. For reference to the 

procedure for submitting boundary disputes to the U.S. 

Supreme Court, see Martin, 1930, p. 113.)

Long acquiescence in the possession of territory and 

in the exercise of dominion and sovereignty over it is 

conclusive of the Nation's title and rightful authority 

(136 U.S. 510; 202 U.S. 1; 270 U.S. 295; 4 Howard 639).

The statute of limitations in the possession of land 

does not operate against the United States or a State, 

and title to Government land cannot be acquired by 

adverse possession.5

3 U.S. Supreme Court Repts., 11 Wallace, p. 39-59 (78 U.S. 39-59); 148 

U.S. 502 et al. (Prior to 1875 the volumes of the U.S. Supreme Court reports 

were designated by the name of the official reporter and a number. Some 

sets of these early reports are now numbered serially also. In order of 

issue there are 4 reports by Dallas (serial Nos. 1-4), covering the years 

1790 to 1800; 9 by Cranch (serial Nos. 5-13), 1801 to 1815; 12 by Wheaton 

(serial Nos. 14-25), 1816 to 1827; 16 by Peters (serial Nos. 26-41), 1828 to 

1842; 24 by Howard (serial Nos. 42-65), 1843 to 1860; 2 by Black (serial 

Nos. 66-67), 1861 to 1862; and 23 by Wallace (serial Nos. 68-90), 1863 to 

1874. Beginning with No. 91, for 1875, the volumes have been numbered 

serially only. References to these reports are customarily made thus: "6 

Cranch 24," "10 Howard 40." The serial number of the volume is sometimes given also. Beginning with v. 91, the references are given in the 

form "97 U.S. 271," meaning v. 97 of the U.S. Supreme Court reports, 

p. 271, the page number always being given last.)

«35 Stat. L. 1160-1161; 36 Stat. L. 881; see also 41 Stat. L. 1447. (References in this volume to acts of Congress, joint resolutions, and presidential 

proclamations, contained in the U.S. Statutes at Large are given in the 

form used here, or in the later references, the "L" is dropped. "36 Stat. 

L. 881" (36 Stat. 881), for example, means v. 36, p. 881.) See Article IV, 

sec. 3, of the Constitution of the United Stales. The conditions under which 

ratification by Congress is essential are described at length in 148 U.S. 

520-522. See also an excellent review of this question in the opinion, dated 

June 17, 1929, rendered by the attorney general of Texas to a joint legislative committee of that State, regarding the 100th meridian boundary.

HOW BOUNDARIES ARE 

ESTABLISHED AND CHANGED

When original boundary marks have been destroyed, 

"the law, as well as common sense, must declare that 

a supposed boundary line long acquiesced in is better 

evidence of where the real line should be than any 

survey made after the original monuments have disappeared" (Stewart v. Carleton, 31 Mich. Repts. 270; 

Diehl v. Zanger, 39 Mich. Repts. 601).

An original monument determines a point on a 

boundary with greater certainty than courses and distances. "Errors in courses are immaterial" (23 Wallace 

46; 103 U.S. 316). When courses have not been marked, 

a line long recognized as a boundary must be accepted as such (103 U.S. 316).

Three of the most common means of defining a 

boundary are:

By a water boundary, such as a stream, lake, or other 

body of water,

By a divide between two drainage basins, 

By a meridian of longitude or a parallel of latitude.

The last of these depends for its exactitude on the 

work of the surveyor. There is no doubt as to the intent 

of the wording when a parallel of latitude is specified, 

because the numbering always begins with zero at the 

equator. The numbering of the meridians now generally accepted increases from zero to the east and 

west of Greenwich. This has not always been so, and 

even today in some countries the initial meridian is 

the one passing through their capital. In the United 

States the Washington meridian was used as a point 

of departure in much of the 19th century.

The act of September 28, 1850 (9 Stat. 515), provided, 

among other things, "That hereafter the meridian of the 

observatory at Washington shall be adopted and used 

as the American meridian for all astronomic purposes 

and * * * that the meridian of Greenwich shall be 

adopted for all nautical purposes." This act was repealed August 22, 1912 (37 Stat. 342).

The Washington meridian passes through the center 

of the dome of the old Naval Observatory at 24th Street 

and Constitution Avenue, N W., Washington, B.C. It is 

5 hours, 8 minutes, 12.15 seconds or 77°03'02.3" west 

of Greenwich. The longitude given here is derived by 

astronomic observation. The geodetic value is greater

6 39 Fed. 654; 95 Pac. 278. References given here are from The Federal 

Reporter and The Pacific Reporter. The former source has to do with Federal cases in courts below the Supreme Court, and the latter with State 

supreme court cases in the western part of the United States. See Act of 

Dec. 22, 1928, Public No. 645, 70th Cong., for conditions under which a 

patent may be obtained to United States land held for 20 years under 

"color of title."
BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

by 3.8 seconds, about 300 feet. Because of the difference between astronomic and geodetic values and the 

lack of precision in early surveys, a boundary referred 

to the Washington meridian by even degrees may be 

several seconds in longitude from its position as defined 

in the enabling act. During the period of nearly 62 years 

that the act was in force, the meridional boundaries of 

the Territories and States of Arizona, Colorado, Dakota, 

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Wyoming and the States 

of Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Utah were 

referred to the Washington meridian.

The use of a divide or ridge summit for a boundary 

has considerable logic to support it. It is a natural 

barrier and tends to confine political and economic 

activity to some extent. The intent of the document defining the boundary is clear, and the topographer can 

mark the line on the ground within very close limits.

If by treaty or statute a nonnavigable river or smaller 

stream is named as a boundary between States or 

nations and neither the bank nor the main channel is 

specified, the line midway between the two banks is 

the actual boundary. A treaty, statute, or cession may 

specify that one bank or the other is the boundary; in 

that case either the high-water or the low-water mark 

may be the line, according to the wording of the agreement. For example, the north boundary of Kentucky is 

the low-water mark on the north bank of the Ohio 

(see p. 94, 111), as fixed by the act of cession by Virginia, 

and the high-water mark on the west bank of the 

Chattahoochee River forms part of the west boundary 

of Georgia (13 Howard 380).

If a boundary line described as following the middle 

of a river intersects an island, it is the usual policy to 

give the entire island to the State or Government to 

which the greater part would fall. This rule was followed by the commission acting under Article VI of the 

treaty of Ghent in fixing the St. Lawrence River boundary, and also by the Rhode Island and Massachusetts 

commissions.6

No land can be considered an island unless it is surrounded by 

water at all times. The same tract of land cannot be sometimes In 

Kentucky and sometimes in Indiana, according to the rise and fall of 

the river. It must be always in the one State or the other.'

Where running streams are the boundaries between States, * * * 

when the bed and channel are changed by the natural and gradual 

processes known as erosion and accretion, the boundary follows the 

varying course of the stream [see 265 U.S. 499]; while if the stream 

from any cause, natural or artificial, suddenly leaves its old bed and 

forms a new one, by the process known as avulsion, the resulting 

change of channel works no change of boundary, which remains in 

the middle of the old channel [or on one bank if so fixed by statute], 

although no water may be flowing in it [246 U.S. 173].

So long as that channel [as it was previous to avulsion] remains 

a running stream the boundary marked by it is still subject to be 

changed by erosion and accretion; but when the water becomes stagnant * * * the boundary then becomes fixed in the middle of the 

channel [246 U.S. 175].

Thus a line described by statute or treaty as a river 

boundary may later run across dry land, where it remains fixed unless the river returns to its former channel and changes the channel by slow action. There 

are many illustrations of this rule in the United States 

for example, along the Missouri River between Missouri 

and Kansas and between Missouri and Nebraska, and 

on the Mississippi between Tennessee and Arkansas.

If after an avulsion the boundary is again moved by 

new accretions, a Supreme Court rule (18 Howard 150; 

1 Black 209. See also 48 Mich. 88) requires that the 

boundary be so placed that each State (or individual) 

shall have a water frontage proportional to what it was 

immediately after the avulsion occurred, general directions only being considered.8

When a navigable river constitutes the boundary between two 

independent States, the line defining the point at which the jurisdiction of the two separates is well established to be the middle of the 

main channel of the stream. 9 * * * The controlling consideration which 

fixes the jurisdiction between neighboring States bordering on a 

navigable stream "is that which preserves to each State equality in 

the right of navigation in the river."10

The rule as to what constitutes a navigable stream 

or lake was reaffirmed in a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court dated February 1, 1926 as follows:

Streams or lakes * * * are navigable * * * when they are used or 

susceptible of being used in their natural or ordinary condition as 

highways for commerce * * * whether by steamboats, sailing vessels, 

or flat boats [270 U.S. 49].

By common law, only arms of the sea and streams 

where the tide ebbs and flows are deemed navigable. 

(140 U.S. 383.)

The terms "thalweg," "fairway," "midway," or "main 

channel" are used in the definition of water boundaries 

between States, meaning the middle or deepest or best 

navigable channel. They are applied to water boundaries in sounds, bays, straits, gulfs, estuaries, and other

 For reference to the use of the water of rivers that cross State lines, 

abstract of laws, and bibliography of 70 entries relating to that subject, 

see Hinderlider and Meeker, 1927, v. 90, p. 1035-1051). See also 206 U.S. 

46, 259 U.S. 419, 206 U.S. 46-98 (Arkansas River), 259 U.S. 419 (Laramie 

River), 282 U.S. 660 (Ware River, Mass.), 283 U.S. 336 (Delaware River), 

283 U.S. 423 (Colorado River).

7 5 Wheaton 374. See decision regarding Wolf Island, Mississippi River, 

11 Wallace 395.

8 Many examples of the application of this rule are shown on the maps 

accompanying the reports of the commissioners who established the 

boundary between Oklahoma and Texas along the Red River. See report 

4, Jan. 31, 1927, U.S. Supreme Court.

9 This general rule has no application to a case governed by convention 

or by a special right based on prior possession. (See 202 U.S. 29.)

10 143 U.S. 359-367; 147 U.S. 7-13; 202 U.S. 149; 211 U.S. 127-134; 214 U.S. 

205, 215; 246 U.S. 158; 247 U.S. 461; 250 U.S. 39; 252 U.S. 282; 259 U.S. 572. 

Convention with Mexico, Nov 12, 1884, Art. I. See Opinions of the Attorney 

General, 1856, v. 8, p. 175-180, for many references to these rules in 

international law.
arms of the sea, also to boundary lakes and landlocked seas in which there is a deep-water sailing 

channel.

The middle of the channel refers to the space within which ships 

can and usually do pass. This may be and often is midway between 

the two banks. It is not necessarily the deepest channel, which may 

be so crooked that it can not be used.11

The true water boundary lines for Mississippi River States are lines 

along the middle of the main channel of navigation as it existed in 

1783, subject to such changes as have occurred since that time 

through natural and gradual processes [246 U.S. 158].

For States bordering on the Mississippi the terms "middle of the 

Mississippi River," "middle of the main channel of the Mississippi 

River," "the center of the main channel of that river" are synonymous 

[147 U.S. 11].

Changes in rivers caused by the works of man do 

not change boundaries.

The building of docks or other structures in a river does not work 

an alteration in a boundary line, nor does it affect the sovereignty of 

the State over the area occupied by such structures. * * * He who 

owns submerged land owns the land reclaimed.12

Each State may establish rules of property over land which emerges 

on either side of an interstate boundary stream, but such rules extend 

to the interstate boundary line only [246 U.S. 176].

In a case regarding title to land along a tidal stream 

in a newly created State, the U.S. Supreme Court decided (3 Howard 212; 9 Howard 471; 13 Howard 25) 

that the shores of navigable rivers and the soil under 

them up to high-water mark belong to the adjoining 

State, not to the United States, but this general rule 

may be modified by treaty, by statute, or by agreement between States when approved by Congress.13

Grants of land by the United States bordering on 

navigable waters extend to the mean high-water line, 

but State laws differ in this respect.

When a State is admitted to the Union it becomes 

vested with the title to lands under navigable waters 

up to mean high-water mark,14 but title to the beds of 

nonnavigable rivers remained in the United States 

when new States were organized from areas that were 

formerly public land (283 U.S. 66). State laws cannot 

affect titles vested in the United States (283 U.S. 75).

What constitutes the high-water.. line on... the shores 

of oceans, lakes, and rivers has been the subject of a 

great many court decisions (156 Wisconsin 261, 272. 

See also 258 U.S. 574), which may be summarized as 

follows (Johnson, 1919, p. 160):

The point on the bank or shore 16 up to which the presence and 

action of the water is so continuous as to leave a distinct mark either

11 147 U.S. 1. For many references to court decisions regarding water 

boundaries, see Hyde (1922, v. 1, p. 243-248) and Clark (1922, p. 38 and 

chap. 14).

12 See brief for the Jnited. States in Marine Railway & Coal Co. v. the 

United States, U.S. Supreme Court, October term, 1920, p. 70, 155.

« See Opinions of the Attorney General, 1856, v. 8, p. 443; 94 U.S. 324; 

138 U.S. 226; 255 U.S. 56; and Clark (1922, p. 295).

" 140 U.S. 371; 94 U.S. 325. Riparian rights of individuals differ in different States are not well defined. Riparian rights in England and Canada 

are ably described in Canadian Surveyor, July 1931, p. 7-16.

15 For references to the meaning of shore and shoreline, see 224 Illinois 

43; 79 North Eastern 296, 1907; 12 Lawyer's Reports Annotated, new ser. 

687, 1908; 53 Arkansas 314, 1890; 13 South Western 931, 1890; 8 Lawyer's 

Reports Annotated, 559, 1890.

HOW BOUNDARIES ARE 

ESTABLISHED AND CHANGED

by erosion, destruction of terrestrial vegetation, or other easily recognized characteristic.

The following are Supreme Court definitions:

The bed of the river includes * * * all of the area which is kept 

practically bare of vegetation by the wash of the waters of the river 

from year to year * * * although parts of it are left dry for months 

at a time. * * * The bank of the river [the Red River] * * * is the 

water-washed and relatively permanent elevation or declivity [commonly called a cut bank] at the outer line of the river bed which 

separates the bed from the adjacent upland * * * and serves to confine the waters within the bed * * *. The boundary intended is on 

and along the bank at the average or mean level attained by the 

waters when they reach and wash the bank without overflowing it. 

[Oklahoma v. Texas [Red River boundary case], 260 U.S. 632, 645.]

The shoreline is "the line which is washed by the 

water wherever it covers the bed of the river within its 

banks" (13 Howard 418. See also 5 Wheaton 379). It 

lies "along the bank at the mean level attained by the 

waters of the river when they reach and wash the 

bank without overflowing it." 16

The question has often been asked whether a boundary defined by statute or treaty, as on a specified 

parallel of latitude or meridian of longitude, should be 

located by direct astronomic observations or from 

geodetic computations giving a mean position derived 

from a great number of observations. It has generally 

been agreed that an astronomic location is the proper 

one, but astronomic and geodetic positions may differ 

materially. For example the astronomic stations on the 

49th parallel boundary east of the Rocky Mountains 

vary from 6 seconds north to 8 seconds south of the 

mean parallel of latitude a range of more than a 

quarter of a mile. It seems likely that for future surveys 

geodetic positions will be used wherever available.17

Differences between astronomic and geodetic values 

for the same position on the Earth's surface are often 

a cause of confusion. An adjustment of the triangulation net across the United States, connecting many accepted astronomic stations, resulted in the adoption of 

the U.S. Standard Datum. When this horizontal datum 

was accepted by Canada and Mexico, and their own 

positions connected to it, it was renamed the North 

American Datum.

After a general adjustment by the U.S. Coast and 

Geodetic Survey, a new datum was adopted, called

16 See opinion of the attorney general of the State of New York, Sept. 30, 

1925, on the meaning of the "line of high water"; which includes references to many decisions.

"For a discussion of this subject, see U.S. Gong. (1877, p. 260, 261, 

267). See also Hodgson and others (1926, p. 1699) and Sweitzer (1927, 

p. 428).
6

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

the 1927 North American Datum, usually referred 

to as 1927 N.A.D. Triangulation station Meades 

Ranch in Kansas was held fixed. Its position is latitude 

39°13'26.686", longitude 98°32/30.506" 1927 N.A.D. (see 

p. 170). The shift necessary to convert geodetic coordinates from the old to the new datum varies from zero 

to about 100 feet in latitude and a similar amount in 

longitude. The displacement increases with the distance from the fixed point.

In this publication, 1927 N.A.D. values are so labeled. 

They are used where they are available or where the

conversion is practical. No change is made where it 

is desirable to retain the historical value or where the 

accuracy of the original determination does not warrant 

it.

English units of measure are retained in this publication because of its historical nature. Distances are 

given in miles and feet and sometimes in yards or 

chains. A chain is 66 feet, and there are 100 links in a 

chain. Some old surveys are recorded in perches, which 

are a fourth of a chain, equivalent to a rod.

Because of the adoption of the metric system in the 

United States, and the conversion which is now in 

progress, conversion tables are given here for the convenience of the reader.

All boundary lines should be well marked, the size 

and character of the marks depending on the importance of the line. (See figs. 1, 2.) Many State boundaries, even some run in recent years, have been very

FIGURE 1. Boundary monuments. A, The mark farthest north on the Lake of the Woods meridian boundary;

B, monument on the Mexican boundary.
'-V-f. '"'¥->

!i>'!fai:^4*!-!^fpl%:H'i^^

FIGURE 2. State boundary monuments. J., Northeast corner of Connecticut: B, corner between Rhode Island, 

Massachusetts, and Connecticut; C, north end of line between New York and Pennsylvania; D, monument 20 on Mason and Dixon Line. Photographs by Erwin Griswold.
8

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

TABLE 1. Conversion of feet to metres 

[From Department of the Army Technical Manual TM 5-236; 1 square mile equals 2.590 square kilometres; 1 acre equals 0.407 hectares]

Feet

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

20

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

40

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Metres

0.0

0.30480

0.60960

0.91440

1.21920

1.52400

1.82880

2.13360

2.43840

2.74321

3.04801

3.35281

3.65761

3.96241

4.26721

4.57201

4.87681

5.18161

5.48641

5.79121

6.09601

6.40081

6.70561

7.01041

7.31521

7.62002

7.92482

8.22962

8.53442

8.83922

9.14402

9.44882

9.75362

10.05842

10'.36322

10.66802

10.97282

11.27762

11.58242

11.88722

12.19202

12.49682

12.80163

13.10643

13.41123

13.71603

14.02083

14.32563

14.63043

14.93523

Feet

50

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

60

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

70

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

80

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

90

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Metres

15.24003

15.54483

15.84963

16.15443

16.45923

16.76403

17.06883

17.37363

17.67844

17.98324

18.28804

18.59284

18.89764

19.20244

19.50724

19.81204

20.11684

20.42164

20.72644

21.03124

21.33604

21.64084

21.94564

22.25044

22.55525

22.86005

23.16485

23.46965

23.77445

24.07925

24.38405

24.68885

24.99365

25.29845

25.60325

25.90805

26.21285

26.51765

26.82245

27.12725

27.43206

27.73686

28.04166

28.34646

28.65126

28.95606

29.26086

29.56566

29.87046

30.17526

Feet

100

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

110

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

120

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

130

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

140

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Metres

30.48006

30.78486

31.08966

31.39446

31.69926

32.00406

32.30886

32.61367

32.91847

33.22327

33.52807

33.83287

34.13767

34.44247

34.74727

35.05207

35.35687

35.66167

35.96647

36.27127

36.57607

36.88087

37.18567

37.49047

37.79528

38.10008

38.40488

38.70968

39.01448

39.31928

39.62408

39.92888

40.23368

40.53848

40.84328

41.14808

41.45288

41.75768

42.06248

42.36728

42.67209

42.97689

43.28169

43.58649

43.89129

44.19609

44.50089

44.80569

45.11049

45.41529

Feet

150

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

160

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

170

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

180

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

190

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Metres

45.72009

46.02489

46.32969

46.63449

46.93929

47.24409

47.54890

47.85370

48.15850

48.46330

48.76810

49.07290

49.37770

49.68250

49.98730

50.29210'

50.59690

50.90170

51.20650'

51.51130

51.81610

52.12090'

52.42570

52.73051

53.03531

53.34011

53.64491

53.94971

54.25451

54.55931

54.86411

55.16891

55.47371

55.77851

56.08331

56.38811

56.69291

56.99771

57.30251

57.60732

57.91212

58.21692

58.52172

58.82652

59.13132

59.43612

59.74092

60.04572

60.35052

60.65532

Feet

200

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

210

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

220

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

230

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

240'

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Metres

60.96012

61.26492

61.56972

61.87452

62.17932

62.48412

62.78893

63.09373

63.39853

63.70333

64.00813

64.31293

64.61773

64.92253

65.22733

65.53213

65.83693

66.14173

66.44653

66.75133

67.05613

67.36093

67.66574

67.97054

68.27534

68.58014

68.88494

69.18974

69.49454

69.79934

70.10414

70.40894

70.71374

71.0'1854

71.32334

71.62814

71.93294

72.23774

72.54255

72.84735

73.15215

73.45695

73.76175

74.06655

74.37135

74.67615

74.98095

75.28575

75.59055

75.89535
HOW BOUNDARIES ARE 

ESTABLISHED AND CHANGED 9

TABLE 2.—Conversion of miles to kilometres

Miles

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

20

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

40

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Kilometres

0

1.609

3.219

4.828

6.437

8.047

9.656

11.265

12.875

14.484

16,093

17,703

19.312

20.922

22.531

24.140

25.750

27.359

28.968

30.578

32.187

33.796

35.406

37.015

38.624

40.234

41.843

43.452

45.062

46.671

48,280

49.890

51.499

53.108

54.718

56.327

57.936

59.546

61.155

62.765

64.374

65.983

67.593

69.202

70.811

72.421

74.030

75.639

77.249

78.858

Miles

50

l

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

60

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

70

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

80

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

90

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Kilometres

80.467

82.077

83.686

85.295

86.905

88.514

90.123

91.733

93.342

94.951

96.561

98.170

99.780

101.389

102.998

104.608

106.217

107.826

109.436

111.045

112.654

114.264

115.873

117.482

119.092

120.701

122.310'

123.920

125.529

127.138

128.748

130.357

131.966

133.576

135.185

136.795

138.404

140.013

141.623

143.232

144.841

146.451

148.060

149.669

151.279

152.888

154.497

156.107

157.716

159.325

Miles

100

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

110

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

120

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

130

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

140

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Kilometres

160.935

162.544

164.153

165.763

167.372

168.981

170.591

172.200

173.809

175.419

177.028

178.638

180.247

181.856

183.466

185.075

186.684

188.294

189.903

191.512

193.122

194.731

196.340

197.950

199.559

201.168

202.778

204.387

205.996

207.606

209.215

210.824

212.434

214.043

215.653

217.262

218.871

220.481

222.090

223.699

225.309

226.918

228.527

230.137

231.746

233.355

234.965

236.574

238.183

239.793

Miles

150

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

160

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

170

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

180

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

190

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Kilometres

241.402

243.011

244.621

246.230

247.839

249.449

251.058

252.668

254.277

255.886

257.496

259.105

260.714

262.324

263.933

265.542

267.152

268.761

270.370

271.980

273.589

275.198

276.808

278.417

280.026

281.636

283.245

284.854

286.464

288.073

289.682

291.292

292.901

294.511

296.120

297.729

299.339

300.948

302.557

304.167

305.776

307.385

308.995

310.604

312.213

313.823

315.432

317.041

318.651

320.260

Miles

200

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

210

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

220

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

230'

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

240'

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Kilometres

321.869

323.479

325.088

326.697

328.307

329.916

331.526

333.135

334.744

336.354

337.963

339.572

341.182

342.791

344.400

346.010'

347.619

349.228

350.838

352.447

354.056

355.666

357.275

358.884

360.494

362.103

363.712

365.322

366.931

368.541

370.150

371.759

373.369

374.978

376.587

378.197

379.806

381.415

383.025

384.634

386.243

387.853

389.462

391.071

392.681

394.290'

395.899

397.509

399.118

400.727
10

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

inadequately marked, by blazes on trees or by stones 

so small that they could be easily carried off. Hundreds 

of thousands of dollars spent in litigation and in the 

resurvey of old lines would have been saved had the 

lines been properly marked when first run. Many lines 

have marks at intervals of 1 mile. A better rule to 

follow is to place the marks in such a way that from 

any one of them two others may be seen; therefore, 

all obstructing trees and brush should be cleared away. 

Marks should also be placed at road crossings and 

other important points.

A State-line mark should project not less than 3 feet 

above ground (4 feet is better) and should be so firmly 

set that it cannot be easily overturned nor disturbed by 

frost. These conditions are most easily met by constructing monuments of concrete or of metal posts set 

on concrete bases. Each monument should have the 

State names on opposite sides; it should bear also the 

year of survey, an identifying number, and, if practicable, a reference to the treaty or act in accordance 

with which the line was run. The following specifications were prepared for the monuments on the New 

York-Connecticut boundary, survey of 1909-10, and 

are quoted as affording examples of adequate marks:

The monuments are to be of good-quality light-colored granite, free 

from seams or other defects, straight and of full size throughout, not 

less than 9 nor more than 10 feet in length, 12 inches square 4 feet 

down from the top, tapering from 12 inches square to not over 15 

inches square in the next l'/2 feet and not less than 12 inches nor 

more than 20 inches on any face the rest of the distance. The top and 

the four sides of each monument for a distance of 4 feet from the top 

are to be cut smooth at right angles with each other and finished with 

6-cut work. The tapering portion to be pointed to a smooth even 

surface to conform to the dimensions given. The remaining portions 

to be left as split, but full size, not less than 12 inches square 

throughout, the bottom to be not less than 12 inches square and 

substantially at right angles to the sides, and every point of the lower 

5 feet of the stone must lie outside the planes of the smooth-cut portion. On one side will be cut the letters "N. Y."; on the opposite side 

will be cut the letters "CONN." On the third side will be cut the 

figures "1909." * * * Additional similar letters shall be cut as may be 

ordered. * * * The letters "N. Y." and "CONN." are to be 5 inches 

high; the figures to be 4 inches high. All letters to be cut with 

V-shaped indentations at least % inch deep.

These monuments were set in concrete bases 4 feet 

square and 5 feet deep.

The most recent practice in marking curved or 

crooked boundaries is to make them a series of connected straight lines; for water boundaries, suitable 

reference marks are set on shore. This plan was 

authorized by the British treaty of 1908 for the rivers on

the Canadian boundary and was adopted in marking 

the Massachusetts-Rhode Island line.

The boundary marks should be protected by law and 

should be inspected frequently and repaired whenever 

necessary. Some States provide for such attention 

New York at 3-year intervals, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts at 5-year intervals.18

A U.S. statute, approved March 4, 1909, makes it a 

misdemeanor to molest any monument or witness tree 

on a Government survey. It provides as follows:

Whoever shall willfully destroy, deface, change, or remove to 

another place any section corner, quarter-section corner, or meanderpost, on any Government line of survey, or shall willfully cut down 

any witness tree or any tree blazed to mark the line of a Government survey, or shall willfully, deface, change, or remove any monument or bench mark of any Government survey, shall be fined not 

more than two hundred and fifty dollars, or imprisoned not more 

than six months, or both [Crim. Code, sec. 57; 35 Stet. L. 1099].

The necessity for preserving boundary marks was 

recognized by Moses, who wrote (Deuteronomy xix, 14): 

"Thou shalt not not remove thy neighbor's landmark."

Many references to court decisions regarding boundaries can be found in the following publications:

Clark, F. E., 1922, A treatise on the law of surveying and boundaries: Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merril Co., chap. 21.

Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., 1928, Digest of U.S. Supreme 

Court reports, Boundaries: Rochester, N.Y., v. 3, p. 1339-1357.

Mack, William, 1910, Cyclopedia of law and procedure: New York, 

American Law Book Co., v. 36, p. 842.

Mack, William, 1910. Cyclopedia of law and procedure: New York, 

American Law Book Co., v. 36, p. 842.

McKinley, W. M., and Rich, B. A., Ruling case law, 1914, Boundaries, v. 4, p. 77-132; 1916, States, v. 25. p. 373-376.

Michie, T. J., 1909, The encyclopedia of Supreme Court reports: 

Charlottesville, Va., v. 3, p. 494-507.

Moore, I. B., 1906, A digest of international law: 56th Cong., 2d 

sess., H. Doc. 551, v. 1, p. 272, 273, 618, 619, 747.

Skelton, R. H., 1930, The legal elements of boundaries and adjacent 

properties: Indianapolis.

Taylor, R. H., 1874, A treatise on the law of boundaries and fences: 

Albany, William Gould & Son.

BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES

PROVISIONAL TREATY 

WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1782

The original limits of the United States were first 

definitely described in the provisional treaty concluded 

with Great Britain November 30, 1782. The second 

article of that treaty defines them as follows (see fig. 3) 29 

(Malloy, 1910, v. 1, 581):

"See New York laws for 1887, chap. 421, and for 1892, chap. 678; Pennsylvania act approved May 4, 1889; and Massachusetts Revised Laws, 

chap. 1, sec. 4.

10 The north end of the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase, as 

shown in figs. 3, 27, 34, 35, and 43, is slightly in error. From a point on 

the boundary 30 miles south of the 49th parallel, the line should run northeastward instead of northwestward, so as to exclude the St. Mary River 

drainage basin from the Louisiana Purchase area.
700 MlLES

^

30 Kl LOMETRES

FIGURE 3.—Conterminous United States, showing accessions of territory from 1803 to 1853.
12

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

ARTICLE II. From the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz, that 

angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source 

of St. Croix River to the highlands; along the highlands which divide 

those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from 

those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwesternmost 

head of Connecticut River; thence down along the middle of that 

river to the 45th degree of north latitude; from thence by a line 

due west on said latitude until it strikes the river Iroguois or Cataraguy [St. Lawrence]; thence along the middle of said river into Lake 

Ontario, through the middle of said lake until it strikes the communication by water between that lake and Lake Erie; thence along the 

middle of said communication into Lake Erie, through the middle of 

said lake until it arrives at the water communication between that 

lake and Lake Huron; thence along the middle of said water communication into the Lake Huron; thence through the middle of said 

lake to the water communication between that lake and Lake Superior; 

thence through Lake Superior northward of the Isles Royal and 

Phelippeaux, to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said 

Long Lake, and the water communication between it and the Lake 

of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the 

said lake to the most northwestern point thereof, and from thence 

on a due west course to the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be 

drawn along the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall 

intersect the northernmost part of the 31st degree of north latitude. South, by a line to be drawn due east from the determination 

of the line last mentioned, in the latitude of 31 degrees north of the 

eguator, to the middle of the river Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence 

along the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River; thence 

straight to the head of St. Mary's River; and thence down along the 

middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean. East, by a line to 

be drawn along the middle of the river St. Croix, from its mouth in 

the bay of Fundy to its source, and from its source directly north 

to the aforesaid highlands which divide the rivers that fall into the 

Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river St. Lawrence; 

comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the 

shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn 

due east from the points where the aforesaid boundaries beween 

Nova Scotia on the one part and East Florida on the other, shall 

respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean; excepting such islands as now are, or heretofore have been, within the 

limits of the said province of Nova Scotia. [See p. 104 for a separate 

article attached to this treaty.]

TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1783

The definite treaty of peace with Great Britain, concluded September 3, 1783, defines the boundaries of 

the United States in terms similar to those of the provisional treaty.

The northern boundary became at once a fruitful 

source of dissension between the two countries. From 

the time of the conclusion of peace almost to the present 

day the definite location of this line has been the subject of a series of treaties, commissions, and surveys. 

An outline history of the settlement of this dispute 

follows.

TREATY OF LONDON, 1794

The fourth article of the treaty of London, signed 

November 19, 1794, provided that

Whereas it is uncertain whether the river Mississippi extends so far 

to the northward as to be intersected by a line to be drawn due 

west from the Lake of the Woods, in the manner mentioned in the 

treaty of peace between His Majesty and the United. States: * * * 

the two parties will proceed, by amicable negotiations, to regulate 

the boundary line in that quarter.

This matter was not settled, however, until 1818. 

The fifth article of the same treaty makes provision 

for settling another doubtful point, as follows:

Whereas doubts have arisen what river was truly intended under 

the name of the river St. Croix, mentioned in the said treaty of 

peace, and forming a part of the boundary therein described; that 

question shall be referred to the final decision of commissions to be 

appointed in the following manner, viz, * * *.

Here follow provisions that His Majesty and the 

President of the United States should each appoint a 

commissioner, and that these two commissioners should 

agree on a third, or if they should fail to agree on the 

third, he was to be chosen by lot in their presence.

Which was the true St. Croix River had been a matter 

of controversy between the governments of Massachusetts and Nova Scotia since the year 1764.

The commissioners appointed under the foregoing 

provisions decided, on October 25, 1798, that the river 

called Schoodiac and the northern branch thereof 

(called Cheputnaticook) is the true River St. Croix, and 

that its source is at the northernmost headspring of 

the northern branch aforesaid (Gallatin, 1840, p. 5). A 

monument was erected at that spot under the direction 

of the commissioners.

TREATY OF GHENT, 1814

By the treaty of peace concluded at Ghent December 

24, 1814, it was agreed to provide for a final adjustment of the boundaries described in the treaty of 1783 

that had not yet been determined. The boundaries in 

question embraced certain islands in the Bay of Fundy 

and the whole of the boundary line from the source of 

the River St. Croix to the most northwestern point of the 

Lake of the Woods (Malloy, 1913, v. 1, p. 615).

By the fourth article, provision was made for the 

appointment of commissioners to settle the title to several islands in the Passamaquoddy Bay, which is a 

part of the Bay of Fundy, and the island of Grand 

Manan, in the Bay of Fundy. The fifth article made 

provision for the appointment of commissioners to settle 

the boundary from the source of the River St. Croix to 

the Iroquois or Cataraquy (St. Lawrence) River. The 

sixth and seventh articles provided for commissioners 

to continue the line to the Lake of the Woods.

It was provided by this treaty that in case any of 

the boards of commissioners were unable to agree they 

should make separately or jointly a report or reports
to their respective governments stating the points on 

which they differed and the grounds on which they 

based their respective opinions. These reports were 

to be referred to some friendly sovereign or State for 

arbitration.

The first and third boards of commissioners mentioned above came to agreements, and the parts of 

the boundary referred to them were thus finally determined; but the commissioners appointed under the 

fifth article, after sitting nearly 5 years, could not agree 

on any of the matters referred to them, nor even on a 

general map of the country exhibiting the boundaries 

respectively claimed by each party. They accordingly 

made separate reports to their governments, as provided in the treaty.

The first of these commissions awarded Moose, 

Dudley, and Frederick Islands to the United States 

and all other islands in Passamaquoddy Bay and the 

island of Grand Manan to Great Britain.

The following is the text of the report (Malloy, 1910, 

v. 1, p. 621) of the third of these commissions, which 

had under consideration that part of the northern 

boundary between the point where the 45th parallel 

of north latitude strikes the St. Lawrence and the point 

where the boundary reaches Lake Superior:

Decision of the commissioners under the sixth article of the treaty 

of Ghent, done at Utica, in the State of New York, 18th June, 1822

[We] do decide and declare that the following-described line 

(which is more clearly indicated on a series of maps accompanying 

this report, exhibiting correct surveys and delineations of all rivers, 

lakes, water communications, and islands embraced by the sixth 

article of the treaty of Ghent, by a black line shaded on the British 

side with red, and on the American side with blue; and each sheet 

of which series of maps is identified by a certificate, subscribed by 

the commissioners, and by the two principal surveyors employed 

by them), is the true boundary intended by the two before-mentioned 

treaties, that is to say:

Beginning at a stone monument, erected by Andrew Ellicott, esq., 

in the year of our Lord 1817, on the south bank, or shore, of the 

said river Iroquois or Cataraque (now called the St. Lawrence), which 

monument bears south 74°45' west, and is 1,840 yards distant from 

the stone church in the Indian village of St. Regis, and indicates the 

point at which the forty-fifh parallel of norh latitude strikes the said 

river; thence running north 35°45' west into the river, on a line 

at right angles with the southern shore, to a point 100 yards south 

of the opposite island, called Cornwell Island; thence turning westerly 

and passing around the southern and western sides of said island, 

keeping 100 yards distant therefrom, and following the curvatures of 

its shores, to a point opposite to the northwest corner, or angle, of 

said island; thence to and along the middle of the main river, until 

it approaches the eastern extremity of Barnhart's Island; thence northerly, along the channel which divides the last-mentioned island 

from the Canada shore, keeping 100 yards distant from the island, 

until it approaches Sheik's Island; thence along the 'middle of the 

strait which divides Barnhart's and Sheik's islands to the channel 

called the Long Sault, which separates the two last-mentioned islands 

from the lower Long Sault Island; thence westerly (crossing the 

center of the last-mentioned channel) until it approaches within 100 

yards of the north shore of the Lower Sault Island; thence up the 

north branch of the river, keeping to the north of, and near, the 

Lower Sault Island, and also north of, and near, the Upper Sault

13

BOUNDARIES 

OF THE UNITED STATES

(sometimes called Baxter's) Island, and south of the two small islands, 

marked on the map A and B, to the western extremity of the Upper 

Sault, or Baxter's Island; thence passing between the two islands 

called the Cats, to the middle of the river above; thence along the 

middle of the river, keeping to the north of the small islands marked 

C and D; and north also of Chrystler's Island and of the small 

island next above it, marked E, until it approaches the northeast 

angle of Goose Neck Island; thence along the passage which divides 

the last-mentioned island from the Canada shore, keeping 100 yards 

from the island to the upper end of the same; thence south of, and 

near, the two small islands called the Nut Islands; thence north of, 

and near, the island marked F, and also of the island called Dry or 

Smuggler's Island; thence passing between the islands marked G 

and H, to the north of the island called Isle au Rapid Platt; thence 

along the north side of the last-mentioned island, keeping 100 yards 

from the shore to the upper end thereof; thence along the middle of 

the river, keeping to the south of, and near, the islands called Cousson (or Tussin) and Presque Isle; thence up' the river, keeping north 

of, and near, the several Gallop Isles numbered on the map 1, 2, 3, 

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and also of Tick, Tibbets, and Chimney 

islands; and south of, and near, the Gallop Isles, numbered 11, 12, 

and 13, and also of Duck, Drummond, and Sheep islands; thence 

along the middle of the river, passing north of island No. 14, south 

of 15, and 16, north of 17, south of 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 

28, and north of 26 *" and 27; thence along the middle of the river, 

north of Gull Island, and of the islands No. 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, Bluff 

Island, and No. 39, 44, and 45, and to the south of No. 30', 31, 36, 

Grenadier Island, and No. 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47, and 48, 

until it approaches the east end of Well's Island; thence to the north 

of Well's Island, and along the strait which divides it from Rowe's 

Island, keeping to the north of the small islands No. 51, 52, 54, 58, 59, 

and 61, and to the south of the small islands numbered and marked 

49, 50, 53, 55, 57, 60, and X, until it approaches the northeast point 

of Grindstone Island; thence to the north of Grindstone Island, and 

keeping to the north also of the small islands No. 63, 65, 67, 68, 

70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, and 78, and to the south of No. 62, 64, 

66, 69, and 71, until it approaches the southern point of Hickory 

Island; thence passing to the south of Hickory Island, and of the 

two small islands lying near its southern extremity, numbered 79 

and 80; thence to the south of Grand or Long Island, keeping near 

its southern shore, and passing to the north of Carlton Island, until 

it arrives opposite to the southwestern point of said Grand Island, 

in Lake Ontario; thence, passing to the north of Grenadier, Fox, Stony, 

and the Gallop islands, in Lake Ontario, and to the south of, and 

near, the islands called the Ducks to the middle of the said lake; 

thence westerly, along the middle of said lake, to a point opposite 

the mouth of the Niagara River; thence to and up the middle of 

the said river to the Great Falls; thence up the Falls through the 

point of the Horse Shoe, keeping to the west of Iris or Goat Island, 

and of the group of small islands at its head, and following the bends 

of the river so as to enter the strait between Navy and Grand 

islands; thence along the middle of said strait to the head of Navy 

Island; thence to the west and south of, and near to, Grand and 

Beaver islands, and to the west of Strawberry, Sguaw, and Bird

20 The line is drawn south of No. 26 on the map filed in Washington.
14

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Lakes, from which a map was drawn. This map was 

photolithographed and was published in 29 sheets by 

the U.S. Lighthouse Board in 1891. (See reference to 

resurvey under treaty of 1908, p. 20.)

islands, to Lake Erie M ; thence southerly and westerly, along the 

middle of Lake Erie, in a direction to e'lter the passage immediately 

south of Middle Island, being one of 'he easternmost of the group 

of islands lying in the western part of said lake; thence along the said 

passage, proceeding to the north of Cunningham's Island, of the three 

Bass Islands, and of the Western Sister, and to the south of the islands 

called the Hen and Chickens, and of the Eastern and Middle Sisters; 

thence to the middle of the mouth of the Detroit River, in a direction 

to enter the channel which divides Bois-Blanc and Sugar Islands; 

thence up the said channel to the west of Bois-Blanc Island, and to the 

east of Sugar, Fox, and Stony islands, until it approaches Fighting or 

Great Turkey Island; thence along the western side, and near the shore 

of said last-mentioned island to the middle of the river above the same; 

thence along the middle of said river, keeping to the southeast of, and 

near, Hog Island, and to the northwest, of and near the island Isle a la 

Pache, to Lake Saint Clair; thence through the middle of said lake 

in a direction to enter that mouth or channel of the river St. Clair, 

which is usually denominated the Old Ship Channel; thence along 

the middle of said channel, between Squirrel Island on the southeast, and Herson's Island on the northwest, to the upper end of the 

last-mentioned island, which is nearly opposite to Point aux Chines, 

on the American shore; thence along the middle of the river St. 

Clair, keeping to the west of, and near, the islands called Belle 

Riviere Isle, and Isle aux Cerfs, to Lake Huron; thence through the 

middle of Lake Huron, in a direction to enter the strait or passage 

between Drummond's Island on the west, and the Little Manitou 

Island on the east; thence through the middle of the passage which 

divides the two last-mentioned islands; thence turning northerly and 

westerly, around the eastern and northern shores of Drummond's 

Island, and proceeding in a direction to enter the passage between 

the island of St. Joseph's and the American shore, passing to the 

north of the intermediate islands No. 61, 11, 10, 12, 9, 6, 4, and 

2, and to the south of those numbered 15, 13, 5, and 1; thence up the 

said last-mentioned passage, keeping near to the island St. Joseph's 

and passing to the north and east of Isle a la Crosse, and of the 

small islands numbered 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, and to the south and 

west of those numbered 21, 22, and 23, until it strikes a line (drawn 

on the map with black ink and shaded on one side of the point of 

intersection with blue, and on the other side with red), passing 

across the river at the head of St. Joseph's Island, and at the foot 

of the Neebish Rapids, which line denotes the termination of the 

boundary directed to be run by the sixth aritcle of the treaty of 

Ghent.

And the said commissioners do further decide and declare that 

all the islands lying in the rivers, lakes, and water communications, 

between the before-described boundary line and the adjacent shores 

of Upper Canada, do, and each of them does, belong to His Britannic 

Majesty, and that all the islands lying in the rivers, likes, and water 

communications, between the said boundary line and the adjacent 

shores of the United States, or their territories, do, and each of 

them does, belong to the United States of America, in conformity with 

the true intent of the second article of the said treaty of 1783, and 

of the sixth aricle of the treaty of Ghent.

In accordance with the terms of the treaty of Ghent a 

survey was made of the St. Lawrence and the Great

CONVENTION WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1818

The convention with Great Britain concluded October 

20, 1818, extended the boundary line westward along 

the 49th parallel of latitude to the "Stony" (Rocky) 

Mountains and provided that the country beyond these 

mountains should for 10 years remain open to both 

parties. Two articles of the convention are as follows 

(Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 632):

ARTICLE II. It is agreed that a line drawn from the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, along the forty-ninth parallel 

of north latitude, or if the said point shall not be in the forty-ninth 

parallel of nonlatitude, then that a line drawn from the said point 

due north or south, as the case may be, until the said line shall 

intersect the said parallel of north latitude, and from the point of 

such intersection due west along and with the said parallel shall 

be the line of demarkation between the territories of the United 

States, and those of His Britannic Majesty, and that the said line 

shall form the northern boundary of the said territories of the United 

States, and the southern boundary of the territories of His Britannic 

Majesty, from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains.

ARTICLE III. It is agreed, that any country that may be claimed 

by either party on the northwest coast of America, westward of the 

Stony Mountains, shall, together with its harbours, bays, and creeks, 

and the navigation of all rivers within the same, be free and open, 

for the term of ten years from the date of the signature of the present 

convention, to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two Powers: 

it being well understood, that this agreement is not to be construed 

to the prejudice of any claim, which either of the two high contracting 

parties may have to any part of the said country, nor shall it be 

taken to affect the claims of any other Power or State to any part 

of the said country; the only object of the high contracting parties 

in that respect being to prevent disputes and differences amongst 

themselves.

The initial point of this boundary, which the convention fixed as "the most northwestern point" of the 

Lake of the Woods, was selected in 1824 by Dr. J. L. 

Tiarks, astronomer, and David Thompson, surveyor, 

who were employed by the British Government for this 

purpose, and their report was accepted by the U.S. 

commissioners. The point selected was about 27.5 miles 

north of the 49th parallel, in a swamp, where it was not 

feasible to establish a permanent mark, but astronomical observations were made at a reference point about 

4,600 feet farther south. A pile of logs 12 feet high and 

7 feet square was erected at this point, the remains of 

which were identified by the commissioners of 1872, 

who established an iron monument on the boundary 

a short distance from its site.22

This monument was recovered by the commission of 

1912 and reset in concrete. It is now known as boundary

n Horseshoe Reef, which is near the outlet of Lake Erie, was ceded to 

the United States Dec. 9, 1850, as a site for a lighthouse.

22 See U.S. Gong. (1877, p. 80-82), Internat. Joint Comm., United States 

and Canada (1917, p. 138; this book contains a bibliography of publications 

for the Lake of the Woods region), White (1914a, p. 886), and Hinks (1921, 

p. 438-441).
mark 925, and its position is lat 49°22'39.6" N., long 

95°09'11.6" W. (See fig. 1A.) Two reference marks were 

established in 1912, in lat 49°23'04.49" N., to fix a point 

which falls in water about half a mile north of boundary 

mark 925. This point was adopted by the treaty of 1925 

as the north limit of the United States in the Lake of 

the Woods, in place of the northwesternmost angle. 

There are 13 metal monuments on the north-south 

boundary line from this point to hte 49th parallel, of 

which No. 925 is the farthest north.

In 1824 negotiations were resumed between the two 

countries for the settlement, among other things, of the 

boundary west of the Rocky mountains, but no conclusion was reached; the British Government claimed 

that the boundary line should follow the 49th parallel 

westward to the point where this parallel strikes the 

great northwestern branch of the Columbia River, 

thence down the middle of that river to the Pacific 

Ocean.

In 1826 negotiations were resumed, and several compromises were proposed by both parties, but without 

satisfactory results. After this the whole matter remained in abeyance until the special mission of Lord 

Ashburton to this country in 1842.

Meanwhile the unsettled questions regarding the 

eastern part of the north boundary again came up. The 

case having reached that stage at which it became 

necessary to refer the points of difference to a friendly 

sovereign or State, the two powers found it expedient 

to regulate the proceedings and make provisions in 

relation to such reference, and on September 29, 1827, 

they concluded a convention to that end (Malloy, 1910, 

v. 1, p. 646; Moore, 1898, chap. 3, 4).

The respective claims of the United States and Great 

Britain were as follows (see fig. 4):

Boundary claimed by the United States: From the 

source of the River St. Croix (a point of departure 

mutually acknowledged) the boundary should be a 

due north line for about 140 miles, crossing the River 

St. John at about 75 miles. At about 97 miles it reaches 

a ridge or highland which divides tributary streams 

of the River St. John, which falls into the Bay of Fundy, 

from the waters of the River Ristigouche, which falls 

through the Bay des Chaleurs into the Gulf of St. 

Lawrence. In its further course the said due north line, 

after crossing several upper branches of the River 

Ristigouche, reaches, at about 140 miles, the highlands 

which divide the waters of the said River Ristigouche 

from the tributary streams of the River Metis, which 

falls into the River St. Lawrence. Thence the line should 

run westerly and southwesterly along the highlands 

which divide the sources of the several rivers (from 

the Metis to the St. Francis) that empty themselves into 

the River St. Lawrence from the sources of the tributaries of the Rivers Ristigouche, St. John, Penobscot,

15

BOUNDARIES 

OF THE UNITED STATES

Kennebec, and Connecticut, all of which either mediately or immediately fall into the Atlantic Ocean.

Boundary claimed by Great Britain: From the source 

of the River St. Croix the boundary should be a due 

north line about 40 miles to a point at or near Mars 

Hill; then it should run westerly about 115 miles along 

the highlands that divide the sources of the tributaries 

of the River St. John from the sources of the River 

Penobscot to a spot called Metjarmette Portage, near 

the source of the River Chaudiere.

From this point the line coincides with the line 

claimed by the United States as far as the northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River. Great Britain 

claimed one of several small streams to be the northwesternmost tributary of the Connecticut River, and the 

United States another.

The territory in dispute comprised an area of about 

12,000 square miles. The British claims were based 

principally on a possible uncertainty as to the identity 

of the River St. Croix and the proper location of the 

"highlands."

The location of the source of the St. Croix was officially fixed by the declaration of commissioners in 

October, 1798. Its position as determined in 1899 is 

lat 45°56'37.007" N. and long 67°46'54.715" W. (U.S. 

Coast Geod. Survey, 1918, p. 30).

ARBITRATION BY KING OF THE 

NETHERLANDS

The King of the Netherlands was selected in 1829 by 

the two Governments as the arbiter, and each laid 

before him, in conformity with the provisions of the 

convention, all the evidence intended to be brought in 

support of its claim and two separate statements of 

the respective cases. His award, made in 1831, was as 

follows (Moore, 1898, p. 134-136):

We are of the opinion: That it will be suitable (il conviendra) to 

adopt, as the boundary of the two States, a line drawn due north 

from the source of the river St. Croix to the point where it intersects 

the middle of the thalweg-of the river St. John; thence, the middle 

of the thalweg of that river, ascending it, to the point where the 

river St. Francis empties itself into the river St. John; thence, the 

middle of the thalweg of the river St. Francis, ascending it to the 

source of its southwesternmost branch, which source we indicate on 

the Map A M by the letter X, authenticated by the signature of our 

Minister of Foreign Affairs; thence, in a line drawn due west to 

the point where it unites with the line claimed by the United States

23 The New York Public Library has a facsimile copy, 62 by 63 in., of the 

signed original map. Moore (1898) gives a corrected copy on a small scale.
16

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

of America and delineated on the Map A; thence, by said line to 

the point at which, according to said map, it coincides with that 

claimed by Great Britain; and thence, the line traced on the map 

by the two Powers to the northwesternmost source of Connecticut 

River.

* * # * * * *

We are of the opinion that the stream situated farthest to the northwest, among these which fall into the northernmost of the three 

Lakes, the last of which bears the name of Connecticut Lake, must 

be considered as the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River.

We are of the opinion that it will be suitable to proceed to fresh 

operations to measure the observed latitude in order to mark out the 

boundary from river Connecticut along the parallel of the 45th degree 

of north latitude to the river Saint Lawrence, named in the treaties 

Iroquois or Cataraquy in such a manner, however, that, in all cases, 

at the place called Rouse's Point the territory of the United 

States of America shall extend to the fort erected at that place, and 

shall include said fort and its Kilometrical radius.

However disposed the Government of the United 

States might have been to acquiesce in the decision 

of the arbiter, it had not the power to change the 

boundaries of a State without the consent of the State. 

Against that alteration, the State of Maine entered a 

solemn protest by resolution of January 19, 1832, and 

the Senate of the United States accordingly refused to 

give its assent to the award.

The arbitration of the King of the Netherlands having 

failed, fruitless negotiations ensued for a period of 11

10O KILOMETRES

FIGURE 4.—Maine, showing the claims 

of the United States and Great 

Britain in 1827 and the present 

boundary.
years. Unsuccessful attempts were made to conclude 

an agreement preparatory to another arbitration. The 

subject became a matter of great irritation, collisions 

occurred in the contested territory, and for a time it 

seemed certain that the controversy would result in 

war between the two powers.

The Legislature of Maine placed a large sum at the 

disposal of the governor for the defense of the State's 

rights, and a bill was passed by Congress providing 

funds for the use of an army.

Massachusetts, being an interested party in the location of this boundary, appointed a committee to investigate the matter; its report was published March 20, 

1838, as Senate Document 67.24 Gallatin (1840) presents 

an excellent discussion of this dispute from the point of 

view of the United States; his book presents a smallscale copy of "Map A." White (1914a) treats of this 

boundary from the British viewpoint.26

WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY WITH 

GREAT BRITAIN, 1842

In 1842, however, Great Britain gave proof, by the 

special mission of Lord Ashburton to the United States, 

of her desire for the preservation of peace and an 

amicable arrangement of the matter at issue. The subject of this mission was the settlement of not only the 

northeastern boundary but also the northern boundary 

west of the Rocky Mountains. Regarding the latter 

boundary/ Lord Ashburton's instructions gave as the 

ultimatum of the British Government the boundary as 

above claimed (p. 22), and his mission had no result 

as far as this particular boundary was concerned. An 

agreement was reached, however, in regard to the 

northeastern boundary, which, the consent of the State 

of Maine having been obtained, was embodied in the 

treaty concluded August 9, 1842. The following is the 

text of the part of this treaty relating to the boundary 

(Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 651):

ARTICLE I. It is hereby agreed and declared that the line of 

boundary shall be as follows: Beginning at the monument at the 

source of the river St. Croix as designated and agreed to by the 

Commissioners under the fifth article of the treaty of 1794, between 

the Governments of the United States and Great Britain; thence 

north, following the exploring line run and marked by the surveyors 

of the two Governments in the years 1817 and 1818, under the fifth 

article of the treaty of Ghent, to its intersection with the river St. John, 

and to the middle of the channel thereof; thence, up the middle of the 

main channel of the said river St. John, to the mouth of the river 

St. Francis; thence up the middle of the channel of the said river 

St. Francis, and of the lakes through which it flows, to the outlet 

of the Lake Pohenagamook; thence, southwesterly, in a straight line 

to a point on the northwest branch of the river St. John, which 

point shall be ten miles distant from the main branch of the St.

17

M See U.S. Cong. (1838) for a copy of report and map. See also, U.S. 

Gong. (1839a).

26 For other references to this dispute, see Internal. Boundary Goznm., 

United States and Canada (1925), and Paris (1926, chap. 1).

BOUNDARIES 

OF THE UNITED STATES

John, in a straight line, and in the nearest direction; but if the said 

point shall be found to be less than seven miles from the nearest 

point of the summit or crest of the highlands that divide those rivers 

which empty themselves into the river Saint Lawrence from those 

which fall into the river Saint John, then the said point shall be 

made to recede down the said northwest branch of the river St. 

John, to a point seven miles in a straight line from the said summit or crest; thence, in a straight line, in a course about south, 

eight degrees west, to the point where the parallel of latitude 

46°25' north interescts the southwest branch of the St. John's; 

thence, southerly, by the said branch, to the source thereof in the 

highlands at the Metjarmette portage; thence, down along the said 

highlands which divide the waters which empty themselves into 

the river Saint Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic 

Ocean, to the head of Hall's Stream; thence down the middle of 

said stream, till the line thus run intersects the old line of boundary 

surveyed and marked by Valentine and Collins, previously to the 

year 1774, as the 45th degree of north latitude, and which has 

been known and understood to be the line of actual division between the States of New York and Vermont on one side and the 

British province of Canada on the other; and from said point of intersection, west, along the said dividing line, as heretofore known 

and understood, to the Iroquois or St. Lawrence River.

ARTICLE II. It is moreover agreed, that, from the place where the 

joint Commissioners terminated their labors under the sixth article 

of the treaty of Ghent, to wit, at a point in the Neebish Channel, 

near Muddy Lake, the line shall run into and along the shipchannel between Saint Joseph and St. Tammany Islands, to the 

division of the channel at or near the head of St. Joseph's Island; 

thence, turning eastwardly and northwardly around the lower end 

of St. George's or Sugar Island, and following the middle of the 

channel which divides St. George's from St. Joseph's Island; thence 

up the east Neebish Channel, nearest to St. George's Island, 

through the middle of Lake George; thence, west of Jonas' Island, 

into St. Mary's River, to a point in the middle of that river, about 

one mile above St. George's or Sugar Island, so as to appropriate 

and assign the said island to the United States; thence, adopting the 

line traced on the maps by the Commissioners, thro' the river St. 

Mary and Lake Superior, to a point north of lie Royale, in said 

lake, one hundred yards to the north and east of He Chapeau, 

which last-mentioned island lies near the northeastern point of He 

Royale, where the line marked by the Commissioners terminates; 

and from the last-mentioned point, southwesterly, through the middle 

of the sound between He Royale and the northwestern mainland, 

to the mouth of Pigeon River, and up the said river, to and through 

the north and south Fowl Lakes, to the lakes of the height of land 

between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods; thence, along 

the water communication to Lake Saisaginaga, and through that lake; 

thence to and through Cypress Lake, Lac du Bois Blanc, Lac la 

Croix, Little Vermillion Lake, and Lake Namecan and through the 

several smaller lakes, straits, or streams, connecting the lakes here 

mentioned, to that point in Lac la Pluie, or Rainy Lake, at the 

Chaudiere Falls, from which the Commissioners traced the line to 

the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods; thence, 

along the said line, to the said most northwestern point, being in 

latitude 49°23'55" north, and in longitude 95°14'38" west from the
18

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

That a contrary view was held by many Canadians 

may be inferred from an article in the Yearbook and 

Almanac of Canada for 1868 (quoted in New York 

[State] Univ., 1884, v. 2, p. 65-75).

observatory at Greenwich; OT thence, according to existing treaties, 

due south to its intersection with the 49th parallel of north 

latitude, and along that parallel to the Rocky Mountains. It being 

understood that all the water communications and all the usual 

portages along the line from Lake Superior to the Lake of the 

Woods, and also Grand Portage, from the shore of Lake Superior 

to the Pigeon River, as now actually used, shall be free and open 

to the 

*******

use of the citizens and subjects of both countries.

ARTICLE VII. It is further agreed that the channels in the river 

St. Lawrence, on both sides of the Long Sault Islands and of 

Barnhart Island, the channels in the river Detroit on both sides of 

the island Bois Blanc, and between that island and both the American and Canadian shores, and all the several channels and passages between the various islands lying near the junction of the 

river St. Clair with the lake of that name, shall be equally free 

and open to the ships, vessels, and boats of both parties.27

By this treaty the United States obtained more than 

half of the disputed area, though nearly 1,000 square 

miles less than was awarded by the King of the 

Netherlands. The promise of reimbursement for the cost 

of surveys and other expenses, and the division of a 

large fund for timber cut in the disputed territory, no 

doubt influenced Maine in agreeing to the boundary 

as fixed by the treaty.

Commissioners acting under this treaty in 1843-47 

surveyed the boundary line to a point where the 45th 

parallel intersects the St. Lawrence (U.S. Cong., 1848; 

New York [State] Univ., 1884, v. 2, p. 53).

The wording of the part of the treaty of 1783 relating 

to the northeastern boundary and its intent are so 

obvious that it seems strange that there should have 

been a dispute continuing for nearly 60 years regarding its interpretation. An English writer in 1911 characterizes the action of Great Britain as an "attempted 

theft" and states that "the British claim had no foundation of any sort or kind" (Mills, 1911, p. 684-687).

Ganong (1901), in a monograph on the boundaries of 

New Brunswick, after a lengthy discussion of the 

boundary dispute and of the treaty of 1842, states:

On the other hand, the few New Brunswickers of the present 

time who have examined the original sources of information have 

come to the conclusion that in the question of the northwest angle 

Maine was technically right and New Brunswick wrong, and that 

the Ashburton treaty took from Maine and gave to us a great 

territory to which we had not a technical right.

w This is the position of the north mark as determined in 1824. See p. 14 

for later determination.

*> By Article XXVI of the treaty with Great Britain of May 8, 1871, the St. 

Lawrence from its intersection with the 45th parallel to the sea was 

forever made "free and open for the purpose of commerce to the citizens 

ol the United States."

TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1846

Between 1843 and 1846 there was considerable discussion regarding the boundary west of the Rocky 

Mountains, resulting in the treaty of 1846, which defined the boundary as far west as the Strait of Juan de 

Fuca (fig. 5). The following is that part of the treaty 

which describes the boundary (Malloy, 1913, v. 1, 

p. 657):

ARTICLE I. From the point on the forty-ninth parallel of north 

latitude, where the boundary laid down in existing treaties and 

conventions between the United States and Great Britain terminates, the line of boundary between the territories of the United 

States and those of Her Britannic Majesty shall be continued westward along the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude to the middle 

of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's 

Island; and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, 

and of Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific Ocean: Provided, however, that 

the navigation of the whole of the said channel and straits, south 

of the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, remain free and open 

to both parties.

ARTICLE II. From the point at which the forty-ninth parallel of 

north latitude shall be found to intersect the great northern branch 

of the Columbia River, the navigation of the said branch shall be 

free and open to the Hudson's Bay Company, and to all British 

subjects trading with the same, to the point where the said branch 

meets the main stream of the Columbia, and thence down the said 

main stream to the ocean, with free access into and through the 

said river or rivers, it being understood that all the usual portages 

along the line thus described shall, in like manner, be free and 

open. In navigating the said river or rivers, British subjects, with 

their goods and produce, shall be treated on the same footing as 

citizens of the United States; it being, however, always understood 

that nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing, or intended to prevent, the Government of the United States from making 

any regulations respecting the navigation of the said river or 

rivers not inconsistent with the present treaty.

This treaty extended the line westward from the 

Rocky Mountains to the Pacific along the 49th parallel 

of latitude. This settled the northwest boundary with 

the exception of the islands and passages in the Straits 

of Georgia and of Juan de Fuca, England claiming that 

the boundary should properly run through the Rosario 

Strait, the most eastern passage, whereas the United 

States claiming that it should follow the Strait of Haro. 

This matter was finally settled by a reference to the 

Emperor of Germany as an arbiter, who decided it in 

favor of the United States on October 21, 1872 (Malloy, 

1913, v. 1, p. 725).

TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 19O8

The treaty with Great Britain concluded April 11, 

1908, described the boundary between the United States 

and Canada in eight sections and provided for the

FIGURE 5.—Mosaic of two Landsat images showing the Puget Sound region. The treaty with Great Britain in

1846 placed the boundary on the 49th parallel.

20

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

appointment of a joint commission to recover or restore 

previously established marks and to place new marks 

on unmarked sections (Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 815).

Eight of the nine articles of this treaty contained the 

following statement:

The line so defined and laid down shall be taken and deemed 

to be the international boundary * * *.

This, the commissioners decided, fixes the boundary 

in a definite position as marked, regardless of later 

changes which may occur in streams due to erosion, 

accretion, or avulsion.

TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 191O

In order to remove a slight uncertainty concerning 

the boundary line in Passamaquoddy Bay, a treaty 

with Great Britain (Charles 1913, p. 49) was concluded 

on May 21, 1910, which laid down the position of the 

line by courses and distances, starting from a point 

between Treat Island and Campobello Island, previously fixed by range lines, and running thence in a 

general southerly direction to the middle of Grand 

Manan Channel. Popes Folly Island and the lighthouse 

between Woodward Point and Cranberry Point were 

left within United States territory.

SURVEY AND MARKING OF THE

28

NORTHERN BOUNDARY

The retracement and remarking of the northern 

boundary of the United States from the summit of the 

Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Georgia was completed in 1907. Since the treaty of 1908 was ratified, 

the fieldwork for the survey and marking of the remainder of the northern boundary has been completed. 

The computed lengths of the eight sections described 

in the treaty are as follows:

Miles

Passamaquoddy Bay ________________________ 1 25.2 

St. Croix River from its source to its mouth _______ 1 129.4 

St. Lawrence River to source of St. Croix _________ 2 670.3 

Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River _____________ J 1,288.9 

Northwesternmost point of Lake of the Woods 3 to the 

mouth of Pigeon River at Lake Superior (scaled from 

map) ______________________________ * 425.6 

North point of Lake of the Woods (1925) to 49th parallel 

26.6 miles), thence to summit of Rocky Mountains (860 

miles) ________________________________ '886.6

Miles

'418.5 

1 142.0

23 See report prepared for the Department of State by C. P. Anderson, 

1906, on the northern boundary of the United States with particular reference to the parts thereof which require more complete definition and 

marking.

Summit of Rocky Mountains to Strait (or Gulf) of Georgia

at Point Roberts _________________——__——

Point Roberts to Pacific Ocean _————————————_ —

3^986.5

1 Water boundary. •• 

- Land and water boundary.

3 See change in location by Article I, treaty of 1925.

4 Land boundary.

Of the total, approximately 1,771 miles is land boundary and 2,216 miles is water boundary. The land part 

of the boundary is marked by metal, stone, or concrete 

monuments; the water part is defined by courses and 

distances between turning points (angles), and these 

points are referred to marks of metal or concrete on 

the banks or shores.

The final report (Internet. Boundary Comm., United 

States and Canada, 1925) for that part of the line from 

the source of the St. Croix to the St. Lawrence River 

includes historical data, copies of treaties, and geographic positions of all monuments. There are 4,204 

monuments and 548 reference marks for this part of 

the boundary.

The full report of the resurvey and marking of St. 

Lawrence River and the Great Lakes has been published by the Canadian Government (Internat. Waterways Comm., 1916). It gives extracts from treaties, 

instructions to the commissioners, courses and distances between marks, and geographic positions and 

azimuths.

Two hundred sixty-nine points define this section of 

the boundary.

Typical of these points are:

Beginning at a point of origin, the intersection of the international 

boundary with the southeast shore of the St. Lawrence River near 

the 45th parallel of latitude in

Latitude 44°59'58.23"

Longitude 74°39'41.98"

and bearing N89°55'27.6"W, 106.6 feet from the boundary monument 774, near St. Regis, Quebec, erected jointly in 1902 by the 

Dominion 

*******

of Canada and the State of New York

Thence due west 501388 feet along the middle of Lake Ontario to 

Turning Point 107 in

Latitude 43°37'51.9"

Longitude 78°41'26.76" 

and bearing 

*******

N30°04'12"W 107985 feet from Thirty Mile Point Light

The point at the mouth of the Pigeon River in Lake Superior is 

Turning Point number 269, and is in

Latitude 47°59'57.48"

Longitude 89°34'09.96"

and bears S68°09'00"E 283 feet from monument number 3 located on 

the Canadian side

in latitude 47°59'58.52"

longitude 89°34'13.82"

and also bearing N68°14'13.8"W 134.5 feet from Triangulation Station 

South Pigeon, situated on the United States side, established in 

1908 by the boundary commission in

latitude 47°59'56.98"

longitude 89°34'08.12"
A complete list of the angle points of the boundary 

can be found in the report, which is on file with the 

International Boundary Commission.

Changes in the topography due to the construction of 

the St. Lawrence Seaway have made necessary the 

re-marking of the boundary where it follows the river. 

New monuments have been placed to reference by 

course and distance the position of angle points in the 

boundary which lie in the water (Internal Boundary 

Comm., United States and Canada, 1967).

From the mouth of the Pigeon River to the northwesternmost point in the Lake of the Woods, as relocated 

by the treaty of 1908, the water boundary is defined 

by courses and distances between turning points on 

the boundary lines, and these are referred to metal 

reference marks set in concrete or solid rock on the 

shores of the lakes and the banks of the streams 

(Internat. Boundary Comm., United States and Canada, 

1931).

From the north western most point of the Lake of the 

Woods to the summit of the Rocky Mountains, the boundary is composed of a north-south section, 26.6 miles 

long, which meets the 49th parallel at a point in the 

Lake of the Woods, and an east-west section, 860 miles 

long, approximately on the 49th astronomic parallel. 

This part of the boundary was first located in 1872 to 

1876 and was marked by iron pillars, rock cairns, or 

earth mounds at intervals of 1 to 19 miles.29 There were 

382 marks in all, 40 of which were at astronomic stations. The cairns and earth mounds have now been 

replaced by iron monuments weighing about 400 

pounds each (see fig. 1A) or, in the mountains, by aluminum-bronze monuments set on concrete foundations 

and projecting 5 feet above the surface. Additional 

monuments have been so placed that no interval between two consecutive marks exceeds 2 l/2 miles. This 

resurvey was completed in 1913, and 40 maps covering 

the line have been published.

Boundary monuments along the 49th parallel may 

vary in latitude by as much as a second or more, 

because many of them were astronomic stations. It 

was not thought practical to move these to the true 

parallel, and the boundary is defined as the line joining successive stations.

In order to facilitate the enforcement of customs and 

immigration laws (35 Stat. 2189) the Federal Government by proclamation on June 15, 1908, reserved all 

unpatented public lands lying within 60 feet of the 

boundary line.

From the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the Strait 

of Georgia, 410 miles of land line on the 49th astronomic parallel was located by a joint commission between 1859 and 1862, and was marked by stone or 

iron pillars, rock piles, or mounds of earth at intervals

21

BOUNDARIES 

OF THE UNITED STATES

ranging from a fraction of a mile to 25 miles (Baker, 

1900; Klotz, 1917, p. 382-387).30 A retracement of this 

line was completed in 1907. The new marks consist 

of aluminum-bronze pillars 5 feet high, weighing about 

250 pounds each, set in concrete bases at intervals not 

exceeding 4 miles. The maps of this section of the 

boundary, 19 sheets, have been published.

Along the 49th parallel in the Strait of Georgia, and 

through the Straits of Haro and Juan de Fuca to the 

Pacific Ocean, a distance of 142 miles, the boundary is 

defined by courses and distances between turning 

points, which are referred to reference marks consisting of concrete monuments and lighthouses on the 

shores. The report on this section of the boundary was 

published in 1921 (Internal Boundary Comm., United 

States and Canada, 1921).

Considerable information regarding the northern 

boundary of the United States may be found in articles 

by John W. Davis (1922) and Lawrence S. Mayo (1923).

TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1925

Several minor changes were made in the northern 

boundary by the treaty concluded February 24, 1925 

(44 Stat, pt. 3, p. 2102).

The northern terminus of the Lake of the Woods 

boundary was fixed at lat 49°23'04.49" N., long 

95°09'11.61" W. (See p. 14.) By this change the United 

States lost about 2!/2 acres of water area.

Article II of the treaty made the lines between monuments established under the treaty of 1908 on the 49th 

parallel east of the Rocky Mountains straight lines, not 

following the curve of the parallel. The United States 

gained between 30 and 35 acres of land by this 

change.

Article III added a new course bearing S. 34°42' W., 

a distance of 2,383 meters (1.48 miles), from the terminus of the southeasterly line established by the treaty 

of 1910 in the Grand Manan Channel, between Maine 

and New Brunswick. Canada thereby made a net gain 

in water area of about 9 acres, which had previously 

been of "controversial jurisdiction."

Article IV provided for inspection of existing monuments, repair of defective ones, and, addition of new 

ones, if needed, by joint commissioners "at such times 

as they shall deem necessary."

Tor details regarding the survey, see U.S. Cong. (1877).

30 A report by the British commissioner with descriptions and longitudes 

of marks for this survey is given in U.S. Foreign Office correspondence, 

1865-1871, v. 811, America, p. 1468.
22

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Maintenance work and additional surveys for horizontal and vertical control have been carried out in 

compliance with this provision since 1925. A description of the work is published in the Report of the International Boundary Commission for 1937. This report 

carries the following reference to "The Official Maps:"

Article VII of the treaty of 1908 with regard to the boundary 

from the Gulf of Georgia (Georgia Strait) to the summit of the Rocky 

Mountains stipulates that "the entire course of said boundary, showing the location of the boundary monuments and marks established 

along the course of the boundary, shall be marked upon quadruplicate sets of accurate modern charts prepared or adopted for 

that purpose, and the said Commissioners, or their successors, are 

hereby authorized and required to so mark the line and designate 

the monuments on such charts, two duplicate originals of which 

shall be filed with each Government * * *." Similarly, with regard 

to the boundary from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the 

Northwesternmost Point of Lake of the Woods, article VI of the 

treaty provides that "the said Commissioners shall mark upon 

quadruplicate sets of accurate modern charts prepared or adopted 

by them for that purpose the entire course of said boundary and 

the location of the boundary monuments and marks established 

along the course of said boundary, and two duplicate originals 

thereof shall be filed with each Government * * *."

The charts upon which the Commissioners have marked the boundwas not accepted by Spain and was disputed by that 

country until settled by the treaty concluded October 

27, 1795 (Malloy, 1910, v. 2, p. 1640), wherein it was 

agreed that

The southern boundary of the United States which divides their 

territory from the Spanish colonies of east and west Florida, shall be 

designated by a line beginning on the River Mississippi, at the 

northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of latitude north of 

the Equator, which from thence shall be drawn due east to the middle 

of the River Apalachicola, or Catahouche, thence along the middle 

thereof to its junction with the Flint; thence straight to the head of 

St. Mary's River, and thence down the middle thereof to the Atlantic 

Ocean.

Article IV of this treaty described the western boundary, which separated the "Spanish colony of Louisiana" 

from the United States, as being

in the middle of the channel or bed of the River Mississippi, from the 

northern boundary of the said States to the completion of the thirtyfirst degree of latitude north of the Equator.

DISTANCES ALONG THE BOUNDARIES OF 

THE UNITED STATES

The distances given below are as projected on a 

sea-level plane. All these boundaries, on land as well 

as through water, consist of straight lines between 

"turning points." Some of these lines—in New Hampshire, for example—may be less than 50 feet long. The 

New Hampshire boundary, if measured in steps of a 

quarter of a mile, would be only 49 miles long.

ary line from Georgia Strait to the Northwesternmost Point of Lake of Northern boundary 

the Woods, in accordance with these provisions of the treaty of 1908, Maineare topographic maps prepared from surveys made by the field force Miles 

of the Commission. The word "map" when used herein is synonymous Atlantic Ocean to mouth of St. Croix River ___ 25.2 

with the word "chart" of the treaties. They consist of a series of 59 Mouth of St Croix to source _ __ - __ 129.4 

sheets, arranged and numbered as shown on an accompanying index Source of s,_ Croix along northern line ______ 77.6 

map, together with a profile sheet. They were engraved on copper Westward along St. Johns River __________ 72.0 

plates and printed from lithographic stones as were other similar Along St Francis River __ ____ __ __ 42.6 

boundary maps. The engraved plates will be preserved by the two Diagonal line southwest _______________ 83.6 

Governments as permanent records of the work. The four official sets Southwest branch of St. Johns to the highlands.. 38.4 

of maps, two for each Government, which bear the Commissioners' Along ,he highlands ,o the New Hampshire corner, 141.3 

signatures, are transmitted in atlas form with this report. ____ 610.1

The size of each map is 11 by 24 Vi inches inside the border. The j^ew Hampshireconventional signs used to represent the topographic features are Maine corner to source o[ Halls Stream _____ 33.3 

those used by the United States Geological Survey (which engraved Hal!s Stream to north line o{ Vermont _______ 26.6 

sheets 1 to 19, inclusive), and are the same as those adopted by the ____ gg g 

United States Federal Board of Surveys and Maps. The boundary line, Vermont: North line east and west on or near the 45th 

monuments, culture, and lettering appear in black; relief (contour lines parallel to middle of main channel of Lake Champlain 90.4 

and elevations) in brown; drainage, in blue; and timber, in green. The New Yorkmaps are constructed on polyconic projections on a scale of 1:62,500, Vermon corner in Lake Champlain west to St. 

each covering 30 minutes of longitude. At the top of each map are Lawrence River __ ___ _________ - 64.5 

the title, the number of the sheet, copies of the seals of the two Through St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario, Niagara River, 

countries, and the names of the commissioners under whom the sur- and Lake Erie ,0 Pennsylvania corner _____ 380.7 

veys were made. ____ 445.2

	Pennsylvania: Through part of Lake Erie ——————— 41.5 

	Ohio: Through part of Lake Erie ____________ 146.2 

TREATY WITH SPAIN, 1795 Michigan: North and west through lakes and rivers to

_. . , , , . TT . , <-,, , , Minnesota corner at mouth of Pigeon River ——_— 720.5 The southern boundary of the United btates was de- ... 1 Minnesota:

scribed in definite terms by the treaties with Great Mouth o{ Pigeon River to northwest angie in Lake

Britain of 1782 and 1783 (see p. 12), but its location of the Woods ________________ 425.6
Northwest angle in Lake of the Woods south to

lat 49° N. ____________________ 26.6 

Along 49th parallel to North Dakota corner ——— 93.3

23

North Dakota: Along 49th parallel ——_________.

Montana: Along 49th parallel ___________________

Idaho: Along 49th parallel ——————__________

Washington:

Along 49th parallel _________________ 285.5

Gulf of Georgia to Pacific Ocean opposite Cape 

Flattery ________-__-___________ 142.0

545.5

310.0

545.6

44.7

427.5

3,987.1

Southern boundary

Texas (along Rio Grande, approximate) __________—— 1,241 

New Mexico ___________________________ 179.5 

Arizona (19.1 miles along Colorado River) ____——_—— 372.5 

California ______________________________ 140.4

1,933.4

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF 

THE UNITED STATES"

In this paper, the phrase "territory of the United 

States" includes areas under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the United States. These areas extend over 

a large part of the earth; from Barrow, Alaska, on the 

north to American Samoa on the south, and from the 

Palau Islands in the western Pacific to the Virgin 

Islands in the Atlantic. In places, for statistical purposes 

it is desirable to refer to the 48 States and the District 

of Columbia, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. The words 

"conterminous United States" are used in these places.

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

The entire basin of the Mississippi and its tributaries, 

and much of the coast region of the Gulf of Mexico 

which were subsequently known as the Territory of 

Louisiana, were originally claimed by La Salle 32 in 

1682 for France by virtue of discovery and occupation.

The area claimed on the Gulf extended west and 

south to the mouth of the "Rio de las Palmas," which 

was probably the stream now known as the Rio 

Grande.

In 1712, France made a grant to Antoine de Crozat of 

the exclusive right to the trade of this region. Because 

this grant gives the limits of the vast region as they 

were understood by France, a part of it is here quoted:

We have by these presents signed with our hand, authorized, and 

do authorize the said Sieur Crozat to carry on exclusively the trade 

in all the territories by us possessed, and bounded by New Mexico 

and by those of the English in Carolina, all the establishments, ports, 

harbors, rivers, and especially the port and harbor of Dauphin Island,

a Mowry (1902, chap. 2-11) gives an excellent presentation of this subject, with many references.

M For a translation of La Salle's proclamation, see Sparks (1847, v. 11, 

p. 201, 202). For reference to the location of the Rio de las Palmas, see 

Bandolier (1922, p. 42).

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF 

THE UNITED STATES

formerly called Massacre Island, the river St. Louis, formerly called 

the Mississippi, from the seashore to the Illinois, together with the 

river St. Philip, formerly called the Missouries River, and the St. 

Jerome formerly called the Wabash [the Ohio], with all the countries, 

territories, lakes in the land, and the rivers emptying directly or 

indirectly into that part of the river St. Louis. All the said territories, countries, rivers, streams, and islands we will to be and remain 

comprised under the name of the government of Louisiana, which shall 

be dependent on the General Government of New France and remain 

subordinate to it, and we will, moreover, that all the territories which 

we possess on this side of the Illinois be united, as far as need be, to 

the General Government of New France and form a part thereof, 

reserving to ourself, nevertheless, to increase, if we judge proper, the 

extent of the government of the said country of Louisiana.

This document indicates that France regarded Louisiana as comprising the drainage basin of the Mississippi at least as far north as the mouth of the Illinois 

and those branches of the Mississippi that enter it below this point, including the Missouri, but excluding 

land in the Southwest claimed by Spain. It is, moreover, certain that the area now comprised in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho was not included. Crozat 

surrendered this grant in 1717.

On November 3, 1762, France by a secret treaty 

ceded this region to Spain, defining it only as "the 

country known by the name of Louisiana," but Spain 

did not take possession until several years later. By 

the treaty of peace of 1763 between Great Britain 

France, and Spain, the western boundary of the British 

possessions in the New World was placed in the 

center of the Mississippi River, thus reducing the area 

of Louisiana by the part east of the river. By these two 

treaties France disposed of her possessions in North 

America, dividing them between Great Britain and 

Spain. The limit set between the British and Spanish 

possessions was given as the Mississippi, the Iberville, 

and Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain. (See fig. 24, 

p. 106.) The Iberville River is now called Bayou Manchac. In the early days there was a connected waterway (now closed) through this river between the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. The Island thus formed 

was called the island of New Orleans.

Great Britain then subdivided her newly acquired 

province, Florida. The area south of lat 31 ° N. (changed 

in 1764 to a parallel through the mouth of the Yazoo 

River, approximately 32°28' N.) and west of the Apalachicola River was called West Florida; the region 

east thereof and south of the present north boundary 

of Florida received the name of East Florida. For the 

next 16 years these boundaries and names remained
24

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

undisturbed. In 1783, by the treaty of peace with the 

United States at the end of the Revolution, Great Britain 

reduced the area of West Florida by the cession of that 

portion north of the 31st parallel to the United States. 

In the same year she gave East Florida and what 

remained of West Florida to Spain, and in Spain's 

possession they remained for several years; but after 

1803 the United States also claimed the area west of 

the Perdido River as part of the Louisiana Purchase. 

The treaty of 1819 put an end to the disputes (Malloy, 

1910, v. 2, p. 1651; Cox, 1918).

Meantime, in 1800, by the secret treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain promised to return Louisiana to France. In 

the language of the treaty, she pledged herself to return 

to France "the colony and province of Louisiana, in the 

same extent it now has under the dominion of Spain 

and of other States." 33

Immediately after this transfer became known 

(November 1802), measures were instituted by President 

Jefferson for obtaining free access to the sea by way of 

the Mississippi River. Circumstances favored this negotiation. Bonaparte was at that time in almost daily 

expectation of a declaration of war by Great Britain, 

the first act of which would be to seize the mouth of the 

Mississippi and with it the Province of Louisiana. Under 

these circumstances Bonaparte offered to sell the 

Province to the United States, and the offer was 

promptly accepted.34 The consideration named was 60 

million francs and the assumption by the United States 

of the "French spoilation claims," which were estimated to amount to $3,750,000. Article 3 of the treaty 

of cession, dated April 30, 1803, fixed the rate of exchange at 5.3333 francs to $1. The total payments made 

by the United States on account of this purchase, including interest, amount to $23,213,567.73. Opponents of this 

purchase strongly urged that it was contrary to the 

Constitution of the United States (Brown, 1920; Baldwin, 

1894, p. 369-389).

The treaty of cession (Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 508) describes the territory only as being the same as that 

ceded by Spain to France by the treaty of San Ildefonsb, from which the description was quoted. The 

territory sold thus apparently comprised that part of

»U.S. 25th Cong., 1838, 2d sess., H. Rept. 818, p. 27; see p. 23 for the 

cession of 1762 from France to Spain..

34 For copies of correspondence between the United States and various 

foreign officials, for dates from 1803 to 1807, relating to this purchase, its 

boundaries, and terms, see Robertson (1911, v. 2). See also U.S. Cong. 

(1903) and T. M. Marshall (1914, v. 2, p. 46-85). Marshall's book contains a 

bibliography (p. 242-251) of publications relating to the Louisiana Purchase.

the drainage basin of the Mississippi which lies west 

of the course of the river. (See fig. 3.) The claim of the 

United States to the area now comprised in Oregon,

Washington, and Idaho in the negotiations with Great 

Britain regarding the northwestern boundary was ostensibly based not only upon prior occupation and upon 

purchase from Spain but also upon the alleged fact that 

this area formed part of the Louisiana Purchase. That 

this claim was baseless is shown not only by what has 

been already detailed regarding the limits of the purchase but also by the direct testimony of the French 

plenipotentiary, M. Barbe-Marbois. Some 20 years after 

the purchase he published a book on Louisiana (BarbeMarbois, 1830), in which he described at some length 

the negotiations that preceded the purchase and, referring to this question, said: "The shores of the western 

ocean were certainly not comprised in the cession, but 

already the United States are established there."

There is also in Barbe-Marbois's book a map (dated 

1829) of the country between the Mississippi and the 

Pacific, on which the western extent of Louisiana is 

indicated as the 110th meridian, which is not far from 

the western limit of the drainage basin of the Mississippi in Wyoming and Montana. On this map, that 

part of the country now comprised in Oregon. Washington, and Idaho, which, it has been claimed, formed 

part of the purchase, bears the following legend: "Territories and countries occupied by the United States, 

following the treaty of cession of Louisiana."

Obviously, therefore, the United States did not purchase Oregon as a part of Louisiana; however, it is 

no less certain that that great area west of the Rocky 

Mountains fell into its hands as a direct consequence 

of the Louisiana Purchase (Mowry, 1902, p. 131-157).

The claim made by the United States to the territory 

between the Mississippi and the Rio Grande as part 

of the Louisiana Purchase was based principally on 

the settlement made by La Salle at San Bernardo (now 

Matagorda) Bay, Tex., in 1685, and on many maps 

that indicated the area as part of the French possessions, but this claim was not recognized by Spain 

and the boundary west of the Mississippi River was 

undetermined until it was fixed at the Sabine River by 

the treaty of 1819 (Bancroft, 1889, v. 16, p. 46).

The treaty of 1783 with Great Britain describes the 

northern boundary of the United States in part as follows: From the north westernmost point of the Lake of 

the Woods "on a due west course to the River Mississippi." The fact that such a line could not intersect the 

Mississippi proper at any point (see fig. 27) gave rise 

to many and serious disputes, which were not settled 

until after the date of the Louisiana Purchase. This 

clause of the treaty was understood by some geographers as placing the boundary line on the Lake of the 

Woods parallel for some 400 miles west from the lake
to the point where it intersects the Missouri-Mississippi 

drainage basin, which in 1783 belonged to Spain, thus 

including the southern part of the basin of the Red River 

as United States territory. Other geographers who had 

given the subject careful study believed that the possessions of the United States in the northwest as defined by the treaty of 1783 were limited by the Mississippi River and a line extending north from its source 

(Lake Itasca 35) to an intersection with the Lake of the 

Woods parallel (see below; Baker, 1887; Brower, 1893).

Still others considered the Red River basin south of 

the 49th parallel to be a part of the Louisiana Purchase. 

The Red River basin was not a part of La Salle's 

original claim, but it appears to have been occupied 

by the French earlier than 1762. The Verendrye 

brothers, French Canadians, were the first white men 

of record to explore the country from the site of Winnipeg westward to the Rocky Mountains (1738-1743). A 

map in Laut (1906) shows the Verendrye route as extending only as far south as northeastern Wyoming.

The treaty of 1763 between Great Britain, France, and 

Spain limited Great Britain's jurisdiction on the northwest by the Mississippi River, as will be seen from the 

following quotation from Article VII:

In order to re-establish peace on solid and durable foundations, and 

to remove forever all subject of dispute with regard to the limits of 

the British and French territories on the continent of America; it is 

agreed, that, for the future, the confines between the dominions of his 

Britannic Majesty, and those of his most Christian Majesty, in that 

part of the world, shall be fixed irrevocably by a line drawn along the 

middle of the River Mississippi, from its source to the River Iberville.

When this treaty was made, Great Britain apparently 

knew nothing of the secret treaty of the preceding year 

whereby France had ceded the Louisiana territory to 

Spain. It is evident, however, that Great Britain intended 

to relinquish all claim to jurisdiction over the area west 

of the Mississippi. In 1763 and for many years thereafter, the Mississippi was believed to rise considerably 

north of its actual known source. On the Mitchell map 

the source was said to be at about the "50th degree 

of lattitude." Even if the area assigned to France did 

not extend as far north as lat 50° N., it apparently included all that part of the Red River drainage basin 

west of the actual source of the Mississippi.

The British act of 1774 extended the Province of 

Quebec to include the area west of Pennsylvania north 

of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi. The 

boundaries were more definitely described in the commission issued to the governor in December of the 

same year, in part as follows:

25

35 Lake Itasca is generally referred to as the source of the Mississippi, 

but a creek about 4 miles in length that empties into the southern part of 

the lake has a source more than 100 feet above the lake. Lake Itasca is 

about 3'/2 miles in length. The name Itasca was coined by Schoolcraft in 

1832 from parts of two Latin words, veritas (truth) and caput (head), three 

letters from each word being omitted.

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF 

THE UNITED STATES

* * * along the bank of the said river [Ohio] westward to the banks 

of the Mississippi, and northward along the eastern bank of the said 

river to the southern boundary of the territory granted to the Merchant Adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay.

The Canadian General Government and the Province 

of Ontario have made extensive researches concerning 

the western boundary of Ontario, and the reports give 

an excellent historical review of the French, Spanish, 

and English claims to the country about the Lake of 

the Woods, including the Red River and Mississippi 

River drainage basins, from the first exploration down 

to 1818 and later. The reports fill several large volumes, 

and among them may be mentioned "Report of the 

select committee on the boundaries between the Province of Ontario and the unorganized territories of the 

Dominion," Ottawa, 1880, and "Correspondence, papers, and documents * * * relating to the northerly and 

westerly boundaries of Ontario," Toronto, 1882. A careful examination of these and other official documents 

fails to disclose any statement of claims by Great 

Britain to the area west of the Mississippi, east of the 

Rocky Mountains, and south of the Lake of the Woods 

parallel.

The commissioner for Ontario, in reporting to the 

lieutenant governor of that Province with reference to 

the boundary of Ontario, stated (p. 340 of the 1880 

report) that

In framing the treaty of Paris a few years later [1782] the Imperial 

Government recognized the Mississippi as an existing territorial 

boundary. All the country east of that river and south of a line drawn 

through the middle of the Great Lakes to the most northwestern 

point of the Lake of the Woods was surrendered to the United States. 

All the country west of the Mississippi, extending south to 31° of 

north latitude and east to the Atlantic Ocean, was left to its former 

owners [Spain].

On the Faden map of 1783 3e a heavy green line is 

drawn from the head of the Mississippi River to the 

Lake of the Woods. The boundary of the Hudson Bay 

territory, as fixed by the treaty of Utrecht, is indicated 

by a red line running east and west from the Lake of 

the Woods. West of the green line, west of the Mississippi River, and south of the red line, the area is marked 

"Louisiana," and in its northern part a river running 

northward is marked "Mississippi or Red River." If the 

evidence of this map may be accepted, the Red River 

area south of the Lake of the Woods parallel was considered as part of Louisiana.

36 The United States of North America, with British and Spanish territories 

according to the treaty; engraved by William Faden, 1783. Faden was, in 

June 1783, appointed geographer to the King.
26

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

In the printed "Observations" that accompany this 

map are the following:

The River Mississippi is known about 60 miles above the Falls of 

St. Anthony but is not navigable; its source is supposed by all travellers to be in about 46° N., therefore the line to be drawn W. from 

the Lake of the Woods till it strikes Mississippi will probably run on 

a parallel 3 degrees or 180 miles above its source.

But this boundary line, otherwise insignificant, seems to have been 

extended to the Lake of the Woods in 49° N. to approximate the 

United States to the boundary of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 49° N.

A south line should have been drawn from the Lake of the Woods 

to strike the Mississippi, as the west line beginning at 180 miles 

distance, if extended, would increase its distance from that river.

The mop illustrating the route of the Lewis and 

Clark expedition of 1804--6, "from the original drawing 

by Wm. Clark," shows the boundary of Louisiana as 

including the drainage basin of the Missouri River 

north of the 49th parallel, and near the north end of 

the Lake of the Woods there is this note: "Northern 

boundary of the United States, lat. 49°37°' N."

It seems probable that Congress considered the Red 

River basin (see fig. 27) as far north as the Lake of 

the Woods to be a part of the Louisiana Purchase, but 

no specific reference was made to it in any statute 

prior to 1834.

There were many who believed that the Louisiana 

Purchase extended even farther north than the 49th 

parallel and included the entire drainage basin of 

Missouri River. This uncertainty was settled by the 

treatly of 1818. James White (1914b, p. 842), after an 

extended review of this question, states: "The true 

northern boundary of Louisiana was the watershed of 

the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers." The approximate 

area of this "watershed" north of the 49th parallel is 

12,300 square miles.

The Melish map, referred to in the treaty with Spain 

of 1819 (see p. 27), but printed before the convention 

with Great Britain of 1818 (see p. 14) was signed, shows 

the boundary line of the United States as extending 

due west from the northwesternmost point of the Lake 

of the Woods to the Red River, thence up that river to 

the Assiniboine, up that river, and by an irregular line 

westward so as to include the Missouri River drainage 

basin north of the 49th parallel.

This question is now a matter of historical interest 

only, for the boundary line was definitely fixed by the 

British treaty of 1818."

It has often been said that by the treaty of Utrecht 37

(Freschot, 1715) of 1713 the 49th parallel was made the 

boundary line between Great Britain arid the French 

Province of Louisiana, but a careful reading of the 

treaty fails to disclose any ground for this statement. 

It is doubtless true that during the negotiations which 

followed the signing of the treaty the British commission endeavored to have the 49th parallel fixed as 

the boundary and that the French commission contended for a boundary a degree or more farther north, 

but the commissioners failed to agree, and no latitude 

was mentioned in the treaty. Article X of this treaty provided for the appointment of "commissaries" to fix a 

boundary line between the Hudson Bay territory and 

the Louisiana territory. The "commissaries" were probably appointed, but no final decision resulted from 

their labors (Hermann, 1900, p. 55-59; Bond, 1912).

The western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase is 

the western boundary of the Mississippi drainage 

basin as claimed by La Salle. Whatever the northern 

and northeastern boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase 

may be considered, there is no doubt that they included 

the drainage basin of the Missouri south of the 49th 

parallel and the western drainage basin of the Mississippi from its source to the Gulf of Mexico.

:i8

FLORIDA PURCHASE

The second addition to the territory of the United 

States consisted of the Floridas, ceded by Spain in 

1819 in exchange for large areas west of the Mississippi 

River relinquished by the United States to Spain and 

the assumption by the United States of all claims of 

its citizens against Spain for damages received, to 

an amount not exceeding $5 million, Spain likewise 

assuming responsibility for claims of its citizens 

against the United States.

From the date of the Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, 

the territory known as West Florida and bounded by 

the Mississippi River on the west, the Perdido on the 

east, the parallel of 31° on the north, and the Gulf 

of Mexico on the south, had been in dispute between 

the two countries. During at least part of this time it 

had been practically in the possession of the United 

States. The clause from the treaty of San Ildefonso 

quoted on page 24 was interpreted by Jefferson and 

others in this country to mean the inclusion of West 

Florida. Their reasoning was this: In 1800 Spain owned 

West Florida; West Florida was once a part of Louisiana; in 1800 Spain receded Louisiana to France; 

she therefore receded West Florida with it.

Spain, however, held that this was merely a treaty 

of recession, by which she gave back to France what 

France had given to her in 1762. As in 1762 she did

87 There are several printed copies of the treaty of Utrecht in the Library 

of Congress.

38 For a historical sketch of the Florida Purchase and of events leading to 

its acquisition, see Hinsdale (1893, p. 330-366) and Mowry (1902, chap. 4).
not own West Florida, she could not have receded it 

to France. Barbe-Marbois, the French plenipotentiary, 

was very positive in stating that West Florida formed 

no part of the Louisiana Purchase, and that the southeastern boundary of that purchase consisted of the 

Iberville River and Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain. 

(See fig. 24.)

Immediately after the Louisiana Purchase was acquired, the claim was made by the United States that 

it included most of West Florida and part of the Texas 

coast, but this claim was not entertained by Spain. 

In 1810 a revolution was effected in that part of West 

Florida lying west of the Pearl River, and application 

was made by the inhabitants for annexation to the 

United States. The governor of Louisiana, under instructions from Washington, at once took possession. 

Immediately a counter revolution was organized 

against him, but it was put down by force of arms, and 

in 1812 this part of West Florida was included in the 

State of Louisiana (2 Stat. L. 708). In the meantime the 

insurrection spread eastward and, although put down 

by the Spanish authorities, the movement received 

the sympathy of the United States, and Congress 

passed an act, approved January 15, 1811 (3 Stat. L. 

471), authorizing the President, under certain specified 

contingencies, to use force in taking possession of East 

Florida and appropriating $100,000 for carrying the act 

into effect.39 In 1812 that part of West Florida lying 

between the Perdido and Pearl Rivers was annexed to 

the Territory of Mississippi. (See p. 105.)

The treaty of February 22, 1819, with Spain settled 

these conflicting claims (Cox, 1918; Paxson, 1924, chap. 

16) by the following clause:

ARTICLE II. His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States in full 

property and sovereignty, all the territories which belong to him, 

situated to the eastward of the Mississippi, known by the name of East 

and West Florida. The adjacent islands dependent on said province 

* * * are included in this article. [Malloy, 1910, v. 2, p. 1652; see 

also T. M. Marshall, 1914, p. 46-85.]

The third article in this treaty defines the boundary 

between the United States and the Spanish possessions 

in the Southwest as follows:

ARTICLE III. The boundary line between the two countries, west of 

the Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulph of Mexico, at the mouth of 

the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the western bank 

of that river, to the 32nd degree of latitude; thence, by a line due 

north to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of 

Nachitoches, or Red River; then following the course of the Rio Roxo 

westward, to the degree of longitude 100 west from London,40 and

27

39 The publication of this act before the end of the following session of 

Congress was forbidden by act of Mar. 3, 1811 (3 Stat. L. 472).

40 The zero point of the London meridian is the cross on St. Paul's 

Cathedral in London, which is 0°05'48.356" (4.17 miles) west of Greenwich 

(Ordnance Survey of Great Britain, letter of Sept. 6, 1927). For reference to 

the establishment of the meridians of London and Greenwich, see The 

Mariner's Mirror, v. 13, no. 2, London, Cambridge Press, April, 1927. 

Longitudes on the Mitchell map of 1755 (see p. 2 ) are referred to the 

London meridian. The Melish map of 1818 has the degrees west of London 

indicated along the lower edge, and the degrees west of Washington near 

the upper edge; the 0° of the Washington meridian coincides with 77°

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF 

THE UNITED STATES

23 from Washington; then, crossing the said Red River and running 

thence, by a line due north, to the river Arkansas; thence, following 

the couirse of the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its source in latitude 42 north; and thence, by that parallel of latitude to the South 

Sea. The whole being as laid down in Melish's map of the United 

States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the 1st of January, 1818. 

But if the source of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north 

or south of latitude 42, then the line shall run from the said source 

due south or north, as the case may be, till it meets the said parallel 

of latitude 42, and thence, along the said parallel, to the South Sea: 

All the islands in the Sabine, and the said Red and Arkansas Rivers, 

throughout the course thus described, to belong to the United 

States; but the use of the waters, and the navigation of the Sabine 

to the sea, and of the said rivers Roxo and Arkansas, throughout the 

extent of the said boundary, on their respective banks, shall be common to the respective inhabitants of both nations.

This treaty was ratified promptly by the U.S. Senate, 

but Spain did not ratify it until October 20, 1820, which 

was after the time allowed for ratification had expired. The U.S. Senate again ratified it February 19, 

1821, and it was proclaimed by the President February 

22, 1821.

The western boundary of the United States south of 

lat 42° N. as fixed by this treaty was confirmed by 

Mexico by treaty concluded January 12, 1828, Mexico 

having in the meantime gained her independence from 

Spain. (Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 1082.)

TEXAS ACCESSION

The next acquisition of territory was that of the Republic of Texas, which was admitted as a State by 

joint resolution of December 29, 1845.41 The area which 

Texas brought into the Union was limited as follows, 

as defined by the Republic of Texas, December 19, 

1836 (see fig. 29 and Laws of the Republic of Texas, 

1838, Houston, v. 1, p. 133).

Beginning at the mouth of the Sabine River and running west along 

the Gulf of Mexico three leagues from land to the mouth of the Rio 

Grande, thence up the principal stream of said river to its source, 

thence due north to the forty-second degree of north latitude, thence 

along the boundary line as defined in the treaty between Spain and 

the United States to the beginning.

The claim by Texas to land north to the 42d parallel 

and west and south to the Rio Grande was based in

west of London. In 1804 a line through the center of the White House was 

run out and marked for the zero of the Washington meridian. This line is 

76°56'25" west of London. It will be seen from these statements that the 

location of this boundary was somewhat uncertain, but the position was 

recognized as the 100th degree west of Greenwich in acts of Sept. 9, 1850, 

and lune 5, 1858.

41 9 Stat. L. 108. For reference to efforts made by the United States to 

acquire Texas between 1829 and 1835 by purchase or otherwise, see T. M. 

Marshall (1914, v. 2, p. 86-112).
28

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

pent on a secret treaty between President Santa Anna 

of Mexico and officers of the Texas army at the end 

of the war between Mexico and Texas in 1836.

FIRST MEXICAN CESSION

In 1848 the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo added to 

the country the area of California, Nevada, Utah, and 

parts of Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. (See 

fig. 3.) This treaty was concluded February 2, 1848, 

and proclaimed July 4, 1848. The clauses in it defining 

U.S. acquisition of territory are as follows (Malloy, 1910, 

v. 1, p. 1109):

ARTICLE V. The boundary line between the two Republics shall 

commence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite 

the mouth of the Rio Grande, otherwise called the Rio Bravo del 

Norte, or opposite the mouth of is deepest branch, if it should have 

more than one branch emptying directly into the sea; from thence up 

the middle of that river, following the deepest channel where it has 

more than one, to the point where it strikes the southern boundary of 

New Mexico,- thence, westwardly, along the whole southern boundary 

of New Mexico (which runs north of the town called Paso) to its 

western termination; thence, northward, along the western line of 

New Mexico, until it intersects the first branch of the river Gila; (or if 

it should not intersect any branch of that river, then to the point on 

the said line nearest to such branch, and thence in a direct line to 

the same;) thence down the middle of the said branch and of the said 

river, until it empties into the Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio 

Colorado, following the division line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific Ocean.

The southern and western limits of New Mexico, mentioned in this 

article, are those laid down in the map entitled "Map of the United 

Mexican States, as organized and defined by various acts of the 

Congress of said republic, and constructed according to the best 

authorities. Revised edition. Published at New York in 1847, by J. 

Disturnell;" of which map a copy is added to this treaty, bearing the 

signatures and seals of the undersigned Plenipotentiaries. And in 

order to preclude all difficulty in tracing upon the ground the limit 

separating Upper from Lower California, it is agreed that the said 

limit shall consist of a straight line drawn from the middle of the Rio 

Gila, where it unites with the Colorado, to a point on the coast of 

the Pacific Ocean, distant one marine league due south of the southermost point' of the port of San Diego, according to the plan of said 

port made in the year 1782 by Don Juan Pantoja, second sailingmaster of the Spanish fleet, and published at Madrid in the year 1802, 

in the atlas to the voyage of the schooners Sutil and Mexicana; of 

which plan a copy is hereunto added, signed, and sealed by the 

respective plenipotentiaries.

For this vast territory the United States agreed to 

pay $15 million, of which $3 million was to be paid 

when the treaty was ratified and the remainder in 

annual installments of $3 million each, with interest at 

6 percent. Besides this, the United States assumed the

liability for certain claims against Mexico, not to exceed a total of $3,250,000.

Much difficulty followed in the interpretation of this 

treaty. A joint commission of the two Governments was 

formed, consisting of a commissioner and a chief surveyor from each. They were instructed that any decision upon the interpretation of the treaty must be 

agreed to unanimously.

Under the direction of the commissioners the initial 

point of the boundary between Upper and Lower California was established on the Pacific coast and marked 

by a substantial monument. A similar determination 

was made at the eastern extremity of this line, at the 

junction of the Gila and Colorado Rivers, where another monument was placed. Between these points 

the line was run and marked with five intermediate 

monuments.42

Monument 258 is the final marker on the west. It 

is about 200 yards from the shoreline of the Pacific 

and is a 14-foot white marble shaft enclosed by a 7- 

foot iron picket fence. Its geodetic position is lat 32°32' 

03.82" N., long 117°07'18.84" W., 1927 N.A.D.

The most difficult question that came before the 

commission for decision concerned the location and 

extent of the south boundary of New Mexico. Here, 

unfortunately, the Disturnell map left room for broad 

differences of opinion. The town called Paso (now 

named Juarez) was located on the map more than 

half a degree too far north and nearly 2° too far east. 

In the absence of the chief surveyor for the United 

States, the three other members of the commission 

agreed to accept the position of the south boundary 

of New Mexico as shown by the projection lines on 

the map (lat 32°22' N.); to run a line in that latitude 3° 

west from the Rio Grande and thence north until a 

branch of the Gila River was intersected. In accordance 

with this decision a durable monument was erected 

on the bank of the Rio Grande, in lat 32°22' N., and 

the running of the line westward was begun. (See fig. 

47.) After lVz° had been run, the chief surveyor for 

the United States arrived, learned what had been 

done, and made a vigorous protest against this interpretation of the map. This protest caused the sudden 

stoppage of the work of running the line and the 

repudiation of the agreement by the U.S. Government. 

The United States claimed that the boundary should 

be located with reference to the town of Paso—the 

only definite point for it named in the treaty. Under 

this claim, according to later observations, the south

42 For reference to a mark established in 1773 for the separation of Upper 

and Lower California and for a description of the various lines proposed 

between 1845 and 1848 for the boundary between the United States and 

Mexico west of the Colorado River, see Hendry (1926). The mark of 1773 

was at a point about 29 miles east of south of the Pacific terminus of the 

present boundary between the United States and Mexico. (Garber, 1923, 

p. 13; this book contains a bibliography of more than 200 titles relating to 

the two Mexican cessions.)
boundary of New Mexico would be placed at about 

lat 3T52' N., and it would extend west to long 109°30' 

W. Negotiations followed, but no agreement had been 

reached before 1853, when the Gadsden Purchase 

made further discussion unnecessary.

29

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF 

THE UNITED STATES

GADSDEN PURCHASE

On December 30, 1853, a second purchase was made 

from Mexico consisting of a strip of land lying south 

of the Gila River in New Mexico and Arizona, the 

consideration being $10 million in gold. This is known 

as the Gadsden Purchase, from the name of the U.S. 

commissioner, James Gadsden.43 The boundaries (see 

figs. 3, 47) as established are as follows (Malloy, 1910, 

v. 1, p. 1121):

ARTICLE I. The Mexican Republic agrees to designate the following as her true limits with the United States for the future: Retaining 

the same dividing line between the two Californias as already defined 

and established, according to the fifth article of the treaty of Guadalupe 

Hidalgo, the limits between the two republics shall be as follows: 

Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite 

the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the fifth article of the 

treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; thence, as defined in the said article, 

up the middle of that river to the point where the parallel of 31° 47' 

north latitude crosses the same; thence due west one hundred miles; 

thence south to the parallel of 31°20' north latitude; thence along the 

said parallel of 31°20' to the lllth meridian of longitude west of 

Greenwich; thence in a straight line to a point on the Colorado River 

twenty English miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado 

Rivers; thence up the middle of the said river Colorado until it intersects the present line between the United States and Mexico.

In the year following, a commission was appointed 

for surveying and marking this line, under the U.S. 

commissioner, Maj. W. H. Emory. The line was run and 

marked in the year 1855, and the report was transmitted in the following year (Emory, 1857a).

As settlement increased in the territory which this 

line traverses, it became evident that the line was 

insufficiently marked. Because some of the monuments 

had disappeared and because there were many large 

areas in which no monuments had ever been placed, 

the necessity of rerunning and marking the line became apparent. For this purpose a commission was 

created in 1891, under which the line was recovered 

from the original monuments, as far as possible, and 

between these monuments was rerun and fully and 

durably marked. The report of this commission, including maps, profiles, and illustrations of the monuments, was published in 1898. (See fig. 1; U.S. Cong. 

1898a.)

ALASKA PURCHASE

Alaska was purchased from Russia, in accordance 

with a convention signed March 30, 1867 (Farrar, 1922),

43 For references to the events which led to this purchase and a brief 

discussion of the boundary questions, see Bancroft (1889, v. 17, p. 491-518, 

652).

and proclaimed June 20, 1867, and was made a Territory by act of August 24, 1912. (37 Stat. L, pt. 1, p. 512.)

The boundaries of Alaska are described in the accompanying extracts from the convention of 1825 between Russia and Great Britain, as quoted in Article I 

of the convention of 1867 (see figs. 6, 7, 9; Malloy, 1910, 

v. 2, p. 1521):

"Commencing from the southernmost point of the island called 

Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 

40 minutes north latitude, and between the 131st and 133d degree 

of west longitude (meridian of Greenwich) the said line shall ascend 

to the north along the channel called Portland channel, as far as the 

point of the continent where it strikes the 56th degree of north 

latitude; from this last-mentioned point, the line of demarcation shall 

follow the summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast as 

far as the point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude 

(of the same meridian); and finally, from the said point of intersection, 

the said meridian line of the 141st degree, in its prolongation as far 

as the Frozen ocean.

"IV. With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in the 

proceeding article, it is understood.

"1st. That the island called Prince of Wales Island shall belong 

wholly to Russia," (now, by this cession, to the United States).

"2d. That whenever the summit of the mountains which extend in 

a direction parallel to the coast from the 56th degree of north latitude 

to the point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude shall 

prove to be at the distance of more than ten marine leagues from the 

ocean, the limit between the British possessions and the line of coast 

which is to belong to Russia as above mentioned (that is to say, the 

limit to the possessions ceded by this convention) shall be formed by 

a line parallel to the winding of the coast, and which shall never 

exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom."

The following paragraph is in the convention of 

1867 only (Malloy, 1913, v. 2, p. 1522):

The western limit within which the territories and dominion conveyed, are contained, passes through a point in Behring's straits on 

the parallel of sixty-five degree thirty minutes north latitude, at 

its intersection by the meridian which passes midway between the 

islands of Krusentern, or Ignalook, and the island of Ratmanoff, or 

Noonarbook, and proceeds due north, without limitation, into the same 

Frozen ocean. The same western limit, beginning at the same initial 

point, proceeds thence in a course nearly southwest, through Behring's 

straits and Behring's sea, so as to pass midway between the northwest point of the island of St. Lawrence and the southeast point of 

Cape Choukotski, to the meridian of one hundred and seventy-two 

west longitude; thence, from the intersection of that meridian, in a 

southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the island of 

Attou and the Copper island of the Kormandorski couplet or group 

in the North Pacific ocean, to the meridian of one hundred and ninetythree degrees west longitude [167° east longitude] so as to include 

in the territory conveyed the whole of the Aleutian islands east of 

that meridian.

The consideration paid for Alaska was $7,200,000 

in gold.
FIGURE 6.—Map showing acquisitions of territory since 1853.
There is no possibility of misinterpreting the language 

of the convention as to the part of the boundary running along the 141st meridian, but when the wealth of 

the area was recognized the claims of the United States 

on the location of the part of the boundary from Mount 

St. Elias southeastward to the mouth of Portland Canal, 

were questioned by Canadian authorities.

The coast of this part of Alaska is extremely broken, 

containing many fiords extending far inland, and no 

continuous range of mountains parallels the coast. It 

was for many years tacitly admitted by both sides that 

the second alternative of the treaty, that the boundary 

should be a line 10 marine leagues distant from the 

coast and following its windings, should be the one 

finally adopted when the question of marking the 

boundary arose. This position has been consistently 

held by the United States from the time of the acquisition of the territory to the present day. Many maps prepared before the dispute arose, United States and 

Canadian, agreed on it. Many acts of sovereignty 

were performed by the United States within this territory, and no question of their validity was raised by 

the Canadian authorities. The discovery of gold in the 

basin of the Yukon in Canada, however, and the fact

31

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF 

THE UNITED STATES

that the only feasible means of access to this region 

lay through U.S. territory made it extremely desirable 

for Canada to possess a port or ports on this coast as 

the starting points of routes to the Yukon mines, and 

it was only when this necessity appeared that a definite interpretation of the treaty was required.

The claim made by the British Government on behalf of Canada before a joint commission on the 

boundary in August 1898 was that this part of the 

boundary, instead of passing up Portland Canal, should 

pass up Pearse Canal, connecting with Portland Canal, 

up which it should follow to the summit of the mountains nearest to the coast, and then should follow 

them, regardless of the fact that they do not form a 

continuous range, crossing all the inlets of the sea up 

to Mount St. Elias. This claim was refused by the U.S. 

commissioners. A proposition by the British commis-

......... "•"-""•uta5^^9g*j|";gp ,rt^^^^l*i!'l=T '

:i"'""" ' ""•. '*' ^V^S^IpbKiiip^g;;

FIGURE 7.—Arctic Ocean terminous of the boundary between Alaska and Canada. The photograph was

taken in 1912 by the International Boundary Commission.
32

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

sioners to refer the matter to arbitration was also refused by the United States commissioners, on the 

ground that there was nothing to arbitrate, inasmuch 

as the territory in question was in the possession of 

the United States and had been for many years without dispute, such possession being in full accord with 

the terms of the treaty. The commission was then dissolved, the only outcome being an agreement that 

the summits of White and Chilkoot Passes and a point 

upon the Chilkat River above Pyramid Harbor were 

temporarily adopted as points upon the boundary.

The convention of January 24, 1903, created an 

Alaskan Boundary Tribunal, to consist of "six impartial 

jurists of repute," three to be selected by each of the 

two parties to the controversy, to attempt a settlement 

of this boundary question. The United States was represented by Messrs. Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge, and

George Turner. The Canadian side was represented by 

Baron Alverstone, lord chief justice of England, and 

Sir Louis A. Jette and A. B. Aylesworth, of Canada. 

After argument and discussion the majority of the tribunal, consisting of Baron Alverstone and the three 

Americans, on October 20, 1903, agreed on a boundary 

which satisfied the American claims. The boundary 

thus adopted may be defined as follows: It crosses in 

a straight line from Cape Muzon to the south end of 

Tongass Passage, then through the passage, up Pearse 

Canal, and up Portland Canal to the 56th parallel of 

latitude. Thence the line runs from one mountain summit to another, passing above the heads of all fiords. 

At the head of Lynn Canal it traverses White and Chilkoot Passes. Thence by a tortuous southwesterly 

course it reaches Mount Fairweather and from there 

follows the higher mountains around Yakutat Bay to 

Mount St. Elias (fig. 8).

A survey of the coast boundary, about 900 miles in 

length, was completed in 1914. More surveys along 

this line were made later to provide more monuments 

between controlling points. The boundary from Tongass 

Passage to Mount St. Elias is now defined by a series 

of tangents between turning points, the geodetic posiFIGURE 8.—Map showing boundary between the United States and Canada in southeastern Alaska.
tions of which have been established. A report on this 

boundary is given in the annual report of the International Boundary Commission, United States and Canada, published in 1952. The line is marked by concrete monuments along the shores of Portland Canal, 

by 5-foot aluminum-bronze monuments in the valleys 

of streams crossed, by conical monuments on easily 

accessible summits and by brass bolts on peaks less 

easily ascended. Inaccessible peaks on the line were 

located by triangulation.

In accordance with the convention of April 21, 1906, 

commissioners were appointed under whose direction 

the 141st meridian has been established and intervisible marks placed along the line from the Arctic 

Ocean to Mount St. Elias, a distance of about 647 miles, 

the fieldwork having been completed in 1913. (See fig. 

7). A vista 20 feet wide was cut through the wooded 

areas. The final report of the commissioners, dated 

December 15, 1918, was published in 1919 and is 

accompanied by an atlas containing 38 maps. The report is entitled "Joint report upon the survey and demarcation of the international boundary between the 

United States and Canada along the one hundred and 

forty-first meridian from the Arctic Ocean to Mount St. 

Elias." This report contains copies of treaties and historical data relating to the location of the boundary. 

(Foster, 1899, 1904; Riggs, 1909.) A report of the Boundary Commission (Special Rept. 4), published in 1966, 

gives the 1927 N.A.D. adjusted values of markers on 

this line, with ties to primary triangulation, and information on the maintenance of the boundary line.

The 141st meridan boundary was retraced and remarked in 1973 and 1974 by the International Boundary 

Commission. A total of 233 stations were recovered and 

29 lost stations were reestablished. The new marks 

were bronze disks set in bedrocks or large boulders. 

Recovery of the original stations was relatively easy. 

The work was necessary because of the deterioration 

of some marks and the increased activity of mineral 

and oil exploration. Some distance checks along the 

line were made with electronic distance-measuring 

equipment. A report on the work by two of the U.S. 

engineers who worked on the project, F. X. Popper 

and C. R. Moore, was presented at the 1975 annual 

meeting of the American Congress on Surveying and 

Mapping (Popper and Moore, 1975).

The only part of the boundary not defined at present 

is that through Dixon Entrance between Cape Muzon 

and the entrance to Tongass Passage. Agreement between the United States and Canada for this section 

has not been finalized.

By Article XXVI of the treaty between the United 

States and Great Britain of May 8, 1871, the navigation 

of the Yukon, Porcupine, and Stikine Rivers, Alaska,

33

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF 

THE UNITED STATES

was declared free for the purpose of commerce to the 

citizens of both nations.

It is an interesting fact that the area of Alaska and 

the Aleutian Islands, if superimposed on the conterminous United States in true north-south position so as 

to touch the Canadian boundary a short distance west 

of the Lake of the Woods, would reach the Atlantic 

Ocean near the line between Georgia and South Carolina, cross the Mexican boundary in southwestern New 

Mexico, and touch the Pacific Ocean in southern California. (See fig. 9.)

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

The Hawaiian Government in 1851 seriously considered the transfer of sovereignty of the Hawaiian 

Islands to the United States, but the plan was for the 

time being laid aside. Annexation to the United States 

was authorized by the Hawaiian Constitution of 1852, 

"if indispensable to free it from insults and oppression 

of any foreign powers." Annexation was again under 

consideration in 1854, and a draft of a treaty was prepared whereby the islands would be ceded to- the 

United States, but the sudden illness and death on 

December 15, 1854, of King Kamehameha III, who had 

favored the treaty, put an end to the negotiations.'"

The Republic of Hawaii was formally annexed to the 

United States by the voluntary action of its citizens and 

a joint resolution of Congress approved July 7, 1898. 

The transfer of sovereignty took place August 12, 1898. 

The area was constituted 'a Territory by act of April 

30, 1900, effective June 14, 1900."

The Hawaiian Islands and adjacent islets are scattered over a considerable area which extends nearly 

2,000 miles in a general northwest-southeast direction 

and has a width of about 1501 miles. (See fig. 6.) The 

eight inhabited islands, which lie between 19°00' and 

22° 15' N., long 155°00' and 162°00' W., have a total 

area of 6,412 square miles and a total coast line of 

957 miles, as follows:

Hawaii: greatest length, 89 miles; greatest width, 

72 miles; area, 4,021 square miles; highest point, 

Mauna Kea, 13,796 feet above sea level.

** This information is taken from an address presented by Prof. W. D. 

Alexander before the Hawaiian Historical Society on July 2, 1897 (Hawaiian 

Hist. Soc. Papers, No. 9).

45 31 Stat. L. 141. For a summary of legislative acts relating to this transfer, see Moore (1906, p. 475-520).
34

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Moui: about 48 miles long and 26 miles wide; area,

728 square miles; highest point, 10,023 feet

above sea level. 

Oahu: about 43 miles long and 30 miles wide;

area, 602 square miles; highest point, 4,040 feet. 

Kauai: nearly circular, about 26 miles in diameter;

area, 553 square miles; highest point, 5,240 feet. 

Molokai: about 38 miles long and 9 miles wide;

area, 259 square miles; highest point, 4,970 feet. 

Lanai: about 18 miles long and 12 miles wide;

area, 141 square miles; highest point, 3,370 feet. 

Niihau: about 18 miles long and 3 to 6 miles wide;

area, 72 square miles; highest point, 1,281 feet. 

Kahoolawe: about 11 miles long and 6 miles wide;

area, 45 square miles; highest point, 1,477 feet. 

More than 100 smaller islands are included in the 

group. Among the larger of these are:

Nihoa or Bird Island: lat 23°06' N., long 161 °58' W.;

about three-quarters of a mile long and a quarter

of a mile wide; area, 166 acres; highest point,

910 feet. 

Gardner Island: lat 25°01' N., long 167°59' W.; an

inaccessible rock 190 feet high and about 600

feet in diameter.

Laysan Island: lat 25°42' N., long 171°44' W., 1% 

miles long and 1 mile wide; area, 1.56 square 

miles; highest point, 35 feet.

Lisiansky Island: lot 26°00' N., long 173°50' W., 

about 1 mile long and half a mile wide; area, 

378 acres; highest point, 20 feet.

Kure Island: lat 28°25' N., long 178°25' W.; an tttoll 

about 15 miles in circumference; area, 211 acres; 

highest point, 20 feet.

Kaula: a barren, rocky crescent-shaped island 

about 20 miles southwest of Niihau; area, about 

one-sixth of a square mile; highest point, 550 

feet; set aside by the Territorial Governor in 

December 1924 as a site for a lighthouse.1* 6

PALMYRA ISLAND"

Palmyra Island, lat 5° 52' N., long 162° 05' W., is approximately 1,000 miles south of Honolulu. It was discovered in 1802 by Captain Sawle of the American ship 

Palmyra. It was annexed to Hawaii in 1862. When 

Hawaii became a State, Palmyra was excluded from 

its boundaries. An Executive order of October 10', 1961,

40 For reference to other islands belonging to this group, see U.S. Coast 

and Good. Survey (1923); Moore (1898, p. 555); U.S. Cong. (1893; 1898b).

The source of information on areas and altitudes is "Research Report 15, 

Geographic Statistics for Hawaii" of the Dept. of Planning and Research, 

Hawaii.

*7 Information on unincorporated territories and possessions of the United 

States is summarized in "United States and Outlying Areas," Geog. Rept. 

of the Geographer, U.S. Dept. of State (1963a).

The Office of Territorial Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, publishes a booklet entitled "Territorial Areas Administered by the United 

States." Some of the information on the islands under U.S. administration 

is used in the following pages.

FIGURE 9.—Relative size of Alaska and the conterminous United States.
placed administration of Palmyra under the Secretary 

of the Interior (table 3).

Reef rock has been piled up on the rim of Palmyra 

Island to form an airplane landing strip. The island is 

densely covered with coconut trees and with the balsalike personia grandis that grow to heights of 100 

feet. Highest land elevation is about 30 feet; area is 

3.8 square miles. (Rock, 1916.)

35

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF 

THE UNITED STATES

TABLE 3.—Outlying areas of the United States

Name Area Population 

(sqmi) (1970)

Status; administrative agency

Palmyra Island 

Guam ________

American Samoa 

Wake Island ... 

Midway Islands 

Johnston Atoll __ 

Kingman Reef _ 

Canal Zone _____

4

212

83

3

2

0 

f)

Virgin Islands of the United 

States.

647

133

Navassa __________ 2

Quita Sueno Bank _______ f)

Roncador Cay _________ (*)

Serrana Bank _________ t1)

Rowland, Baker, and Jarvis 3

Islands.

Canton and Enderbury Islands 27

0 Possession; Department of the Interior. 

84,966 Unincorporated territory; Department of the

Interior.

27,159 Do.

(")150 Possession; Department of the Air Force. 

882 Possession; Navy Department. 

0 Do. 

0 Do.

44,198 Leased from Panama; governed by the 

Canal Zone Government; Governor appointed by the President.

62,468 Unincorporated territory; Department of the 

Interior.

0 Possession; U.S. Coast Guard.

0 Arrangement made with Colombia in 1928

to maintain the status quo. 

0 Do. 

0 Do. 

0 Possessions; Department of the Interior.

315 Claimed by the United States and Great 

Britain (see p. 41).

1 Less than 0.5 square mile. 

* 1974.

PUERTO RICO

Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States by Spain 

by the treaty of peace concluded December 10, 1898. 

(Malloy, 1910, v. 2, p. 1691.) Article 2 of that treaty is 

as follows:

Spain cedes to the United States the island of Puerto Rico and 

other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and 

the island of Guam in the Mariana Islands or Ladrones.

Puerto Rico's area is 3,497 square miles, its extreme length is 109 miles, its width is 39 miles, and its 

greatest height is 4,390 feet. The largest of the other 

West Indian islands referred to is Vieques; others are 

Culebra, Mono, Muertos, and Desecheo. The total area 

of the smaller islands is 86 square miles. These islands, 

including Puerto Rico, all lie in the area between lat 

17°42' and 18°31' N., and long 65°20' and 67°55' W. 

Possession was taken by the United States October 18, 

1898.

48 For information on the insular possessions of the United States, see 

U.S. Cong. (1907; 1909; 1912; 1914).

Congress ratified the constitution of Puerto Rico on 

July 3, 1952. It was established as a "commonwealth" 

at that time, and has most of the powers and responsibilities of a State of the Union. Major exceptions are 

that Puerto Rico's residents are not subject to Federal 

taxation and do not have voting representation in the 

U.S. Congress nor the right to vote for President and 

Vice President of the United States. Most of the activities of the Federal Government found in the States are 

also found in Puerto Rico. The Federal Government 

has in Puerto Rico the same authority that it has in a 

State of the Union. Puerto Ricians are liable for military service under the Selective Service Act. Immigration laws pertaining to the United States also apply to 

Puerto Rico. However, the Commonwealth regulates its 

own customs and collects its own import duties.

GUAM

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of 

the United States. It is located at the southernmost end
36

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

of a chain of volcanic islands in the western Pacific 

Ocean known as the Mariana Islands. Its relations with 

the Federal Government are under the jurisdiction of 

the Department of the Interior.

The island of Guam lies about 6,000' miles southwest 

of San Francisco and 1,500 miles east of Manila. It 

is the largest and most populous of the Marianas, 30 

miles long and varying in width from 4 to 8 l/2 miles. 

Guam, whose inhabitants are citizens of the United 

States, has a population of approximately 100,000, of 

whom 22 percent are military personnel and their 

dependents.

The Government of Guam was established by an 

organic act of the U.S. Congress, which became law 

on August 1, 1950. It is administered by a Governor 

and a Lieutenant Governor who are elected by the 

people. Since 1972, the residents of Guam have elected 

a Non-Voting Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. Government headquarters are in Agana, the 

capital city of the Territory of Guam.

AMERICAN SAMOA*9

American Samoa is located about 2,200 miles southwest of Hawaii and about 1,600 miles northeast of 

New Zealand. It is composed of seven tropical islands, 

the land area of which is 83 square miles. The Government of American Samoa is administered by the U.S. 

Department of the Interior. Of the land, 96 percent is 

owned communally and is regulated as to occupancy 

and use by Samoan custom. The population is about 

29,000 (1974), and the people are not U.S. citizens but 

are classed as U.S. nationals and have free access 

of entry to the United States. Samoans are among the 

last remaining true Polynesians, and they cling steadfastly to their Samoan culture and traditions. Trade 

winds and frequent rains make American Samoa's 

climate pleasant. American Samoa normally receives 

about 200 inches of rain annually, most of it falling 

from December to March. The temperature range is 

between 70° and 90° F, and the humidity is usually 

80 percent. English is the official language, although 

the Samoan language is used more often and more 

extensively.

For several years the United States, Great Britain, 

and Germany exercised a joint protectorate over the

Samoa Islands (Thorpe, 1909, v. 6, p. 3675). For various 

reasons it was deemed best to bring this situation to 

an end. England withdrew, and the islands were 

divided between Germany and the United States, the 

latter taking all the islands of the group lying east of 

longitude 171° west of Greenwich. This adjustment was 

reached by a convention between the United States, 

Germany, and Great Britain, concluded December 2, 

1899, and proclaimed February 16, 1900.

Western Samoa was taken from Germany during 

the first World War by New Zealand, who governed 

it under a mandate from the League of Nations. After 

World War II, Western Samoa became a trust territory 

of the United Nations, administered by New Zealand. 

Since 1962 it has been a self-governing nation.

The natives of Samoa had no part in this convention, but certain chiefs of islands in 1900 and 1904 made 

cessions to the United States which were accepted by 

the President but not ratified by the Senate. A bill to 

remedy this apparent oversight was introduced in the 

Senate April 5, 1926, but did not become a law until 

February 20, 1929. 50

Tutuila Island, the largest of the Samoan group belonging to the United States, has a length of 20 miles 

and a breadth of about 6 miles. Its extreme height is 

2,141 feet (fig. 10).

Aunuu Island, about a mile from the east end of 

Tutuila, has a length of 1 mile, a height of 275 feet, 

and an area of half a square mile.

About 60 miles to the east are the three Manua 

Islands, the largest of which is Tau, BVz miles in length, 

3,056 feet in extreme height. Olosega Island is 2Vz miles 

in length and 2,095 feet is height. Ofu Island is about 3 

miles long, and its highest point is 1,587 feet. Its area 

is 3 square miles.

Rose Island is the name given an atoll about 3 miles 

in diameter, partly under water at high tide, 80 miles 

southeast of any of the other islands of the Samoan 

group. It was designated as a Wild Life Refuge by the 

National Wild Life Association in 1974. Public use of 

the atoll is restricted to scientists and educators on a 

permit basis. At least 16 species of birds live on the 

atoll and it is an important nesting area for the green 

sea turtle which is a rare reptile. Sand Islet, the smaller 

of the two islets of the atoll, is about an acre in extent 

and its highest part is 5 feet above high tide. Rose Islet 

has an area of about 8 acres, and its highest part is 

11 feet above high water. It is covered in part with a 

dense grove of Pisonia trees but is without fresh water 

and is uninhabited. This islet has the distinction of 

being the southernmost land under the control of the 

United States. Its geographic position is lat 14°32' S., 

longl68°ll'W. (See fig. 10.)

<9 For reference to legislative action leading to the acquisition of tho 

Samoa group, see Moore (1906, p. 536-554) and Malloy (1910, v. 2, p. 1595).

W U.S. 70th Cong., 2d sess., Pub. Res. 89. See Cong. Record, Aipr. 10, 

1926, p. 1952-1954, for historical description of this accession.
ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF tyrj 

THE UNITED STATES O/

FIGURE 10. Northernmost and southernmost points in U.S. Territory.

Above, Point Barrow, the northernmost point in Alaska (photograph courtesy of John L. Mohr). 

Below, Masefau Bay on Tutuila Island, American Samoa in the Pacific Ocean at lat 14° 16' S. (photograph 

courtesy of Rodney Williams); Rose Island, an atoll in the Samoan group extends to lat 14°32' S.
38

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Midway and Johnston are under the administration 

of the Navy Department, as is Kingman Reef, near 

Palmyra Island.

American Samoa lies between lat 14° and 15° S. 

and long 168° and 171° W.

The joint resolution of March 4, 1925, placed Swains 

Island (p. 41) under the administration control of American Samoa.

WAKE, MIDWAY, AND JOHNSTON ISLANDS

Wake Island is an atoll about 2,000 miles west of 

Honolulu. Its position is lat 19° 17' N., long 166°35' E. 

Although it is usually referred to as a single island, 

there are three islands, separated by narrow and 

shallow channels. The largest is Wake Island, whose 

area is about 2 square miles; its highest point is 21 

feet above sea level. The smaller islands are Wilkes 

and Peale. Formal possession was taken on behalf 

of the United States by the Commander of the U.S.S. 

Bennington on January 17, 1899. (Moore, 1906, p. 555.) 

It was captured by the Japanese in the early part of 

World War II. U.S. personnel at the time consisted of a 

detachment of Marines and a construction crew.

Wake Island has no indigenous population. It is administered by the Department of the Air Force.

The Midway Islands, two small coral islands in lat 

28°13' N., long 177°22' W., about 1,200 miles a little 

north of west from Honolulu, were discovered by 

Captain Brooks, an American shipmaster on an Hawaiian vessel, in 1859. Possession was taken on behalf 

of the United States on September 30, 1867, by Copt. 

William Reynolds of the U.S.S. Lackawanna, who 

stated that the larger island was "the first island ever 

added to the domain of the United States beyond our 

own [American] shores." 51 The larger island is 1% 

miles long and rises 43 feet above sea level. This island 

has an airfield, a cable station, and a lighthouse. The 

total area of the two islands is about 2 square miles. 

The Midway Islands have been considered part of 

the Hawaiian Islands, but they are not included in the 

State of Hawaii.

The Midway Islands are chiefly identified with the 

Battle of Midway, one of the decisive naval engagements of World War II.

Johnston Atoll, lat 16°45' N., long 169°30' W., is a 

grass-covered lagoon island half a mile in length; its 

area is 185 acres. Nearby Sand Island, 134 acres, is 

uninhabited. These two and several other islands 

compose Johnston Atoll.

51 U.S. 40th Cong., 1869, 3d sess., S. Rept. 194, p. 12. This report contains 

n extended description of the islands.

CANAL ZONE

In order to insure the construction of a ship canal 

across the Isthmus of Panama, the Republic of Panama 

granted rights to the United States "in perpetuity" for 

its use, occupation, and control, a strip of land 101 miles 

in width. This conveyance was made by a convention 

concluded November 18, 1903 (Malloy, 1910, v. 2, p. 

1349). The area (see fig. 11) is described in Article II 

as

a zone of land and land under water for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and protection of said canal of the width 

of ten miles extending to the distance of five miles on each side of 

the center line of the route of the canal to be constructed; the said 

zone beginning in the Caribbean Sea three marine miles from mean 

low water mark and extending to and across the Isthmus of Panama 

into the Pacific Ocean to a distance of three marine miles from 

mean low water mark with the proviso that the cities of Panama 

and Colon and the harbors adjacent to said cities, which are included within the boundaries of the zone above described, shall not 

be included within this grant. The Republic of Panama further 

grants to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation, and control of any other lands and waters outside of the zone above described which may be necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and protection of the said 

canal or of any auxiliary canals or other works necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and 

protection of the said enterprise.

The Republic of Panama further grants in like manner to the 

United States in perpetuity all islands within the limits of the zone 

above described and in addiion thereto the group of small islands 

in the Bay of Panama, named Perico, Naos, Culebra, and Flamenco.

Article III of the convention provides: "The Republic 

of Panama grants to the United States all the rights, 

power, and authority within the zone * * * which the 

United States would possess and exercise if it were 

sovereign of the Territory within which said lands and 

waters are located to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Republic of Panama of any such sovereign 

rights, powers, or authority." The United States recognizes that titular sovereignty over the Canal Zone remains in the Government of Panama.

By Article XIV of the convention the United States 

agreed to pay to the Republic of Panama $10 million 

and to make annual payments of $250',000 beginning 9 

years after the convention was ratified. By the treaty of 

1955, annual payments were increased to 1,930,000 

Balboas. The devaluation of the dollar in 1972 resulted in an increase in the dollar value of the payments to $2,095,401. The 1973 devaluation brought the 

annual payments to $2,328,200 as of February 1974 

(U.S. Congress, 1973).

Possession was taken of this tract on June 15, 1904; 

the boundaries of the 10-mile strip have been surveyed
and have been marked at average intervals of half a 

mile by iron posts bearing brass caps.

Under the clause in Article II that permitted the 

United States to take control of "other lands and waters 

outside of the zone" the United States from time to 

time has taken possession of areas outside of the 10- 

mile belt, which are officially designated "auxiliary 

areas." The largest of these is a part of Gatun Lake, 

with its islands and its shores, up to an altitude of 100 

feet above mean sea level.

A second convention was concluded September 2, 

1914, which recognized the transfer of the Gatun Lake 

area to the United States and by Article III receded 

to the Republic of Panama an area of about 6 Vfe square 

miles adjoining the city of Panama on the northeast. 

(U.S. Gong., 1923, v. 3, p. 2771-2773.)

This convention also defined the Canal Zone boundary around the city of Colon and the harbors of Colon 

and of Panama. The treaty of 1955 further changed the 

boundaries around the city of Colon by returning certain small areas to Panama and provided for the return of Paitilla Point, near the city of Panama, to Panamanian sovereignty.

By Executive order of June 5, 1924, the United States 

took possession of an area known as the Alhajuela 

Basin, which comprises 22 square miles of the upper 

Chagres River basin.

39

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF 

THE UNITED STATES

The area of the Canal Zone, including Gatun Lake 

to the 100-foot contour outside the original 10-mile zone, 

is 647 square miles—275 square miles of water and 

372 square miles of land. (Source, Canal Zone Government 1974).

In order "to remove all misunderstandings" regarding 

the acquisition of the Canal Zone by the United States 

from, the Republic of Panama, which had until November 3, 1903, been under the jurisdiction of the Republic 

of Colombia, the United States by treaty signed April 

6, 1914, ratified in 1921, and proclaimed March 30, 1922, 

agreed to pay Colombia $25 million (42 Stat. L. 2123).

VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES

By a convention concluded August 4, 1916 (39 Stat. 

L. 1706), Denmark ceded to the United States

all territory, dominion, and sovereignty possessed, asserted, or 

claimed by Denmark in the West Indies, including the islands of 

Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Saint Croix, together with the adjacent islands and rocks.

FIGURE 11.—Canal Zone.
40

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

The purchase price was $25 million, or nearly $300 

an acre (U.S. Cong., 1917). By act of Congress, approved 

March 3, 1917, this cession was to become effective 

after the President had announced that the amount 

agreed upon had been paid to Denmark. The proclamation was dated March 31, 1917. (39 Stat. L. 1132; 40 Stat. 

L, pt. 2, p. 1649.)

In several acts of Congress the former Danish West 

Indies are referred to as the Virgin Islands, but when 

possession was taken of them March 31, 1917, the name 

given by proclamation was "Virgin Islands of the 

United States of America," to distinguish them from the 

Virgin Islands belonging to Great Britain. Since June 

1917 the U.S. Navy Department has used the abbreviated form "Virgin Islands 'Of the United States," and 

that name has been adopted by the Post Office and 

other departments.

St. Croix, the largest island included in this cession, 

is 23 miles long and 6 miles in extreme width; the highest point is 1,165 feet above sea level; the area is 81.93 

square miles.

St. Thomas, 12 miles long, 1 to 3 miles wide; highest 

point, Crown Mountain, 1,550 feet; area, 27.12 square 

miles.

St. John, 9 miles long, 5 miles wide; highest point, 

1,277 feet; area, 19.2 square miles.

Besides these three, there are nearly a hundred 

small islands, none as great as a square mile in extent, 

but having a combined area of about 5 square miles, 

which makes the total area of the cession 133 square 

miles.

GUANO ISLANDS

An act of Congress approved August 18, 1856, contains the following provisions:

SECTION 5570. Whenever any citizen of the United States discovers 

a deposit of guano on any island, rock, or key, not within the 

lawful jurisdiction of any other government, and not occupied by 

the citizens of any other government, and takes peaceable possession thereof, and occupies the same, such island, rock, or key may, 

at the discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining 

to the United States.

SECTION 5578. Nothing in this title contained shall be construed as obliging the United States to retain possession of the 

islands, rocks, or keys, after the guano shall have been removed 

from the same.

Before 1880 bonds were filed for about 70 islands 

under this act,52 but erroneous names and geographic 

positions were given for many of them; for some single 

islands several names and positions had been given. 

Some of the most important areas listed as guano 

islands are as follows:

Navassa Island, lat 18°24' N., long 75°01' W.; of 

volcanic origin; about 2 miles long and 1 mile wide; 

rises from 100 to 250 feet above the sea. A lighthouse, 

which operates automatically, is at the latitude and 

longitude given.

Ouita Sueno Bank, lat 14°27.8' N., long 81°07' W., 

extends for about 20 miles north and south and has 

patches of dry land at intervals. It was declared by 

presidential proclamation of February 25, 1919, to be 

under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, 

and "the north or other suitable portion" was reserved 

for a lighthouse. The lighthouse, which works automatically, is at the latitude and longitude given.

Roncador Cay, lat 13°34.4' N., long 80°05.2' W., rises 

about 12 feet above the water. It is about a quarter 

of a mile long and is at the north end of a series of 

small cays. By presidential proclamation of June 5, 

1919, it was declared to be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States and was reserved as a 

site for a lighthouse. The lighthouse (position above) 

works automatically.

Serrana Bank, lat 14° 17' N., long 80°24' W., comprises three low islands, the largest of which, the 

southwest cay, is about half a mile long and has an 

extreme height of about 30 feet. This cay was declared 

by presidential proclamation of February 25, 1919, to 

be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States 

and was reserved for a lighthouse, which is in the position above given.

The Colombian Government, prior to 1928, disputed 

the claims of the United States to Serrana and Quito 

Sueno Banks and the Roncador Cay, but an agreement 

dated April 10, 1928, between the Secretary of State 

and the Colombian minister in Washington, maintained 

the status quo, the United States using the islands for 

maintenance of aids to navigation and Colombia having fishing rights in the adjacent waters. Sovereignty 

of these islands is a matter under discussion with 

Columbia at present (1975), and a final decision awaits 

action by the U.S. Senate.

" Lists of these islands appear in a circular dated Feb. 12, 1869, in 

Moore (1906, v. 1, p. 556-580), in Magoon (1900, p. 14-17), and on General 

Land Office maps of the United States. Brief descriptions of the Pacific 

islands are given in Brigham (1900) and U.S. Hydrographic Office (1871, 

1879, 1880, and 1916). Stewart's Handbook of the Pacific islands (Alien, 

1920), besides excellent descriptions of all the principal islands, contains 

a bibliography. For reference to sovereignty and descriptions of other 

Pacific islands, see Statesman's Year Book (1929), indexed under heading 

"Pacific Islands"). The islands in the West Indies are described in reports 

of U.S Hydrographic Office (1949, 1951, and 1952).
A treaty with Honduras, ratified September 1, 1972 

(23UST2630; T1AS7453), recognized Honduran sovereignty over the Swan Islands. The United States had 

claimed sovereignty over these islands since 1863. 

The approximate position of these islands is lat 17°25' 

N., long 83°55' W.

Swains Island, also called Gente Hermosa and 

Quiros, lat 11°03' S., long 171 °05' W., is about 4 miles 

in circumference and 10 to 15 feet high; its area, including a central lagoon of one-third square mile, is 

11/3 square miles. It was discovered by Quiros in 1606 

and named by him La Peregrina, but the position then 

given for it was so much in error as to lead an Ameri^ 

can whaling captain named Swain to assume the 

right of discovery upon landing there. It was examined 

in 1840 by the United States exploring expedition under 

Wilkes and renamed Swains Island. In 1856 and for 

many years thereafter it was occupied by an American 

family named Jennings, engaged in raising coconuts 

An official communication regarding this island from 

the British Government, dated January 30, 1918, stated 

that it was understood "that the island in question is 

United States territory."

A joint resolution of Congress, approved March 4, 

1925 (43 Stat. L. 1357), asserted sovereignty of the 

United States over this island and made it a part of 

American Samoa. (See p. 38.)

The ownership of some of the guano islands is uncertain. Several of them have been claimed by Great 

Britain, without formal protest by the United States, 

except that in the case of Christmas Island (lat 1°57' 

N., long 157°28' W.) the Secretary of State, in a letter 

dated April 30, 1888, said that the United States reserved all questions that might grow out of the occupation.

The United States took possession of Howland, Baker, 

and Jarvis Islands in the central part of the Pacific 

Ocean under the provisions of the Guano Act. Howland and Baker are about 2,000 miles southwest of 

Honolulu (lat 0°30' N., long 176°30' W.) and Jarvis is 

about 1,500 miles south of Honolulu (lat 0°24' S., long 

160°00' W.). The islands are uninhabited. In 1936 by 

Executive Order they were placed under the control 

of the Secretary of the Interior. At his request the 

Coast Guard has been asked to visit the islands periodically and submit reports and photographs.

Canton and Enderbury Islands are claimed by both 

the United States and Great Britain. They are about 

1,660 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu at lat 2°46' 

S. and long 171 °43' W. Canton Island is used as a 

landing station by trans-Pacific airlines. Enderbury is 

uninhabited. The population of Canton Island includes 

both British and United States citizens. An exchange 

of notes in 1939 provided for the joint administration 

of the islands by both governments to continue until

41

INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES 

BEYOND ITS BORDERS

1989, at which time it can be extended if both parties 

agree. Administration by the United States is under 

the Department of the Interior, which is represented by 

the senior Federal Aviation Agency employee at the 

air station.

There are some 25 islands in the Pacific over which 

the United States' claim to sovereignty is disputed by 

Great Britain or New Zealand. All except the four in 

the Ellice group (Funafuti, Nukufetau, Nukulcrilai, and 

Nurakita), Hull in the Phoenix group, and Fakaofu in 

the Union group, appear on the lists of guano islands. 

(For further discussion on guano islands, see Hackworth, 1940, p. 502.)

INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES 

BEYOND ITS BORDERS

ANTARCTICA

Interest of the United States in the Antarctic was 

stimulated in the early 19th century by Yankee sealers, 

who, about 1820, sighted and went ashore on a land 

they believed to be a continent. The existence of this 

continent was first proved during the years 1839-40 by 

an official Navy expedition under Lt. Charles Wilkes, 

USN (fig. 12).

In the last decade of the 19th century, purely maritime exploration was supplemented by expeditions that 

landed on the continent and sought to push inland. 

This phase of Antarctic activity reached its climax when 

Captain Amundsen of Norway reached the South 

Pole December 14, 1911, followed by Captain Scott 

of England a few weeks later.

Exploration by the United States in the south polar 

regions was revived by the Byrd expeditions in 1928- 

30 and 1933-35. From his base at Little America on the 

Ross Ice Shelf, Admiral Byrd made the first flight over 

the South Pole November 29, 1929, and large areas 

previously unknown were explored by aerial and 

ground reconnaissance (Byrd, 1930).

In 1935, another American, Lincoln Ellsworth, first 

crossed the continent by air.

Although the first two Byrd expeditions were primarily privately financed, some governmental assistance was received in the loan of equipment and 

personnel. In 1939 the Government created the U.S. 

Antarctic Service, supported by a congressional appropriation of $340,000, approved June 30, 1939 (53
42 BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

90° 

WEST

180°

FIGURE 12.—Antarctica and its relation to Africa, South America, and Australia.
Stat. L. 980). Exploration the following season was from 

bases at Little America and on the west coast of the 

Palmer Peninsula.

After World War II, exploration was under the sponsorship of the Navy. Expeditions were sent out in 1946, 

1947, and 1948. Large areas were photographed from 

the air, by both land-based and carrier-based aircraft.

The privately led Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition, partially Government supported, reoccupied the 

Palmer Peninsula base in 1947-48. Its work included 

mapping and exploring the west coast of the Weddell 

Sea to and along the Lassiter Ice Shelf.

U.S. Government operations in Antarctica were recommenced in late 1954, and in late 1955 year-round 

bases were established in preparation for the International Geophysical Year (1957-58), a cooperative scientific effort of 11 nations.

After the International Geophysical year, the United 

States continued a multidisciplinary research program 

aimed at describing the continent and its surrounding 

seas. Today the program includes research in biology, 

biomedicine, geology, geophysics, upper-atmosphere 

physics, glaciology, meteorology, and oceanography. 

Four permanent stations, including one at the geographic South Pole, are occupied year round, and 

operation of two research ships is supported. The National Science Foundation funds and manages the 

program, including aircraft operations and logistics 

support provided by the U.S. Navy.

Although various nations have announced territorial 

claims to parts of the Antarctic continent, the United 

States has not done so. All nations with interests in 

the Antarctic territory signed a treaty December 1, 1959, 

declaring the area south of 60° south latitude an 

international preserve for scientific research. Thus scientific groups can move freely on the southern continent, 

disregarding boundaries.

National objectives, as stated by the President in 

1970, are to maintain the Antarctic Treaty and ensure 

that the continent will continue to be used only for 

peaceful purposes, to foster cooperative scientific research for the solution of worldwide and regional problems, and to protect the Antarctic environment and ensure the equitable and wise use of living and nonliving 

resources.

MILITARY AND NAVAL BASE LEASES

The United States has leased land from foreign governments at strategic locations and established naval 

or air bases at those points.

The Navy has maintained a base at Guantanamo on 

the island of Cuba since shortly after the SpanishAmerican War. In February 1903, Cuba signed agreements to lease or sell coaling or naval stations to the 

United States in accord with a clause in the constitu43

INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES 

BEYOND ITS BORDERS

tion of the Republic of Cuba (Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 358). 

The lease at Guantanamo Bay, on the south coast near 

Santiago, includes about 30 square miles of land and 

water. The land boundaries of the area are thus described in the agreement:

From a point on the south coast 4.37 nautical miles to the eastward of 

Windward Point Lighthouse, a line running north (true) a distance 

of 4.25 nautical miles;

From the northern extremity of this line, a line running west (true) a 

distance of 5.87 nautical miles;

From the western extremity of this last line, a line running southwest (true) 3.31 nautical miles;

From the southwestern extremity of this last line, a line running 

south (true) to the seacoast.

The outlines of this area are shown on U.S. Hydrographic Office Chart 1857.

An agreement between the United States and the 

United Kingdom effected by an exchange of notes 

dated December 30, 1966, made available to the United 

States the island of Diego Garcia and certain other 

islands in the Indian Ocean for defense purposes (TIAS 

6196). A supplemental agreement (TIAS 7481) was 

signed October 24, 1972.

"TIAS" refers to "Treaties and Other International 

Acts Series" of the Department of State.

Construction of a naval communications and support 

facility was started in 1971. A limited supply station 

and airfield complex are nearing completion (1975). 

Appropriations provide for extension of the runway to 

12,000 feet, additional storage area and powerplant 

capacity, and a pier. Diego Garcia is at lat 7 0 21' S., 

long 72°29' E. Its area is 6,700 acres.

A convention with Nicaragua for the termination of 

the lease to the United States of the Corn Islands was 

signed at Managua on July 14, 1970. (22UST663; TIAS 

7120.) This convention also provided for termination of 

the agreement giving the United States the right to 

construct and maintain a canal between the Caribbean 

Sea and the Pacific Ocean by way of Lake Nicaragua. 

Ratifications were exchanged, and the convention entered into force on April 25, 1971.

Great Com Island is in lat 12° 10' N., long 83°05' W. 

Little Corn Island is about 7 miles to the northeast.

"UST" refers to "U.S. Treaties." Volumes have been 

published on a calendar-year basis beginning January 

1, 1950.

TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands embraces 

three groups of islands in the western Pacific Ocean:
44

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

the Carolines, Marianas, and Marshalls. The 2,000 

islands, of which approximately 100 are inhabited, 

cover less than 700 square miles of land in some 3 million square miles of ocean. These islands lie north of 

the equator stretching from 1° to 20° north latitude and 

from 130° to 172° east longitude. They vary in size 

from large islands, such as Babelthaup (153 square 

miles) in the Palaus and Ponape (129 square miles) in 

the eastern Carolines, to small atolls of less than 1 

square mile of area (fig. 13).

Elevation above sea level is only a few feet on the 

low-lying coral atolls, but may reach 2,000 to 3,000 feet 

on islands of volcanic origin. This area was controlled 

by the Japanese under a mandate from the League of 

Nations before World War II, and since that time has 

been administered by the United States under a trusteeship agreement with the United Nations. Administration 

of the trust territory is under the Office of Territorial 

Affairs, Department of the Interior. A report is submitted 

annually by the United States to the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations. Under terms of the agreement, 

the United States has authority to establish military 

bases in the territory and to close all or any part of it 

for security reasons.

The inhabitants number about 107,000. They are 

classified as Micronesians, a term derived from the 

small size of the islands. The United States has accepted obligations to the United Nations for the political, 

economic, social, and educational advancement of the 

inhabitants of the trust territory.

A covenant to establish a commonwealth of the 

Northern Marianas Islands was approved by a plebiscite on June 17, 1975, by a favorable vote of more 

than 75 percent. The covenant will be implemented 

after the adoption of a constitution and its approval by 

Congress and the signing by the President. It will be 

effective on the termination of the trusteeship agreement with the United Nations for the Marianas District 

(see map. p. 45). Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and some 

smaller islands make up the Northern Marianas. The 

relation of the commonwealth to the United States 

would be similar to that of Puerto Rico.

TERRITORIAL WATERS AND THE 

CONTINENTAL SHELF

"Territorial waters" is the term applied to the part 

of the open sea over which a bordering nation may

claim jurisdiction for its own protection. It is generally 

conceded that jurisdiction over a belt of water along 

the coast 1 marine league 53 (about 3Yz statute miles) 

wide, measured from the low-water line, may be thus 

claimed, but the passage of neutral vessels engaged in 

peaceful pursuits through this area may not be forbidden.

The general rule regarding territorial waters has 

many exceptions and "now has no legal basis except 

the so-called 'common consent of nations.' " (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1910, v. 14, p. 698.)

Bays or arms of the sea, if in large part surrounded 

by the territory of a single nation, are usually considered entirely within the jurisdiction of that nation, 

even though the entrances are more than 2 leagues 

across.

The Hague tribunal in September 1910 decided in a 

special case submitted to it (regarding fisheries in the 

North Atlantic) that for bays contiguous to the territory 

of the Dominion of Canada

the 3 marine miles are to be measured from a straight line drawn 

across the body of water at the place where it ceases to have the 

configuration and characteristics of a bay. At all other places the 3 

marine miles are to be measured following the sinuosities of the coast. 

[Charles, 1913, p. 69.]

This decision does not now apply to other localities 

but may be considered a precedent for future agreements (Hyde, 1922, p. 251-270). A joint commission 

acting under the treaty with Great Britain of June 5, 

1854 (Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 668), agreed on proper locations for the mouths of 105 rivers emptying into the 

Atlantic between the 36th parallel and northern Labrador, and they defined these locations by straight lines 

between well-known points (Moore, 1898, v. 1, p. 473- 

494). Although the treaty was abrogated in 1866, the 

positions selected for the river mouths may still be regarded as well chosen.

When the 3-mile limit was adopted, it was thought 

to be the extreme range of cannon that could be used 

for coast defense. Today with aircraft as the principal 

weapon for coast defense, a distance of 3 miles no 

longer has any significance except as a time-honored 

accepted figure.

In section 1 of the treaty between the United States 

and Great Britain signed January 23, 1924, it was declared

that 3 marine miles extending from the coast-line outwards and 

measured from low-water mark constitute the proper limits of territorial 

waters.

That treaty gave the United States certain conditional 

rights of search or seizure over private vessels flying 

the British flag when within 1 hour's sailing distance 

from the coast of the United States or its possessions 

(43 Stat. L. 1761). Similar treaties have been effected

53 Texas claimed jurisdiction over the Gulf of Mexico for 3 leagues 

from land.
132° 172°

20' r ~ --'-—— — ! i

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1 ! MARIANA ISLANDS

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FIGURE 13.—The Trust Territories of the Pacific.

Cn
46

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

with several other nations. Section 581 of the tariff act 

of 1922 (42 Stat. L. 979) provides for the boarding of any 

vessel within 4 leagues of the coast of the United 

States in order to inspect, search, or seize the vessel, 

where a violation of U.S. law is evident.

The interest in the sovereignty of off-shore areas has 

greatly increased because of extensive fishing operations and shrimp and oyster cultivation and the presence of minerals below the submerged lands. Only in 

the last few years has it been practical to extract oil 

from beneath the ocean floor at any great distance 

from the shore.

By treaty between the United States and Mexico 

signed November 23, 1970, and entered into force 

April 18, 1972 (TIAS 7313), the international boundary 

between the two countries was extended 12 nautical 

miles into the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. 

See Texas, page 127, and California, page 153.

On September 28, 1945, the President issued two 

proclamations. One reserved and set aside the natural 

resources of the Continental Shelf under the high seas 

and placed these resources for administrative purposes, 

pending legislative action, under the jurisdiction and 

control of the Secretary of the Interior. The other proclamation provided for establishment by executive orders, 

on recommendation of the Secretary of State and the 

Secretary of the Interior, of fishing-conservation zones 

in areas of the high seas contiguous to the United 

States. The proclamation stated that the territorial limits 

of the United States are not extended, and the State 

Department (in its Bull. 327, Sept. 30, 1945) said, "Generally, submerged land which is contiguous to the continent and which is covered by no more than 100 

fathoms (600 feet) of water is considered as the Continental Shelf."

In 1952, a Congressional committee reported on the 

study of the seaward boundaries of the United States. 

The report acknowledged that the subject was verycomplicated and thoroughly discussed the problems 

involved. It recommended that the study be continued 

at the following session of Congress, and that Congress 

should establish criteria for fixing the seaward boundaries of the inland waters, following which a commission should be delegated to fix the line on the ground 

by actual survey. Several formulas have been proposed for defining the seaward limit of inland waters 

(Boggs, 1940, chap. 10). However, the International 

Court of Justice, in its decision of the case of United

Kingdom v. Norway, held that there are no rules of 

a "technically precise character" by which the validity 

of a nation's seaward boundary under international 

law could be measured.

In 1953, Congress by Public Law 31, the Submerged 

Lands Act, gave to the States jurisdiction over the seabed and natural resources under territorial waters (67 

Stat. L. 29). The law confirmed the seaward boundary 

of the original coastal States as being 3 geographical 

(nautical) miles distant from the coastline, "coastline" 

being defined as mean low tide or the seaward limit of 

inland waters. It also gave permission to any coastal 

State, admitted since the formation of the Union, to 

extend its boundaries to the 3-mile line. The law provided that in no event can the term "boundaries" be 

interpreted as extending more than 3 geographic miles 

into the Atlantic or the Pacific, or more than 3 leagues 

into the Gulf of Mexico.

Public Law 212, the Outer Continental Shelf Act, 

passed the same year (67 Stat. L. 462), asserted Federal 

jurisdiction over the seabed and its resources between 

the outer limits of the territorial waters and the outer 

limits of the Continental Shelf. This law provided that 

it shall be construed "in such a manner that the character as high seas of the waters above the outer Continental Shelf, and the right to navigation and fishing 

therein shall not be affected."

In 1954, the United States joined with other United 

Nations members in requesting the inclusion of the 

matters of the Continental Shelf and fishing conservation on the agenda of the General Assembly. The Assembly decided not to deal with these questions until 

after they had been studied by the International Law 

Commission.

An article on the Law of the Sea, as established in 

the 1958 Geneva Convention, states:

* * * For the purposes of these articles, the term "Continental Shelf" 

is used as referring (a) to the seabed and subsoil of the submarine 

areas adjacent to the coast but outside the area of the territorial sea, 

to a depth of 200 meters or, beyond that limit, to where the depth of 

the superjacent waters admit of the exploitation of the natural resources of the said area; (b) to the seabed and subsoil of similar submarine areas adjacent to the coast of islands.

While the United States has never taken the position 

that its seaward boundaries extend more than 3 miles 

from its coastline, the provisions of the Submerged 

Land Act gave the Gulf Coast States reason to believe 

that they might extend their seaward boundaries 3 

leagues into the Gulf of Mexico. Legal proceedings 

were initiated in the Supreme Court to determine if 

any of the States had a valid claim to the submerged 

lands more than 3 geographic miles from the lowwaterline of its coast. The cases against the five Gulf 

Coast States were consolidated, and a decision was 

handed down on May 31, 1960, in the case of United 

States v. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas (363
U.S. 1), and Florida (363 U.S. 121). The Texas boundary 

was confirmed as 3 marine leagues. Texas had been 

an independent nation for 10 years before its annexation to the United States. The congressional resolution 

admitting Texas as a State accepted the boundaries 

as described by the Republic of Texas, which stated 

that they were 3 leagues from land. The annexation 

resolution was the deciding factor in the ruling of the 

Court.

Florida was likewise granted a width of territorial sea 

extending 3 leagues into the Gulf of Mexico. The Court 

stated in its decision that Congress had approved 

Florida's 1868 constitution, submitted in compliance 

with the 1867 Reconstruction Acts, which specified a 

boundary at a distance of 3 leagues from the shoreline. 

This has no bearing on the Atlantic boundary, which 

is limited by the Submerged Lands Act to 3 geographical miles. See Louisiana, page 106 .

The other three States were denied more than a 3- 

mile belt of territorial sea. In brief, the Court could find 

nothing in the enabling acts admitting them to the 

Union which would justify their claims to water areas 

lying off their shores.

The determination of the position of the seaward limit 

of inland waters (the seaward limit of the marginal 

sea depends on this) is a complicated matter. It involves the use of coastal charts, tidal data, and a complex set of criteria. Shalowitz (1962) gives a complete 

discussion of the legal and technical matters involved.

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND 

THE CHANGES MADE THEREIN "*

CESSIONS BY THE STATES

In 1776, when the Thirteen Colonies declared their 

independence of England, many of them possessed unoccupied territory, much of which was entirely detached and lay west of the Applachian Mountains. 

Thus Georgia included the territory from its present 

eastern limits westward to the Mississippi River. North 

Carolina possessed a strip extending from lat 35° to 

36°30' N., approximately, and westward to the Mississippi; this strip included the area of the present State of 

Tennessee. In like manner Virginia possessed what is 

now Kentucky, and a number of States, including Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and 

Virginia, laid claims to areas in what was afterward 

known as the territory northwest of the River Ohio, a 

region now contained mainly in the States of Ohio, 

Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. These

47

54 For a discussion of these changes, see Paxson (1924, chap. 5, 6). U.S. 

Gong. (1900) contains copies of organic acts for the Territories from 1787 

to 1900 compiled from U.S. statutes. It contains a copy of the ordinance 

of 1787 and notes regarding it; also contains extracts from State papers 

relating to U.S. territory in general.

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND 

THE CHANGES MADE THEREIN

claims were to a greater or lesser extent conflicting. 

Authority over some areas was claimed by several 

States, and most of the boundary lines were very ill 

defined.

The ownership of these western lands by individual 

States was opposed by those States that did not share 

in their possession, mainly on the ground that the resources of the General Government, to which all contributed, should not be used for the protection and 

development of this region, the advantages of which 

would inure to the benefit of only a favored few.

Moved by these arguments, as well as by the conflicting character of the claims, which must inevitably 

lead to trouble among the States, Congress passed, on 

October 30, 1779, the following resolution:

Whereas the appropriation of the vacant lands by the several States 

during the continuance of the war will, in the opinion of Congress, be 

attended with great mischiefs: Therefore,

Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to the State of Virginia 

to reconsider their late act of assembly for opening their land office; 

and that it be recommended to the said State, and all other States 

similarly circumstanced, to forbear settling or issuing warrants for 

unappropriated lands, or granting the same during the continuance 

of the present war.

This resolution was transmitted to the different States. 

The first to respond to it by the transfer of territory to 

the General Government was New York, whose example was followed by the other States. These transfers were the origin of the public domain. The cessions were made on the dates below (Hibbard, 1924; 

Sherman, 1916-33, v. 3):

New York, March 1, 1781.

Virginia, March 1, 1784, finally confirmed by the 

legislature December 30, 1788. The deed of 

cession by Virginia gives no limits further than 

to specify that the lands transferred "include 

only those lying northwestward of the River 

Ohio."

Massachusetts, April 19, 1785. 

Connecticut, September 13, 1786. The Connecticut 

act of cession reserved an area in the northeastern part of Ohio, known as the Western Reserve 

(Western Reserve Univ., 1923, p. 37-57). On May 

30, 1800, Connecticut gave to the United States 

jurisdiction over this area, but without giving 

up its property rights in it. 

South Carolina, August 9, 1787. 

North Carolina, February 25, 1790. 

Georgia, April 24, 1802.
48

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

The following paragraph from the deed of cession by 

New York defines the limits of its grant to the General 

Government (Donaldson, 1884, p. 67):

Now, therefore, know ye, that we, the said James Duane, William 

Floyd, and Alexander M'Dougall, by virtue of the power and authority, 

and in the execution of the trust reposed in us, as aforessaid, have 

judged it expedient to limit and restrict, and we do, by these presents, 

for and in behalf of the said State of New York, limit and restrict the 

boundaries of the said State in the western parts thereof, with respect 

to the jurisdiction, as well as the right or pre-emption of soil, by the 

lines and in the form following, that is to say: A line from the northeast corner of the State of Pennsylvania, along the north bounds 

thereof to its northwest corner, continued due west until it shall be 

intersected by a meridian line, to be drawn from the forty-fifth degree 

of north latitude, through the most westerly bent or inclination of 

Lake Ontario,- thence by the said meridian line to the forty-fifth degree 

of north latitude; and thence by the said forty-fifth degree of north 

latitude; but, if on experiment, the above-described meridian line shall 

not comprehend twenty miles due west from the most westerly bent 

or inclination of the river or strait of Niagara, then we do, by these 

presents, in the name of the people, and for and on behalf, of the State 

of New York, and by virtue of the authority aforesaid, limit and 

restrict the boundaries of the said State in the western parts thereof, 

with respect to jurisdiction, as well as the right of pre-emption of soil, 

by the lines and in the manner following, that is to say: a line from 

the northeast corner of the State of Pennsylvania, along the north 

bounds thereof, to its northwest corner, continue due west until it shall 

be intersected by a meridian line, to be drawn from the forty-fifth 

degree of north latitude, through a point twenty miles due west from 

the most westerly bent or inclination of the river or strait Niagara; 

thence by the said meridian line to the forty-fifth degree of north 

latitude, and thence by the said forty-fifth degree of north latitude; * * *.

The following paragraph from the deed of cession by 

Massachusetts gives the limits of the area ceded (Donaldson, 1884, p. 71-72):

[We] do, by these presents assign, transfer, quitclaim, cede, and 

convey to the United States of America, for their benefit, Massachusetts 

inclusive, all right, title, and estate of and in, as well the soil as the 

jurisdiction, which the said Commonwealth hath to the territory or 

tract of country within the limits of the Massachusetts charter 

situate and lying west of the following line, that is to say, a meridian 

line to be drawn from the forty-fifth degree of north latitude through 

the westerly bent or inclination of Lake Ontario, thence by the said 

meridian line to the most southerly side line of the territory contained 

in the Massachusetts charter; but if on experiment the above-described 

meridian line shall not comprehend twenty miles due west from the 

most westerly bent or inclination of the river or strait of Niagara, then 

we do by these presents, by virtue of the power and authority aforesaid, in the name and on behalf of the said Commonwealth of Massachusetts, transfer, guitclaim, cede, and convey to the United States of 

America, for their benefit, Massachusetts inclusive, all right, title, and 

estate of and in as well the soil as the jurisdiction, which the said 

Commonwealth hath to the territory or tract of country within the 

limits of the Massachusetts charter, situate and lying west of the 

following line, that is to say, a meridian line to be drawn from the

forty-fifth degree of north latitude through a point twenty miles due 

west from the most westerly bent or inclination of the river or strait 

of Niagara; thence by the said meridian line to the most southerly 

side line of the territory contained in the Massachusetts charter aforesaid,

The following clause from the act of the Legislature 

of Connecticut, authorizing the cession, defines its 

limits (Donaldson, 1884, p. 73):

Be it enacted * * * That the delegates of this State, or any two 

of them, who shall be attending the Congress of the United States, be, 

and they are hereby, directed, authorized, and fully empowered, in 

the name and behalf of this State, to make, execute, and deliver, under 

their hands and seals, an ample deed of release and cession of all 

the right, title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim of the State of Connecticut to certain western lands, beginning at the completion of the 

forty-first degree of north latitude, one hundred and twenty miles west 

of the western boundary line of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 

as now claimed by said Commonwealth, and from thence by a line 

drawn north, parallel to and one hundred and twenty miles west of 

the said west line of Pennsylvania, and to continue north until it 

comes to forty-two degrees and two minutes north latitude. Whereby 

all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim of the State of Connecticut, to the lands lying west of said line to be drawn as aforementioned, one hundred and twenty miles west of the western 

boundary line of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed 

by said Commonwealth, shall be included, released, and ceded to the 

United States in Congress assembled, for the common use and benefit 

of the said States, Connecticut inclusive.

Connecticut reserved by this deed both the title and 

jurisdiction over a tract of her western lands lying between the western boundary of Pennsylvania and the 

then eastern boundary of her cession. It comprised a 

strip, 120 miles long and irregular in width, lying between parallels 41° and 42°02' N. (the northeastern 

part of the present State of Ohio). The tract was known 

as the "Western Reserve" of Connecticut in Ohio. Connecticut, by act of the legislature in October 1797, tendered to the United States a release of jurisdiction over 

this tract, which Congress accepted April 28, 1800, and 

Connecticut confirmed May 30, 1800. A part of this 

area, lying in the present Ohio counties of Erie, Huron, 

and Ottawa, was known as the "Fire Lands" because 

the lands were donated by Connecticut for the use of 

citizens of Danbury and other places as a recompense 

for losses by fire and raids by British troops during the 

Revolution.

The cession of South Carolina was described as 

follows (Donaldson, 1884, p. 76):

* * * all the territory or tract of country included within the river 

Mississippi and a line beginning at that part of the said river which 

is intersected by the southern boundary line of the State of North 

Carolina, and continuing along the said boundary line until it intersects 

the ridge or chain of mountains which divides the eastern from the 

western waters, then to be continued along the top of said ridge of 

mountains until it intersects a line to be drawn due west from the 

head of the southern branch of Tugoloo River to the said mountains; 

and thence to run a due west course to the river Mississippi.

The State of North Carolina ceded (Donaldson, 1884, 

p. 77)'

the lands situated within the chartered limits of this State, west of a 

line beginning on the extreme height of the Stone Mountain, at the
place where the Virginia line intersects it; running thence along the 

extreme height of the said mountain, to the place where he Wataugo 

River breaks through it; thence a direct course to the top of the Yellow 

Mountain where Bright's road crosses the same; thence along the ridge 

of the said mountain, between the waters of Doe River and the waters 

of Rock Creek, to the place where the road crosses the Iron Mountain; 

from thence along the extreme height of the said mountain to where 

Nolichucky River runs through the same; thence to the top of the 

Bald Mountain; thence along the extreme height of the said mountain, 

to the Painted Rock, on French Broad River; thence along the highest 

ridge of the said mountain, to the place where it is called the Great 

Iron or Smoaky Mountain; thence along the extreme height of the 

said mountain, to the place where it is called the Unicoy or Unaka 

Mountain, between hte Indian towns of Cowee and Old Chota; thence 

along the main ridge of the said mountain to the southern boundary 

of the State.

It will be noted that the above description of the 

eastern boundary of her ceded possessions agrees in 

general terms with the description of the western boundary of North Carolina (p. 98).

The articles of cession by Georgia describe the area 

ceded as follows (Donaldson, 1884, p. 80):

* * * the lands situated within the boundaries of the United States 

south of the State of Tennessee, and west of a line beginning on the 

western bank of the Chatahouchee River, where the same crosses 

the boundary line between the United States and Spain; running 

thence up the said river Chatahouchee, and along the western bank 

thereof to the great bend thereof, next above the place where a certain 

creek or river, called "Uchee" (being the first considerable stream on 

the western side, above the Cussetas and Coweta towns), empties 

into the said Chatahouchee River; thence in a direct line to Nickajack, 

on the Tennessee River; thence crossing the said last-mentioned river, 

and thence running up the said Tennessee River, and along the 

western bank thereof, to the southern boundary line of the State of 

Tennessee.

Of the area conveyed by these cessions to the General Government the part lying north of the Ohio was 

afterward erected into the "territory northwest of the 

River Ohio," and the rest lying south of that river, was 

known as the "territory south of the River Ohio." This 

did not include the area of the present State of Kentucky, which remained part of Virginia until it was admitted as a State in 1792.

The United States by act of Congress of September 9, 

1850, purchased from the State of Texas about 124,000 

square miles of land which Texas claimed when admitted to the Union. This land is now included in the 

States of Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 

and Wyoming. (See fig. 29.)

TERRITORY NORTHWEST OF THE 

OHIO RIVER

The territory of the Ohio was bounded on the west 

by the Mississippi and a line running north from its 

source to the international boundary, on the north by 

the boundary line between the United States and the 

British possessions, on the east by the Pennsylvania 

and New York State lines, and on the south by the

49

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND 

THE CHANGES MADE THEREIN

Ohio River. (See fig. 21.) It comprised an area of approximately 278,000 square miles. It was made up of 

claims of individual States as follows (Donaldson, 

1884, p. 161):

1. The Virginia claim, which consisted of all the territory west of Pennsylvania and north of the Ohio 

to the 41st parallel of north latitude; in addition, 

above that her claim by capture extended as far 

as the northern limits of the land under the Crown 

which had been subject to the jurisdiction of the 

Province of Quebec and as far as Lakes Michigan 

and Huron.

2. The Connecticut claim, which extended from the 

41st parallel northward to the parallel of 42°2' 

and from the west line of Pennsylvania to the 

Mississippi River.

3. The Massachusetts claim, which extended from the 

north line of the Connecticut claim above noted 

to kit 43°43'12" N. and from the western boundary 

of New York to the Mississippi.

4. The belt or zone lying north of the Massachusetts 

claim, extending thence to the Canada line and 

west to the Mississippi River, obtained from Great 

Britain by the treaty of peace of September 3, 

1783, became public domain after the Virginia 

cession.

5. At the time of the cession by the State of Virginia, 

both Massachusetts and New York claimed the 

Erie triangle of about 324 square miles, which 

was subsequently bought by Pennsylvania and 

added to that State (p. 83).

From this territory were formed the States of Ohio, 

Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, the part of 

Minnesota east of the Mississippi River, and the northwest corner of Pennsylvania.

On July 13, 1787, a bill for its provisional division 

into not less than three nor more than five States was 

passed by Congress. In this bill the limits of the proposed States were defined, corresponding in their north 

and south lines to the present boundaries of Ohio, 

Illinois, and Indiana. The following extract gives the 

text of the ordinance defining these boundaries (Donaldson, 1884, p. 155): 55

55 For a plan including maps, proposed by a committee of which Jefferson "was chairman, for the subdivision of the territory northwest of the 

Ohio, which was adopted by Congress in 1784, see Wisconsin Hist. Soc, 

(1888, v. 2, p. 452). See also Smith (1882, v. 2, p. 603); for text of the 

ordinance, see Poore (1877, pt. 1, p. 429).
50

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

ARTICLE 5. There shall be formed in the said territory, not less 

than three nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States, 

as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the 

same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: the western State in said territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the 

Ohio, and the Wabash rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash 

and Post Vincents due north to the territorial line between the United 

States and Canada; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the 

Woods and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the 

said direct line, the Wabash, from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the 

Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great 

Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The 

eastern State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the 

Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line: Provided, however, 

And it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of these 

three States shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall 

hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or 

two States in that part of the said territory which lies north of an 

east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of 

Lake Michigan.

Apparently this ordinance was not put in force until 

a provisional government for the territory was instituted by the appointment of a governor and secretary 

on February 1, 1788.

By act of May 7, 1800, Congress divided the "territory 

northwest of the Ohio" into two separate governments 

and ordered

that all that part of the territory of the United States northwest of the 

Ohio river, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the 

Ohio, opposite to the mouth of Kentucky river, and running thence 

to Fort Recovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purposes of temporary government constitute a separate territory, and 

be called the Indiana Territory.

The eastern part was called the "territory northwest 

of the River Ohio," and a large part of it was admitted 

to the Union in 1802 as the State of Ohio. The remainder 

was added to Indiana Territory. (See fig. 26.)

In 1805 all that part of Indiana Territory lying north 

of a parallel drawn through the most southerly bend 

of Lake Michigan and east of a line drawn from the 

same point through the middle of Lake Michigan and 

north to the Canadian line became the Territory of 

Michigan (See fig. 31.)

By act of February 3, 1809, Indiana Territory was 

again divided, and the Territory of Illinois was created 

from the part lying west of the Wabash Fiiver and a 

meridian running through the city of Vincennes, extending thence to the Canada line.

On December 11, 1816, Indiana was admitted to the 

Union as a State, with its boundaries defined as at

present, and on December 3, 1818, Illinois was likewise 

admitted.

The act of June 28, 1834, added to the Territory of 

Michigan a part of the Missouri River drainage basin 

as far west as the White Earth River and north to the 

49th parallel and included for the first time a part of 

the drainage basin of the Red River, south of the 49th 

parallel, under a Territorial government. This addition 

to Michigan included also a small part of the Louisiana 

Purchase. (See p. 127 and fig. 31.)

Wisconsin Territory was formed in 1836 from the part 

of the Territory of Michigan west of the present State 

of Michigan. On January 26, 1837, Michigan was admitted into the Union, with its present boundaries. On 

June 12, 1838, all that part of Wisconsin Territory from 

its source to the international boundary was made into 

the Territory of Iowa, and in 1848 Wisconsin was admitted as a State, with its boundaries as at present 

defined.

The admission of Wisconsin appears to have left the 

area which is now the northeastern part of Minnesota, 

lying east of the Mississippi and a line drawn due north 

from its source, without any government until the formation of Minnesota Territory, in 1849.

TERRITORY SOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER

The "territory south of the River Ohio/' the government of which was provided for by act of Congress 

approved May 26, 1790, was bounded on the north by 

the present northern boundary of Tennessee, on the 

east by the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, 

and Georgia, and on the west by the Mississippi River. 

It included besides the Tennessee area nominal possessions to the 31st parallel. The cessions that made up 

this region are as follows:

1. The area ceded by North Carolina was described as 

extending from lat 36°30' N. (since found to be 

36°33') southward to 35° and from the western 

boundary line of the present State to the Missippi 

River. This is now the State of Tennessee.

2. The area ceded by South Carolina formed a belt 

12 or 14 miles in width lying south of the 35th 

parallel and extending from her western boundary 

to the Mississippi River. It is doubtful whether 

under the terms of the original charters South 

Carolina possessed this strip or whether it was 

included in the possessions of Georgia. (See p. 99.)

3. The area ceded by Georgia comprised most of the

territory of the present States of Alabama and

Mississippi north of the 31st parallel.

Tennessee was admitted as a State in 1796. In 1798

Congress organized as the Territory of Mississippi a

small rectangular area, bounded on the west by the
Mississippi River, on the north by a parallel through the 

mouth of the Yazoo River, on the east by the Chattahoochee River, and on the south by the 31st parallel 

of north latitude. This area was subsquently enlarged 

so as to include the whole of what is now Mississippi 

and Alabama and a strip along the gulf coast, which 

was at that time claimed by Spain. In 1817 the Territory 

was divided, and the eastern portion was made into 

Alabama Territory. Subsequently the two Territories 

were admitted as States.

LOUISIANA, THE AREAS FORMERLY

BELONGING TO MEXICO, AND

THE OREGON REGION

The Louisiana Purchase was effected in 1803. In 1804 

the region thus obtained was divided into two parts; 

the southern part was organized as Orleans Territory, 

and the remainder was called the District of Louisiana. 

The State of Louisiana, comprising most of the Territory 

of Orleans, was admitted to the Union in 1812. In the 

same year it was enlarged by the addition of the area 

lying between the Mississippi and Pearl Rivers, in the 

southeastern part, and the name of the District of Louisiana was changed to the Territory of Missouri. (See fig. 

27.) In 1819 Arkansaw Territory was created, and in 

1836 it was admitted as a State. (The State name was 

spelled with an "s" in place of the final "w.")

The Arrowsmith Map of 1814 (fig. 14) shows the extent of the cartographic knowledge of the area covered 

by the conterminous 48 States previous to the establishment of boundaries of the Western and Midwestern 

States.

In 1821 the State of Missouri was formed from another part of the Territory of Missouri, and in 1836 the 

boundaries of the State were extended to their present 

limits. In 1834 the part of this Territory lying north of 

the State of Missouri and east of the Missouri and White 

Earth Rivers was attached to the Territory of Michigan. 

(See fig. 31.) In 1836 this portion became part of the 

Wisconsin Territory. In 1838 it became part of the Territory of Iowa. In 1846 the State of Iowa was created, 

and in 1849 the remainder of the Iowa Territory was 

organized as the Territory of Minnesota. Minnesota was 

admitted as a State on May 11, 1858, with its present 

boundaries.

Indian Territory (unorganized) was set apart by act 

of June 30, 1834, and described as follows (4 Stat. L. 

729, 733; see fig. 36):

* * * all that part of the United States west of the Mississippi, and 

not within the States of Missouri and Louisiana, or the Territory of 

Arkansas * * * shall be taken and deemed to be Indian country.

Apparently this covered a large part of the area 

previously designated Territory of Missouri, but for

51

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND 

THE CHANGES MADE THEREIN

judicial control the same act restricted the area to that 

commonly known as Indian Territory and bounded as 

follows: On the north by the north line of lands assigned 

to the Osage tribe of Indians, produced east to the State 

of Missouri; on the west by the Mexican possessions 

(100th meridian); on the south by the Red River; and 

on the east by the line of the Territory of Arkansas and 

the State of Missouri (Royce, 1899).

While the cessions by the States and the Louisiana 

region were being subdivided, Texas was admitted to 

the Union, and by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo and 

the Gadsden Purchase the United States acquired from 

Mexico the area west of the northern part of Texas and 

south of the 42d parallel. In the same period the northern boundary had been established on the 49th parallel 

to the Pacific Ocean.

Out of the great western region thus acquired were 

carved the following Territories:56

The Territory of Oregon, formed in 1848, extended 

from lat 49° N. southward to lat 42° and from the Pacific 

Ocean east to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. (See 

fig. 43.)

California was admitted as a State in 1850 with the 

same limits which it possesses at present.

The Territory of Utah, formed in 1850 (see fig. 45), 

extended from the 42d parallel southward to the 37th 

and from the California boundary line eastward to the 

Rocky Mountains.

The Territory of New Mexico comprised all the country lying south of Utah to the boundary lines of Texas 

and Mexico and from the California boundary eastward to the boundary of Texas. (See fig. 47.)

The Territory of Nebraska, formed from Missouri Territory in 1854, comprised the country from the 49th 

parallel to the 40th and from the Missouri and White 

Earth Rivers westward to the summit of the Rocky 

Mountains. (See fig. 35.)

The Territory of Kansas, formed by the same act as 

Nebraska, comprised the country extending from Missouri westward to the boundary of New Mexico and 

Utah and from the south boundary of Nebraska to the 

37th parallel.

The Territory of Washington was formed in 1853 from 

a part of Oregon, its southern boundary being the

M For an outline of historical events relating to the organization of 

States west of the Mississippi and the settlement of their boundaries, see 

Higgins (1923, p. 397-455). For titles of manuscripts and published papers 

relating to the Territories, see Carnegie Inst. Washington (1911).
(30)

52 FIGURE 14.—Map compiled and drawn by Aaron Arrowsmith and published in 1814 shows the

(Modified from Paullin, C. O., 1932, Atlas of the historical geography of
§g~\ D ' -A^H^

extent of cartographic knowledge of the area of the conterminous United States at that time. 

the United States: Carnegie Institution of Washington Pub. 401, pi. 29.)

53
54

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Columbia River and the 46th parallel, and its east line 

being the summit of the Rocky Mountains. (See fig. 43.)

Oregon was admitted as a State in 1859, with its 

boundaries as they are now. The portion cut off from 

Oregon Territory was placed under the Territorial government of Washington.

The Territory of Dakota, formed in 1861, comprised 

all that region included in the present States of North 

Dakota and South Dakota and thence westward to the 

summit of the Rocky Mountains. (See fig. 34.)

The Territory of Nevada was organized from the 

western part of the Territory of Utah in 1861. (See fig. 

45.) As originally constituted, its eastern line was the 

39th meridian west from Washington, and its southern 

boundary was the 37th parallel. It was admitted as a 

State in 1864, when its eastern boundary was made the 

38th meridian (approximately 115°03' west from Greenwich). In 1866, by act of Congress, the eastern boundary 

was moved 1° still farther east and placed upon the 

37th meridian west from Washington, and the triangular portion contained between the former southern 

boundary, the boundary of California, the Colorado 

River, and the 37th meridian was added, thus giving 

the State its present limits.

The Territory of Colorado was formed in 1861, with 

the limits of the present State. It was admitted as a 

State in 1876.

The Territory of Arizona, formed in 1863, included 

that part of New Mexico lying west of the 32d meridian 

west of Washington.

The Territory of Idaho was formed in 1863 from parts 

of Dakota and Washington Territories. As originally 

constituted it included the area lying east of the present 

eastern limits of Oregon and Washington to the 27th 

meridian west of Washington. Its southern boundary 

was the northern boundary of Colorado and Utah—that 

is, the 41st and 42d parallels of latitude. (See fig. 44.) 

From this Territory was detached in 1864 the Territory 

of Montana, having nearly the limits of the present 

State, and in 1868 the Territory of Wyoming; these 

changes reduced Idaho to its present dimensions.

The Territory of Oklahoma, organized in 1890 from a 

part of the Indian Territory and the public-land strip 

north of Texas, when admitted as a State in 1907 included the Indian Territory also. (See fig. 36.)

Nearly all boundaries of States west of the Mississippi, as well as those of many Central and Southern 

States, were surveyed under the direction of the General Land Office. Notes of all such surveys and plats 

for most of them are now on file in the Bureau of Land 

Management, Department of the Interior, or in the Cartographic Records Division, National Archives and 

Records Service, Washington, D.C. Many of the field 

notes are in excellent form, in books especially prepared for them, and are illustrated by photographs or 

sketches. Other notes are in books of field notes with 

the regular township surveys. Many resurveys or retracements of short parts of boundary lines have been 

made, and numerous corners have been reestablished 

in connection with the regular surveys of the public 

lands, which are not mentioned in the foregoing pages 

but are noted in the records of the General Land 

Office.

The notes and plates are open to public inspection 

and are indexed so that reference to them is easy; also, 

copies are supplied to anyone on payment of nominal 

fees.

Historical diagrams showing changes in State or 

national boundaries are to be found in many publicaitons, a few of which are listed below:

Paris, J. T., 1926, The romance of the boundaries: New York, Harper 

& Bros. This book contains a bibliography of boundary references with 

138 entries.

Lamberton, R. H., 1884, An historical atlas * * * from the dawn 

of history to the present time: 7th ed., New York, Townsend MacCoun.

MacCoun, Townsend, 1901, An historical geography of the United 

States: Revised ed., New York, Silver, Burdett & Co.

Mowry, W. A., 1902, The territorial growth of the United States: 

New York, Silver, Burdett & Co.

Stocking, S. W., 1874, Areas and political divisions of the United 

States, with map, in Statistical atlas of the United States: Bureau of 

the Census, Washington.

U.S. Bureau of Statistics, Monthly summary of commerce and 

finance of the United States for August 1902.

State boundary surveys by the General Land Office 

are related to the surveys of the public lands under the 

rectangular system. The public land surveys are based 

on a system of principal meridians and base lines intersecting at right angles at an initial point (figs. 15, 16). 

The geodetic position of this point is determined. Surveys dependent on a principal meridian often, but not 

always, extend to the State line. Details of the rectangular system are given in the Manual of Surveying 

Instructions, 1973, of the Bureau of Land Management, 

U.S. Department of the Interior.

PAYMENTS TO THE STATES

At the last session of the Twenty-second Congress 

an act was passed "to appropriate for a limited time 

the proceeds of the sales of the public lands of the 

United States and for granting lands to certain States," 

but it was not approved by President Jackson who, 

under date of December 4, 1833, in a long message to 

the Twenty-third Congress (see U.S. 53d Cong., 1896,
2d sess., H. Doc. 210, pt. 3, p. 56-69), set forth his reasons 

for withholding his signature. In that message he gave 

an excellent historical account of the State cessions by 

which the public lands had been in part acquired.

A somewhat similar act (5 Stat. L 55) approved June 

23, 1836, by President Van Buren, directed that all 

money in the Treasury on January 1, 1837, in excess 

of $5 million be divided among the States in proportion 

to the number of their Representatives in Congress, to 

be paid in quarterly installments and to be returned to 

the United States when required by Congress. Three installments were paid, amounting in all to $28,101,644.91. 

Payment of the fourth installment was postponed indefinitely by act of October 2, 1837. No part of these 

payments has ever been returned by the States.

Other payments to States from the proceeds of land 

sales were authorized by act of September 4, 1841 

(5 Stat. L. 453), but were discontinued by act of August 

30, 1842 (5 Stat. L. 567).

THE BOUNDARY LINES OF 

THE STATES"

58

MAINE

The first charter that related to the area forming the 

present State of Maine (fig. 4) was that granted by 

Henry IV of France to Pierre du Gast, Saeur de Monts, 

in 1603, known as the charter of Acadia; it embraced 

the whole of North America between the 40th and 46th 

degrees of north latitude. Under this charter several 

exploring expeditions along the coast were made in 

1604, 1605, and 1606; and in 1606 it was decided to 

make a permanent settlement at Port Royal, now 

Annapolis, Nova Scotia. No attempts were made under 

this charter to plant colonies within the limits of the 

present State of Maine.

By the first charter of Virginia (see p. 92), granted by 

James I in 1606, the lands along the coast of North 

America between the 34th and 45th degrees of north 

latitude were given to two companies, to one of which, 

the Plymouth Company, was assigned that part of North 

America including the coast of New England. The first 

colony in Maine was planted on the peninsula of 

Sabino, at the mouth of the Kennebec River, now Hunnewell Point, on August 19, 1607, by George Popham. 

The colonists returned to England in the autumn of 

1608.

55

51 For a condensed historical description of the boundaries of the United 

States, see Encyclopedia Americana (1920, v. 4, p. 329-342). This article 

contains a bibliography on boundaries comprising several hundred entries.

58 A general discussion of the boundaries of the New England States 

is given by Gushing (1920). For reference to early voyages of the Northmen to Iceland, Greenland, and the New England coast about the year 

1000, see Preble (1917, ,p. 160-167);. Kohl (1869, v. 1, chap. 2); Gray 

(1931).

BOUNDARY .LINES OF THE STATES 

MAINE

James I, in 1620, granted a charter to the Plymouth 

Company, in which may be found the following words 

(Thrope, 1909, v. 6, p. 1829):

Wee therefore, * * * Do * * * grant, ordaine and establish, that all 

that Circuit, Continent, Precincts, and Limitts in America, lying and 

being in Breadth from Fourty Degrees of Northerly Latitude, from the 

Equnoctiall Line, to Forty-eight Degrees of the said Northerly Latitude, 

and in length by all the Breadth aforesaid throughout the Maine Land, 

from Sea to Sea, with all the Seas, Rivers, Islands, Creekes, Inletts, 

Ports, and Havens, within the Degrees, Precincts, and Limitts of the 

said Latitude and Longitude, shall be the Limitts, and Bounds, and 

Precincts of the second Collony: And to the End that the said Territoryes may forever hereafter be more particularly and certainly known 

and distinguished, our "Will and Pleasure is, that the same shall from 

henceforth be nominated, termed, and called by the Name of NewEngland, in America.

William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, claimed that 

under a grant given in 1621 he was entitled to land 

on the coast of Maine which had been granted to the 

Plymouth Company, and by direction of James I that 

company issued a patent to him (Thorpe, 1909, v. 6, 

p. 1621)

for a tract of the maineland of New England, beginning at Saint Croix 

and from thence extending along the sea-coast to Pemaquid and the 

river Kennebeck.

The heirs of the Earl of Stirling sold that tract to the 

Duke of York in 1663.

In 1622 Capt. John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges 

obtained from the council of New England (Plymouth) 

a grant of lands lying between the Merrimack and 

Sagadahock (Kennebec) Rivers and extending back to 

the rivers and lakes of Canada. This tract was named 

the Province of Maine and included New Hampshire 

and the western part of Maine. Mason and Gorges, 

in 1629, by mutual consent divided their territory in 

two by Piscataqua River. That part east of this river 

was relinquished to Gorges, who called it Maine.

The charter of the Plymouth Company was surrendered to the King in the year 1635.

King Charles I, in 1639, granted a charter to Sir 

Ferdinando Gorges which virtually confirmed the patent given to him by the Plymouth Company in 1622. 

The following extract from that charter (Thorpe, 1909, 

v. 6, p. 1626) defines the boundaries:

All that Parte Purparte and Porcon of the Mayne Lande of New 

England aforesaid beginning att the entrance of Pascataway Harbor 

and soe to passe upp the same into the River of Newichewanocke 

and through the same unto the furthest heade thereof and from thence 

Northwestwards till one hundred and twenty miles bee finished and 

from Pascataway Harbor mouth aforesaid Northeastwards along the 

Sea Coasts to Sagadahocke and upp the River thereof to Kynybequy 

River and through the same into the heade thereof and into the Lande
56 BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

PRINCIPAL MERIDIANS AND BASE LINES

GOVERNING THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC LAND SURVEYS

Adapted from U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management,

Principal Meridians and Base Lines; governing the United

States Public Land Surveys, map, Washington, 1968

Dates indicate establishment of initial points 

or first survey

V\.. M F x » r « "\

FIGURE 15.—Principal meridians and
BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MAINE 57

i=fel\ ,E*»<^SI * *

llfPlMl o< B,^^'^-----;;?

base lines used for public land surveys.
58 BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

ALASKA

i Afbers Equal Area Projection

100 200 300 MILES

PRINCIPAL MERIDIANS AN DBASE LINES

GOVERNING THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC LAND SURVEYS

Adapted from U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management,

Principal Meridians and Base Lines; governing the United

States Public Land Surveys, map, Washington, 1968

Dates indicate establishment of initial points 

or first survey

FIGURE 16.—Principal meridians and base lines in Alaska.
Northwestwards untill one hundred and twenty myles bee ended 

being accompted from the mouth of Sagadahocke and from the period 

of one hundred and twenty myles aforesaid to crosse over Lande to 

the one hundred and twenty myles end formerly reckoned upp into 

the Lande from Pascataway Harbor through Newichewanocke River 

and also the Northe halfe of the Isles of Shoales togeather with the 

Isles of Capawock and Nawtican neere Cape Cod as alsoe all the 

Islands and Iletts lyeinge within five leagues of the Mayne all alonge 

the aforesaide Coasts betweene the aforesaid River of Pascataway and 

Sagadahocke with all the Creekes Havens and Harbors thereunto 

belonginge and the Revercon and Revercons Remaynder and Remaynders of all and singular the said Landes Rivers and Premises. All 

which said Part Purpart or Porcon of the Mayne Lande and all and 

every the Premisses herein before named Wee Doe for us our heires 

and successors create and incorporate into One Province or Countie.

And Wee Doe name ordeyne and appoynt that the porcon of the 

Mayne Lande and Premises aforesaid shall forever hereafter bee called 

and named The Province or Countie of Mayne.

In 1664 Charles II granted certain islands on the 

coast and a large territory west of the Connecticut River 

(see New York, p. 74, for the boundaries) to the Duke of 

York, who had the preceding year purchased a part 

of the present State of Maine from the heirs of the Earl 

of Stirling; the 1663 purchase was for a time called 

Pemaquid.

In 1674 Charles II made a new grant to the Duke of 

York in substantially the same terms as that of 1664, 

includnig as before a part of Maine. (See New York, 

p. 75.)

In the year 1677 Ferdinando Gorges, a grandson of 

Sir Ferdinando Gorges, sold and gave a deed of the 

Province of Maine to John Ushur, a merchant of Boston, 

for £1,250. In the same year Ushur gave a deed of the 

same territory to the governor and company of Massachusetts Bay, who had received a grant from the council of Plymouth in 1628, confirmed by the King in 1629.

Pemaquid and its dependencies, forming Cornwall 

County, under the jurisdiction of New York, were annexed to the New England government by a royal order 

dated September 18, 1686. (Maine Hist. Soc., 1857, v. 5, 

p. 4.)

The charter of Massachusetts Bay of 1629 having 

been canceled in 1684, William and Mary in 1691 

granted a new one incorporating the Provinces of Maine 

and Acadia, or Nova Scotia, and the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth into one royal Province by 

the name of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in 

New England. The right of government over the district 

of Maine thus acquired was exercised by Massachusetts until 1819, when measures were taken to admit 

Maine as an independent State;59 Congress, by act approved March 3, 1820 (3 Stat. L. 544), effective March 

15, 1820, admitted Maine to the Union.

The north and east boundaries were fixed by the 

United States and Great Britain. (Seep. 12,13,17,18.)The 

geographic position of the extreme north point of Maine,

59

"See Massachusetts Legislature Acts of June 19, 1819, and Feb. 25, 1820.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MAINE

which falls in the middle of the St. Francis River, is 

lat 47°27'35.8" N., long 69°13'30.4" W.

The western boundary was for a long time a source 

of contention between Maine and New Hampshire. In 

1731 commissioners from New Hampshire and from 

Massachusetts, who had been appointed to fix the 

boundary, met but were unable to agree. New Hampshire appealed to the King, who ordered that a settlement should be made by commissioners from the neighboring Provinces. The board met at Hampton in 1737. 

The commissioners fixed on substantially the present 

boundary, wording their report as follows (New Hampshire Hist. Soc., 1827, v. 2, p. 274-278):

Beginning at the entrance of Pascataqua Harbor, and so to pass up 

the same to the River Newhichawack, and thro' the same into the 

furtherest head thereof, and hence run north 2 degrees west till 120 

miles were finished, from the mouth of Pascataqua Harbor, or until it 

meets with His Majesty's other governments.

This boundary was confirmed by the King, April 9, 

1740.

In 1827, difficulties having again risen about the 

boundary between Maine and New Hampshire, commissioners were appointed from each State to determine 

it. The line agreed to by the commissioners in their 

report, dated November 13, 1828, is described in "Resolves of the Ninth Legislature" (1828-29) of Maine (p. 

39-43) as follows:

The Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty's order 

in Council of February 22nd, 1735, and confirmed by his order of 

the 9th of April, 1740, having established,

"That the dividing line shall pass up through the mouth of Piscataqua 

Harbor, and up the middle of the river of Newichwannock, part of 

which is now called the Salmon falls, and through the middle of the 

same to the farthest head thereof, &c.," and "that the dividing line 

shall part the Isle of Sholes, and run through the middle of the 

Harbor, between the Islands to the sea on the southerly side," &c. 

We have not deemed it necessary to commence our survey until we 

arrived north, at the head of Salmon falls river; which was determined 

by Bryant, at his survey in 1740, to be at the outlet of Eastpond, 

between the towns oLWakefield and Shapleigh. From that point we 

have surveyed and marked the line as follows, viz: We commenced 

at the Bryant rock, known as such by tradition, which is a rock in the 

middle of Salmon falls river, at the outlet of Eastpond, about six feet 

in length, three feet in breadth, three feet in depth, and two feet 

under the surface of the water, as the dam was at the time of the 

survey, to wit, October 1, 1827; said stone bears south 71° west, three 

rods and eight links from a large rock on the eastern bank, marked 

'1827," and bears also from a rock near the mill dam (marked "H") 

north 19°30' west, and distant 12 rods and 21 links. At this point 

the variation of the needle was ascertained to be nine degrees west. 

From the above stone the line is north 7°41' east, 178 rods to Eastpond, and crossing the pond 311 rods in width, to a stone Monument 

which we erected up on the bank, about three and an half feet high
60

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

above the surface of the ground, marked N on the west side and M 

on the east side, which description applies to all the stone monuments 

hereinafter mentioned, unless they are otherwise particularly described: thence the same course, 225 rods, to Fox ridge and to a 

stone monument, which is placed upon the north side of the road that 

leads from Wakefield to Shapleigh; thence 200' rods to Balch's pond— 

across the pond, 103V2 rods—across a peninsula 36 rods—across a 

cove 51 rods and 17 links, across a second peninsula, 48 rods; across 

a second cove, 27 rods 10 links; thence 370' rods to the road leading 

from Newfield to Wakefield and a stone monument, erected on the 

north side of the same, near CamperneU's house; thence north 6° 10' 

east, 590 rods, to the line of Parsonfield, to a stone monument with 

additional mark "1828." At this point the variation of the needle was 

found to be 9°15' west. Thence same course 511 rods, crossing the 

end of Province pond to a stone monument on the Parsonfield road, 

near the house of James Andrews, also with additional mark "1828;" 

thence north 8°38' east, 208 rods to the old corner-stone of Effingham, 

about two feet above the ground, and not marked; thence north 

8°55' east, 277 rods, to a large round stone about three feet diameter 

and two feet high, marked N and M, by the road upon Towle's Hill; 

thence north 7°55' east, 631 rods to a stone monument, on the road 

leading from Parsonfield to Effingham. At this point the variation of 

the needle was found to be 9°30' west; thence north 5°02' east, 734 

rods to a pine stump, upon a small island in Ossipee river at the foot 

of the falls; thence north 10° east, 30 rods, to a stone monument on 

the north side of the new road from Porter to Effingham; thence the 

same course, 558 rods, to the top of Bald Mountain; thence same 

course, 316 rods, to the top of Bickford Mountain; thence same course 

193 rods, to a stone monument on the north side of the road leading 

from Porter to Eaton. At this point the variation of the needle was 

found to be 9°45' west; thence north 8°5' east, 744 rods, to Cragged 

Mountain; thence same course, 67 rods, to the corner of Eaton; thence 

same course, 787'/2 rods, to the corner of Conway; thence same course, 

610'/2 rods to a stone monument on the south side of the road leading 

from Brownfield to Conway centre; thence north 8° east, 871 rods, 

to a stone monument on the south side of the road leading from 

Fryeburg village to Conway—at this point the variation of the needle 

was found to be 10° west; thence same course, 4 rods, to a stone 

monument on the north side of the same road; thence north 8°15' 

east, 102 rods, to Saco river; thence same course 18 rods, across said 

river; thence same course 644 rods to a stone monument on the road 

leading to Fryeburg village, on the north side of the river. This 

monument is marked as before described and is about eight feet high 

above the ground; thence same course 142 rods to Ballard's Mill Pond; 

thence same course 61 rods six links across said pond; thence same 

course 344 rods to a stone monument on the east side of Chatham 

road; thence same course 690 rods to Kimball's Pond; thence same 

course 166 rods across said pond; thence same course 60 rods to a 

stone monument on the meadow.

From Kimballs Pond the line was extended northward for about 77 miles on a general course which has 

since been found to bear about 2° west of true north. 

The last mark on the line was a large yellow-birch 

tree on the divide between the St. Lawrence River and 

the rivers running south. The total distance, as measured, from this tree to Salmon River Falls was 112 miles 

233 rods.

The Legislature of Maine approved the commissioners' report February 28, 1829, and the same action was 

taken by the Legislature of New Hampshire July 1, 

1829.

Between 1828 and 1858 considerable parts of the 

almost unbroken forests through which the line of 

1827-28 was run were cleared. Forest fires swept many 

large tracts of this territory, and as a consequence the 

marks of the 1827-28 survey for distance of nearly 80 

miles—most of which were blazed trees, only seven 

stone posts having been set in this distance—were 

obliterated, so that there remained scarcely a vestige 

of the original line. The adjoining lands having become 

valuable and litigation being imminent, the legislatures 

of the two States in 1858 provided for another survey 

from Fryeburg to the Canada line, which was made in 

the same year. The line as then surveyed is as follows:

The point commenced at is an iron post situated on the line run in 

accordance with the "Treaty of Washington, of August 9, 1842," as 

the boundary between the United States and the province of Canada, 

at the comers of the States of Maine and New Hampshire.

A large flat stone was placed on the southern face of the monument, 

and marked "1858—N.H., Me.," on either side of a line cut in said 

stone bearing the direction of the State's line, viz, south, eight degrees 

west. From this point the line is south eight degrees west, seventeen 

rods seven links to a large yellow birch stub, the northern terminus 

of the former survey.

The iron post above referred to is called the Crown 

Monument and is mark 475 of the International Boundary Survey of 1915. In geographic position is lat 45° 

18'20.0", long 71°05'04.4". The line was then run south 

to an old monument 60 rods north of Kimballs Pond.60

In 1874 the boundary line between Maine and New 

Hampshire was resurveyed (Hitchcock, 1874, p. 173), 

and in 1927 the legislatures of the two States authorized 

a retracement and remarking of the line from Salmon 

Falls northward to the Canadian line (Maine Public 

Laws of 1927, chap. 21; New Hampshire Public Laws 

of 1927, chap. 114).

This survey was made by A. T. Fowler of the U.S. 

Geological Survey. It commenced in 1927 and was 

completed in 1929. The line was cleared throughout its 

entire course and was marked by bronze tablets set 

either in stone posts or in ledges. A total of 122 tablets 

were set and numbered serially from the south end. 

Connections were made to triangulation stations where 

practical.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

The first charter of Virginia, granted in 1606 (see 

p. 92), included the territory of the present State of New 

Hampshire, as did the charter of New England, granted

m The notes of this survey may be found in the New Hampshire Legislative Jour, for 1859, p. 764-767.
in 1620 (see p. 55), and the grant to Capt. John Mason 

and Sir Ferdinando Gorges of 1622 (see p. 35).

The president and council of New England made a 

grant to Capt. John Mason in 1629, in which the boundaries were given as follows (Thorpe, 1909, v. 4, p. 2434):

All y* part of y° Maine land in New England lying upon y* sea 

Coaste beginning from y" Middle part of Merrimack River & from 

thence to proceed Northwards along y* Sea coaste to passcattaway 

river & soe forwards up wth in y° sd river & to y" furthest head 

thereof & from thence Northwestwards untill Three-score miles be 

finished from y" ffirst entrance of passcattaway river & also from 

Merrimacke through y° sd River & to ye furthest head thereof & soe 

forward up into y° land Westwards untill Threescore miles be finished 

and from thence to cross over land to y° Threescore miles end 

accounted from passacattaway river together wth all Islands & Isletts 

wth in five leagues distance of y" premises & abutting upon y° same 

or any parte or parcell thereof * * * wch * * * land * * * Cap' John 

Mason w'" y° consent of y° president & councill intends to name New 

Hampshire.

In 1635 the grant of 1629 was confirmed by a supplementary grant, of which the following is an extract 

(Thorpe, 1909, v. 4, p. 2441; Upham, 1920):

All y* part of ye maine land of New England aforesd being from ye 

middle part of Naumkeck river & from thence to proceed, East wards 

along y" sea Coast to Cape Anne & round about ye same to passcattaway harbour & soe forwards up wth in yc river of Newickewanock & 

to y6 farthest head of y" said river & from thence Northwards till six 

miles be finished from y" first entrance of passcattaway harbour & 

alsoe from Naumkeck through y° river thereof up into y° land west 

Sixty miles from wch period to crose over land to y" sixty miles end 

accounted from passcattaway through Newickewanock river to ye land 

north west aforesd & also all y' ye south half of ye Isles of Sholds all 

wch lands w"1 y* consent of y" Councill shall from henceforth be 

called New Hampshire & alsoe tenn thousand acres more of land in 

New England afores*1 on y" south east part of Sagahahock at ye mouth 

& entrance thereof from henceforth to be called by y" name of Masonia.

The 1635 grant to the colony of New Hampshire included the south half of the Isles of Shoals. State sovereignty over the territorial waters between the isles 

and the mainland became an issue between New 

Hampshire and Maine with the increase of fishing. 

Definition of the common boundary by coordinates and 

azimuth has been agreed upon by the State Governments. At the present time (1975), the final decision 

awaits a consent decree by the U.S. Supreme Court.

After the death of Capt. John Mason, in December 

1635, the affairs of the colony coming into bad condition, the colonists sought the protection of Massachusetts in 1641 and enjoyed it till 1675, when Robert 

Mason, a grandson of John Mason, obtained a royal 

decree, under which, in 1680, a colonial government 

was established. But no charter was given to the colony, and its government was continued only during 

the pleasure of the King. The commission or decree 

issued by the King in 1680 to John Cutt, of Portsmouth, 

names the following limits for the colony:

Province of New Hampshire, lying & extending from three miles 

northward of Merrimack River, or any part thereof to y° Province of 

Maine.

61

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the year 1690 the Province of New Hampshire was 

again taken under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts 

Bay, but in 1692 it was once more separated.

A controversy that arose between the Provinces of 

New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay involved not 

only the boundary between New Hampshire and Maine 

(see p. 59) but also that between New Hampshire and 

Massachusetts. The commissioners appointed by the 

two Provinces having been unable to agree, New 

Hampshire appealed to the King, who ordered that the 

boundaries should be settled by a board of commissioners appointed from the neighoring colonies. The 

board met at Hampton in 1737 and submitted a conditional decision to the King, who in 1740 declared in 

council (Slade, 1823, p. 9)

that the northern boundary of the province of Massachusetts be a 

similar curve line, pursuing the course of the Merrimack river, at three 

miles distance, on the north side thereof, beginning at the Atlantic 

Ocean, and ending at a point due north of Pautucket falls [now Lowell], 

and a straight line drawn from thence, due west till it meets with his 

Majesty's other Governments.

New Hampshire had claimed her southern boundary 

to be a line due west from a point on the sea 3 miles 

north of the mouth of the Merrimack River. Massachusetts had claimed all the territory within 3 miles north 

of any part of the Merrimack River. The King's decision 

gave to New Hampshire a strip of territory, more than 

50 miles in length and varying in width, in excess of 

that which she claimed. This decree of the King was 

forwarded to Mr. Belcher, then governor of both the 

Provinces of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, 

with instructions to apply to the respective assemblies 

to unite in making the necessary provisions for running and marking the line conformably to the said 

decree, and if either assembly refused, the other was 

to proceed ex parte. Massachusetts Bay declined to 

comply with this requisition. New Hampshire therefore 

proceeded alone to run and mark the line.

George Mitchell and Richard Hazzen were appointed 

by Governor Belcher to survey and mark the line. 

Pursuant to this authority, in February 1741, Mitchell 

ran and marked the line from a point on the seacoast 

about 3 miles north of the mouth of the Merrimack 

River to a point about 3 miles north of the Pawtucket 

Falls, and Hazzen, in March following, ran and marked 

a line from the point 3 miles north of Pawtucket Falls 

across the Connecticut River to the supposed boundary line of New York, on what he then assumed to be 

a due west course from the place of beginning. He was
62

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

instructed by Governor Belcher to allow for a westerly 

variation of the needle of 10°. The report of the surveyors has not been preserved, but the journal of 

Hazzen has been found. It was published in the New 

England Historical and Genealogical Register, July 

1879, p. 323.

Subsequent investigation has proved that Hazzen's 

line was not run on a due west course, the allowance 

for the westerly variation of the needle being too large, 

throwing the line north of west. This mistake seems to 

have been known prior to the Revolution. In 1774 calculations were made by George Sproule, founded 

upon actual surveys and accurate astronomical observations, from which he determined that Hazzen's 

line was so far north of west as to lose to New Hampshire a tract of land computed at 59,872 acres. (New 

Hampshire H. Jour., 1826, p. 304; Williams, 1794, p. 379).

In 1825 commissioners were appointed by the States 

of New Hampshire and Massachusetts to ascertain, 

run, and mark the line between the two States. New 

Hampshire asserted her claim to a due-west line, conformable to the decree of 1740, it being apparent from 

a survey made by the commissioners that the original 

line was north of west. The Massachusetts commissioners refused to run such a line, alleging that they 

were empowered only to ascertain and mark the original line.

On .March 10, 1827, the Legislature of Massachusetts 

passed a resolution providing for the erection of durable 

monuments to preserve the boundary line between the 

States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as the 

same had been run and ascertained by the commissioners (see Massachusetts Legislature Resolves, 1827), 

and monuments were erected accordingly.

In 1885 the joint commission appointed by the States 

of New Hampshire and Massachusetts reran and 

marked the curved portion of the boundary following 

the course of the Merrimack River, changing it only to 

a trifling extent. This commission was, however, unable 

to agree upon the boundary west of Pawtucket Falls. 

The matter dragged along until finally in 1894 this 

commission, together with a commission representing 

Vermont, agreed to maintain the Hazzen line, and this 

line was retraced and re-marked from Pawtucket Falls 

to the northwest corner of Massachusetts.

Under the King's decree of 1740 the Province of New 

Hampshire claimed jurisdiction as far west as the territory of Massachusetts and Connecticut extended, thus

including the present State of Vermont. New York 

claimed all the country west of the Connecticut, under 

the charters of 1664 and 1674 to the Duke of York. A 

bitter controversy ensued. In 1749 the Governor of New 

Hampshire wrote to the Governor of New York as follows (Slade, 1823, p. 10):

PORTSMOUTH, November 17, llJfl.

I think it my duty * * * to transmit to your Excellency the description of New-Hampshire, as the King has determined it in the words of 

my commission, * * *. In consequence of His Majesty's determination 

of the boundaries between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, a 

surveyor and proper chainmen were appointed to run the western line 

from 3 miles north of Pautucket Falls; and the surveyor, upon oath, 

has declared that it strikes Hudson's River, about eighty poles north 

ot' where Mohawk's River comes into Hudson's River.

B. WENTWOBTH.

The following is the description of the south boundary of New Hampshire as given by King George II to 

Benning Wentworth when Wentworth was appointed 

governor, July 3, 1971 (O'Callaghan, 1851):

* * * province of New Hampshire, within our Dominions of New 

England in America, bounded on the south by a simular Curve line 

pursuing the Course of the Merrimac River at three miles distance, on 

the North side thereof, beginning at the Atlantick Ocean & ending at 

a point due North of a place called Pautucket Falls, and by a Straight 

Line drawn from thence due West Cross the said River 'til it meets 

with our other Governments, * * *.

The south boundary of New Hampshire as surveyed 

between 1855 and 1898 is marked by 50 large cutgranite monuments at irregular intervals. The initial 

point of this survey is the southwest corner of New 

Hampshire and southeast corner of Vermont, marked 

by a copper bolt in the top of a block of granite set in 

a mass of concrete 6 feet square, "at or near ordinary 

low-water line" on the west bank of the Connecticut 

River, the geographic position of which is lat 42°43' 

37.21" N., long 72°27'32.08" W. A witness mark of 

polished granite, suitably inscribed, stands on the 

Massachusetts-Vermont line, 582 feet N. 87° 48' W. from 

the comer.

From the State corner the line was run on a general 

course about 2 1/2° south of east (true bearing), measured 

distance of 57.84 miles to

the boundary pine monument, so-called, standing between the towns 

of Pelham, New Hampshire, and Dracut, Massachusetts, in the pasture 

land owned by Zachariah Coburn, at a point where one George 

Mitchell, surveyor, marked a pitch pine tree, March 21, 1741, then 

supposed to be 3 miles due north of a place in the Merrimack River 

formerly called Pawtucket Falls, now Lowell.

This monument is also granite, and its geographic 

position is lat 42°41'50.25" N., long 71°19'22.02" W.

From this point the boundary consists of a series of 

straight lines, approximately paralleling Merrimack 

River and 3 miles distant therefrom.

The terminal mark is a granite monument, 42 by 14 

by 12 inches in size marked.

S S 

Mass. and N.H. 

1890 1890
on its south face and north face, respectively. It stands 

on Salisbury Beach about 80 feet from high-water line 

and 250 feet from low-water line of the Atlantic Ocean.

Its geographic position is lat 42°52'19.28" N., long 

70°49'02.94" W. From this point the boundary extends 

for "three miles * * * to the limit of State jurisdiction" 

on a course 86°07'30" E.

This survey was approved by Massachusetts (act of 

May 12, 1899, chap. 369) and by New Hampshire (act 

of Mar. 22, 1901, chap. 115). The acts of the State legislatures give the complete notes of the surveys. Copies 

of the notes and many geographic positions on the 

lines are given in the town boundary atlases prepared 

by the harbor and land commission of Massachusetts. 

The question concerning the western boundary of 

New Hampshire was submitted to the King, who in 

1764 made the following decree (Slade, 1823, p. 19):

AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES,

The 20th day of July, 116Jt .

Whereas there was, this day read at the board, a report made by 

the Right Honorable the Lords of the Committee of council for plantation affairs, dated the 17th of this instant, upon considering a representation from the Lords Commissioners for trade and plantations, 

relative to the disputes that have, some years subsisted between the 

provinces of New-Hampshire and New-York, concerning the boundary 

line between those provinces—His Majesty, taking the same into 

consideration, was pleased with the advice of his privy council, to 

approve of what is therein proposed, and doth accordingly, hereby 

order and declare the western banks of the river Connecticut, from 

where it enters the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, as far north 

as the forty-fifth degree of northern latitude, to be the boundary line 

between the said two provinces of New Hampshire and New York. 

Wherefore the respective Governors and Commanders in Chief of his 

Majesty's said Provinces of New-Hampshire and New-York, for the 

time being, and all others whom it may concern, are to take notice of 

His Majesty's pleasure hereby signified and govern themselves 

accordingly.

Notwithstanding this decree of the King, controversy 

and violence continued for many years; but the line 

was finally accepted and now forms the boundary

63

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NEW HAMPSHIRE

between the States of New Hampshire and Vermont. 

(Seep. 64, 65.)

The northern boundary of New Hampshire, fixed by 

the British treaty of 1842 (p. 17), is described as follows:

Commencing at the "Crown Monument," so called, [now monument 

475 of the Internal. Boundary Comm.] at the intersection of the New 

Hampshire, Maine, and Province of Quebec boundaries, in latitude 

45°18'20", longitude 71°05'0'4", thence by an irregular line along 

the divide to the head of Halls Stream and down the middle of that 

stream to a line established by Valentine and Collins previous to 

1774 as the 45th parallel of latitude.

The end of this line in the middle of Halls Stream 

is in lat 45°00'48.7" N., long 71°30'05.7" W. The New 

Hampshire-Vermont line then runs east for about 1% 

miles to the west bank of the Connecticut River, the 

approximate position of which is lat 45°00'50" N., long 

71°27'57" W. This small area east of Halls Stream, 

known locally as "The Gore" (see fig. 17), is often 

incorrectly shown as a part of New Hampshire.

A historical description of the boundaries of New 

Hampshire is given by Harriman (1879, p. 550-558).

The title to the New Hampshire area in the vicinity 

of the Connecticut Lakes and north of the 45th parallel 

was for many years in dispute between New Hampshire and Canada. In 1829 the settlers in that locality 

organized an independent republic, which was called 

the Indian Stream Territory. Local government was in 

effect until after the Indian Stream War, in 1835, when 

New Hampshire took control (Bacon, 1906, p. 369-370; 

Paris, 1926, p. 33-43; U.S. 25th Cong., 1839, 3d sess., 

H. Rept. 176).

^ 

INTERNATIONAL ,f£

BOUNDARY^—^(£^ 

520 ' ''- "e~

NEW

^ T ^"

'/2

T

0 '/i 1 KILOMETRES

FIGURE 17.—"The Gore," at the northeast corner of Vermont.
64

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

VERMONT

The grants from King Henry of France in 1603 and 

King James of England in 1606 both included the territory which forms the present State of Vermont. It was 

also included in the charter of New England of 1620.

In the grants to the Duke of York in 1664 and 1674, 

all territory between the Connecticut and Delaware 

Rivers was included. New York therefore claimed jurisdiction of the territory now known as Vermont. (See 

fig. 18). Massachusetts, however, had made claim at an 

early period to the tract west of the Connecticut River 

that now forms a part of Massachusetts; she claimed 

also the greater part of the Vermont territory.

By the terms of the charter of Massachusetts Bay, of 

1629 (Thorpe, 1909, v. 3, p. 1847), that colony was 

granted all the lands

which lye, and be within the space of three English Myles to the 

Northward of the said River called Monomack alias Merrymack, or to 

the Northward of any and every Parte thereof.

Under this clause, Massachusetts Bay claimed that 

its jurisdiction extended to a line 3 miles north of the 

northernmost part of the Merrimack River, such jurisdiction would embrace a large part of New Hampshire 

and Vermont. New Hampshire contested this claim 

and after several years' controversy was more than 

sustained by a decision of the King in 1740. (See p. 61.) 

New Hampshire in turn claimed the territory of Vermont 

on the ground that, as Massachusetts and Connecticut 

had been allowed to extend their boundaries within 20 

miles of the Hudson River, its territory should go 

equally far, and contended that the King's decree of 

1740 left that fairly to be inferred; also that the old 

charters of 1664 and 1674 were obsolete. By a decree 

of the King, however, the territory west of the Connecticut River, from the 45th parallel to the Massachusetts 

line, was declared to belong to the Province of New 

York. (See New Hampshire, p. 62.) As most of the settlers 

of Vermont were from New Hampshire, this decision 

of the King caused great dissatisfaction, and the Revolution found Vermont the scene of conflicting claims 

and the theater of violent acts, some culminating in 

actual bloodshed.

On January 15, 1777, delegates representing 51 towns 

comprised in the territory known as the "New Hampshire grants," on the west side of the Green Mountains, declared the area an independent State, 61 to be

called "New Connecticut, alias Vermont," but the title 

generally used in official papers for several years 

thereafter was "the New Hampshire grants." Sixteen 

towns in New Hampshire sought union with the new 

State, but this action was vigorously opposed by New 

Hampshire and was not approved by the Continental 

Congress. Massachusetts agreed to the independence 

of Vermont in 1781, and New Hampshire adjusted its 

differences with that State in 1782, but 8 years more 

passed before New York consented to the admission 

of Vermont to the Union. Vermont in the meantime had 

fixed upon a western boundary practically the same as 

at present, which was then described by reference to 

town boundaries as far north as the Poultney River, 

thence down the middle channel of that river to East 

Bay and northward to and through the middle of the 

deepest channel of Lake Champlain (Slade, 1823, p. 

69-70, 193).

Vermont was admitted as an independent State by 

an act approved February 18, effective March 4, 1791. 

(1 Stat. L. 191).

In 1767, astronomic observations were made on the 

eastern shore of Lake Champlain, and a mark was set 

at the supposed position of the 45th parallel. From this 

point Valentine and Collins in 1772 surveyed and 

marked a line as far east as the Connecticut River for 

the eastern part of the northern boundary of the Province of New York (now the State of Vermont). Recent 

surveys show that this boundary for its entire length 

is from a quarter of a mile to 1.1 miles north of the 

45th parallel, °2 but by the convention between the 

United States and Great Britain of 1842 the line as 

marked west of Halls Stream to the deepest part of 

Lake Champlain was agreed upon as part of the boundary of the United States. The northwest corner of Vermont, which is the northeast corner of New York, falls 

in Lake Champlain, at lat 45°00'38.9" N., long 73° 

20'38.9" W.

Joint resolutions by the Legislature of the State of 

Vermont, approved November 22, 1912, and February 

13, 1913, authorized the institution of a suit in the 

Supreme Court of the United States for the determination of the position of the boundary line between that 

State and New Hampshire. Vermont in its bill of complaint filed at the October term, 1915, asked that the 

New Hampshire boundary line be declared to be in the 

middle of the Connecticut River; New Hampshire in its 

reply asked that the boundary be fixed at the highwater line on the west bank of the river, and that the 

north boundary of Vermont end at Halls Stream, rather 

than at the Connecticut River 1% miles farther east.

"'See U.S. Fourteenth Census, 1921, v. 1, p. 27, note 50, "VermontIndependent republic of Vermont admitted to the Union as a State in 1791."

10 In an official report to the Governor of Vermont made in 1806, Samuel 

Waters declared that his observations showed that the boundary of Vermont near its eastern terminus was 6 ft 14 in. south of the 45th parallel, 

a statement which was grossly in error, if he referred to the geographic 

latitude.
In its decision of May 29, 1933 (289 U.S. 593), the 

Court ruled that the boundary line between the two 

States followed the low-water mark on the west bank 

of the Connecticut River.

The Court decreed that the boundary line should be 

marked on the ground and appointed S. S. Gannett of 

the U.S. Geological Survey to locate and mark the 

points which it specified along the west bank. This 

work was completed and submitted with geodetic positions, descriptions of points, and diagrams in 1936. 

See report of Vermont—New Hampshire Boundary Line 

Commission 1934-1936.

The south boundary of Vermont is part of the north 

boundary of Massachusetts, which was fixed by the 

King in council under date of August 5, 1740, and 

surveyed under the direction of Governor Belcher in 

1741. It was resurveyed and re-marked by commissioners representing the two States between 1885 and 

1898. This survey was commenced at the northwest 

corner of Massachusetts, at a monument consisting of 

a granite post 8 feet long and 14 inches square set 

nearly 5 feet in the ground. The faces toward the different States were marked "N.Y. 1898," "Mass. 1896," 

and "Vt. 1896." Its geographic position is lat 42°44' 

44.7" N., long 73°15'54.13" W. (1927 N.A.D.). From this 

point the boundary is a nearly straight line, bearing 

about 2° south of east (true bearing), and runs 41 miles 

to the southeast corner of Vermont, which is a mark on 

the west bank of the Connecticut River. A description 

of this mark is given on page 62. 63

The line between Vermont and New York was surveyed and marked by commissioners from the two 

States in 1814 and is as follows: 64

Beginning at a red or black tree, the northwest corner of Massachusetts, and running north 82°20' west as the magnetic needle 

pointed in 1814, SO chains, to a monument erected for the southwest 

corner of the State of Vermont, * * * which monument stands on the 

brow of a high hill, descending to the west, then northerly in a 

straight line to a point which is distant 10 chains, on a course south 

35 degrees west, from the most westerly corner of a lot of land 

distinguished in the records of the town of Pownal, in the State of 

Vermont, as the fifth division of the right of Gamaliel Wallace, and 

which, in the year 1814, was owned and occupied by Abraham 

Vosburgh; then north 35 degrees east, to said corner and along the 

westerly bounds of said lot, 30 chains, to a place on the westerly 

bank of Hosick River where a hemlock tree heretofore stood, noticed 

in said records as the most northerly corner of said lot; then north 1 

degree and 20 minutes west, 6 chains to a monument erected by the 

said commissioners, standing on the westerly side of Hosick River, on 

the north side of the highway leading out of Hosick into Pownal, and 

near the northwesterly corner of the bridge crossing said river; then 

north 27 degrees and 20 minutes east, 30' chains, through the bed 

of the said river, to a large roundish rock on the northeasterly bank

65

M The full notes of this survey are given in the State acts ratifying it 

(Massachusetts Acts of 1900, chap. 131, and Vermont Acts of 1900, chap. 

137) and also in the folio atlases of the Harbor and Land Commission of 

Massachusetts; see report of the commissioners (Massachusetts H. Doc. 

300, 1900).

«New York Rev. Stat., 1875, 6th ed., v. 1, p. 122-123, Banks & Brothers; 

1882, 7th ed., v. 1, p. 128.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MASSACHUSETTS

thereof; then north 25 degrees west, 16 chains and 70 links; then 

north 9 degrees west, 18 chains and 60 links, to a white oak tree, at 

the southwest corner of the land occupied in 1814 by Thomas Wilsey; 

then north 11 degrees east, 77 chains, to the north side of a highway, 

where it is met by a fence dividing the possession of said Thomas 

Wilsey, Jr., and Emery Hunt; then north 46 degrees east, 6 chains; 

then south 66 degrees east, 26 chains and 25 links; then north 9 

degrees east, 27 chains and 50 links, to a blue-slate stone, anciently 

set up for the southwest corner of Bennington; then north 7 degrees 

and 30 minutes east, 46 miles 43 chains and 50 links, to a bunch of 

hornbeam saplings on the south bank of Poultney River, the northernmost of which was marked by said last-mentioned commissioners, and 

from which a large butternut tree bears north 70 degrees west, 30 

links, a large hard maple tree, south 2 chains and 86 links, and a 

white ash tree on the north side of saidi river, north 77 degrees east. 

* * * then down the said Poultney River, through the deepest 

channel thereof, to East Bay; then through the middle of the deepest 

channel of East Bay and the waters thereof to where the same communicate with Lake Champlain; then through the middle of deepest 

channel of Lake Champlain to the eastward of the islands called the 

Four Brothers, and the westward of the islands called the Grand Isle 

and Long Isle, or the Two Heroes, and to the westward of the Isle 

La Motte to the line in the 45th degree of north latitude; established by 

treaty for the boundary line between the United States and the British 

Dominions.

This line was changed in 1876 by a cession from 

Vermont to New York of a very small area west of the 

village of Fair Haven and opposite the mouth of the 

Castleton River which had been left on the west side 

of the Poultney River by a change in the course of that 

stream, described as follows:

All that portion of the town of Fairhaven, in the county of Rutland 

and State of Vermont, lying westerly from the middle of the deepest 

channel of Poultney River, as it now runs, and between the middle 

of the deepest channel of said river and the west line of the State 

of Vermont as at present established.

This cession was ratified by Congress April 7, 1880 

(21 Stat. L. 72).

The Vermont-New York line was resurveyed and remarked in 1904 from the Massachusetts-Vermont-New 

York corner north to the Poultney River.05 There are 

now 101 substantial stone monuments on this line, 

which is 54.6 miles in length.

MASSACHUSETTS

The territory of Massachusetts was included in the 

first charter of Virginia, granted in 1606, and in the 

charter of New England, granted in 1620.

65 For a report of the survey, a plat of line, and descriptions and 

coordinates of each mark, see New York State Engineer and Surveyor 

Kept, for 1904, p. 301-345.

06 The full legal name for Massachusetts is "The Commonwealth of

Massachusetts."
66

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

In 1628 the council of Plymouth made a grant to the 

governor and company of Massachusetts Bay in New 

England, which was confirmed by the King, and a 

charter was granted in 1629, from which the following 

are extracts (Thorpe, 1909, v. 3, p. 1849):

Nowe, Knowe Yee, that Wee * * * have given and graunted 

all that Parte of Newe England in America which lyes and 

extendes betweene a greate River there comonlie called Monomack 

River, alias Merrimack River, and a certen other River there, called 

Charles River, being in the Bottome of a certain Bay there, comonlie 

called Massachusetts, alias Mattachusetts, alias Massatusetts Bay; and 

also all and singular those Landes and Hereditament whatsoever, 

lying within the Space of Three English Myles on the South Parte 

of the said River, called Charles River, or of any, or every Parte 

thereof; and also all and singular the Landes and Hereditaments 

whatsoever, lying and being within the space of Three Englishe 

Myles to the southward of the Southermost Parte of the said Baye, 

called Massachusetts, alias Mattachusetts, alias Massatusets Bay; and 

also, all those Landes and Hereditaments whatsoever, which lye and 

be within the Space of Three English Myles to the Northward of the 

saide River, called Monomack, alias Merrymack, or to the Norward 

of any and every Parte thereof, and all Landes and Hereditaments 

whatsoever, lyeing within the Lymitts aforesaide, North and South, 

in Latitude and Bredth, and in Length and Longitude, of and within 

all the Bredth aforesaide, throughout the mayne Landes there, from 

the Atlantick and Westerne Sea and Ocean on the East Parte, to the 

South Sea on the West Parte;

* * * Provided alwayes, That if the said Landes * * * were at the 

tyme of the graunting of the saide former Letters patents, dated the 

Third Day of November, in the Eighteenth Yeare of our said deare 

Fathers Raigne aforesaide, actuallie possessed or inhabited by any 

other Christian Prince or Slate, or were within the Boundes, Lymytts 

or Territories of that Southerne Colony, then before graunted by our 

said late Father * * * That then this present Graunt shall not extend 

to any such partes or parcells thereof, * * * tut as to tho>se partes or 

parcells * * * shal be vtterlie voyd, theis presents or any Thinge 

therein conteyned to the contrarie notwithstanding.

The charter of New England was surrendered to the 

King in 1635 (Thorpe, 1909, v. 3, p. 1860).

The charter of Massachusetts Bay, granted in 1629, 

was canceled by a judgment of the high court of chancery of England, June 18, 1684.

In 1686 Pemaquid (part of the present State of Maine) 

and its dependencies were annexed to the New 

England government.

In 1691 a new charter was granted to Massachusetts Bay, which included Plymouth Colony and the 

Provinces of Maine and Nova Scotia. The following are 

extracts from this charter (Thorpe, 1909, v. 3, p. 1876):

* * * Wee doe * * * will and Ordeyne that the Territories and 

Collynes comonly called or known by the Names of the Colony of the 

Massachusetts Bay and Collony of New Plymouth the Province of 

Main the Territorie called Accadia or Nova Scotia and all that tract of

land lying betweene the said Territories of Nova Scotia and the said 

Province of Main be Erected Vnited and Incorporated * * * into one 

reall Province by the Name of Our Province of the Massachusetts Bay 

in New England. * " * all that parte of New England in America lying 

and extending from the greate River comonly called Monomack als 

Merrimack on the Northpart and from three Miles Northward of the 

said River to the Atlantick or Western Sea or Ocean on the South 

part And all the Lands and Hereditaments whatsoever lying within 

the limits aforesaid and extending as farr as the Outermost Points or 

Promontories of Land called Cape Cod and Cape Mallabar North and 

South and in Latitude Breadth and in Length and Longitude of and 

within all the Breadth and Compass aforesaid throughout the Main 

Land there from the said Atlantick or Western Sea and Ocean on the 

East parte towards the South Sea or Westward as far as Our Collonyes 

of Rhode Island Connecticut and the Marragansett Countrey all alsoe 

all that part of porcon of Main Land beginning at the Entrance of 

Pescata way Harbour and soe to pass vpp the same into the River 

of Newickewannock and through the same into the furthest head 

thereof and from thence Northwestward till One Hundred and Twenty 

miles be finished and from Piscata way Harbour mouth aforesaid 

North-Eastward along the Sea Coast to Sagadehock and from the 

Period of One Hundred and Twenty Miles aforesaid to cross over 

Land to the One Hundred and Twenty Miles before reckoned vp into 

the Land from Piscataway Harbour through Newickawannock River 

and alsoe the North halfe of the Isles and Shoales together with the 

Isles of Cappawock and Nanukett near Cape Cod aforesaid and alsoe 

[all] Lands and Hereditaments lying and being in the Countrey and 

Territory comonly called Accadia or Nova Scotia And all those Lands 

and Hereditaments lying and extending betweene the said Countrey 

or Territory of Nova Scotia and the said River of Sagadahock or any 

part thereof And all Lands Grounds Places Soiles Woods and Wood 

grounds Havens Ports Rivers Waters and other Hereditaments and 

premisses "whatsoever, lying within the said bounds and limitts 

aforesaid and every part and parcell thereof and alsoe all Islands and 

Isletts lying within tenn Leagues directly opposite to the Main Land 

within the said bounds.

The present northern boundary of Massachusetts was 

first surveyed and marked in 1741. (See New Hampshire, p. 61, 62, and Vermont, p. 64.)

The east-west part of the boundary between Massachusetts and Rhode Island is a part of the original 

southerly line of the territory granted by the council 

at Plymouth to Sir Henry Roswell and others in the 

third year of the reign of King Charles I and redefined 

in the charter granted to the colony of Massachusetts 

Bay in 1691. This line was for more than 200 years a 

matter of dispute that was in some respects the most 

remarkable boundary question with which this country 

has had to deal. Twice the question went to the Supreme Court of the United States, and in one of these 

suits Daniel Webster and Rufus Choate were employed 

as counsel for Massachusetts.

As early as 1642 the line between the two colonies 

was marked in part by Nathaniel Woodward and 

Solomon Saffrey, who set up on the plain of Wrentham 

a stake as the commencement of the line between 

Massachusetts Bay and Rhode Island. This stake Woodward and Saffrey thought marked a point 3 miles south 

of the Charles River (Harriman, 1879, p. 553).

In 1710--11 commissioners appointed from Massachusetts and Rhode Island agreed upon the north line
of Rhode Island, and their action was approved by the 

legislatures of both colonies. The agreement was as 

follows (4 Howard 631):

That the stake set up by Nathaniel Woodward and Solomon Saffrey, 

skilful, approved artists, in the year of our Lord one thousand six 

hundred and forty-two, and since that often renewed, in the latitude 

of forty-one degrees and fifty-five minutes, being three English miles 

distant southward from the southernmost part of the river called 

Charles River, agreeable to the letters-patent for the Massachusetts 

province, be accounted and allowed on both sides the commencement 

of the line between Massachusetts and the colony of Rhode 

Island

In 1719 this line was run by commissioners appointed 

for the purpose, but subsequent investigation has shown 

that it was run very inaccurately (Rhode Island Acts, 

May, 1867, p. 6).

The line between Massachusetts and the eastern part 

of Rhode Island was fixed by the commissioners in 

1741. The colony of Rhode Island appealed from their 

decision to the King, but in 1746 he affirmed it by a 

royal decree. (Gannett, 1904, p. 56-59.) In accordance 

with this decree the line was run in 1746 by commissioners of Rhode Island whose report may be found in 

the U.S. Supreme Court records for the December term, 

1852, pages 208-210.

In 1748 the Legislature of Rhode Island appointed 

commissioners to continue the line to the Connecticut 

corner, the Woodward and Saffrey stake being recognized as the place of beginning. Massachusetts 

failed to appoint commissioners, whereupon the Rhode 

Island commissioners proceeded to complete the running of the line. In their report they say with reference 

to the initial point of their survey (4 Howard 639):

That we, not being able to find any stake or other monument which 

we could imagaine set up by Woodward and Saffrey, but considering 

that the place thereof was described in the agreement mentioned in 

our commission, by certain invariable marks, we did proceed as 

followeth, namely: We found a place where Charles River formed 

a large current southerly, which place is known to many by the name 

of Poppatolish Pond, which we took to be the southernmost part of 

said river, from the southernmost part of which we measured three 

English miles south, which three English miles did terminate upon 

a plain in a township called Wrentham.

From this time forward, repeated steps were taken by 

Rhode Island, by resolutions and by appointment of 

commissioners, to ascertain and run the line in connection with commissioners from Massachusetts. Commissioners from both colonies met more than once, 

but they failed to agree upon a boundary in place of 

that established under the agreements of 1711 and 1718. 

As a ground for these efforts Rhode Island alleged that 

a mistake had been made by her commissioners in 

commencing the line at the accepted position of the 

Woodward and Saffrey stake, which, as set on Wentham Plain, at Burnt Swamp Comer, was considerably 

more than 3 miles south of the Charles River (14 Peters 

273).

67

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MASSACHUSETTS

This controversey, however, embraced the entire line 

from Connecticut to the Atlantic Ocean. Massachusetts 

asserted that an encroachment had been made on her 

territory from Burnt Swamp Corner to the ocean by 

Rhode Island, who, on her part, claimed that the jurisdictional line of Massachusetts from that corner to 

the Connecticut line was, in its whole extent, 

upon the territory of Rhode Island. The legislatures of 

the respective States having failed after repeated efforts 

to adjust the controversy, Rhode Island in 1832, by a 

bill in equity, brought the subject of the northern boundary from Burnt Swamp Corner to the Connecticut line 

before the Supreme Court of the United States, which 

in 1846 decided that the jurisdictional line claimed by 

Massachusetts was the legal boundary of the two States 

between these points.

In this decision, the following declaration was made 

(4 Howard 639):

"For the security of rights, whether of states or individuals, long possession under claim of title is protected, and there is no controversy in which this great 

principle may be invoked with greater justice and 

propriety than in a case of disputed boundary."

While this suit was pending an attempt was made' 

to settle the long controversy by an amicable adjustment of the whole line from the Connecticut corner 

to the ocean. Commissioners were appointed by both 

States in 1844 to ascertain and mark the true boundary 

from Pawtucket Falls (presumably near the present city 

of Pawtucket) south to Bullock Neck. In 1845 the same 

commissioners were authorized to ascertain the entire 

line from Burnt Swamp Corner to the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1846, the equity suit having been decided (4 Howard 591), they were authorized "to erect suitable monuments at the prominent angles of the line, from the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest corner of Rhode Island, 

and at such other points on the line as may subserve 

the public convenience." A majority of the commissioners agreed upon a line and erected monuments in 1847.

The report of the joint commission was dated Boston, 

January 13, 1848. The line so agreed upon as a boundary between Burnt Swamp Corner and the northwest 

corner of Rhode Island was a straight line, varying a 

little from the irregular jurisdictional line established 

by the decision of the Supreme Court, and is described in the report of the commissioners, as follows:

Begin at the northwest corner of Rhode Island, on Connecticut line, 

in latitude 42°00'29" north, and longitude 71°48'18" west of Green-
68

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

wich, thence easterly in a straight line 21.512 miles to Burnt Swamp 

Corner, in Wrentham, being in latitude 42°01'08" and longitude 

71°23'13".

Upon this line, 27 monuments were placed exclusive 

of that at Burnt Swamp Corner.

The General Assembly of Rhode Island, in May 1847, 

ratified and established the line from the ocean to the 

Connecticut line, "to take effect and become binding 

whenever the said agreement and boundary line 

should be ratified by the State of Massachusetts." The 

legislature of Massachusetts did not ratify the agreement and boundary line but proposed another joint 

commission, which was approved by Rhode Island. 

The attempt made by these commissioners to settle 

the line having failed, Massachusetts commenced a 

bill in equity before the Supreme Court of the United 

States for an adjudication of the boundary line from 

Burnt Swamp Corner to the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1860 both States agreed upon a conventional line 

and asked that a decree of the U.S. Supreme Court 

should confirm the same. The prayer was granted, and 

the line was thus finally established by a decree rendered December 16, 1861. 67

The Supreme Court decision made no reference to 

the line from Burnt Swamp Corner to the Connecticut 

line. In 1865 the Legislature of Massachusetts took action in regard to this portion of the line, as follows:

Resolved, That the boundary line between the State of Rhode Island 

and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, from the line of the State 

of Connecticut to Burnt Swamp Corner, begins at the north west corner 

of the State of Rhode Island on the Connecticut line, in latitude 

42°00'29" north, and longitude 74 0 48'18" 08 west of Greenwich, and

512

runs in a straight line 21 and ————miles to Burnt Swamp Corner, in

1000

Wrentham, being in latitude 42T8".60 and longitude 71°23'13".26. 

[See p. 69 for corrected position for this mark.]

This is the line agreed upon by commissioners and 

called the "line of 1848," which was ratified by Rhode 

Island when run but was rejected by Massachusetts.

As a result of the tardiness of Massachusetts in ratifying the line, Rhode Island rejected it on the ground 

that the then recent settlement of the eastern boundary 

by the decree of the Supreme Court had so changed 

the aspect of the controversy that she could not consent

67 A full discussion of the Massachusetts-Rhode lalsnd boundary disputes, including reports of commissioners and legislative acts, may be 

found in Massachusetts H. Doc. 102 of 1861; Doc. 3 of 1869; Doc. 1230 of 

1899; in Rhode Island Acts, May 1867; and in U.S. Supreme Court Rec. 3, 

December term of 1852.

08 This is a clerical error. "Longitude 74°48'18" " should read "longitude 71°48'18"."

to the adoption of the line of 1848 as her northern 

boundary. Thus the northern boundary of Rhode Island 

was left in the condition prescribed by the Supreme 

Court decision of 1846.

In June 1880, the Legislature of Rhode Island passed 

a resolution to remove the monuments of the "line of 

1848" and erect monuments on the jurisdictional line. 

In 1881 the Legislature of Massachusetts took like action. This jurisdictional line has the same termini as 

the line of 1848 but is a very irregular line, in places 

running north of a direct line and elsewhere falling 

south of it, the extreme variations being 529.3 feet north 

and 129 feet south. It is described as follows: 09

Beginning at a monument of dressed granite, marked "Mass." on the 

north, "R.I." on the south, and "Con." on the west sides, standing at 

the northwest corner of the State of Rhode Island, in latitude 

42°00'29.45", longitude 71°48'18.07" west of Greenwich; thence 

running easterly in a straight line to a pile of stones on the westerly 

bank of Wallum pond at high-water mark; thence easterly in a straight 

line to the southwest corner of Uxbridge and the southeast corner of 

Douglas, to a monument of dressed stone, marked "D Nov. 9, 1829," 

on northwest face and "U" on east face, and "B" on south face; thence 

running easterly in a straight line to a point formed by the intersection 

of the easterly line of Harris Avenue, so called, with the southerly 

line of Gaskill Street near the bridge of Waterford, and about fifteen 

rods easterly of the easterly bank of the Blackstone River; thence 

running easterly in a straight line to a monument of split stone granite 

about five feet above ground, having five faces, marked on the west 

face "M," on the northeast face "B," and on the south face "C"; 

thence easterly in a straight line to the stone monument now standing 

on Wrentham Plain at Burnt Swamp Comer, * * * marked on two 

sides Mass, and on the other two sides R.I.

The following statement concerning the east boundary of Rhode Island was made by commissioners of 

1897-98 for both States (Massachusetts Topog. Survey, 

1900):

On March 1, 1862, a decree of the Supreme Court of the United 

States issued the previous year became effective, which changed the 

boundary line between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Ihe 

State of Rhode Island. By this change the town of Pawtucket west of 

the Seven and Ten Mile rivers, a narrow strip of Seekonk between 

the middle of the above-named rivers and the line of highest water 

on the eastern banks, and the southwestern part of Seekonk, now 

East Providence, were annexed to Rhode Island, in exchange for 

territory in the vicinity of Fall River. The Legislature of Massachusetts 

anticipating this change, provided by chapter 187 of the acts of 1861 

for the proper jurisdiction of the territory east of this new boundary, 

and the State of Rhode Island by a similar act, chapter 379 of the acts 

of 1861, provided for the jurisdiction of the new territory acquired 

west of this line.

On account of the imperfect marking of this line and the difficulty 

of defining the high-water lines of rivers and ponds, which formed 

the State boundary, it was decided in 1897 to redefine the line and 

to substitute for indefinite high-water boundaries a series of straight 

lines as near as may be to the line established by the decree of 1861, 

which could be readily and permanently marked.

The general court of that year authorized the topographical survey 

commission, representing Massachusetts, to act in conjunction with 

a commission representing Rhode Island, in locating, defining, and

<*> Massachusetts Laws for 1883, chap. 154, approved Apr. 30, 1883. Rhode 

Island act approved Mar. 22, 1883.
marking the State boundary line, from "Burnt Swamp Corner" southerly 

to the sea.

A full report of the doings of these commissions was 

made in May 1899, and the general courts of both 

States promptly ratified their work by the passage of 

acts which contain a full description of the line.70

The 1898 survey of the east boundary of Rhode 

Island was commenced at Burnt Swamp Corner, 

marked by a granite monument inscribed "Mass.-R. I. 

1861-1883; 1898," in lat 42°01'08.35" and long 71°22' 

54.51". The line thence runs S. 2'40" W. 8.65 miles, 

thence east and south by straight-line courses of irregular length to a point where it intersects the line of high 

water of the Atlantic Ocean, in lat 41°29'50.87", long 

71°07'15.62", about 45.789 miles from the point of beginning. The termini of all the straight lines are marked 

by the old monuments where recovered or by new 

granite monuments 12 by 12 inches by QVz feet, suitably 

lettered and set 5 l/2 feet in the ground.

In 1713, commissioners from the Province of Massachusetts Bay and the Colony of Connecticut adopted a 

line between Massachusetts and Connecticut. By this 

line the frontier towns of Woodstock, Suffield, Enfield, 

and Somers were given to Massachusetts. In 1749 the 

Legislature of Connecticut passed a resolution stating 

that inasmuch as the line had not been approved by 

the King and the two colonies had no legal right to 

transfer territory without the confirmation of the Crown, 

the contract was void, and these towns were again 

taken under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. Massachusetts appealed to the King, and the claims of Connecticut were fully established. (Hollister, 1855, v. 2, 

p. 463-464.)

In 1791 Massachusetts and Connecticut appointed 

commissioners to establish the boundary between them, 

but the commissioners were unable to- agree.

In 1803 commissioners were appointed to complete 

the line west of the Connecticut River, a compromise 

having been made concerning the line between the 

town of Southwick and the towns of Suffield and 

Granby (the cause of the disagreement of the former 

commissioners). The agreement made was as follows: 71

That the line should begin from a station 8 rods south of the southwest corner of West Springfield, and thence run west to the large 

ponds, and thence southerly by those ponds to the ancient south line 

of Westfield, and from thence on said south line to the ancient southwest corner of Westfield; and from thence northerly in the ancient 

west line of Westfield to the station in said wrest line made by commissioners in the year 1714, and from thence to the southwest corner 

of Granville.

69

70 Massachusetts act of June 3, 1899, chap. 476; Rhode Island act of May 

26, 1899, chap. 638. Massachusetts H. Doc. 1230, May 23, 1899, contains 

reports of the commissioners and of the engineer; also contains a plat of 

the line and descriptions of the monuments.

71 Massachusetts Special Laws, 1805, v. 3, p. 234. For the full report 

of the commissioners, see Connecticut Private Laws, 1837, v. 2, p. 1540- 

1544.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MASSACHUSETTS

The reason for this peculiar deviation from a straight 

boundary, known as the "Southwick jog," is that, in 

adjusting errors in the boundary line between Connecticut and Massachusetts as previously run by compass, 

a long, narrow strip of land was given to Connecticut; 

the Southwick jog ceded to Massachusetts was intended to be an equivalent area (Bowen, 1882, p. 65).

In 1826 the line between Massachusetts and Connecticut east of the Connecticut River was run by commissioners appointed from each State, and 49 stone 

monuments were erected, marked "M" on the north 

side and "C" on the south. (Connecticut private laws, 

1837, v. 2, p. 1544-1550.)

The same commissioners surveyed and marked the 

line from the northeast corner of Connecticut to the 

northwest corner of Rhode Island, reporting as follows:

Beginning at the monument erected at the northeast corner of said 

Slate of Connecticut and running in a direct line to the ancient heap 

of stones on the north side of the turnpike leading from Hertford to 

Boston, through Thompson and Douglass, where we erected a monument, and thence running in a direct line to the northwest corner of 

the State of Rhode Island.

The present boundary between Massachusetts and 

Connecticut was fixed by a joint commission authorized 

by legislative acts of both States in 1905. The line as 

surveyed and marked was approved by Massachusetts 

in 1908 (Massachusetts Acts of 1908, chap. 192), by 

Connecticut in 1913, and by the U.S. Congress October 

3, 1914 (38 Stat. L. 727). Part of it is thus described:

Beginning at a granite monument at the northwest corner of the 

State of Rhode Island and marking the corner of Massachusetts, Rhode 

Island, and Connecticut, in latitude 42°CO'29.150" and longitude 

71°47'58.778"; [thence in a general northerly direction] to a granite 

monument at the northeast corner of the State of Connecticut, in latitude 42°01'24.807" and longitude 71 0 48'04.123".72

From this corner, the boundary is approximately a 

straight line bearing 1° or 2° north of west to a point 

near the Connecticut River.

From a granite monument in lat 42°02'04.619", long 

72°31'55.276", the line runs as follows:

South 81°56'34" west, 11,309 feet to a granite monument about 620 

feet south of Alien Street in Longmeadow, in latitude 42°01'48".933 

and longitude 72°34'23".644; thence south 51°56'28" west, 3,238 

feet to a granite monument 450 feet east of the main road from 

Thompsonville to Springfield, in latitude 42°01'29".212 and longitude 

72°34'57".422; thence north 88°35'49" west, 5,834 feet to a granite 

monument on the top of the bank, about 175 feet east of the easterly 

shore of the Connecticut River, in latitude 42°01'30".616 and longitude 

72°36'14".696; thence in the same direction, 950 feet to the middle

"The 1927 N.A.D. positions of these two monuments are lat 42°00'28.35" 

N., long 71°47'58.97" W. and lat 42°01'24.32" N., long 71°48'04.22" W.
70

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

of said river; thence northerly along a line midway between the banks 

thereof, about 2,075 feet; thence north 87°18'55" west, 1,260 feet to 

a granite monument standing on the bank about 225 feet west of the 

westerly shore of the river, in latitude 42°01'51".983 and longitude 

72°36'44".913; thence in the same direction, 7,661 feet to a granite 

monument about 875 feet west of North Street, or Suffield Street, the 

middle road from Suffield to Springfield, in latitude 42°01'55".516 and 

longitude 72°38'26".318; thence north 82°39'40" west, 8,966 feet to 

a granite monument on the easterly side of Halladay Avenue, or Front 

Street, the road from Suffield to Feeding Hills, in latitude 42°02"06"- 

.813 and longitude 72°40'24".149; thence north 84°51'12" west, 

7,202 feet to a granite monument on the easterly side of West Street, 

the road from West Suffield to Westfield, in latitude 42°02'13".185 and 

longitude 72°41'59".207; thence south 89°46'25" west, 4,137 feet to 

a granite monument at the corner of Agawam and Southwick in 

Massachusetts and Suffield in Connecticut, in latitude 42°02'13".019 

and longitude 72°42'54".032; thence south 0°48'01" east, 132 feet to 

a granite monument, in latitude 42°02'11".716 and longitude 

72°42'54".008; thence south 89°38'09" west, 11,231 feet to a granite 

monument on the easterly shore of Congamond Lake, in latitude 

42°02'10".984 and longitude 72°45'22".830; thence in the same 

direction, 14.5 feet to the shore of the lake as it would be with the 

surface of the water at the elevation it was in 1803; thence southerly, 

by the easterly shore of the lake as it would be with the surface 

of the water at the aforesaid elevation to a point opposite a granite 

monument near the shore at the southerly end of the lake; thence 

south 4°26'29" west, about 25 feet to said monument, in latitude 

42°00'27".957 and longitude 72°46'00".167; thence in the same 

direction, 1,632 feet to a granite monument at the southeasterly corner 

of the "Southwick jog," in latitude 42°00'11".881 and longitude 

72°46'01".841 ; thence south 81°33'28" west, 13,827 feet to a granite 

monument at the southwesterly corner of the "Southwick jog," in 

latitude 41°59'51".787 and longitude 72°49'02".976; thence north 

3°33'56" east, 14,261 feet to a granite monument known as the 

"Crank Monument," in latitude 42°02'12".399 and longitude 72°- 

48'51".223.

From this corner the line runs on a general westerly 

course, bearing about 1° north of west, to

a large rock, marked 1803 on its southerly side, in Sage's Ravine, in 

latitude 42°03'02.214" and longitude 73°26'00.030"; thence south 

88°31'58" west 14,787 feet to a granite monument at the northwesterly 

corner of the State of Connecticut and marking the corner of Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut, in latitude 42° 02'58.427" and 

longitude 73°29'15.959". 73

The boundary between Massachusetts and New York 

was from an early period a subject of controversy, 

New York claiming to the west bank of the Connecticut 

River, under the charters of 1664 and 1674 to the Duke 

of York, and Massachusetts claiming to the "South 

Sea," under her old charters. After many fruitless 

attempts at a settlement, the western boundary of

" For the full notes of this boundary, see Massachusetts Acts of 1908, 

chap. 192, and Connecticut Acts of 1913; see also 38 Stat. L. 727. For a 

description of each of the 214 marks on this line, see Massachusetts Board 

of Harbor and Land Commissioners (1908, p. 106-117).

Massachusetts was fixed in 1773 where it now meets 

New York territory. The Revolution soon following, the 

line was not run. In 1785 Congress appointed three commissioners to run the line, who performed that duty in 

1787. The line was as follows (New York Rev. Stat., 

1875, p. 122):

Beginning at a monument erected in 1731 by commissioners from 

Connecticut and New York, distant from the Hudson River 20 miles, 

and running north 15°12'9" east 50 miles 41 chains and 79 links, to 

a red or black oak tree marked by said commissioners, which said 

line was run as the magnetic needle pointed in 1787.

The claims of Massachusetts to western lands within 

the territory of the State of New York were finally 

settled December 16, 1786, by a joint commission of the 

two States. By this agreement Massachusetts surrendered the sovereignty of the whole disputed territory 

to New York and received in return the right of soil and 

preemption right of Indian purchase west of the meridian passing through the eighty-second milestone of 

the Pennsylvania line (see fig. 18), except certain reservations upon the Niagara River. The title to a tract 

known as "The Boston Ten Towns," lying east of this 

meridian and previously granted to New York by 

Massachusetts, was confirmed. (See Hough's New York 

Gazette, 1872, p. 25, 26.)

On April 19, 1785, Massachusetts executed a deed 

transferring to the United States all title of Massachusetts to territory west of the present western boundary 

of New York.

In 1820 Maine, previously a part of Massachusetts, 

was admitted into the Union as an independent State.

In 1853 an area of about 1,010 acres (see insert, fig. 

18) in the southwest corner of Massachusets, known as 

Boston Corners,74 was ceded to New York, and in 1855 

the cession was confirmed by Congress (10 Stat. L. 602).

The present boundary between Massachusetts and 

New York was thus described from resurveys by a joint 

commission in 1899:

Beginning at bound 1, a granite monument set in ledge on the side 

of a wooded mountain peak six hundred and nine feet east of Ryan 

Bush Road, in latitude 42°02'58.427" north of the Equator, and longitude 73°29'15.959" west from Greenwich, and marking the northwest 

corner of Connecticut, a corner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 

and a corner of the State of New York; thence on an azimuth of 

90°43'49", twenty-six hundred and twenty-four feet to bound 3, a 

granite monument set in ledge on the steep westerly slope of a 

wooded mountain, in latitude 42°02'58.756" and longitude 73°- 

29'50.737", at the southwest corner of Massachusetts, also in the 

eastern line of New York, and marking a corner of the towns of 

Mount Washington, in Massachusetts, and Ancram and Northeast, in 

New York; thence on an azimuth of 167°08'15", thirteen thousand 

six hundred and forty-nine feet to bound 9, a granite monument set 

in ledge on the westerly wooded slope of Alandar Mountain about a 

quarter mile west of its summit, in latitude 42°05'10.205" and longitude 73°30'31.031", at the corner of Mount Washington, in Massachusetts, and Copake, in New York; thence on an azimuth of

7* See U.S. Geol. Survey topographic map of Copake quadrangle, N.Y.- 

Mass.
195°12'22", two hundred forty-nine thousand two hundred and fortysix feet, by the towns of Mount Washington, Egremont, Alford, West 

Stockbridge, Richmond, Hancock, and Williamstown, in Massachusetts, 

and Copake, Hillsdale, Austerlitz, Canaan, New Lebanon, Stephentown, 

Berlin, and Petersburg, in New York, to bound 112, a granite monument set in ledge and earth on an open easterly slope about seventyfive feet west of a private roadway, in latitude 42°44'45.201" and 

longitude 73°15'54.904" at the northwest corner of Massachusetts, 

also in the east line of New York and in the south line of Vermont, 

and marking a corner in the boundaries of the towns of Williamstown, 

in Massachusetts, Petersburg, in New York, and Pownal, in Vermont. 

The term "azimuth" as used in this description is the angle' which 

a line makes at its point of beginning with the true meridian, reckoning from the south around by the west.

This location of the line was approved by Massachusetts May 8, 1901, and by New York June 9, 1910 

(Massachusetts Acts of 1901, chap. 374; New York 

Acts of 1910, chap. 447).

Massachusetts is one of the very few States that has 

had her boundary lines adequately marked and by 

frequent inspection maintains the marks in good condition. In addition to the marking of her exterior lines 

the State has also had comprehensive surveys made 

of interior township boundaries. The lines and corners 

are controlled by an accurate system of triangulation; 

therefore if any number of marks were destroyed the 

exact positions for new ones to replace them could be 

readily ascertained from the triangulation data. The 

results of these surveys are published by the State 

Harbor and Land Commission in a series of folios, 

which give plats of the lines, positions of triangulation 

stations, descriptions of boundary marks, extracts from 

laws by which the lines were fixed, and some historical 

matter.

RHODE ISLAND 7 "

The present State of Rhode Island was settled by 

Roger Williams and other immigrants, who left Massachusetts Bay and established themselves at Providence 

in 1636.

In 1643 a patent was granted for the Providence 

Plantations, from which the following are extracts 

(Thorpe, 1909, v. 6, p. 3210):

And whereas there is a Tract of Land in the Continent of America 

aforesaid, called by the Name of Narraganset Bay, bordering Northward and Northeast on the Patent of the Massachusetts, East and 

Southwest on Plymouth Patent, South on the Ocean, and on the West 

and Northwest by the Indians called Nahigganneucks, alias Narragansets; the whole Tract extending about twenty-five English Miles 

unto the Pequot River and Country.

And whereas divers well affected and industrious English Inhabitants, of the Towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport, in the 

tract aforesaid, * * * have represented their Desire, * * * Do, 

* * give, grant, and confirm to the aforesaid Inhabitants of the Towns 

of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport a free and absolute Charter 

of Incorporation, to be known by the Name of the Incorporation of 

Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, in New England. * * *

71

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

RHODE ISLAND

In 1663 Charles II granted a charter to the governor 

and company of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, of which the following is an extract 

(Thorpe, 1909, p. 3220):

* * * all that parle of our dominiones in New-England, in America, 

conteyneing the Nahantick and Nanhyganset Bay, and countryes and 

partes adjacent, bounded on the west, or westerly, to the middle or 

channel of a river there, commonly called and known by the name 

of Pawcatuck, alias Pawcawtuck river and soe along the sayd river, 

as the greater or middle streame thereof reacheth or lyes vpp into 

northt countrye, northward, unto the head thereof, and from thence, 

by a streight lyne drawn due north vntil itt meets with he south lyne 

of the Massachusetts Collonie; and on the north, or northerly, by the 

aforesayd south or southerly lyne of the Massachusetts Collony or 

Plantation, and extending towards the east, or eastwardly, three English miles to the east and northeast of the most eastern and northeastern parts of the aforesayd Narragansett Bay, as the sayd bay lyeth 

or extendeth itself from the ocean on the south or southwardly, vnto 

the mouth of the river which runneth towards the towne of Providence, 

and from thence along the eastwardly side or banke of he sayd river 

(higher called by the name of Seacunck river), vp to the Halls called 

Patuckett {falls, being the most westwardly lyne of Plymouth Collony, 

and soe from the sayd ffalls, in a streight lyne, due north, until! itt 

meete with the aforesayd line of the Massachusetts Collony; and 

bounded on the south by the ocean; and in particular, the lands 

belonging to the townes of Providence, Pawtuxet, Warwicke, Misquammacok, alias Pawcatuck, and the rest vpon the maine land in the tract 

aforesayd, together with Rhode Island, Blocke' Island, and all the rest 

of the islands and banks in the Narragansett Bay and bordering vpon 

the coast of the tracts aforesaid (Fisher's Island only excepted), * * *.

This charter was in force until 1843, when the con.- 

stitution adopted in 1842 became effective.

For a history of the northern and eastern boundaries, 

see Massachusetts, pages 66—69.

In 1703 substantially the present western boundary 

was adopted by an agreement made between the 

commissioners from the two colonies of Rhode Island 

and Connecticut, namely, "A straight line from the 

mouth of Ashawoga River to the southwest corner of the 

Warwick purchase, and thence a straight north line to 

Massachusetts." This line was actually run by Rhode 

Island and is still known as the Dexter and Hopkins 

line, but Connecticut would not accept the line as thus 

marked. Rhode Island appealed to the King, and the 

agreement of 1703 was confirmed in 1726. In September 1728, commissioners from the two colonies met and 

ran the line.76

The Connecticut-Rhode Island boundary line was 

established by the 1840 Joint Commission for that section of the line north of the mouth of the Ashaway River

"The legal name for this State is "The State of Rhode Island and 

Providence Plantations."

70 For agreements of 1703 and 1728 and decisions of English council, 

see Rhode Island Hist. Soe. (1835, v. 3, p. 204-213).
72 CONNECTICUT

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

and by the 1888 Joint Commission for that section of the 

line south of the mouth of the Ashaway River.

Previous to this date the latter section of the line 

had only been defined as "the middle channel of the 

Pawcatuck River." The commissioners interpreted this 

description as the thread of the stream rather than the 

middle of the navigable channel. A survey was made 

of the river, and a series of straight lines approximating 

the thread of the stream was established with all angle 

points tied by coordinates to the government triangulation net. Reference points were set at infrequent intervals to tie this line to the ground.

The following description of the line is taken from 

Rhode Island Acts and Resolves, January, 1846, p. 12:

Beginning at a rock near the mouth of Ashawoga River [now called 

Ashaway], where it empties into Pawcatuck River, and from said rock 

a straight course northerly to an ancient stone heap at the southeast 

corner of the town of Voluntown, and from said rock southerly in the 

same course with the aforesaid line, until it strikes Pawcatuck River. 

From the southeast corner of Voluntown a straight line to a stone heap 

at the southwest corner of West Greenwich; from thence a straight line 

to the southwest corner of the ancient town of Warwick, and which is 

now a corner of the towns of Coventry and West Greenwich; from 

thence a straight line to the northwest corner of the town of Coventry; 

thence a straight line to the northeast corner of Sterling; thence a 

straight line to the southwest corner of Burrillville, and thence a 

straight line to a stone heap upon a hill in the present jurisdictional 

line between the States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and at 

all of said corners, excepting said Warwick corner, we have erected 

monuments of stone, marked R. I. and C., and have also placed similar 

monuments on all the principal roads crossing the line, and at other 

suitable places.

And we have caused the ancient monument which was erected at 

the Warwick corner in November, 1742, to be reset and a large heap 

of stones to be made around it. Said monument is marked with the 

letter C. on one side, and on the other RHODE ISLAND and the traces 

of other letters and figures, * * * [Rhode Island Acts and Resolves, 

January, 1846, p. 12, 13, 14].

In 1935 negotiations on a resurvey of this State line 

were initiated, and during the years 1937, 1938, and 

1939 the Connecticut Geodetic Survey ran a triangulation net along the line and completed strip maps of the 

entire line on which all reputed monuments were located. The Connecticut and Rhode Island State Line 

Agents submitted a joint report on March 7, 1941. With 

the onset of World War II, all activity was terminated 

on the State lines, and no action was taken on this 

report (Connecticut Agent, 1943).

In 1630 the Plymouth Council made a grant of Connecticut to Robert, Earl of Warwick, its president.78 This 

grant was confirmed by King Charles in 1631, and on 

March 19 of that year the earl conveyed his title to 

Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke, Sir Richard Saltonstall, and others, associated under the name of The 

Plymouth Company (Dwight, 1840, p. 19).

A charter was granted by Charles II to Connecticut 

in 1662, of which the following is an extract (Thorpe, 

1909, v. 1, p. 535):

We, * * * do give, grant and confirm unto the said Governor and 

Company, and their Successors, all that Part of Our Dominions in New 

England in America, bounded, on the east by Narraganset River, 

commonly called Narraganset Bay, where the said River falleth 

into the sea; and on the North by the Line of the Massachusetts 

plantation; and on the South by the Sea; and in Longitude as the 

Line of the Massachusetts Colony, running from Mast to West, that 

in to say, from the said 'Narraganset Bay, on the East, to the 

Xoutli Kea on the West part, with the Inlands thereunto adjoining.

Prior to this time the two colonies of Connecticut and 

New Haven had continued separate, but they were 

united under this charter, which was accepted by them 

April 20, 1665 (Thorpe, 1909, p. 529). The Duke of York 

having been granted a charter in 1664, by which the 

lands west of the Connecticut River were embraced in 

his jurisdiction, the question of boundary immediately 

arose. About this time Col. Richard Nichols, George 

Cartwright, Sir Robert Carr, and Samuel Maverick had 

been appointed commissioners by the King and clothed 

with extraordinary powers to determine all controversies in the colonies. The matter was referred to them, 

and, after a full hearing, they determined that the 

southern boundary of Connecticut was the sea (Long 

Island Sound) and its western boundary the Mamaroneck River and a line drawn north-northwest from the 

head of salt water in that stream to Massachusetts. The 

territory south and west of these lines was declared to 

belong to the Duke of York. It was supposed that this 

west boundary would run about 20 miles east of the 

Hudson River, but it was discovered later by surveyors 

from Connecticut that it actually intersected the Hudson near the present site of Tarrytown.

In 1674 the Duke of York received a new charter in 

substantially the same terms as that of 1664. New controversies concerning jurisdiction led to a new agreement, dated November 28, 1683, between the governors 

of New York and Connecticut, which fixed the boundary 

substantially as it now exists between the two States

77 For an excellent historical description of the boundaries of Connecticut, see Bowen (1882).

78 For a historical description of this and other royal grants of the Connecticut area and of lands now in Pennsylvania and Ohio formerly claimed 

by Connecticut, see Western Reserve Univ. (1923, p. 37-57).
and was sanctioned by the King. This agreement is as 

follows: 79

It is agreed that the bounds meares or dividend between his Roy" 11 

High" 8 Territory in America and the Colony of Connecticut forever 

hereafter shall begin att a certain Brook or River Called Byram 

Brooke or River which River is between the Towns of Rye & Greenwich that is to say att the mouth of the said Brooke where it falleth 

into the Sound at a Point Called Lyon's Point which is the Eastward 

Point of Byram River, and from the said Point to goe as the said 

River Runeth, to the place where the Common Road or Wading place 

over the said River is and from the said Road or Wading place to 

goe North North west into the Country soe farr as will be Eight 

English miles from the aforesaid Lyons Point, and that a Line of 

twelve Miles being measured from the said Lyons Point According 

to the Line or Generall Course of the Sound Eastward where the 

said twelve miles Endeth Another line shall be Runn from the Sound 

Eight miles into the Country North North West and alsoe that a 

fourth line be Runn that is to say from the North most end of the 

line first menconed unto the Northmost end of the Eight mile line 

being the third menconed line which fowrth line with the first 

menconed Line shall be the bounds where they shall fall to runn. 

And that from the Eastward End of the fowrth menconed Line (which 

is to be twelve miles in Length) A Line Paralell to Hudson's River 

in every place twenty miles distant from Hudson's River shall be 

the bounds there between the said Territory or Province of New 

Yorke, and the said Collony of Connecticut soe farr as Connecticutt 

Doth Extend Northwards that is to the South line of the Massachusetts Collony.

Only it is Provided that in Case the Line from Byrams Brooke 

Mouth North North West Eight Miles and the line that is thence 

to runn twelve miles to the end of the third foremenconed line of 

Eight Miles Doe Diminish or take away any Land within twenty 

miles of Hudsons River that then soe much as is in Land Diminished 

of twenty miles from Hudsons River thereby shall be added out 

of Connecticut bounds unto the Line aforemenconed & Parallel 

to Hudsons River and Twenty miles Distant from it the addition to 

be made the whole Length of the said Parallel line and in such 

breadth as will make up Quantity for Quantity what shall be diminished as aforesaid.

A survey of the southwestern port of the boundary 

was made in 1684 and ratified by both parties. It was 

then decided that in accordance with the agreement a 

tract of land estimated at 61,440 acres should be permanently released to Connecticut by New York, in exchange for which New York should receive an equivalent area in a tract of uniform width between the Sound 

tract and the south line of Massachusetts, but for various reasons the survey of the equivalent lands was 

not made at that time.

This settlement of the boundary dispute was not 

satisfactory to the settlers in the tract added to New 

York who for the next 40 years endeavored to have the 

line moved west. Four sets of commissioners appointed 

successively for this purpose were unable to come to 

an agreement. A fifth set, appointed in 1725, entered 

into articles of agreement settling the manner of the 

survey, but they ran only the line bounding the tract

73

"Report of the commissioners appointed in 1856 to ascertain the boundary between the States of New York and Connecticut, transmitted to the 

Legislature of New York Apr. 10, 1857. Albany; includes map and historical data.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

CONNECTICUT

on Long Island Sound. For some cause, action was then 

suspended until 1731, when the commissioners of 1725 

surveyed and set off the oblong or equivalent territory 

given to New York, defining and marking its boundary, 

which was to remain forever the dividing line between the respective colonies. The line ran substantially as at present (New York Stat., 1829, p. 61-65; 

New York Rev. Stat., 1882, v. 1, p. 127-128) and is as 

follows:

Beginning at Lyon's Point, in the mouth of a brook or river called 

Byram river, where it falls into Long Island sound, and running 

thence up along said river to a rock at the ancient road or wading 

place in said river, which rock bears north 12°45' east, 550 rods 

from said point; then north 23°45' west, 2292 rods; then east-northeast, 13 miles and 64 rods, which lines were established in the 

year 1725, by Francis Harrison, Cadwallader Golden, and Isaac 

Hicks, commissioners on the part of the then province of New York, 

and Jonathan Law, Samuel Eells, Roger Wolcott, John Copp, and 

Edmund Lewis, commissioners on the part of the then colony of 

Connecticut, and were run as the magnetic needle than pointed: 

then along an east-north-east continuation of the last-mentioned 

course, 1% miles, and 21 rods to a monument erected in the year 

1731 by Cadwallader Golden, Gilbert Willett, Vincent Matthews, 

and Jacobus Bruyn, junior, commissioners on the part of said province, 

and Samuel Eells, Roger Wolcott, and Edmund Lewis, commissioners 

on the part of said colony; which said monument is at the southeast 

corner of a tract known and distinguished as the oblong or equivalent 

lands; then north 24°30' west, until intersected by a line run by 

said last-mentioned commissioners, on a course south 12°30' west, 

from a monument erected by them in the south bounds of Massachusetts, which monument stands in a valley in the Taghkanick mountains, 121 rods eastward from a heap of stones, in said bounds on 

the top or ridge of the most westerly of said mountains; then north 

12°30' east, from a monument erected by said last-mentioned commissioners said place of intersection, and standing on the north 

side of a hill, southeasterly from the easternmost end of the 

long pond, along the foresaid line to the aforesaid monument 

erected in the south bounds of Massachusetts, being the northeast 

corner of the oblong; * * *.

For more than a century no further controversy arose, 

but after 1850 questions of jurisdiction were raised, and 

in 1855 Connecticut made a proposition for a new survey. Several sets of commissioners were appointed 

(see footnote 79); but no agreement being reached, 

finally, in 1860, pursuant to an act of the Legislature of 

New York, the line was run by the New York commissioners, Connecticut not being represented.

The first section of the act of the New York Legislature is as follows:

1. The commissioners appointed by the governor to ascertain the 

boundary line between the States of New York and Connecticut are 

hereby empowered and directed to survey and mark, with suitable
74

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Under the charter of 1662 Connecticut claimed a large 

western territory. Subsequent to the Revolution, however, in 1786, 1792, 1795, and 1800, she relinquished all 

title to any land west of her present boundary. (See 

p. 49.)

monuments, the said line between the two Slates as fixed by the 

survey of 1731.s"

Twenty years later other commissioners representing the two States agreed to accept the survey of 1860, 

and their report (New York Rev. Stat, 1882, v. 1, p. 136), 

which was ratified the same year, was as follows:

We agree that the boundary on the land constituting the western 

boundary of Connecticut and the eastern boundary of New York 

shall be and is as the same was defined by monuments erected by 

commissioners appointed by the State of New York, and completed 

in the year 1860, the said boundary line extending from Byram 

Point, formerly called Lyon's Point, on the south, to the line of 

the State of Massachusetts on the north. And we further agree that 

the boundary on the sound shall be and is as follows: Beginning 

at a point in the center of the channel, about 600 feet south of the 

extreme rocks of Byram Point, marked No. 0, on appended United 

States coast survey chart; thence running in a true southeast course 

3V4 statute miles; thence in a straight line (the arc of a great circle) 

northeasterly (82.27 miles) to a point 4 statute miles due south of New 

London light-house; thence northeasterly to a point marked number 

one, on the annexed United States coast survey chart of Fisher's island 

sound, which point is on the longitude east three-quarters north, 

sailing course down on said map, and is about l.OOO1 feet northerly 

from the Hammock or North Dumpling lighthouse; thence following 

said east three-fourths north sailing course as laid down on said 

map easterly to a point marked number two on said map; thence 

southeasterly to a point marked No. 3 on said map; so far as said 

States are coterminous. '

This agreement was confirmed by the Congress of 

the United States February 26, 1881 (21 Stat. L 351).

The line of 1860 was so poorly marked that the Legislature of New York in 1887 and the Legislature of Connecticut in 1902 ordered a resurvey, which was made 

in 1909-10. In that survey the line of 1860 was followed 

as closely as possible. Where old boundary stones of 

suitable size were found, they were reset in concrete 

bases, and about 100 new ones were added, made of 

cut granite 12 by 12 inches by 9 or 10 feet, set in concrete bases 4 by 4 feet in section and 5 or 6 feet deep. 

(See p. 75.) This survey was approved by the State 

legislatures in 1913 and formally ratified by congressional act of January 10, 1925 (43 Stat. L. 731) in which 

the description of the boundary is given including 

distances and bearings of the lines through Long Island 

Sound.

For the history and present location of the eastern 

boundary of Connecticut, see Massachusetts, page 67, 

and Rhode Island, page 72. For the northern boundary, 

see Massachusetts, page 67.

NEW YORK

The territory included in the present State of New 

York is part of that claimed by both France and 

England by right of discovery. It was included in the 

territory of Acadia, for which a charter was given by 

Henry IV of France in 1603, and was included also 

within the limits of the Virginia colony, chartered by 

James I of England in 1606, which embraced all that 

part of America between 34° and 45° north latitude. 

Much of the territory west of the Hudson River was held 

by the French and Indians and was a source of dispute for many years. The Indian treaty of 1684 gave 

England nominal control, but the French were not 

finally dispossed of their claim until nearly a hundred 

years later. The Dutch in 1613 established trading posts 

on the Hudson and claimed jurisdiction over the territory between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, 

which they called New Netherlands. The government 

was vested in the United New Netherland Co., chartered in 1616, and later in' the Dutch West India Co., 

chartered in 1621.

In 1664 King Charles II of England granted to his 

brother, the Duke of York, a large territory in America, 

which included, with other lands, all that tract lying 

between the west side of the Connecticut River and the 

east side of the Delaware. The Duke of York had previously purchased, in 1663, the territory on the New 

England coast which had been awarded to the Earl 

of Stirling, and in 1664, with an armed fleet, he took 

possession of New Amsterdam, which was thenceforth 

called New York. This conquest was confirmed by the 

treaty of Breda in 1667.

The following is an extract from the grant of 1664 to 

the Duke of York (Thorpe, 1909, v. 3, p, 1637):

We have given James Duke of York all that part of the maine land 

of New England beginning at a certaine place called or knowne by 

the name of St. Croix next adjoyning to New Scotland in America 

and from thence extending along the sea coast unto a certain place 

called Petuaquine or Pemaquid and so up the River thereof to the 

furthest head of ye same as it tendeth northwards and extending from 

thence to the River Kinebequi and so upwards by the shortest 

course to the River Canada northward and also all that Island or 

Islands commonly called by the severall name or names of Mattowacks or Long Island scituate lying and being towards the west of

80 See report (Feb. 8, 1861) of the commissioners appointed to ascertain 

the boundary between the States of New York and Connecticut, in which 

will be found a complete account of this controversy.

« The boundaries of New York are described in considerable detail in 

Report of the Regents of the University on the Boundaries of the State 

of New York: [State] S. Doc. 108, 1874, v. 1, 350 p.; 1884, v. 2, 867 p. 

Volume 2 includes an index for both volumes and contains copies from 

unpublished manuscript relating to the boundaries and a vast amount of 

historical matter, copies of royal grants, copies from field notes, and 

reports of surveys.
Cape Codd and ye narrow Higansetts abutting upon the maine land 

between the two Rivers there called or knowne by the severall 

names of Connecticutt and Hudsons River together also with the 

said river called Hudsons River and all the land from the west side 

of Connecticutt to ye east side of Delaware Bay and also all those 

severall Islands called, or knowne by the names of Martin's Vineyard 

and Nantukes otherwise Nantuckett.

The Dutch recaptured New York in July 1673 and 

held it until it was restored to the English by the treaty 

of Westminster, in February 1674. The Duke of York 

thereupon, to perfect his title, obtained a new grant 

in substantially the same terms as that of 1664, of 

which the following is an extract (New York [State] 

Univ., 1874, v. 1, p. 10):

All that part of the Mayne land of New England, beginning att a 

certaine Place called or knowne by the name of St. Croix next adjoining to New Scotland in America; and from thence extending along 

the Sea-Coast into a certaine place called Petuaquine or Pemaguid, 

and soe upp the River thereof to the furthest head of the same as itt 

tendeth Northwards and extending from the River of Kinebeque and 

so upwards by the shortest Course to he River Canada Northwards; 

And alsoe all that Island or Islands commonly called by the severall 

name or names of Matowacks or Long Island, Scituate lyeing and being 

towards the West of Cape Codd, and the Narro Higansetts, abutting 

upon the Mayne land between the two Rivers there called or knowne 

by the severall names of Conectecutte and Hudsons River, Together 

alsoe with the said River called Hudsons River, and all the Land 

from the west side of Conectecutte River to the East side of De la 

Ware Bay; and also those severall Islands, called or knowne by the 

names of Martin-Vinyards and Nantukes, otherwise Nantuckett.

By these grants to the Duke of York and the conquest of the Dutch possessions in America, it can be 

seen that New York originally had a claim to a much 

larger territory than is now included in its limits. The 

successive changes in area may be sketched as follows:

In 1664 the Duke of York sold the present State of 

New Jersey to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George 

Carteret.

In 1682 the Duke of York sold to William Penn his 

title to Delaware and the country on the west bank of 

the Delaware, which had been originally settled by the 

Swedes but had been conquered by the Dutch and by 

them surrendered to the Duke of York.

In 1686 Pemaquid and its dependencies were annexed to the New England government by a royal 

order of the former Duke of York, who had succeeded 

to the throne of England.

By the charter of 1691 to Massachusetts Bay, all 

claim to any part of Maine was extinguished, and the 

islands of Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and others 

adjacent (previously known as Duke's County, N.Y.) 

were annexed to Massachusetts Bay.

The territory west of the Connecticut River to a line 

within about 20 miles of Hudson River, now forming 

parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, was, by agreements and concessions made at different times, surrendered to those colonies, respectively.

75

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NEW YORK

New York by the cession of 1781 to the United States 

relinquished all its claim to land west of the meridian 

through the west extremity of Lake Ontario between 

the north boundary of Pennsylvania and the 45th 

parallel, and the peace treaty of 1783 cut off the rest 

of the area claimed by it west of its present limits. (See 

fig. 18).

Massachusetts prior to 1786 claimed under its charters 

title to the soil, but not to the sovereignty, of a large 

area west of the Hudson River that was also claimed 

by New York; but by agreement of commissioners 

representing the two colonies, signed ' December 16, 

1786, Massachusetts released to New York all land east 

of a meridian commencing on the Pennsylvania line 82 

miles west of the Delaware River and extending northward to Lake Ontario, except an area of 3,600 square 

miles east of that line to be selected by Massachusetts 

between the rivers "Owega and Chenengo" (New York 

[State] Univ., 1874, v. 1, p. 219-220).

The next reduction in area was in 1791, when the consent of New York to the independence of Vermont was 

made effective by Congress. This left New York with 

substantially its present boundaries, the distances along 

which are as follows: (see New York State Engineer and 

Surveyor, 1911, p. 30).

The total length of the State boundary is 1,430 milesCanadian line, 445 miles; Vermont line, 171 miles; Massachusetts line, 50V2 miles; Connecticut line to Long 

Island Sound, 81 miles; along the ocean around Long 

Island to the New Jersey shore, 246 miles; New Jersey 

line, 92 J/2 miles; Pennsylvania line, 344 miles to the 

beginning of the Canadian line in the middle- of Lake 

Erie. The boundaries are fixed by accepted agreements 

and are marked by natural watercourses or by monuments.

For the history and settlement of the eastern, boundary of New York, see Vermont, pages 64, 65; Massachusetts, page 70; and Connecticut, pages 73, 74.

A bill passed ,by the Legislature of New York, approved March 29, 1922, provided for the resurvey of 

a part of the State boundary said to be in dispute, 

extending from 'the northwest corner of Connecticut 

about 12 miles southward.

The northern boundary was fixed by the treaty of 

peace in 1783 and by the commission under the sixth 

article of the treaty of Ghent. (See p. 12.) The 45thparallel part of the boundary is an extension of the
76

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Valentine and Collins line of 1772 (p. 64) from the 

middle of Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence. From 

Lake Champlain westwttrd the survey was commenced 

by Collins and Sauthier in 1773 and completed by Collins the following year (Mayo, 1923, p. 255-265). The 

boundary as thus marked is far from being a straight 

line (fig. 18). It is in places half a mile north of the 

45th parallel, and that parallel is crossed by it in two 

places west of Rouses Point; but it was finally accepted and confirmed by the treaty of 1842 as part of 

the north boundary of the United States. (See p. 20 for 

reference to the St. Lawrence and lake parts of the 

boundary.)

The boundary between New York and New Jersey 

was plainly stated in the grant by the Duke of York 

to Berkeley and Carteret. (See p. 75.) In 1719 attempts were made to have the line run and marked, 

but nothing seems to have been done till 1769, when 

the King appointed commissioners, who fixed on substantially the present line. In 1772 this line was accepted by both colonies, and in 1773 it was confirmed 

by the King in council. Commissioners were appointed

to survey and mark the line, which was described as 

follows (New Jersey Start., 1821, p. 29-34):

A direct and straight line from the fork or branch formed by the 

junction of the stream or waters called the Machackamack with the 

river Delaware or Fishkill, in the latitude of 41°21'37", to a rock on 

the west side of the Hudson River, marked by the said surveyors, in 

the latitude of 41°—said rock was ordered to be marked with the 

following words and figures, viz: "Latitude 41° north;" and on the 

south side thereof, "New Jersey;" and on the north side thereof, "New 

York;" also to mark every tree that stood on the line with five notches 

and a blaze on the northwest and southeast sides thereof, and to put 

up stone monuments, at 1 mile distance from each other, along the 

said line, and to number such monuments with the number of miles; 

the same shall be from the before-mentioned marked rock on the west 

side of Hudson's River, and mark the words "New Jersey" on the 

south side and the words "New York" on the north side of every 

of the said monuments.

In 1833 commissioners were appointed by New York 

and New Jersey for the settlement of the territorial limits 

and jurisdiction of the two States. The commissioners 

reached an agreement, which was ratified in 1834 by 

each State and was confirmed by Congress by an 

act approved June 28, 1834, (4 Stat. L. 708; New York 

Rev. Stat., 1882, v. 1), providing as follows:

ARTICLE FIRST. The boundary line between the two states of New 

York and New Jersey, from a point in the middle of Hudson river, 

opposite the point on the west shore thereof, in the forty-first degree 

of north latitude, as heretofore ascertained and marked, to the main 

sea, shall be the middle of the said river, oi the Bay of New York, of 

the waters between Staten Island and New Jersey, and of Raritan Bay, 

to the main sea; except as hereinafter otherwise particularly mentioned.

150 KILOMETRES FIGURE 18.—Historical diagram of New York.
ARTICLE SECOND. The state of New York shall retain its present 

jurisdiction of and over Bedloe's and Ellis's islands; and shall also 

retain exclusive jurisdiction of and over the other islands lying in 

the waters above mentioned and now under the jurisdiction of that 

state.

ARTICLE THIRD. The State of New York shall have and enjoy 

exclusive jurisdiction of and over all the waters of the bay of New 

York; and of and over all the waters of Hudson river lying west of 

Manhattan Island and to the south of the mouth of Spuytenduyvel 

creek; and of and over the lands covered by the said waters to the 

low water mark on the westerly or New Jersey side thereof; subject 

to the following rights of property and of jurisdiction of the state of 

New Jersey; that is to say:

1. The state of New Jersey shall have the exclusive right of property 

in and to the land under water lying west of the middle of the bay 

of New York, and west of the middle of that part of the Hudteon river 

which lies between Manhattan island and New Jersey. [248 U.S. 328.]

2. The state of New Jersey shall have the exclusive jurisdiction of 

and over the wharves, docks, and improvements, made and to be 

made on the shore of the said state; and of and over all vessels 

aground on said shore, or fastened to any such wharf or dock, except 

that the said vessels shall be subject to the quarantine or health laws 

and laws in relation to passengers, of the state of New York, which 

now exist or which may hereafter be passed.

3. The state of New Jersey shall have the exclusive right of regulating the fisheries on the westerly side of the middle of said waters, 

Provided, That the navigation be not obstructed or hindered.

ARTICLE FOURTH. The state of New York shall have exclusive 

jurisdiction of and over the waters of the Kill Van Kull between Staten 

Island and New Jersey to the westernmost end of Shooter's Island in 

respect to such quarantine laws, and laws relating to passengers as 

now exist or may hereafter be passed under the authority of that 

state, and for executing the same; and the said state shall also have 

exclusive jurisdiction for the like purposes of and over the waters of 

the sound from the westernmost end of Shooter's Island to Woodbridge 

creek as to all vessels bound to any port in the said state of New York.

ARTICLE FIFTH. The state of New Jersey shall have and enjoy 

exclusive jurisdiction of and over all the waters of the sound between 

Staten Island and New Jersey lying south of Wbodbridge creek, and 

of and over all the waters of Raritan Bay lying westward of a line 

drawn from the light-house at Prince's bay to the mouth of Mattavan 

creek; subject to the following rights of property and of jurisdiction 

of the state of New York; that is to say:

1. The state of New York shall have the exclusive right of property1 

in and to the land under water lying between the middle of the said 

waters and Staten Island.

2. The state of New York shall have the exclusive jurisdiction of 

and over the wharves, docks, and improvements made and to be 

made on the shore of iStaten Island, and of and over all vessels 

aground on said shore or fastened to any such wharf or dock; except 

that the said vessels shall be subject to the quarantine or health 

laws in relation to passengers of the state of New Jersey which now 

exist or which may hereafter be passed.

3. The state of New York shall have the exclusive right of regulating 

the fisheries between the shore of Staten Island and the middle of 

said waters: Provided, That the navigation of the said waters be not 

obstructed or hindered.

Bedloes Island and Ellis Island, although on the New 

Jersey side of the boundary, are under the jurisdiction 

of the State of New York and are a part of Greater 

New York City. 82

77

8" See New York State Laws of 1909, chap. 59, sec1 . 7 and Greater New 

York charter, 1897, chap. 1, sec. 2.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NEW YORK

In 1876 commissioners were appointed to relocate 

the land boundary between New York and New Jersey 

and either to replace monuments that had become 

dilapidated or destroyed or to erect new ones. The commissioners found slight discrepancies between some of 

the original marks and the published descriptions, 

thereof, and the legislature of each State ordered that 

the original monuments should be considered the true 

boundary. (See New York S. Doc. 17 of 1875 and New 

York S. Doc. 20 of 1882:)

In 1874 the New Jersey Geological Survey retraced 

the land boundary between New Jersey and New York. 

The report by the State geologist, published at New 

Brunswick in 1874, contains a plat showing the divergence between the line as run and marked in 1774 by 

compass and the true arc of a great circle between the 

two terminals. The greatest divergence is at Greenwood Lake (mile 26 from the Hudson River) and is 

2,415 feet. Throughout its length the accepted boundary 

is south of the straight line 'and thus gives to New York 

about 10 square miles of territory that was originally intended to be a part of New Jersey.

After this survey New Jersey proposed that New 

York should consent to a relocation of the boundary 

on the arc of a circle, but New York failed to concur. 

Later the two States accepted the line as marked in 

1774 as a valid boundary and appointed commissioners, who re-marked the entire line in 1882 with granite 

monuments placed at each highway and railroad crossing and at the end of each mile, measured from the 

bank of the Hudson (Laws of New York for 1880 and 

Laws of New Jersey for 1881).

In 1887 a joint commission of the two States was appointed to determine and mark the boundary through 

Raritan Bay. This commission came to an agreement, 

the terms of which are as follows:

First. From "Great Beds light-house," in Raritan bay, north, twenty 

degrees sixteen minutes west, true, to a point in the middle of the 

waters of Arthur Kill, or Staten Island Sound, equidistant between the 

southwesterly corner of the dwelling house of David C. Butler, at 

Ward's Point, on Staten Island, in the State of New York, at the 

southeasterly corner of the brick building on the lands of Cortlandt 

L, Parker, at the intersection of the westerly line of Water street with 

the northerly line of Lewis street, in Perth Amboy, in the State of 

New Jersey.

Second. From "Great Beds light-house," south, sixty-four degrees 

and twenty-one minutes east, true (S. 64°21' E'.), in line with the center 

of Waackaack or Wilson's beacon, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, 

to a point at the intersection of said line with a line connecting "Morgan No. 2" triangulation point, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, in
78

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Middlesex County, New Jersey, with the "Granite and Iron beacon," 

marked on the accompanying maps as "Romer stone beacon," situated 

on the "Dry Romer shoal;" and thence on a line bearing north, 

seventy-seven degrees and nine minutes east, true (N. 77°9' E.), connecting "Morgan No. 2" triangulation point, U.S. Coast and Geodetic 

Survey, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, with said "Romer stone 

beacon" (the line passing through said beacon and continuing in the 

same direction), to a point at its intersection with a line drawn between 

the "Hook beacon," on Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and the triangulation 

point of the U.S. Geodetic Survey, known as the Oriental Hotel, on 

Coney Island, New York; then southeasterly, at right angles with 

the last-mentioned line to the main sea.

Third. The monumental marks by which said boundary line shall 

be hereafter known and recognized are hereby declared to be as 

follows:

1. The "Great Beds light-house."

2. A permanent monument marked "State boundary line New York 

and New Jersey," and to be placed at the intersection of the line 

drawn from the "Great Beds light-house" to "Waackaack or Wilson's 

beacon," Monmouth County, New Jersey, and the line drawn from 

"Morgan No. 2" triangulation point, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

in Middlesex County, New Jersey, to "Romer stone beacon."

3. Eight buoys or spindles, to be marked like the permanent monument above mentioned, and placed at suitable intervening points along 

the line from the said permanent monument to the "Romer stone 

beacon."

4. The "Romer stone beacon."

In 1774 commissions were appointed by New York 

and Pennsylvania to fix the "beginning of the 43d degree" of north latitude (the 42d parallel) on the Mohawk 

or western branch of the Delaware River, which is the 

northeast corner of Pennsylvania, and to proceed westward and fix the line between Pennsylvania and New 

York. These commissioners reported in December of 

the same year that they had fixed the northeast corner 

of Pennsylvania and marked it as follows (Pennsylvania Dept. Internal Affairs, 1887, p. 495):

in a small Island marked B in the Draught planted a Stone with 

the Letters NEW-YORK, 1774 Cut on one side and on the Top LAT. 

42° VAR 4°20'. Thence due West on the West side of Delaware 

River, We collected a Heap of Stones at High Water mark and in the 

said West line 4 Perches distant, planted another Stone as at C with 

the Letters PENNSLYVANIA 1774 Cut on the South side and on Top 

Lat 42° Var. 4°20' and from thence due West 18 P. marked an Ash 

Tree. But the rigour of the Season prevented us from proceeding 

further.

Nothing further seems to hove been done until 1786- 

87, when commissioners were appointed to finish the 

work thus begun, and the lines were run and monuments erected. The line was ratified by Pennsylvania 

in 1789, but no action was taken by the New York 

Legislature until the adoption of the revised statutes 

in 1829. The line is described as follows (Pennsylvania

Stat. L, 1908, v. 13 p. 378-379, Harrisburg, Mitchell & 

Flanders; New York Rev. Stat., 1882, v. 1, p. 130, 

Albany, Banks & Bros.):

A meridian line drawn through the most westerly bent or inclination of Lake Ontario; then south along said meridian line to a monument in the beginning of the forty-third degree of north latitude [on 

the forty-second parallel], erected in the year 1787, by Abraham 

Hardenburgh and William W. Morris, commissioners on the part of 

this state, and Andrew Ellicott and Andrew Porter, commissioners on 

the part of the state of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of marking the 

termination of the line of jurisdiction between this state and the said 

state of Pennsylvania; then east along the line established and marked 

by said last mentioned commissioners to the ninetieth milestone in 

the same parallel of latitude, erected in the year 1786, by James 

Clinton and Simon DeWitt, commissioners on the part of this State, 

and Andrew Ellicott, commissioner on the part of Pennsylvania; which 

said ninetieth milestone stands on the western side of the south 

branch of the Tioga River; then east along the line established and 

marked by said last-mentioned commissioners, to a stone erected in 

the year 1774, on a small island in the Delaware river, by Samuel 

Holland and David Rittenhouse, commissioners on the part of the 

colonies of New York and Pennsylvania, for the purpose of marking 

the beginning of the forty-third degree of north latitude; then down 

along said Delaware river to a point opposite to the fork or branch 

formed by the junction of the stream called Mahackamack with the 

said Delaware river, in the latitude of 41°21'37" north; then in a 

straight line to the termination, on the east bank of the Delaware river 

of a line run in the year 1774, by William Wickham and Samuel Gale, 

oommissioners on the part of the then colony of New York, and John 

Stevens and Walter Rutherford, commissioners on the part of the then 

colony of New Jersey.

The meridian line forming part of the west boundary 

of New York was surveyed and marked in 1790 by 

Andrew Ellicott. In order to fix the initial point for this 

line, Ellicott ran a traverse line from the west end of 

Lake Ontario along the lake shore to the Niagara River, 

up and across that river, thence southwest along the 

south shore of Lake Erie to the computed longitude of 

the starting point. The notes of this survey have been 

lost. (New York [State] Univ., 1874, v. 1, p. 324.) The 

total length of the meridian line from a stone post set 

on the shore of Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania north 

line was later found to be 98,525 feet. In 1869 a large 

granite monument was set at a point 440 feet south of 

the lake-shore mark. (See fig. 2C.)

Positions on 1927 N.A.D. for some of these monuments 

are given below. They fall south of the parallel of 42° 

latitude.

The initial monument, of granite, is 600 feet west of 

the center of the Delaware River, lat 41°59'58.26" N., 

long 75°21'43.07" W.

Boundary mark 6:41°59'56.95", 75°28'39.79".

Boundary mark 54:41 °59'54.72".

Monument 221, 3.8 miles east of the southwest corner 

of New York, lat 41°59'55.90" N., long 79°41'12.84" W.

The New York-Pennsylvania boundary line was resurveyed in whole or in part in 1877-79; between 1881 

and 1885 all missing marks were replaced with granite 

posts. There are now 519 stone monuments on the 42d-
parallel line, 224 of which are milestones. There are 18 

milestones and 32 other marks on the meridian boundary. The marks between milestones on these lines are 

mostly at county corners and highway crossings. 83 

These boundaries as now located were confirmed by 

congressional act of August 19, 1890, 84 which contains a brief history of the lines.

In order that the transportation and terminal facilities in the area including New York City and the adjacent part of New Jersey might be systematically developed, the legislatures of the two States in 1921 

created a Port of New York District, within which three 

commissioners from each State should constitute a 

Port of New York Authority for the preparation of plans 

for tunnels, bridges, and railways, which, when approved by the States, should be constructed under their 

supervision. This compact by the States was approved 

by Congress August 23, 1921 (42 Stat. 174), and the 

general plans prepared by the commissioners were 

approved by the State legislature and Congress in 1922 

(42 Stat. 822). The Port of New York District is irregular 

in outline. It includes near its borders parts or all of 

Paterson, Summit, Plainfield, New Brunswick, and 

Sandy Hook, N.J., and Rockaway Beach, Jamaica, Rye, 

and White Plains, N.Y., and covers a total area of 

about 1,540 square miles.

NEW JERSEY

Although the original grant of 1606 from the English 

sovereign covered the territory forming the present 

State of New Jersey, the first grant that directly related 

to New Jersey was that given -in 1664 to Lord John 

Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, by the Duke of York, 

two months before the setting out of his expedition to 

take possession of New York, The following extract 

from that grant defines the boundaries (Thorpe, 1909, 

v. 5, p. 2534):

* * all that tract of land adjacent to New England', and lying and 

being to the westward of Long Island and Manhitas Island, and 

bounded on the east part by the main sea and part by Hudson's river, 

and hath upon the west Delaware bay or river, and extended1 southward to the main ocean as far as Cape May, at the mouth of the 

Delaware bay, and to the northward as far as the northermost branch 

of the said bay or river of Delaware, which is forty-one degrees and 

forty minutes of latitude/" and crosseth over thence in a straight line 

to Hudson's river, in forty-one degree of latitude; which said tract of 

land is hereafter to be called by the names of New C'aeserea or New 

Jersey.

83 For a description of each mark, see Pennsylvania Dept. Internal Affairs 

(1893, p. 49A-134A).

84 26 Stat. L. 329. For references to Pennsylvania-New York boundary 

surveys and marks, see Gary and Riorden, Laws of Pennsylvania, v. 3, 

p. 392, and Relports of the Regents of the University of the State of New 

York: New York S. Doc. 108 for 1873 (pub. in 1874), Assembly Doc. 91 

for 1879, Assembly Doc. 49 for 1870, Assembly Dpc. 100 for 1880, S. Doc. 

20 for 1882, S. Doc. 71 for 1886; 26 Stat. L. 333. The southwest corner of 

New York is described in New York S. Doc. 71, 1886, p. 258.

65 This point, now callied the Tri-State Rock, has since been found to be 

at lat 41°21'22.6" N. and long 74 °41'40.7" W.

79

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NEW JERSEY

In March, 1673, Lord Berkeley sold his undivided 

moiety of New Jersey to John Fenwick, by whom, in 

the following year, it was again sold. On July 1, 1676, 

was executed the famous "Quintipartite deed" by 

which the eastern part was given to Sir George Carteret, to be called east New Jersey, and the western part 

to William Penn and 11 other proprietors, to be called 

west New Jersey. The dividing line between the two 

parts as described in the act of March 27, 1719, was 

a straight line from the northwest corner of the province, 

on the Delaware River, to the most southerly point of an 

"island of sand * * * known by the name of Little 

Egg Harbour."

Sir George Carteret, at his death in 1678, left his land 

to be sold. It was sold in 1682 to the 12 proprietors of 

west New Jersey, who admitted other partners. Confirmation grants were made to the proprietors of both 

provinces by the Duke of York and confirmed by the 

King, but between 1697 and 1701 the proprietors repeatedly made petitions to be allowed to surrender 

their right of government to the Crown. In 1702 the 

surrender was made and was accepted by Queen 

Anne, and the two parts were united and made the 

province of New Jersey. (Thorpe, 1909, p. 2585.)

For the history of the northern and eastern boundaries, see New York, pages 76, 77.

The grant from the Duke of York to Berkeley and 

Carteret defined the west boundary of New Jersey to be 

the Delaware River (see above).

The line between New Jersey and Delaware is thus 

described (Revised Statutes of Delaware, 1874, chap. 

1, sec. 2).

Low-water mark on the eastern side of the river Delaware, within 

the twelve-mile circle from New Castle; and the middle of the bay 

below said circle.

In 1876 the Legislature of New Jersey authorized the 

governor to commence a suit in the Supreme Court of 

the United States to settle the boundary between New 

Jersey and Delaware. New Jersey claimed jurisdiction and title to the middle of the Delaware River and 

Delaware Bay within the 12-mile circle, while Delaware 

claimed the area to the low-water mark on the east 

shore. The suit commenced under this act was "dismissed without prejudice" in April, 1917 (205 U.S. 550).

Meanwhile the questions of jurisdiction and ownership of the tract had been under discussion by commissioners representing the two States, who in 1905 

entered into a compact providing for concurrent juris-
80

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

diction over the disputed area, but they could not agree 

on the proper location of the boundary line. This compact was ratified by the legislatures and approved by 

Congress by act of January 24, 1907.

Suit was again entered in the Supreme Court at its 

October term, 1929, in an attempt to obtain a final 

settlement of this long-standing controversy. New Jersey's bill of complaint and Delaware's answer contain 

considerable historical matter relating to the two States. 

The adverse claims to the area in question were reviewed at great length in Senate Executive Document 

21, Thirtieth Congress, first session, published in 1848. 

Although the total area involved was only about 22 

square miles, it included valuable oyster beds and was 

therefore of importance to New Jersey. The decision of 

the Court, handed down February 5, 1934, validated 

the claim of Delaware that the boundary is the lowwater mark on the eastern shore of the river within 

the 12-mile circle. It further decreed that the boundary 

is the main channel of navigation below the circle. This 

decree granted the claim of New Jersey (291 U.S. 361).

Commissioners were appointed by New Jersey and 

Pennsylvania to settle the jursdiction over the Delaware River and the islands within it, and their report 

(Revision of the Statutes of New Jersey, 1877, p. 11 SI1182), ratified in 1783, is in part as follows:

First. It is declared that the river Delaware from the station point 

or northwest corner of New Jersey, northerly M to the place upon the 

said river where the circular boundary of the State of Delaware 

toucheth upon the same, in the whole length and breadth thereof, is 

and shall continue to be and remain a common highway, equally free 

and open for the use, benefit, and advantage of the said contracting 

parties, etc.

Secondly. That each State shall enjoy and exercise a concurrent 

jurisdiction, within and upon the water, and not upon the dry land 

between the shores of said river.

The rule for apportioning the islands was that they 

should be assigned to the State

to which such insulated dry land doth lie nearest, at the time of 

making and executing this agreement; and that all other islands within 

said river between the falls of Trenton and the State of Delaware, 

which are not hereinafter particularly enumerated, shall be hereafter 

deemed and considered as parts and parcels of the State, to which 

such island doth lie nearest at the date hereof; * * * islands hereafter 

formed * shall be classed and annexed * * * according to the 

same principal.

The islands between the falls of Trenton and the 

Delaware line were divided as follows: Biles Island,

near Trenton; Windmill Island, opposite Philadelphia; 

League Island, Mud or Fort Island, Hog Island, and 

Little Tinicum Island were assigned to Pennsylvania. 

To New Jersey were given Biddies or Newbolds, Burlington, Pettys, Red Bank, Harmanus, Helms, Chester, 

and Shiverses Islands.

In 1786 other commissioners were appointed by New 

Jersey and Pennsylvania for more accurately determining and describing the islands in the Delaware from 

the northwest corner of New Jersey down to the falls 

of Trenton. Their report was ratified and confirmed by 

Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 1786. The New Jersey 

act of March 16, 1786 (Laws of New Jersey, ed. of 

1821, p. 78-79), mentions 75 of the islands by name.

PENNSYLVANIA

The Swedish West India Co., chartered by the King 

of Sweden in 1625, established the first permanent settlement on the west bank of the Delaware, occupying 

a part of the territory now in Pennsylvania and Delaware; the Dutch had previously established trading 

posts there, which had been destroyed by the Indians. 

The Swedes acquired, by successive purchases from 

the Indian chiefs, all the land extending from Cape 

Henlopen to the great falls of the Delaware and called 

it New Sweden. In 1655 this territory was surrendered 

to the Dutch. (Hazard, 1850, p. 185.)

By the conquest of the New Netherlands, in 1664, the 

Duke of York seems to have claimed successfully the 

settlements on the west bank of the Delaware as part 

of his dominions.

In 1681 Charles II of England granted to William 

Penn the Province of Pennsylvania. The following extract from the charter defines the boundaries (Thorpe, 

1909, v. 5, p. 3036):

all that Tract or Parte of Land in America, with all the Islands therein 

conteyned, as the same is bounded on the East by Delaware River, 

from the twelve miles distance northwards of New Castle Towne 

unto the three and fortieth degree of Northerne Latitude, if the said 

River doeth extende so farre Northwards; But if the said River shall 

not extend soe farre Northward, then by the said River soe fair as it 

doth extend; and from the head of the said iRiver the Easterne Bounds 

are to bee determined by a Meridian Line, to bee drawne from the 

head of the said River, unto the said three and fortieth Degree. The 

said Lands to extend westwards five degrees in longitude, to bee 

computed from the said Easterne Bounds; and the said Lands to bee 

bounded on the North by the beginning of the three and fortieth 

degree of Northerne Latitude, and on the South by a Circle drawne 

at twelve miles distance from Neto Castle Northward and Westward 

unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of Northern Latitude, and 

thence by a streight Line Westward to the Limitt of Longitude above 

mentioned.

The following explanation regarding the use of the 

word "beginning" in connection with degrees of latitude in this grant is given by Donaldson (1884, p. 46):

88 This is a mistake. The line runs south.

87 The full legal title for Pennsylvania is "the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
It should be observed that the geographers of that day considered 

degrees of latitude as zones taking designation from their northern 

parallels; hence the north boundary of Pennsylvania, designated as 

the beginning of the 43d degree, is really the 42d parallel. The south 

boundary, being the beginning of the 40th degree, was really the 

39th parallel, a construction for which Penn earnestly contended in 

his dispute with Lord Baltimore in relation to the boundary between 

Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Gushing (1920, p. 33) says: "The idea of a parallel 

of latitude seems to be a band about the earth parallel 

to the Equator and 1 ° wide, with the 'beginning' newest 

the Equator."

The grant to William Penn included a large tract of 

land in the northeastern part of the present State of 

Pennsylvania, generally referred to as the Wyoming 

Valley, which was claimed by Connecticut under its 

charter of 1662. (See fig. 19.) The Indian title to this land 

was transferred to settlers from Connecticut by deed 

dated July 11, 1754, wherein the area was thus described (Miner, 1845, p. 69; Stone, 1844, app.):

Beginning from the one and fortieth degree of north latitude, at ten 

miles distance east of Susquehanna River, and from thence, with a 

northerly line ten miles east of the river, to the forty-second, or 

beginning of the forty-third degree of north latitude, and to extend 

west two degrees of longitude, one hundred and twenty miles, and 

from thence south to the beginning of the forty-second degree, and 

from thence east to the aforementioned bounds * * *.

This area was organized by Connecticut in 1776 as the 

county of Westmoreland. The conflicting claims of Connecticut and Pennsylvania to this land were for many 

years a cause of dispute, and several battles were 

fought for its possession, but a court of arbitration appointed by the Continental Congress awarded it to 

Pennsylvania in 1782.

For a history of the northern and eastern boundaries 

of Pennsylvania, see New York, page 78 and New 

Jersey, page 80.

81

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

PENNSYLVANIA

That part of the southern boundary of Pennsylvania 

which separates Pennsylvania from Delaware, as defined by the charter of 1681, is an arc of a circle of 12 

miles radius, having New Castle, Del., as its center. 

This line was surveyed and marked in 1701 under a 

warrant from William Penn. (See p. 84.)

According to the original grant of 1681 the boundary 

between Pennsylvania and Maryland was to be the 

"beginning of the 40th degree of northern latitude," or 

what we would now call the 39th parallel of latitude. 

(See p. 80.) This boundary was for many years in 

dispute, Lord Baltimore claiming the country along 

Delaware Bay and River to the mouth of the Schuykill, 

which was also claimed by the Duke of York under his 

grant of 1664. William Penn, in 1682, obtained from the 

Duke of York a release of his claim, but not until 1760 

was an agreement reached with Maryland. Commissioners were appointed in 1732 and again in 1739 to 

run the line, but they failed to agree, and chancery 

suits were the result. Finally a decision of Lord Chancellor Hardwick in 1750 was taken as a basis for adjudication, and an agreement was signed July 4, 1760, 

by which the line between Pennsylvania on the one 

part and Delaware and Maryland on the other was to 

be determined as follows:

A due east-west line was to be run across the peninsula from Cape Henlopen to Chesapeake Bay. From 

the exact middle of this line a line was to be drawn

FIGURE 19.—Historical diagram of 

Pennsylvania.

Awa-ded to Pennsylvania 178

100 KILOMETRES
82

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

north which would be tangent to the western arc of. a 

circle having a radius of 12 English statute miles measured horizontally from the center of the town of New 

Castle. From the tangent point a line was to be drawn 

due north until it intersected a parallel of latitude 15 

miles due south of the southernmost part of the city of 

Philadelphia. This point of intersection would be the 

northeast corner of Maryland, and from it the line was 

to be run west on a parallel as far as it formed the 

boundary between the two Provinces.

In 1760 commissioners and surveyors were appointed; they spent several years in measuring the 

base line and the tangent line between Maryland and 

Delaware. The proprietors became wearied with the 

delay and sent from England two famous mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who verified the work of their predecessors and ran the line 

between Pennsylvania and Maryland, ever since called 

the Mason and Dixon line and probably the most 

widely known boundary in the United States. (See fig. 

19.) Mason and Dixon determined the lattitude of this 

line, which they located 15 miles south of Philadephia, 

to be 39°43'17.6" N. That they were skilled and did 

their work carefully is shown by the fact that by the 

resurvey, made 200 years later with modern instruments and methods, the position found for the line at 

the northeast corner of Maryland differed only 1.9" 

from that determined by them. The later position is 

39°43'19.521" N. (See p. 85.)

Mason and Dixon began work on this line in 1763 

but were stopped by Indians in 1767, after having run 

the line about 244 miles west of the Delaware (230 miles 

18 chains 21 links from the northeast corner of Maryland) and thus not quite finishing the work as planned, 

although it has since been ascertained that they had run 

about 30 miles beyond the northwest corner of Maryland.88

The original stones for 5-mile marks on this line were 

carved in England from oolitic limestone; Lord Baltimore's coat of arms was shown on the Maryland side 

and the Penn arms on the Pennsylvania side. (See 

fig. 2D.) Intermediate milestones were smaller and 

were marked "M" and "P" only, on opposite sides.

Because of the removal of the stone at the northeast 

corner of Maryland. and for other reasons, it was 

deemed desirable to resurvey and re-mark the State

boundaries in that locality; consequently Maryland 

(in 1846), Delaware (in 1847), and Pennsylvania (in 

1849) authorized the appointment of commissioners to 

undertake the task. An Army officer was delegated by 

them to make the surveys, which were completed in 

1850. In the resurvey of the arc boundary and of the 

adjacent lines, the surveyor in charge unfortunately 

disregarded "the well-known rule that an actual line 

upon the ground is to be preferred to the written description of the same line in a deed." He changed the 

position of the arc boundary as marked in 1701 and 

assigned to Pennsylvania the triangular strip 3Vz miles 

in length (about 840 acres in area) west of the arc 

boundary, east of Maryland and south of the Mason 

and Dixon line, which had previously been assumed 

to belong to Delaware. This survey was approved by 

the commissioners from the three States, but no formal 

action regarding it appears to have been taken by the 

State legislatures.89

In 1889 and 1900 the Legislatures of Pennsylvania 

and Maryland authorized the appointment of a joint 

commission to "ascertain and re-mark" the boundary 

between the two States. The field work for this survey 

was commenced in 1900 and completed in 1903. No 

changes in the line as run by Mason and Dixon were 

made; straight lines were run between original monuments, and many new stones were set on the lines 

thus established. The report of the commission, dated 

January 25, 1907, was published in 1908 by authority 

of the Legislature of Maryland and in 1909 by Pennsylvania. These volumes contain a description of each of 

the 225 boundary monuments, including many of the 

original stones that were repaired and reset; they also 

contain a bibliography of manuscripts and documents 

relating to the line .which has more than 2,000 entries.

Positions for a dozen or more points on the Mason 

and Dixon line have been determined by the U.S. 

Geological Survey, some of which are as follows:

Latitude (N.) 

39°43'12.9" 

39°43'13.0" 

39°43'13.5" 

39°43'13.8" 

39°43'14.2" 

39°43'17.5"

Longitude (W.) 

77°29'05.6" 

76°59'42.3" 

76°57'26.9" 

76°55'11.4" 

76°52'55.7" 

76°41'54.3"

In 1889 the Legislatures of Delaware and Pennsylvania authorized the re-marking of the boundary between the two States. The commissioners agreed that 

the northern boundary of Delaware should run due 

east from the northeast corner of Maryland to a point 

12 miles from the New Castle courthouse and thence 

follow a curved line passing through as many boundary marks of the 12-mile circle of 1701 as could be

88 For a popular description oi the work by Mason and Dixon, see 

Luquer (1931, p. 375).

89 For report of the surveyor, see Delaware Senate Jour, for 1851, p. 

56-109. A copy of the report and a map are filed in the Maryland Land 

Office at Annapolis.
identified. The resurvey was made,90 and 46 marks 

were set on the arc boundary in 1892-93. The triangular 

tract assigned to Pennsylvania by the commissioners 

of 1849 thus reverted to Delaware. The report of the 

commission and the line as marked by it were "accepted, approved, and confirmed" by the Legislature 

of Pennsylvania by act of June 22, 1897 (Pennsylvania 

Laws for 1897, p. 183), but were not formally accepted 

by the Legislature of Delaware until March 28, 1921. 

The assent of Congress to the action of the States was 

given on June 30, 1921 (42 Stat. L. 104). The land part 

of the Pennsylvania-Delaware line as determined by 

this survey is 22.87 miles in length.

Commissioners from Virginia and Pennsylvania 

agreed in 1779 that the boundary between those States 

should be fixed as follows.91

That the line commonly called Mason's and Dixon's line be extended due west five degrees of longitude to be computed from the 

river Delaware, for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania; and 

that a meridian drawn from the western extremity thereof to the 

northern limits of the said states, respectively, be the western boundary 

of Pennsylvania, forever.

In order to locate the boundaries as thus described, 

observations of the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites were 

made in 1784 at Wilmington and at a point estimated 

to be 5° of longitude west of the Delaware River. While 

this work was being done the Mason and Dixon line 

was extended westward by commissioners from Virginia (one of whom was Andrew Ellicott) and from 

Pennsylvania, and a point was marked for the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, which the astronomic 

computations showed should be a little more than 1 Vz 

miles east of the assumed position, where the observatory had been placed. From the southwest corner of 

Pennsylvania the meridian boundary was run to the 

north side of the Ohio River. The line between the 

Ohio and Lake Erie was surveyed and marked in 1785 

by another commission.

The southern part of the west boundary was again 

surveyed and marked in 1883 by commissioners representing the two States. The survey was commenced 

at the Ohio, and the line was run south to the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, a measured distance of 

a little more than 63 Vz miles. Twenty-three of the old 

monuments were found, and 48 new ones were established. Astronomic positions of several marks on this 

boundary were determined in 1883 in connection with 

the resurveys. Two of these positions are as follows: 

Southwest corner of Pennsylvania, lat 39°43'18.2" N., 

long 80°31'08.2" W.; near Smiths Ferry on the Ohio 

River, lat 40°38'27.2" N., long 80°31'07.5" W.

83

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

PENNSYLVANIA

The Ohio-Pennsylvania boundary was resurveyed 

and re-marked between 1878 and 1882, commencing 

at a granite monument 6 feet high and 3 feet square at 

the base, which was erected by the commissioners at 

a point 2,400 feet south of the edge of Lake Erie. The 

position of this monument is lat 41°58'15.23" N., long 

80°31'10.60" W. (1927 N.A.D.). From this point the line 

was run south to the Ohio River, a distance of 92 

miles. 92

The monument established in 1785 on the north bank 

of the Ohio in the west boundary of Pennsylvania is of 

considerable historical importance, for it marks the 

point from which the first surveys for dividing public 

land in the United States into ranges and townships 

were commenced (Peters, 1918, p. 33, 67; Sherman, 

1916-33, v. 3, chap. 14). 93 This general system of surveys has been extended over all the public-land States 

and has even been adopted by some foreign countries.

The original marker used as a point of departure has 

long since disappeared. The location of this marker 

is referred to as the "point of beginning." A large 

granite monument was erected by Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1881 for the purpose of remarking the State 

line. This monument was near the original stake. It 

was moved to a more conspicuous position in 1961, and 

a bronze plaque was added commemorating the 175th 

anniversary of the establishment of the "point of beginning." (Popp, 1960, p. 229.)

By the formation of the State of Ohio from lands 

ceded to the United States by Virginia in 1784 and by 

Connecticut in 1800 and by the separation of West 

Virginia from Virginia in 1862, the above-mentioned 

meridian line became the boundary between Pennsylvania on the east and Ohio and West Virginia on the 

west.

The cession of 1781 by New York to the United States 

included a triangle of land, about 324 square miles in 

area, bounded by New York, Pennsylvania, and Lake 

Erie. In order to give Pennsylvania a larger outlet to the 

lake, this tract, known as the "Erie triangle," was sold 

by the General Government to that State for $151,-

w For a report of this survey and a historical sketch of the Mason and 

Dixon line, see Hodgkins (1895).

81 Pennsylvania Dept. Internal Affairs (1887, p. 293); a separate volume 

of boundary maps accompanies this report. See also Hening (1822, v. 10, 

p. 519-537).

02 For other details concerning the survey of the west boundary of 

Pennsylvania, see report of Pennsylvania Dept. Internal Affairs (1883), 

which contains a description of each mark and a plat of the line; see also 

report for 1887. A historical sketch of the original surveys of the west 

boundary of Pennsylvania of 1785 and 1786, the report of the resurvey of 

the Ohio part of this line in 1878 to 1882, descriptions of the boundary, 

and plats of the line were .published by the State of Ohio in 1883 (Joint 

Commission on Pennsylvania and Ohio boundary line, 1883).

93 See plat of the seven ranges of townships, Ohio Surveys, 1785—1787; 

U.S. General Land Office file 57, Ohio.
84

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

640.25,94 and the deed, dated March 3, 1792, was signed 

by George Washington.

The east line of the Erie triangle, being part of the 

west boundary of New York, was first surveyed and 

marked in 1790. (See p. 78.) In 1869 a new granite monument was placed on this boundary near the lake. In 

1885 this monument was repaired, and the boundary 

was rerun to the south line of New York, a distance of 

a little more than 18 miles. In all, there were then 51 

marks on the line. (See Pennsylvania Dept. Internal 

Affairs, 1887, p. 590, 592.)

DELAWARE

The area now forming the State of Delaware was 

originally settled by Sweden. In 1655 it was surrendered 

to the Dutch, who in turn, in 1664, surrendered it to the 

English; the Duke of York then took possession of it.

William Penn, who had received in 1681 a grant of 

the Province of Pennsylvania, bought or leased from 

the Duke of York the territory included in present-day 

Delaware, which was conveyed to him by two deeds 

of "feoffment" dated August 24, 1682. One conveyed 

a tract of land within a 12-mile circle about New Castle; 

the other was for "all that tract of land upon Delaware 

River and Bay beginning 12 miles south from the town 

of New Castle and extending south to the Horekills, 

otherwise called 'Lopen.'" Both leases were for a 

period of 10,000 years, but they conveyed land to which 

the Duke of York then had a very uncertain title. A 

better title was obtained by royal grant soon afterward 

and immediately transferred to William Penn (Mathews, 

1909, p. 150). Lord Baltimore vigorously opposed William Penn's claim, and the matter was settled in 1685 

by a royal order to divide the territory ea^ially between 

the two claimants. For a description of the line as 

marked, see pages 81, 82. (Dallas, 1797, p. 24).

In 1701 William Penn granted a charter under which 

the Province of Pennsylvania and the territories (as 

Delaware was then called) were authorized to act as 

separate governments, though both were still under the 

proprietary government of William Penn.

Acting on the advice of the Continental Congress, 

the people of Delaware called a convention, which met 

at New Castle in August, 1776, and on September 10 

adopted a constitution for the three counties that had

« This is at the rate of 75 cents an acre for an estimated area of 202,187 

acres (315.92 sq. mi.). The area scaled from the most recent maps (including Presque Isle, 3 sq. mi.) is 324 sq. mi.

previously been known as "the Government of the 

counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware," and declared that thereafter the Territory should 

be called "Delaware State." The boundaries then were 

substantially as at present. (Thorpe, 1909, v. 1, p. 561- 

562.)

For a history of the boundary between Delaware and 

Pennsylvania, see Pennsylvania, page 82; and for that 

between Delaware and New Jersey, see New Jersey, 

pages 79, 80.

From 1732 to 1769 there was a controversy between 

the proprietors of Pennsylvania and Maryland in regard to boundaries. The boundaries of Delaware on the 

south and west were determined as follows:

Beginning at Cape Henlopen and running due west 

34 miles 309 perches; thence in a straight line 81 miles 

78 chains and 30 links up the peninsula until it touches 

and makes a tangent to the western periphery of a 

circle drawn at the horizontal distance of 12 English 

statute miles from the center of the town of New Castle.

From this tangent point a line was run due north 

till it cut a parallel of latitude 15 miles due south of 

the most southern part of the city of Philadelphia. This 

point of intersection is the northeast corner of Maryland. As the tangent line bears a little west of north, 

the due-north line from the tangent point cuts off an 

arc of the 12-mile circle. The narrow segment thus 

formed is a part of Delaware and has an area of less 

than 20 acres. The boundary line follows the arc of the 

circle from the tangent point around to the point where 

the due-north line intersects the 12-mile circle, then follows this due-north line to the northeast corner of Maryland. The length of this due-north line, as given by 

Mason and Dixon, is 5 miles 1 chain and 50 links.

In 1961 and 1962, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey resurveyed the north-south boundary between 

Maryland and Deleware. The length of this line, from 

"Middle Point" where the boundary turns north, to the 

northeast corner of Maryland, is approximately 87 

miles. Stone markers had been established at 1-mile 

intervals by Mason and Dixon. In the resurvey of the 

81 monuments established on the tangent line, 15 were 

missing and 5 Were considered as having been displaced. These five points were more than four feet 

from a smooth curve passing through the end points 

and the new values of the intermediate points. The 

maximum displacement from a straight line is 18 feet, 

and is to the east.

, The 20 missing or displaced monuments along the 

north-south tangent line are being replaced (1975).

The east-west boundary was resurveyed in 1974. 

The 5-mile markers established in the original survey 

were recovered and accepted. The posts that had been 

set at 1-mile intervals were presumably temporary 

and were not found. The bearing of this line from the
coast to monument 10 follows the parallel of latitude. 

From monument 10 to the midpoint, the line bears a 

little north of west. The midpoint is the initial point of 

the 1961-62 survey and was held fixed. Its 1927 N.A.D. 

position is lat 38°27'35.869" N., long 75°41'38.456" W. 

(Written commun., 1974, B.K. Meade, National Geodetic 

Survey).

The boundary north of the tangent point follows an 

arc of a circle. The radius of this circle from Newcastle 

was determined to be 12 miles plus 108 feet. The five 

monuments recovered were found to be within 4 feet 

of the circle.

Engineers making the new survey consider that 

Mason and Dixon determined the alinement of the 

markers with an amazing degree of accuracy in view 

of the instruments available in the 18th century. The 

distances were consistently short by about 10 or 12 

feet per mile. This may indicate that the foot was a 

little longer than it is today. (For a description of this 

survey, see Meade, 1964, p. 33.)

The northeast corner of Maryland is at lat 39°43' 

19.521" N., long 75°47'20.172" W. (1927 N.A.D.).

The southeast corner of Delaware is at lat 38°27' 

04.082" N., long 75°03'19.185" W.

The terminal monument on the Delaware River on 

the Pennsylvania-Delaware line is at lat 39°48'27.92" 

N., long 75°25'31.53" W.

By the survey of 1849 the distance between the 

tangent point and the north end of the curve on the 

Maryland boundary is 7,743.7 feet, which would make 

the latitude of the latter point 39°40'13.47" N. The stone 

set in 1849 at this point, was thus described (Delaware 

S. Jour, for 1851, p. 102):

At the point of junction of the three States, a triangular prismatic 

post of cut granite, 18 inches wide on each side, and 7 feet long was 

inserted 4'/2 feet of its length into the ground. It occupies the exact 

spot on which the old unmarked stone was found. It is marked with 

the letters M. P. and D., on the sides facing, respectively, towards 

the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. On the north 

side, below the letter P., are the names of the commissioners, in deep 

cut letters, namely: H. G. S. Key, of Md., J. P. Eyre, of Pa., G. R. 

Riddle, of Del., Commissioners, with the date 1849.

This post is still in place, but now it is a mark on 

the boundary between Delaware and Maryland only, 

not a tri-State monument.

There was some confusion regarding the location 

of Cape Henlopen. The place chosen as the starting 

point for the south boundary line of Delaware is not 

the same as the present cape of that name. Lord 

Chancellor Hardwick said regarding its position.

that Cape Henlopen ought to be deemed * * * at the place where * * * 

laid down on the map or plan annexed to the said articles.

William Penn directed that Cape Henlopen be called 

Cape James or Jomus (Hazard, 1850, p. 606). The present 

Cape Henlopen was then called Cape Cornelis (Hazard, p. 5).

85

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MARYLAND

The foregoing statements explain the discrepancy 

between the base line across the peninsula and the 

position of Cape Henlopen on modern maps.

MARYLAND

The territory embraced in the present State of Maryland was included in the previous charters of Virginia, 

but nevertheless, in 1632, Lord Baltimore received a 

royal charter of the Province of Maryland, whose 

boundaries are defined in the following extract, translated from the original charter, which was in Latin 

(Thorpe, 1909, v. 3, p. 1678):

* * * all that part of the Peninsula, or Chersonese, lying in the Parts 

of America, between the Ocean on the East and the Bay of Chesapeake 

on the West; divided from the Residue thereof by a right line drawn 

from the Promontory, or Headland, called Watkins Point, situate upon 

the Bay aforesaid, near the River Wigloo on the West, unto the main 

Ocean on the East; and between that Boundary on the South, unto 

that part of the Bay of Delaware on the North which Heth under the 

fortieth degree of north latitude from the Equinoctial, where New 

England is terminated; And all the Tract of Land within the Metes 

underwritten (that is to say), passing from the said Bay, called Delaware Bay, in a right line, by the Degree aforesaid, unto the true 

meridian of the first fountain of the River Pattowmack; thence verging 

towards the South unto the farther Bank of the said River, and following the same on the West and South unto a certain Place called 

Cinquack, situate near the mouth of said River, where it disembogues 

into the aforesaid Bay of Chesapeake, and thence by the shortest Line 

unto the aforesaid Promontory or Place, called Watkin's Point, so that 

the whole tract of land divided, by the Line aforesaid, between the 

main Ocean and Watkin's Point unto the promontory called Cape 

Charles, * * * may entirely remain forever excepted to Us.

A comparison of the limits laid down in this charter 

with the several charters of Virginia and the charter 

and deeds to William Penn shows that there was a conflict of boundaries on both sides of the Maryland grant. 

The history of the long controversy with Pennsylvania 

has already been given. (See Pennsylvania, p. 82, and 

Delaware, p. 84.) Virginia claimed the territory under 

her charters and for a time seemed disposed to assert her claim, though in 1638 a proclamation by the 

governor and council of Virginia recognized the Province of Maryland and forbade trade with the Indians 

within the limits of Maryland without the consent of 

Lord Baltimore previously obtained (Bozman, 1837, 

p. 586). Virginia's claim was finally given up by a 

treaty or agreement made in 1658, and her relinquishment was reaffirmed in the constitution of 1776 (Thorpe, 

1909, v. 7, p. 3818).
86

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

In 1663 the Virginia Assembly ordered a survey of 

the line between Virginia and Maryland on the peninsula and declared it to be "from Watkins Point east 

across the peninsula." They defined Watkins Point "to 

be the north side of Wicomicoe River on the eastern 

shore and neere unto and on the south side of the 

straight limbe opposite to Patuxent River." (Hening, 

1821, v. 2, p. 184.)

In 1668, commissioners were appointed by Maryland and Virginia to fix the boundary across the peninsula. Their report, dated June 25, 1668, is as follows 

(Maryland Hist. Soc. Colln. State Papers, v. 4 LCB, 

p. 63-64):

Afler a full and perfect view taken of the point of land made by the 

north side of Pocomoke Bay and south side of Annamessexs Bay have 

and do conclude the same to be Watkins Point, from which said point 

so called, we have run an east line, agreeable with the extreamist 

part of the westermost angle of the said Watkins Point, over Pocomoke 

River to the land near Robert Holston's, and there have marked 

certain trees which are so continued by an east line running • over 

Swansecutes Creeke into the marsh of the seaside with - apparent 

marks and boundaries.

Virginia, by the adoption of her constitution of 1776, 

relinquished all claim to territory covered by the charter of Maryland, thereby fixing Maryland's western 

boundary as follows:

Commencing on a true- meridian of the first fountain of the river 

Pattawmack, thence verging towards the south unto the further bank 

of the said river and following the same on the west and south unto 

a certain place called Cinquack, situate near the mouth of said river 

where it disembogues into the said aforesaid bay of Chesapeake and 

thence by the shortest line unto the aforesaid promontory or place 

called Watkins Point; thence a right line to the main ocean on the east.

The boundaries thus described are substantially the 

present boundaries, but for many years after they were 

adopted they remained a matter of controversy.

In the constitution of 1776 Virginia "reserved the 

property of the Virgnia shores or strands [of Potomac 

and Pocomoke rivers] * * * ana all improvements 

which have or will be made thereon." Maryland, in 

1785, assented to this and declared (217 U.S. 579-580; 

Thorpe, 1909, v. 7, p. 3818) that

the citizens of each State * * * shall have full property on the shores 

of the Potomac * * * with all emoluments and advantages thereunto 

belonging, and with the privilege of making and carrying out wharves 

and other improvements.

In 1785 a compact (Hening, 1822, v. 13, p. 50) was 

entered into between the States of Maryland and Virginia, but as this referred more particularly to the

navigation and exercise of jurisdiction of the waters 

of Chesapeake Bay and Potomac and Pocomoke Rivers, 

it is not given here.

From 1821 to 1858 legislation was frequently enacted 

in regard to the Virginia boundary.95 In 1858 commissioners were appointed by Maryland and Virginia, 

respectively, who, with the assistance of Lt. N. Michler, 

U.S. Engineers, undertook the survey of the lines.

In 1860 the Governor of Virginia, under a resolution 

of the legislature, appointed an agent and sent him to 

England to collect records and documentary evidence 

bearing on this question, but owing to the Civil War 

nothing further was done until 1867, when legislation 

again commenced.

The question of this boundary was referred to arbitrators by an agreement made in 1874, in which 

each State bound itself to accept their award as final 

and conclusive. In 1877 the arbitrators made the following award: 96

Beginning at the point on the Potomac River where the line between 

Virginia and West Virginia strikes the said river at low-water mark, 

and thence following the meanderings of said river, by the low-water 

mark to Smith's Point, at or near the mouth of the Potomac, in the 

latitude 37°53'8", and longitude 76°13'46"; thence crossing the 

waters of the Chesapeake Bay, by a line running north 65°30' east, 

about nine and a half nautical miles, to a point on the western shore 

of Smith's Island at the north end of Sassafras Hammock, in latitude 

37°57'13", longitude 76°2'52"; thence across Smith's Island south 

88°30' east five thousand six hundred and twenty yards to the center 

of Horse Hammock, on the eastern shore of Smith's Island, in latitude 

37°57'8", longitude 75°59'20"; thence south 79°30' east four thousand- eight hundred and eighty yards to a point marked A on the 

accompanying map, in the middle of Tangier Sound, in latitude 

37°56'42", longitude 75°56'23", said point bearing from Janes Island 

light south 54° west, and distant from that light three thousand five 

hundred and sixy yards; hence south 10°30' west four thousand 

seven hundred and forty yards by a line dividing the -waters of 

Tangier Sound, to a point where it intersects the straight line from 

Smith's Point to Watkins Point, said point of intersection being in 

latitude 37°54'21", longiude 75°56'55", bearing from Janes Island 

light south 29° west and from Horse Hammock south 34°30' east; this 

point of intersection is marked B on the accompanying map. Thence 

north 85° 15' east six thousand seven hundred and twenty yards along 

the line above mentioned, which runs from Smith's Point to Watkins 

Point until it reaches the latter spot, namely, Watkins Point, which 

is in latitude 37°54'38", longitude 75°52'44"; from Watkins Point the 

boundary line runs due east seven thousand eight hundred and eighty 

yards, to a point where it meets a line running through the middle of 

Pocomoke Sound, which is marked C on the accompanying map, and 

is in latitude 37°54'38", longitude 75°47'50"; thence by a line 

dividing the waters of Pocomoke Sound north 47° 30' east five thousand two hundred and twenty yards, to a point in said sound marked 

D on the accompanying map, in latitude 37°56'25", longitude 

75°45'26"; thence following the middle of the Pocomoke River by a 

line of irregular curves, as laid down on the accompanying map, until 

it intersects the westward protraction of the boundary line marked by

fls See report of C. I. Faulkner (commissioner for Virginia), relative to 

the boundary lines between Virginia and Maryland, published in Doc. 1, 

House of Delegates of Viginia, 1832, p. 73.

00 20 Stat. L. 481-482. In the original report the degrees of latitude and 

longitude are given in words; they are here put in figures for convenient 

reference.
Scarborough and Calvert, May 28th, 1668, at a point in the middle 

of the Pocomoke River, and in the latitude 37°59'37", longitude 

75°37'4"; thence by the Scarborough and Calvert line, which runs 

5° 15' north of east, to the Atlantic Ocean: the latitudes, longitudes, 

courses, and distances here given have been measured upon the Coast 

Chart No. 33 of the United States Coast Survey (sheet No. 3, Chesapeake Bay). 07

The middle thread of the Pocomoke River is equidistant as nearly 

as may be between the two shores without considering arms, inlets, 

creeks, or affluents as parts of the river, but measuring the shore from 

headland to headland.

* * The low water mark on the Potomac to which Virginia has a 

right in the soil, is to be measured by the same rule.

In 1972, the States of Maryland and Virginia agreed 

to a more exact definition of their boundary in the 

area of Pocomoke Sound. Beginning at point D, mentioned above, the line continues by course and distance 

to the Scarborough and Calvert boundary.

The following definition of this portion of the boundary is taken from the Code of Virginia, Title 7.1, Section 7.

Beginning at a point which is corner D defined by latitude 

37°56'28.00" and longitude 75°45'43.56"; which is the last point on 

the Maryland-Virginia line that was defined by the 'joint report of 

engineers on relocating and remarking Maryland-Virginia boundary 

line across Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds December 1916'; thence 

running N 73°34'31.9"E about 17,125.11 feet to corner H a point 

defined by latitude 37°57'15.82" and longitude 75°42'18.48"; thence 

running N 85°39'33.9"E about 3,785.82 feet to comer J a point defined 

by latitude 37°57'18.65" and longitude 75°41'31.25"; thence running 

S 74°16'00.8"E about 7,278.41 feet to comer K a point defined by 

latitude 37°56'59.13" and longitude 75°40'03.89"; thence running 

S 61°57'55.7"E about 3,664.73 feet to corner L a point defined by 

latitude 37°56'42.10" and longitude 75°39'23.51"; thence running 

N 76°15'24.5"E about 2,263.49 feet to corner M a point defined by 

latitude 37°56'47.65" and longitude 75°38'54.85"; thence running 

N 00°49'51.5"W about 7,178.56 feet to corner N a point defined by 

latitude 37°57'58.61" and longitude 75°38'56.15"; thence northeasterly about 3Va miles following the middle thread of the meandering Pocomoke river to corner P a point defined by latitude 

37°59'39.37" and longitude 75°37'26.52", which is at or near the 

point of intersection with the "Scarborough and Calvert boundary 

line of May 28, 1668'; corners N and P are connected by a line running N 35°08'33.5"E about 12,465.32 feet; thence N 83°45'59.9"E 

about 24,156.95 feet to the boundary monument near triangulation 

station Davis on the 'Scarborough and Calvert boundary line of May 

28, 1668.' Geographic positions are based on 1927 datum.

The agreement also defines the mutual seaward 

boundary as running from trianglation station Boundary Monument Pope Island Life Saving Station (Md.- 

Va.) 1907. The position of this monument is lat 38°01'- 

36.93" N., long 75°14'47.10" W., 1927 N.A.D. The line 

runs on a bearing of N. 84°05'43.5" E. 1,100 feet to 

station Atlantic at the shoreline. Station Atlantic is an 

unmonumented point. Thence it continues on a line of 

constant latitude to the outer limit of territorial waters. 

The consent of Congress to this boundary delineation 

was given October 25, 1972 (86 Stat 1180).

87

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MARYLAND

The original charter to Lord Baltimore embraced the 

Potomac River to high-water mark on the south or Virginia shore (174 U.S. 225) but the arbitrators of 1877 

changed the boundary to the low-water line, giving as 

their reason for doing so the long occupation by Virginia of the land above that line; they declared that 

"the length of time that raises a right of prescription 

in private parties likewise raises such a presumption 

in favor of States as well as private parties," 9S and 

that "Virginia, from the earliest period of her history, 

used the south bank of the Potomac as if the soil to 

low-water mark had been her own" (217 U.S. 580). The 

award of the arbitrators was accepted by the legislatures of the two States and was approved by act of 

Congress March 3, 1879 (20 Stat. L. 481).

In 1879 and 1880 acts were passed by the Legislatures of Maryland and Virginia to appoint commissioners and to request the general government to designate 

one or more officers of the Engineer Corps to survey and 

mark this line and erect monuments thereon, but little of 

permanent value seems to have been accomplished. 

(Whiting, 1891, p. 621-623.)

In 1927 the Governors of Maryland and Virginia directed the State geologists to examine the west shore 

of the Potomac and to recommend points (headlands) 

between which straight lines should be drawn for the 

boundary. Their report," submitted December 21, 1927, 

contains six maps on which are indicated by red lines 

the position recommended. The location of the boundary line as thus indicated was accepted by Virginia 

act approved March 26, 1928 (chap. 477) and by Maryland act of March 8, 1929 (chap. 50), and appropriations were made by each State for the surveying and 

marking of the line.

Commissioners were appointed by the States of 

Maryland and Virginia in 1916

to mark and maintain with buoys placed at intervals of not more than 

one mile apart the line between the waters of the State of Maryland 

and the waters of the State of Virginia, from Cedar Straights in Pooomoke Sound ot Williams Point in Pocomoke River.

Their report, with descriptions of marks established 

and some historical matter, was published in Baltimore in 1917.

97 Three copies of this chart were prepared, one for each of the two 

States and one for the files of the Coast and Geodetic Survey: they show 

by red lines the boundary eastward from Smith's Point and the line up 

the Potomac for 18 miles. (See Whiting, 1891, p. 621-623.)

68 Title to United States or State land cannot be acquired by adverse 

possession, even though long continued. The statute of limitations does 

not hold against the United States or a State where possession of land is 

concerned. 39 Fed. 654; 95 Pac. 278.

90 Mathews and Nelson (1928). This report contains historical references 

to the boundary disputes betweeri 1668 and 1889 and acts of Virginia and 

of Maryland relating to boundaries.
BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

The line across Chesapeake Bay from Smiths Island 

to Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds by way of Watkins 

Point was marked by buoys anchored to 1,000-pound 

masses of concrete.

Commissioners appointed in 1859 by Virginia and 

Maryland surveyed a line for the western boundary 

of Maryland from the "Fairfax Stone" (see p. 94), at 

the "first fountain" of the Potomac, north to the Pennsylvania line. This survey was accepted by Maryland 

but not by Virginia, nor was it accepted by West Virginia when made a State. An area of about 40 square 

miles remained in dispute until 1910, when commissioners appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court and acting under its direction resurveyed the line and placed 

the initial point, which thereby became the southwest 

corner of Maryland, on the south bank of the North 

Branch of Potomac River, 3,989 feet from the Fairfax 

Stone on a line N. 0°56' E. from it. From that point 

(monument 1) the line

crosses the said North Branch of the Potomac, and thence running 

northerly, as near as may be, with the Deakins or old State line of the 

State of Pennsylvania.

The "Deakins line" followed the boundaries of old 

land grants made by Maryland and Virginia and, reestablished in 1910 by the commissioners, is a broken 

line with a general bearing a little east of north. There 

are five offsets in the line, which run nearly east and 

west and range in length from 54 to 971 feet. A large 

concrete monument was erected at each angle and 

many at intermediate points, 60 in all, on the line, which 

is nearly 36 miles long.

The following quotation from the report, dated October 31, 1911, of the commissioners to the Supreme 

Court of the United States, which was confirmed by 

the court May 27, 1912 (225 U.S. 31), shows how boundary lines are often determined 1 (see fig. 20):

a large anciently marked white oak tree. * * * This tree was 

cut and blocks were taken out by your commissioners which showed 

surveyors' axe marks in the wood; one 130 years old, one 117 years, 

and the last 78 years, thus indisputably establishing this course as 

following the oldest marked line extant.

Fairfax Stone is lat 39 0 H'41.62" N., long 77°29' 

15.31" W. Monument 1 is in lat 39°12'21.14" N., long 

79°29'14.48" W., and the monument on the MasonDixon line is lat 39°42'15.68" N., long 79°28'37.53" W. 

These positions are referred to the 1927 N.A.D.

From monument 1 the boundary between Maryland 

and West Virginia extends along the south bank of the 

North Branch of the Potomac to the Virginia and West 

Virginia State line.

A chronological outline of events relating to Maryland boundaries is given in "Maryland Boundary Disputes" by Charles Morrison.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

On September 5, 1774, the Continental Congress met 

at Philadelphia. Two years later it adjourned to Baltimore, During the Revolution and subsequent to the 

treaty of peace, it met in various places. (See p. 167.) 

After the end of the war there was much debate 

in regard to the location of a permanent seat of the 

Government of the United States. Several States made 

propositions to Congress, offering to cede certain lands 

for the purpose, but no determination of the location 

was made by Congress until 1790. 2

On December 23, 1788, Maryland passed the following act:

lie it enacted !>!/ the general a-xxcmltly of Maryland, That the

representatives of this State in the House of Representatives of the 

Congress of the United States, appointed to assemble at New York 

on the first Wednesday of March next, be, and they are hereby, 

authorized and required on the behalf of this State to cede to the 

Congress of the United States any district in this State, not exceeding 

ten miles square, which the Congress may fix upon and accept for 

the seat of government of the United States.

In the following year (Dec. 3, 1789) the State of Virginia passed a similar act, from which the following is 

an extract:

lie it therefore enacted 1>1> tJic general usscnMy, That a tract 

of country not exceeding ten miles square or any lesser quantity, to 

be located within the limits of the State and in any part thereof as 

Congress may by law direct, shall be, and the same is hereby, forever 

ceded and relinquished to the Congress and Government of the United 

States, in full and absolute right and exclusive jurisdiction, as well of 

said soil as of persons residing or to reside thereon, pursuant to the 

tenor and effect of the eighth section of the 1st article of the Constitution of the Government of the United States.

After long discussion Congress, in view of these 

cessions by Maryland and Virginia, passed an act, 

approved July 16, 1790, from which the following is 

an extract (1 Stat. L. 130):

That a district of territory, not exceeding ten miles square, to be 

located as hereafter directed on the river Potomac, at some place 

between the mouths of the Eastern Branch and Connogochegue, be, 

and the same is hereby, accepted for the permanent seat of the government of the United States: Provided, nevertheless, That the 

operation of the laws of the State within such district shall not be 

affected by this acceptance until the time fixed for the removal of the 

Government thereto, and until Congress shall otherwise by law provide. * * * three commissioners, who, or any two of whom, shall,

1 225 U.S. 3. Also, the National Geographic Magazine for December 1929 

describes in considerable detail the method for determining dates from 

the count of the annual growth of tree rings.

2 For reference to the discussions which resulted in selecting the site 

on the Potomac, see Bryan (1914, v. 1, chap. 1). For a historical sketch 

of the area now included in the District of Columbia, see U.S. Gong. 

(1901).
BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES OQ 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA w ^

FIGURE 20. Section of a tree that had been

used a boundary mark. Tree blazed October 20, 1873; section cut

July 20, 1909.
90

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

under the direction of the President, survey, and by proper metes and 

bounds define and limit, a district of territory, under the limitations 

above mentioned; and the district so defined, limited, and located shall 

be deemed the district accepted by this act for the permanent seat of 

the Government of the United States. * * * That on the first Monday 

in December, in the year 1800, the seat of the Government of the 

United States shall, by virtue of this act, be transferred to the district and place aforesaid.

In 1791 the foregoing act was amended, in order to 

include a portion of the Anacostia River ("Eastern 

Branch") and the town of Alexandria within the limits 

of the District. The following is an extract from the act 

of amendment, approved March 3, 1791 (1 Stat. L. 214):

* * * That so much of the act entitled "An act for establishing the 

temporary and permanent seat of the government of the United States" 

as requires that the whole of the district of territory, not exceeding 

ten miles square, to be located on the river Potomac for the permanent 

seat of the government of the United States, shall be located above 

the mouth of the Eastern Branch, be, and is hereby, repealed, and that 

it shall be lawful for the President to make any part of the territory 

below the said limit and above the mouth of Hunting Creek, a part of 

the said district, so as to include a convenient part of the Eastern 

Branch, and of the lands lying on the lower side thereof, and also the 

town of Alexandria; and the territory so to be included shall form a 

part of the district not exceeding ten miles square for the permanent 

seat of the government of the United States, in like manner and to all 

intents and purposes as if the same had been within the purview of 

the above recited act: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall 

authorize the erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the 

Maryland side of the river Potomac, as required by the aforesaid act.

In pursuance of the acts above cited, three commissioners were appointed under whose direction surveys 

of the territory were to be made, and on March 30, 

1791, President Washington issued a proclamation, in 

which the bounds of the District were defined as follows (Bryan, 1914, p. 120, 132, 133):

Beginning at Jones's Point, being the upper cape of Hunting Creek, 

in Virginia, and at an angle in the outset of 45 degrees west of the 

north, and running in a direct line 10 miles for the first line; then 

beginning again at the same Jones's Point and running another direct 

line at a right angle with the first across the Potomac, 10 miles for a 

second line; then, from the termination of the said first and second 

lines, running two other direct lines, of ten miles each, the one crossing the Eastern Branch aforesaid, and the other the Potomac, and 

meeting each other in a point.

In 1800 Congress removed to this District. In 1801 the 

District was divided into two counties, as follows (2 

Stat. L. 105):

* * * the said district of Columbia shall be formed into two counties; 

one county shall contain all that part of said district which lies on the 

east side of the river Potomac, together with the islands therein, and 

shall be called the county of Washington; the other county shall contain all that part of said district which lies on the west side of said 

river, and shall be called the county of Alexandria; and the said river, 

in its whole course through said district, shall be taken and deemed 

to all intents and purposes to be within both of said counties.

In 1846 Congress passed an act providing for the 

retrocession to Virginia of that part of the District of 

Columbia originally ceded to the United States by Virginia. The following is an extract from this act (9 Stat. 

L. 35-36):

That with assent of the people of the county and town of Alexandria, 

to be ascertained as hereinafter prescribed, all of that portion of the 

District of Columbia ceded to the United States by the State of Virginia, 

and all the rights and jurisdiction therewith ceded over the same, be, 

and the same are, hereby ceded and forever relinquished to the State 

of Virginia in full and absolute right and jurisdiction, as well of soil 

as of persons residing or to reside thereon.

The method prescribed for ascertaining the assent 

of the people of Alexandria was by oral vote of free 

white male citizens, to be taken before five commissioners appointed by the President.

There were 763 votes cast in favor of recession and 

222 against it. The President, therefore, by proclamation 

dated September 7, 1846 (9 Stat. L. 1000), declared the 

act "in full force and effect." The southwestern boundary of the District of Columbia thus became coincident 

with that part of the boundary of Maryland prior to 

December 23, 1788, regarding which the U.S. Supreme 

Court stated (174 U.S. 225)

that upon all the evidence, the charter granted to Lord Baltimore, by 

Charles I, in 1632, of the territory known as the Province of Maryland, 

embraced the Potomac River and the soil under it, and the islands 

therein, to highwater mark on the southern or Virginia shore; * * 

nor was such grant effected by the subsequent grant to Lord Culpepper.

Congress in the act (20 Stat. L. 481) approving the 

award of the arbitrators of 1877 for Maryland and Virginia provided that nothing therein contained "shall 

be construed to impair or in any manner affect any 

rights of jurisdiction of the United States in and over 

the islands and waters" of the Potomac,

Below are given extracts from an opinion by the 

Attorney General dated January 16, 1912, relating to 

the high-water line on the south bank of the Potomac 

as the boundary line between the District of Columbia 

and Virginia.

In the Potomac River there is a high-water line due to freshets at 

13 feet above mean low tide. There is a high-tide line not influenced 

by freshets or caused by high winds at 8.8 feet above mean low tide. 

There is a mean high tide at about 5 feet above mean low water, and 

that is the elevation along which drift, trash, etc., remain as an indication; and there is a mean tide line at 3 feet above low water.

High-water mark in a river or stream is "the point to which the 

water usually rises in an ordinary season of high water" (Johnson V. 

Knott, 13 Oreg. 308).

"High-water mark is to be determined not from human records but 

from the records which the river makes for itself," and the true line 

is "that which the river impressed upon the soil as the limit of its 

dominion" (Houghton v The Chicago D.&M.R. Co.: 47 Iowa, 370-373).
"High-water mark is coordinate with the limit of the bed of the 

water; and that only is to be considered the bed which the water 

occupies sufficiently long and continuously to wrest it from vegetation 

and destroy its value for agricultural purposes" (Carpenter v. Board 

of Commrs. Hennepin County: 56 Minn. 513).

Farnham (Waters and water rights, v. 2, p. 1461), gives the following 

as to high-water mark:

"But the definition which best meets all requirements of the case 

and which has in fact been adopted by the weight of authority is that 

'high-water mark is the point below which the pressure and action 

of the water are so common and usual and so long continued in all 

ordinary years as to make upon the soil a character distinct from that 

of the banks with respect to vegetation as well as with respect to 

the soil itself.' " "

If the mean high tides at the 5-foot elevation above low-water mark 

appear to be the most usual line> reached under all ordinary circumstances when the river is undisturbed either by freshets, unusual 

winds, and high tides, or unaffected by droughts, which condition is 

usually evidenced by drifts and other deposits, and to which line the 

rise is most constant, the pressure and action of the water upon the 

soil making the line more definite than at any other point, then the 

5-foot mean high-tide line established by the action of the water 

above mean low water is legally the high-water mark or high-tide 

line, and consequently the boundary line.

In a Supreme Court decision rendered November 7, 

1921, 4 involving the question whether the boundary between the District of Columbia and Virginia runs from 

"headland to headland," as the Mary land-Virginia 

boundary does, or follows the meanderings of the river, 

the latter course was accepted. The court also decided 

that the United States is entitled to the possession of 

land in the District that has been reclaimed by filling 

in below low-water line on the Virginia side. Jurisdiction 

and sovereignty over the tract in dispute in this case, 

comprising an area of 46.57 acres adjoining Alexandria, 

were transferred to Virginia by United States act approved February 23, 1927 (44 Stat. L., pt. 2, p. 1176).

The District Court of Appeals, in a decision rendered 

November 6, 1922, recognized the claim that high-water 

mark on the south bank of the Potomac is the boundary between the District of Columbia and Virginia. 

This location of the boundary was reaffirmed by the 

U.S. Supreme Court May 4, 1931 (283 U.S. 348).

The high-water line on the Virginia side of the 

Potomac was determined by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1947. Monuments were established by 

triangulation, and the mean high-water line was tied 

into these. The elevation of this line was 1.86 feet for 

stations 5 through 14. The boundary crosses the mouths 

of all tributaries affected by tides. From the intersection of the high-water line and and the centerline of 

Second Street in Alexandria, extended, the boundary 

follows the established pierhead line to the corner 

common to the District, Maryland, and Virginia (59 

Stat 552).

91

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

The District of Columbia was planned to be exactly 

10 miles square, but it has been found that the northeast side measures 263.1 feet and the southeast side 

70.5 feet more than 10 miles. The lines do not bear 

exactly 45° from the meridian, but the greatest variation is only ! 3/4 feet (Baker, 1894, p. 149-165). The 

entire boundary of the District of Columbia was surveyed in 1791 and was marked with sandstone mileposts in 1792. These posts, except those at the four 

corners, were numbered from 1 to 9, counting clockwise, for each of the four boundary lines (Shuster, 1909, 

v. 20, p. 356).

In 1915-1921 each of the original boundary stones 

was surrounded by an iron fence, erected by the District of Columbia and Virginia chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

By a bill approved March 3, 1903 (32 Stat. L. 961) 

funds were provided for additional marks on the District of Columbia-Maryland boundary line, to be placed 

at road crossings and at other prominent points. The 

work was completed the same year, but without the 

formal cooperation of any Maryland representative. 

The new marks are of cut granite, 6 inches square on 

top, and project 12 inches above ground.

The latitudes and longitudes of the north, east, and 

south cornerstones of the District of Columbia are as 

follows:

Lattitude (N.) Longitude (W.)

North corner ________________ 38°59'45.04" 77°02'28.63"

East corner _______________ 38°53'33.90" 76°54'34.10"

South corner ______________ 38°47'24.80'" 77°02'27.19"

These positions are on 1927 North American Datum.

The south corner stone at Jones Point, below Alexandria, which was the first one established, was set 

with appropriate ceremonies April 15, 1791.

By act of February 21, 1871 (16 Stat. L. 419), the 

entire area within the boundary of the District was 

made a distinct government with the title of the District 

of Columbia and constituted a "body corporate for 

municipal purposes." s

The initial point of several of the original land grants 

upon which the city of Washington is founded was a 

mark on a large rock commonly called the "Key of 

all keys," which was then at the edge of the Pbtomac 

River. According to tradition, Braddock's army landed

3 The following cases are in harmony with the authorises quoted above: 

Howard v. Ingersoll, 13 Howard, 415-423; Shively V. Bowlby, 152 U.S. 12.

4 Marine Railway and Coal Co. v. United States of America: 257 U.S. 47.

5 See 174 U.S. 196-590 for land history of the area covered by the District of Columbia from the time of the King's grant to Lord Baltimore, 

June 20, 1632; includes reproductions of several old maps. This case gives 

many references to former decisions relating to riparian rights.
92

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

at this place on its way to Fort Duquesne. This rock 

has been covered with dirt and the river bed filled in 

so that the concrete pier and tablet established in 1910 

over the mark are now more than 1,000 feet from the 

river's edge. The new mark is in the Naval Hospital 

grounds about 300 feet west from the corner of Twentythird Street and Constitution Avenue, NW.

The zero milestone, from which public highways of 

the United States are supposed to radiate, authorized 

by joint resolution of Congress June 5, 1920 (41 Stat. 

L. 1062), and dedicated June 4, 1923, is a granite pier 

24 by 24 inches in section, mounted on a concrete 

base and projecting 4 feet above ground, standing on 

the north edge of the Ellipse, 900 feet south of the White 

House, in lat 38°53'41.99" N., long 77°02'12.66" W. 

The tablet in the base is 28.65 feet above mean sea 

level.

VIRGINIA"

In 1606 King James I of England granted the "first 

charter" of Virginia. The boundaries therein described 

are as follows (Thorpe, 1909, v. 7, p. 3783):

.* situate, lying, or being all along the Sea Coasts, between four 

and thirty degrees of Northerly Latitude from the Equinoctial Line 

and five and forty degrees of the same Latitude, and in the main 

Land between the same four and thirty and five and forty Degrees 

and the Islands thereunto adjacent, or within one hundred miles of 

the coast thereof.

In 1609 a new charter was granted, called the 

"second charter" of Virginia, which defines the boundaries in the following terms (see fig. 21) (Thorpe, 1909, 

v. 7, p. 3795):

* situate, lying, being in that part of America, called Virginia, 

from the point of Land, called Cape or Point Comfort, all along the 

S'ea Coast to the Northward, two hundred miles, and from the said 

point of (Jape Comfort, all along the Sea Coast to the Southward, two 

hundred Miles, and all that Space and Circuit of Land, lying from the 

Sea Coast of the Precinct aforesaid, up into the Land, throughout from 

Sea to Sea, West and Northwest; And also all the Islands lying within 

one hundred Miles along the Coast of both Seas of the Precinct aforesaid.

In 1611-12 the "third charter" of Virginia was 

granted, which was an enlargement of the second. It 

gave the following territory (Thorpe, 1909, v. 7, p. 3804):

* all and singular those Islands whatsoever, situate and being in 

any Part of the Ocean Seas bordering upon the Coast of our said first 

Colony in Virginia, and being within three Hundred Leagues of any 

of the Parts heretofore granted to the said Treasurer and Company 

in our former Letters Patent as aforesaid, and being within or between 

the one-and-fortieth and thirtieth Degrees of Northerly Latitude.

c "The Commonwealth of Virginia" is the full legal name for this State'. 

For a brief history ,of cessions to Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia and 

of boundary-line surveys between them from 1606 to 1821, see Haywood 

(1891, p. 15-37). For reference to old Virginia charters, abstracts of boundary descriptions, and descriptions of bounday marks, see Code of Virginia (1919, v. 1, p. 10-22, Richmond).

an" tf>e e 3O f/6/H2 'nc'ut%~lana'*"*'52 

Islands an"\ th*£latitude 3O

1° TTe TC*

300 MILES

100 200____300 KILOMETRE:

FIGURE 21.— 

Historical diagram 

of Virginia.
The charter of 1609 gave Virginia a strip of land 

bordering on the coast for 200 miles northward from 

Point Comfort and for the same distance southward 

and extending inland west and northwest to the South 

Sea.7 A point 200 miles, due north of Point Comfort 

would fall in lat 39°54' N., or about 13 miles north of 

the present south boundary of Pennsylvania. An irregular line 200 miles long, measured along the coast from 

Point Comfort, would reach about as far north as the 

Pennsylvania boundary. A point 200 miles due south 

from Point Comfort would fall in lat 34°06' N. The 

territory included within these boundaries comprised, 

wholly or in part, the present States of Pennsylvania, 

New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and 

South Carolina and the vast region stretching west and 

northwest to the Pacific Ocean.

The area covered by the charter of 1611-12 included 

the Bermuda Islands.

In 1625 the colony was changed to a royal province, 

the three charters having been canceled by judgment 

of the Court of Kings Bench in the preceding year 

(Donaldson, 1884, p. 33), but Virginia still claimed the 

boundaries fixed by the charters.

The description "west and northwest" left the northern boundary of the colony poorly defined, but it was 

more definitely fixed when reductions in area were 

made by the charters to> Maryland in 1632 and to Pennsylvania in 1681. The Connecticut charter of 1662 practically made the parallel of 41° the northern boundary. 

(See p. 72.) The charters of Carolina in 1663 and 1665 

changed the southern boundary to its present statute 

position.

The area of Virginia was still further reduced by the 

French treaty of 1763, which made the Mississippi River 

the west boundary, by the cession to the United States 

of the territory northwest of the Ohio River in 1784, by 

the admission of Kentucky as an independent State 

in 1792, by the division in 1863 when the new State of 

West Virginia was created and admitted to the Union, 

and finally by the transfer of two counties to West 

Virginia in 1866. (See fig. 21.)

By the constitution of 1776 Virginia formally gave 

up all claim to the territory now appertaining to the 

neighboring States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, North 

Carolina, and South Carolina, as is seen by the following extract:

The territories contained within the Charters erecting the Colonies 

of Maryland, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina are hereby 

ceded, released, and forever confirmed, to the people of these Colonies, 

respectively, with all the rights of property, jurisdiction, and government, and all the rights whatsoever, which might at any time heretofore, have been claimed by Virginia, except the free navigation and 

use of the rivers Patomaque and Pokomoke, with the property of the

93

7 Mar del Sur (South Sea) was the name given to the Pacific Ocean 

by Balboa, in 1513, when he first saw it at a place where the shoreline 

runs nearly east and west.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

VIRGINIA

Virginia shores and strands, bordering on either of said rivers, and 

all improvements, which have been or shall be made thereon. The 

western and northern extent of Virginia shall, in all other respects, 

stand as fixed by the charter of King James I, in the year one thousand 

six hundred and nine, and by the public treaty of peace between the 

Courts of Britain and France in the year one thousand seven hundred 

and sixty-three; unless by act of this Legislature one or more governments be established westwards of the Allegheny mountains.

In the meantime grants of territory had been made 

within the present limits of Virginia and West Virginia, 

which caused great dissatisfaction to the people of the 

Virginia Colony and which ultimately had an important 

bearing in setting the divisional line between Maryland and Virignia.

In the twenty-first year of Charles II (1670) a grant 

was made to Lord Hopton and others of what is still 

called "the northern neck of Virginia," which was sold 

by the other patentees to Lord Culpepper and confirmed 

to him by letters patent in the fourth year of James II 

(1689). This grant carried with it nothing but the right 

of soil and incidents of ownership, it being expressly 

subjected to the jurisdiction of the Government of Virginia. The tract of land thereby granted was "bounded 

by and within the heads of the rivers Tappahannock, 

alias Rappahannock, and Quiriough, alias Potowmack." On the death of Lord Culpeper this proprietary 

tract descended to Lord Fairfax, who had married Lord 

Culpepper's only daughter.

As early as 1729 difficulties arose from conflicting 

grants made by Lord Fairfax and the Crown. In 1730 

Virginia petitioned the King, reciting that the head 

springs of Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers were 

not known and praying that such measures might be 

taken that they might be ascertained to the satisfaction 

of all parties. In 1733 Lord Fairfax made a similar 

petition, asking that a commission might be appointed 

to ascertain, survey, and mark the true boundaries of 

his grant. An order was accordingly issued, and in 

1736 three commissioners were appointed on the part 

of the Crown and three on the part of Lord Fairfax. 

These commissioners were to ascertain by actual examination and survey the respective fountains of 

Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. This survey was 

made in 1736. The report of the commissioners was 

referred to the council for plantation affairs in 1738, who 

reported their decision as follows:

* * * The said boundary ought to begin at the first spring of the 

south branch of the river Rappahannock, and that the said boundary 

be from thence drawn in a straight line northwest to the place in the
94

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Alleghany Mountains where that part of the Potomac River, which is 

now called Cohongoroota, first rises.

This report was confirmed by the King, and other 

commissioners were appointed to survey and mark 

the dividing line. The line was run in 1746. On October 

17, 1746, the commissioners planted the Fairfax Stone 

at the spot which had been described and marked by 

the preceding commissioners as the true headspring 

of the Potomac and which, notwithstanding much controversy, has continued to be so regarded from that 

period to the present time. Besides limiting the Fairfax tract, this location was of greater importance as 

marking the southern point of the western boundary 

of Maryland.

A description of the original Fairfax Stone, as it 

appeared in 1859, was given in a report by Lieutenant 

Michler, as follows:

It consists of a rough piece of sandstone, indifferent and friable, 

planted to the depth of a few feet in the ground and rising a foot or 

more above the surface; shapeless in form, it would scarce attract 

the attention of the passer by. The finding of it was without difficulty, 

and its recognition and identification by the inscription now almost 

obliterated by the corroding action of water and air.

When the commissioners for the Maryland-West 

Virginia boundary visited this locality in 1910, no trace 

of the original mark was found, although the mark set 

by Lieutenant Michler was readily identified. A large 

concrete monument was then built at this point. 8 As 

stated on page 88, these commissioners placed the 

monument marking the southwest comer of Maryland 

on the south bank of the North Branch of the Potomac, 

nearly 4,000 feet north of the Fairfax Stone.

This tract of land was held by Lord Fairfax and his 

descendants for many years, but subsequent to the 

Revolution the quitrents and similar charges were 

abolished, and it became in all respects subject to the 

jurisdiction of Virginia.

For the history and description of the boundary line 

between Virginia and Maryland see pages 86—88; 

and for the line between Virginia and West Virginia, 

see page 95.

Kentucky formed originally a part of the county of 

Fincastle, Va. In 1776 this county was divided into 

three counties, the westernmost of which was called 

Kentucky County, and its eastern boundary was declared to be as follows (Hening, 1821, v. 9, p. 257):

8 For report of the commissioners, including description and position of 

each of the 34 monuments, see 225 U.S. 2-30. For references concerning 

Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia boundaries, see 217 U.S. 1-47.

A line beginning on the Ohio, at the mouth of Great Sandy Creek, 

and running up the same and the main or northeasterly branch thereof 

to the Great Laurel Ridge or Cumberland. Mountains; thence southwesterly along the said mountain to the line of North Carolina.

Kentucky having been admitted into the Union June 

1, 1792, commissioners were appointed in 1798 by Virginia and Kentucky to fix the boundary. In 1799-1800 

the commissioners' report was made and ratified by 

the States. It was as follows (Shephard, v. 2, p. 234):

To begin at the point where the Carolina, now Tennessee, line 

crosses the top of the Cumberland mountains, near Cumberland Gap, 

thence northeastwardly along the top or highest part of the said 

Cumberland mountain, keeping between the headwaters of Cumberland and Kentucky rivers, on the west side thereof, and the headwaters of Powell's and Guest's rivers, and the Pound fork of Sandy, 

on the east side thereof, continuing along the said top, or highest 

part of said mountain, crossing the road leading over the same at the 

Little Paint Gap, where by some it is called the Hollow mountain and 

where it terminates at the West Fork of S'andy, commonly called 

Russell's fork, thence with a line to be run north 45° east till it 

intersects the other great principal branch of Sandy, commonly called 

the northeastwardly branch, thence down the said northeastwardly 

branch to its junction with the main west branch and down Main 

Sandy to its confluence with the Ohio.

It will be seen that the northern part of this line is 

the present line between West Virginia and Kentucky.

The exact location of the boundary along "Great 

Sandy Creek" and its "northeasterly branch" (now 

called the Big Sandy River and the Tug Fork) is somewhat in doubt. The best evidence as to its proper position thus far found is that indicated on Bishop James 

Madison's map of Virginia, dated 1807, where it is 

shown as being on the west bank of both streams. This 

evidence is in a measure confirmed by a clause in the 

West Virginia State constitution of 1872, which is as 

follows:

The State of West Virginia includes the bed, bank and shores of 

the Ohio river, and so much of the Big Sandy river as was formerly 

included in the commonwealth of Virginia.

Virginia at one time owned the entire area of Kentucky and claimed territory north of the Ohio. Many 

court decisions have fixed the low-water line on the 

north bank of the Ohio as the boundary resulting from 

this claim. It therefore seems reasonable to assume 

that the Kentucky boundary should be so1 placed as to 

exclude the bed and shores to low-water mark on the 

west side of the two streams.

For the history of the settlement of the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina, see North Carolina, 

pages 96-98.

In 1779 Virginia and North Carolina appointed commissioners to run the boundary line between the two 

States west of the Allegheny Mountains, on the parallel 

of 36° 30'. The commissioners were unable to agree on 

the location of the parallel; they therefore ran two 

parallel lines 2 miles apart, the northern known as 

Henderson's line and claimed by North Carolina, the
southern known as Walker's line and claimed by 

Virginia. In the year 1789 North Carolina ceded to the 

United States all territory west of her present boundaries, and as Tennessee was formed from the ceded 

territory, this question became one between Virginia 

and Tennessee.

Commissioners appointed by Virginia and Tennessee 

to establish the boundary adopted a compromise line. 

Their report was made in 1803 and was as follows 

(Haywood, 1823, p. 9; 1891, p. 487-497):

A due west line equally distant from both Walker's and Menderson's, beginning on the summit of the mountain generally known as 

White Top mountain, where the northeast corner of Tennessee terminates, to the top of the Cumberland Mountain, where the southwestern corner of Virginia terminates.

This line, which is about a mile north of the Walker 

line, was marked on trees by five notches arranged in 

the form of a diamond and is often called the "diamond 

line." It was adopted by the legislatures of both States 

in 1803.

In 1871 Virginia passed an act for appointing commissioners to readjust this line. Tennessee the following 

year passed an emphatic resolution refusing to reopen 

the question regarding a boundary which she considered "fixed and established beyond dispute forever" (Tennessee H. Jour, for Mar. 23, 1872, p. 71).

In 1889 Virginia took the matter to the Supreme 

Court of the United States, which in 1893 decreed that 

the line as surveyed and marked in 1803 is the true 

boundary.9

Until 1784 Virginia exercised jurisdiction over a 

large tract of country northwest of the Ohio River, but 

by a deed executed March 1, 1784, she ceded to the 

United States all that territory, thus making the northern part of her western boundary the north and northwest bank of the Ohio.

On December 31, 1862, the State of Virginia was 

divided, and 48 counties, composing the western part 

of the State, were made the new State of West Virginia. By an act of Congress in 1866, consent was given 

to the transfer of two additional counties from Virginia 

to West Virginia.

The Legislatures of Virginia in 1873 and West Virginia in 1877 authorized the appointment of commissions for "ascertaining and locating" the boundary between the two States wherever it was in dispute. Commissions were appointed, and an officer from the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers was detailed to aid in the 

work. So far as can be learned, the survey and marking of this boundary were never undertaken, and its 

location can be found only by following the old county

95

9 See 148 U.S. 528. For historical description and plat of the line, consult records of the court for the October term, 1891; for geographic positions on the line, see p. 111 . For report of commissioners who surveyed 

the line in 1901-2, see 190 U.S. 64. For original maps of thie survey, see 

register 2634 of the archives of the Supreme Court. For reference to the 

Bristol cession, see p. 110.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

WEST VIRGINIA

lines, descriptions of which are given in the Virginia 

statutes. (See West Virginia, p. 96.)

References to the statutes by which the counties of 

Virginia and West Virginia were created can be found 

in an article by Morgan P. Robinson (1916). Most of 

the counties were created prior to 1800, and the references are to Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia, 

but there have been many changes since that year.

The Grand Assembly of Virginia, in 1660, enacted 

that (Hening, 1821, v. 2, p. 18)

For the prevention of frequent suits and differences * * * all 

counties * * * shall * * * be limited within certaine naturall 

bounds * * *, and where naturall bounds are wanting to supply that 

defect by marked trees, which are to be viewed and renewed every 

three years by the neerest bordering inhabitants of each county and 

parrish in Easter week.

WEST VIRGINIA

The separation of West Virginia from Virginia was 

approved by act of Congress of December 31, 1862 (12 

Stat. L. 633), and the new State was admitted to the 

Union by presidential proclamation dated April 20, 1863, 

effective June 19, 1863 (13 Stat. L. 731). It is of historical 

interest that the name proposed for this State by the 

convention of 1861 was Kanawha.

It originally contained the following counties: Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, 

Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Greenbrier, Hampshire, 

Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Lewis, 

Logan, McDowell, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Mercer, 

Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, Pendleton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Raleigh, 

Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Wayne, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood, and 

Wyoming. In 1866, with the consent of Congress,10 

West Virginia was enlarged by the two counties of 

Berkeley and Jefferson, transferred from Virginia.

The boundary between West Virginia and Virginia 

is made up of the boundary lines of the counties above 

enumerated that border on Virginia and can be defined only by reference to the laws by which these 

counties were created (Hening, 1821, v. 2, p. 184).

The two States entered into a compact to define their 

common boundary separating Monroe County, West 

Virginia, and Allegheny County, Virginia. There had 

been uncertainty concerning this line for many years.

w 14 Stat. L. 350. See 11 Wallace 39 for a historical sketch of this addition and court decisions relating thereto.
96

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

The two commissions that were appointed met jointly 

and agreed upon a definition of the boundary. Their 

recommendations were adopted by the States in 1959. 

The boundary is thus described (U.S. 86th Cong., 1st 

sess., H. Kept. 7474):

* * * Beginning at the top of Peters mountain, where the road 

crosses, corner common to Monroe county, West Virginia and Craig 

county, Virginia and on the Allegheny county-Virginia line where 

the Sweet Sprinqs-Fincastle road crosses Peters mountain, thence in 

a straight line to the present state line concrete marker on highway 

route number three hundred eleven; thence in a straight line to the 

present state line highway marker on upper highway route number 

six hundred three (Slaty road or Big Ridge road); thence in a straight 

line to the Greenbrier county line on top of Allegheny mountain at a 

point on Fletchers Knob previously established by the West VirginiaVirginia boundary commission being approximately longitude eighty 

degrees eighteen and one-half minutes west and latitude thirty-seven 

degrees forty-one and one-half minutes north, at a scaled elevation 

of three thousand one hundred fifty feet.

Congress gave its consent on September 21, 1959 

(73 Stat. 599).

In the constitution of 1872, after a recapitulation of 

the counties transferred from Virginia to West Virginia, is found the following clause defining the boundaries on the south and west (Thorpe, 1909, v. 7, p. 

4034):

The State of West Virginia includes the bed, bank, and shores of 

the Ohio River and so much of the Big Sandy River as was formerly 

included in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and all territorial rights 

and property in, and jurisdiction over the same, heretofore reserved 

by and vested in the Commonwealth of Virginia, are vested in and 

shall hereafter be exercised by the State of West Virginia. And such 

parts of the said beds, banks, and shores as lie opposite and adjoining 

the several counties of this State, shall form parts of said several 

counties, respectively.

For a history of the boundaries of West Virginia, see 

Pennsylvania, page 83; Maryland, page 86; and Virginia, page 95.

NORTH CAROLINA

In the year 1663 the "first charter" of Carolina was 

granted, which in 1665 was followed by the "second 

charter." The following extracts from these two charters 

(Thorpe, 1909, v. 5, p. 2744) define the boundaries.

CHARTER OF 1663

* * * all that territory or tract of ground scituate, lying and being 

within our dominions of America, extending from the north end of 

the island called Lucke island, which lieth in the southern Virginia 

seas, and within six and thirty degrees of the northern latitude, and

to the west as far as the south seas, and so southerly as far as the 

river St. Matthias, which bordereth upon the coast of Florida, and 

within one and thirty degrees of northern latitude, and so west in a 

direct line as far as the south seas aforesaid.

CHARTER OF 1665

* * * All that province, territory, or tract of land, scituate, lying or 

being within our dominions of America aforesaid; extending north 

and eastward, as far as the north end of Currituck river, or inlet, upon 

a strait westerly line to Wyonoak creek, which lies within or about 

the degrees of thirty-six and thirty minutes, northern latitude; and so 

west in a direct line as far as the South Seas. * * * and south and 

westward, as far as the degrees of twenty-nine, inclusive, of northern 

latitude; and so west, in a direct line, as far as the South Seas; * * *

The second charter fixed the northern boundary at 

approximately the present location of the northern 

boundary of North Carolina.

Because of the great distance between the settlements in the northern and southern parts of the Province, there was for many years a governor for each 

part. This condition finally resulted in the creation of 

separate Provinces, which became in full effect in 

1729. 11 Disputes regarding the division line commenced 

as early as 1732 and were not finally settled until 

1813. In 1815 the unmarked part of the line was surveyed and marked, and the location was ratified by the 

legislature the same year. (Copper, 1836, p. 406-410.)

The following are positions for road crossings on 

the North Carolina-South Carolina line (Gannett, 1905, 

p. 88-89; 1907, p. 65-66; R. B. Marshall, 1914, p. 281; 

Birdseye, 1923, p. 877):

Latitude (N.) 

33°53'24.9" 

34°59'39.0" 

35°04'29.0" 

35°03'41.5" 

35°09'01.5" 

35°09'28.4" 

35°10'17.8"

Longitude (W.) 

78°35'13.3" 

80°50'02.4" 

80°59'21.3" 

80°59'29.7" 

81°03'28.1" 

81°11'52.0" 

81°32'17.1"

In the constitution of North Carolina, adopted in 1776, 

this line is defined as stated in the subjoined extract 

(Thorpe, 1909, v. 5, p. 2789):

* * * beginning on the sea side at a cedar stake, at or near the mouth 

of Little River (being the southern extremity of Brunswick county) and 

running from thence a northwest course, through the boundary house, 

which stands in thirty-three degrees fifty-six minutes, to thirty-five 

degree north latitude, and from thence a west course so far as is 

mentioned in the charter of King Charles the Second to the late Proprietors of Carolina. Therefore, all the territories, seas, waters, and 

harbours, with their appurtenances, lying between the line above 

described, and the southern line of the State of Virginia, which begins 

on the sea shore, in thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, 

and from thence runs west, agreeable to the said Charter of King 

Charles, are the right and property of the people of this State, to be 

held by them in sovereignty; any partial line, without the consent of 

the Legislature of this State, at any time thereafter directed or laid 

out in anywise notwithstanding.

11 In 148 U.S. 506, the date on which the separation was approved by 

the Crown is given as 1732, but 1729 is the date given in "South Carolina 

Resources and Population," p. 425, State Board of Agriculture, 1883. See 

also Mills (1826, p. 182; app. 34).
* * * And provided also, That it shall not be construed so as to 

prevent (he establishment of one or more governments westward of 

this State, by consent of the Legislature: * * *.

On December 2, 1789, the Legislature of North 

Carolina passed an act ceding to the United States 

the western lands now constituting the State of Tennessee. (See fig. 21.) On February 25, 1790, the deed was 

offered, and on April 2, 1790, it was accepted by the 

United States.

In the Revised Statutes of North Carolina the boundaries of the State are described as follows: The north 

boundary, the parallel of 36°30'; the south boundary, 

a line running northwest from Goat Island, on the coast 

in lat 33°56' N., to the parallel of 35° and thence 

along that parallel to Tennessee; and the west boundary is the Smoky Mountains. The intention had been 

from the earliest colonial times to establish the northern boundary upon the parallel of 36°30'. This is the 

wording of every legislative act relating to it, and the 

errors of this boundary are due simply to errors in 

surveying.

The following description of the boundary lines of 

this State and of the various attempts made to locate 

them is taken from the report of the North Carolina 

Geological Survey (Kerr, 1875, v. 1, p. 2-4):

The first and only serious attempt to ascertain the northern boundary 

was that made in 1728 by Col. Wm. Byrd and others, commissioners 

on the part of the two colonies, acting under royal authority. From 

the account given by Byrd of this undertaking, it appears that they 

started from a point on the coast whose position they determined by 

observation to be in 36°31' north latitude, and ran due west (correcting 

for the variation of the compass), to Nottoway [Blackwater] River, 

where they made an offset 12 of a half mile to the mouth of that stream, 

again running west. The line was run and marked 242 miles from the 

coast, to a point in Stokes County, on the upper waters of the Dan 

River (on Peter's Creek), the North Carolina commissioners accompanying the party only about two-thirds of the distance. Beyond this 

point the line was carried some 90 miles by another joint commission 

of the two colonies in 1749; this survey, terminating at Steep Rock 

Creek, on the east of Stone Mountain, and near the present northwest 

corner of the State, estimated to be 329 miles from the coast. In 1779 

the line was taken up again at a point on Steep Rock Creek, determined by observation to be on the parallel of 36°30' (the marks of the 

previous survey having disappeared entirely), and carried west to 

beyond Bristol, Tenn. This last is known as the Walker line [see 

p. 95], from one of the commissioners of Virginia.

These lines were run and the latitude observations taken with very 

imperfect instruments, and the variation of the compass was little 

understood, so that it was not possible to trace a parallel of latitude. 

The line, besides was only marked on the trees and soon disappeared, 

and as the settlements were very scattered, the location soon became 

a matter of vague tradition and presently of contention and litigation, 

so that in 1858, at the instance of Virginia commissioners were 

appointed to relocate the line from the end of the Byrd survey westward; but for some reason they did not act. In 1870 commissioners 

were again appointed by Virginia and similar action asked on the

97

12 This break in the line is in accordance with an agreement made in 

1727 between the governors of the two colonies. Its measured length is 

2,977 feet. For text of the agreement and abstract of report of the 

commissioners who ran part of the line in 1779—80, see 148 U.S. 507—510.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NORTH CAROLINA

part of this State; and the proposition was renewed in 1871, but 

ineffectually as before. In all these numerous attempts to establish 

the line of division between the two colonies and States the intention 

and the specific instructions have been to ascertain and mark, as the 

boundary of the two States, the parallel of 36°30'. The maps published 

toward the end of the last century by Jefferson and others give that 

parallel as the line, and the Bill of Rights of North Carolina claims 

that "all territory lying between the line above described (the line 

between North and South Carolina) and the southern line of the State 

of Virginia, which begins on the seashore in 36°30' north latitude, 

and from thence runs west, agreeably to the charter of King Charles, 

are the right and property of this State." But it appears from the 

operations of the United States Coast Survey at both ends of the line 

that the point of beginning on Currituck Inlet, instead of being, as so 

constantly assumed, in latitude 36°30'', or as determined by the surveyors in 1728, 36°31', is 36°33'15", and the western end (of "the 

Walker line," of 1779, at Bristol, Term.), 36°34'25.5". [See p. 95' for 

later data.] It is stated in Byrd's Journal that the variation of the compass was ascertained to be a little less than 3° W. And no account te 

given of any subsequent correction, and if none was made at the end 

of the line surveyed by him the course would have been in error 

by nearly 3°, as the amount of variation in this State changes a little 

more than 1° for every 100 miles of easting and westing. So that the 

northern boundary of the State as run is not only the parallel of 

36°30', but is far from coincident with any parallel of latitude and 

must be a succession of curves, with their concavities northward and 

connected at their ends by north and south offsets.

The southern boundary between this State and South Carolina and 

Georgia was first established by a joint colonial commission in 1735 

to 1746. The commissioners ran a line from Goat Island on the coast 

(in latitude 33°56' as supposed), northwest to the parallel of 35°, 

according to their observations, and then due west to within a few 

miles of the Catawba River, and here, at the old Salisbury and Charleston road, turned north along that road to the southeast corner of the 

Catawba Indian lands. This line, resurveyed in 1764, was afterward 

(in 1772) continued along the eastern and northern boundaries of the 

Catawba lands to the point where the latter intersects the Catawba 

River; thence along and up that river to the mouth of the South Fork 

of the Catawba, and thence due west, as supposed, to a point near 

the Blue Ridge. This part of the line was resurveyed and confirmed 

by commissioners under acts of Assembly of 1803, 180:4, 1806, 1813, 

1814, and 1815, and continued west to and along the Saluda Mountains 

and the Blue Ridge to the intersection of the "Cherokee boundary" of 

1797, and thence in a direct line to the Chatooga River at its intersection with the parallel of 35°. From this point the line was run west 

to the Tennessee line, between this State and Georgia, in 1807,13 

confirmed and established by act of 1819.

The boundary between this State and Tennessee was run according 

to the course designated in the act of 1789, entitled "An act for the 

purpose of ceding to the United States certain western lands therein 

described" (the State of Tennessee)—that is, along the crest of the 

Smoky Mountains, from the Virginia line to the Cataluche River (in 

Haywood County), in 1799, under act of 1796. It was continued from 

this point to the Georgia line in 1821. The commissioners who completed this line, at the date last mentioned, instead of following their 

instructions, diverged from the crest of the Smoky (Unaka) Mountains

This is an error. The line was run in 1819.
98

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

at the intersection of the Hiwassee turnpike and ran due South 11 to 

the Georgia line, thereby losing for the State the valuable mining 

region since known as Ducktown.

And as to the southern boundary, the point of beginning on Goat 

Island is in latitude 33°51'37", as shown by the Coast Survey, and 

instead of running from Goat Island northwest to latitude of 35° and 

thence along that parallel, it appears, from the South Carolina geographical State survey of 1821-1825, that the course from the starting 

point is N. 47°30' W., and instead of pursuing the parallel of 35°, it 

turns west about 10 miles south of that line, and then, on approaching 

the Catawba River, turns northward, pursuing a zigzag line to the 

forks of the Catawba River, which is about 12 miles north of that 

parallel; and from this point to the mountains the boundary line (of 

1772) runs, not west, but N. 88° W., bringing its western end about 

17 miles too far north and reaching the (supposed) parallel of 35" at a 

distance of about 130 miles west of the Catawba River. The loss of 

territory to the State resulting from these singular deviations is probably between 500 and 1,000 square miles.

The U.S. Geological Survey has determined several 

approximate positions for points on the North CarolinaVirginia line, three of which are as follows:

Latitude (N.) 

36°32'42.6" 

36°32'29.6" 

36°32'21.9"

Longitude (W.) 

77°31'50" 

79°24'00" 

79°29'19"

Four latitude stations were established near the east 

end of this line by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

in 1886-87. (For descriptions, see Beall, 1925, p. 228.)

In 1972 the States of Virginia and North Carolina 

agreed to define their mutual seaward boundary as 

extending east along the parallel of latitude passing 

through the point where the land boundary meets the 

low-water mark of the Atlantic Ocean. Congress approved the boundary agreement and instructed the 

Secretary of Commerce to have the latitude of the line 

determined and so much of the land boundary marked 

as is necessary (86 Stat 1298).

In 1934 the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey determined the position of boundary monument 1 to be: 

lat 36°33'00.8" N., long 75°52'46.2" W. (1927 N.A.D.). 

This monument is about 0.5 mile from the shoreline. 

The land boundary would meet the shoreline at the 

same latitude, as the next monument to the west is at 

this latitude.

The following extract from the Tennessee constitution of 1796 defines the eastern boundary of that State, 

which is the western boundary of North Carolina, as 

it was intended to be run and marked (Thorpe, 1909, 

v. 6, p. 3424):

11 Probably run on compass meridian; the line as marked actually runs 

about 6° west of true south.

Beginning on the extreme height of the Stone Mountain at the place 

where the line of Virginia intersects it, in latitude thirty-six degrees 

and thirty minutes north; running thence along the extreme height 

of the said mountain to the place where Watauga River breaks 

through it; thence a direct course to the top of the Yellow Mountain, 

where Bright's road crosses the same; thence along the ridge of said 

mountain, between the waters of Doe River and the waters of Rock 

Creek, to the place where the road crosses the Iron Mountain; from 

thence along the extreme height of said mountain to where Nolichucky 

River runs through the same; thence to the top of the Bald Mountain; 

thence along the extreme height of said mountain to the Painted Rock, 

on French Broad River; thence along the highest ridge of said mountain to the place where it is called the Great Iron or Smoky Mountain; 

thence along the extreme height of said mountain to the place where 

it is called Unicoi or Unaka Mountain between the Indian towns of 

Cowee and Old Chota; thence along the main ridge of the said 

mountain to the southern boundary of this State, as described in the 

act of cession of North Carolina to the United States of America.

Commissioners appointed by authority of the Legislature of North Carolina surveyed and marked a part 

of the Tennessee line in 1799. Beginning at the Virginia line they ran southwestward along the cres't of 

the mountains to the highest pinnacle of the Smoky 

Mountains beyond the French Broad River, where they 

stopped. Neither Tennessee nor the United States was 

represented in this survey. A certified copy of the field 

notes was given to Tennessee in 1803, but it does not 

appear that the line as run was ratified by either State. 

North Carolina was, however, apparently bound by 

the action of its commissioners.

In 1819 North Carolina authorized the extension of 

the line of 1799 (Laws of North Carolina for 1819, chap. 

11) and in 1820 Tennessee took like action. The line 

was completed to the Georgia State line, and the extension was formally ratified by both States in 1821. 

The original map for the 1821 survey of the North 

Carolina-Tennessee line is said to be in the State 

archives in Nashville.

In 1885 commissioners were appointed to rerun the 

part of the line of 1799 from Iron Mountain at Indian 

Grove Gap to the point where the Jonesboro and Asheville road passes over Bald Mountain. The line was 

run in 1886, but the commissioners failed to agree on 

a part of the line about 6 miles long near the Nolichucky River. The North Carolina commissioner followed as closely as possible the survey of 1799, but 

the Tennessee commissioner insisted on a line about 

a mile farther east. The report of the North Carolina 

commissioner is given in full in Document 22 of the 

North Carolina Legislature, session of 1887. No further 

action appears to have been taken by either State 

toward a settlement of this dispute, but in 1915 a suit 

involving the proper location of the boundary was 

decided in the Tennessee Supreme Court in favor of 

the line as marked by the North Carolina commissioner (Thompson, 1916, v. 7, p. 35-66).

The commissioners who surveyed the southern part 

of the west boundary of North Carolina in 1821 de-
pended almost entirely on blazes on trees for their 

marks, and, although they did not run out the line as 

described by statute, the entire line as marked was 

accepted by the legislatures of the two States.

In recent years many disputes regarding the exact 

location of parts of the line have arisen, and they were 

finally taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Commissioners appointed to re-mark the boundary 

filed their report October 29, 1915, having re-marked 

the line from the point where it first intersects the Little 

Tennessee River down the north side of the river about 

half a mile, thence across the river and up Slickrock 

Creek to a point near the mouth of Big Stack Gap 

Branch, thence up a ridge leading to Big Fodderstack 

Mountain, thence along the main ridge to a place 

locally known as "County Corners," thence along 

State Ridge to the Tellico River, thence in a southwesterly course to the top of lenks Knob. South of this 

point sufficient marks of the survey of 1821 were 

known to fix the line as above described.15

The approximate position for the southwest corner 

of North Carolina and the southeast corner of Tennessee at a point on the Georgia line is lat 34°59'17" N., 

long 84° 19'19" W.

In 1879 the legislature passed an act to appoint commissioners to make a survey from the northeast corner 

of Georgia westward. This point of commencement 

is common to North Carolina, South Carolina and 

Georgia.

In 1881 the legislature passed another act providing 

for the appointment of a commissioner, who should 

act with commissioners from Virginia, South Carolina, 

Georgia, or Tennessee, to rerun and re-mark the boundaries between North Carolina and the other States.

In 1888 a joint commission reran the Byrd line of 

1728 between the ocean at Currituck Inlet and the Nottoway (now Blackwater) River, a distance of 59V2 

miles,16 28 appropriately marked granite monuments 

were established, and astronomic determinations of 

latitude were made for five of them, as follows (the 

longitudes are approximate):

Monument 2, Knott Island, lat 36°32'59" N., long 

75°55.7' W.

Monument 7, Northwest River, lat 36°33'00" N., long 

76° 11.6' W.

Monument 11, Dismal Swamp Canal, lat 36°33'02" 

N., long 76°22.7' W.

Monument 13, lat 36°33'01" N., long 76°33.5' W.

Monument 28, Nottoway (now Blackwater) River, 

lat 36°32'36" N., long 76°56' W.

99

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

SOUTH CAROLINA

15 See 235 U.S. 3-17 for the decision of the court, which includes a 

historical description of the line and extracts from the field notes of the 

1821 survey; and 240 U.S. 652 for report of commissioners. See Williams 

(1920) for description of the survey of this line.

"See North Carolina Pub. Doc. 31, sess. of 1889, for a full report.

SOUTH CAROLINA

The territory within the present State of South 

Carolina was included in the charter of Carolina, which 

also embraced what is now the State of Georgia. (See 

North Carolina, p. 96.)

The settlement of Carolina under the charter of 1665 

had been carried on from two points, and

While there had been no formal division of the domain into distinct 

territories, these settlements at the two points had at first distinct 

governments; and the northern portion had gradually acquired the 

informal designation of North Carolina; the southern that of South 

Carolina [McCrady, 1899, p. 3].

In 1719 there was a concerted revolt by the southern 

settlements against the proprietary government of 

Carolina, but not until 1729 was the separation of the 

two colonies formally recognized by the Parliament of 

Great Britain.

For a history of the settlement of the boundary 

between North Carolina and South Carolina, see North 

Carolina, page 96.

By the charter of Georgia (1732) the line between 

South Carolina and Georgia was to be the Savannah 

River to its head. In 1762, difficulties having arisen 

concerning the interpretation of the charter, the head 

of the Savannah, and the title to the lands south of the 

Altamaha River claimed by South Carolina, Georgia 

made complaint to the King, who issued a proclamation in 1763 giving the lands between the Altamaha 

and St. Marys Rivers to Georgia. The question of the 

boundary on the Savannah, however, remained unsettled until 1787, when a convention between the two 

States was held at Beaufort, S.C., to determine it, and 

the line was fixed as at present. (See fig. 22.) The 

following is an extract from the article of agreement 

(1 Stat. L. 466):

The most northern branch or stream of the river Savannah from the 

sea or mouth of such stream to the fork or confluence of the rivers 

now called Tugaloo and Keowa, and from thence the most northern 

branch or stream of the said river Tugaloo till it intersects the 

northern boundary line of South Carolina, if the said branch or stream 

of Tugaloo extends so far north, reserving all the islands in the said 

rivers Savannah and Tugaloo to Georgia; but if the head spring or 

source of any branch or stream of the said river Tugaloo does not 

extend to the north boundary line of South Carolina, then a west line 

to the Mississippi, to be drawn from the head spring or source of the 

said branch or stream of Tugaloo River which extends to the highest

17 For copies of laws, reports of commissioners, and references to documents relating to the boundary lines of this State from 1576 to 1815, see 

Cooper (1836, p. 404-421).
100

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

northern latitude, shall forever hereafter form the separation, limit, 

and boundary between the States of South Carolina and Georgia.

In the same year South Carolina ceded to the United 

States a strip of territory which she claimed, about 12 

or 14 miles wide, south of the North Carolina line and 

extending from the source of the Chattooga River to 

the Mississippi. South Carolina's claim to this narrow strip south of the 35th parallel was based on inadequate geographic information. It was no doubt believed that the source of the "most northern branch or 

stream of the said river Tugaloo" was some distance 

south of the North Carolina line, but recent surveys 

show that the headwaters of the Chattooga, which 

is a branch of the Tugaloo, are north of the 35th 

parallel and within the limits of North Carolina. (See 

U.S. Geol. Survey map of the Cowee quadrangle, N.C.- 

S.C.) Although South Carolina thus had no right to 

claim this strip, later disputes regarding it were made 

impossible by its cession to the United States in 1787 

and the cession of the eastern part to Georgia by the 

United States in 1802. (See Georgia, below).

In 1917 the Legislature of Georgia authorized the 

bringing of suit in the Supreme Court of the United 

States in order to settle a long-standing dispute between that State and South Carolina regarding their 

common boundary. The court decision, rendered January 30, 1922, is in part as follows (see 257 U.S. 517 

and 259 U.S. 572):

(1) Where there are no islands in the boundary rivers the location 

of the line between the two States is on the water midway belween 

the main banks of the river when the water is at ordinary stage; (2) 

where there are islands the line is midway between the Island bank 

and the South Carolina shore when the water is at ordinary stage; 

and (3) that islands in the Chattooga River are reserved to Georgia as 

completely as are those in the Savannah or Tugaloo rivers.

GEORGIA

Georgia was included in the proprietary charter 

granted to the lords proprietors of Carolina in 1662 

and 1663, for which a provincial charter was substituted in 1719.

In 1732 the charter of Georgia as an independent 

colony was granted by King George II. The following 

is an extract (Thorpe, 1909, v. 2, p. 771):

* * * all those lands, countrys, and territories, situate, lying and being 

in that part of South Carolina, in America, which lies from the most 

northern part of a stream or river there, commonly called the Savannah, 

all along the sea coast ot the southward, unto the most southern 

stream of a certain other great -water or river called the Alatamaha,

and westerly from the heads of the said rivers, respectively, in direct 

lines to the south seas, * * * with the islands of the sea, lying opposite 

to the eastern coast of the said lands, within twenty leagues of 

the same.

This charter was surrendered in 1752, and a provincial government was established.

In 1763 the territory between the Altamaha and St. 

Marys Rivers was added to Georgia by royal proclamation. (See South Carolina, p. 99.)

In the constitution adopted by Georgia in 1798 the 

boundaries are thus described (see fig. 22) (Thorpe, 

1909, v. 2, p. 794):

The limits, boundaries, jurisdictions, and authority of the State of 

Georgia do, and did, and of right ought to extend from the sea or 

mouth of the river Savannah, along the northern branch or stream 

thereof, to the fork or confluence of the rivers now called Tugalo and 

Keowee, and from thence along the most northern branch or stream 

of the said river Tugalo, till it intersect the northern boundary line 

of South Carolina, if the said branch or stream of Tugalo extends so 

far north, reserving all the islands in the said rivers Savannah and 

Tugalo to Georgia; but if the head, spring, or source of any branch 

or stream of the said river Tugalo does not extend to the north 

boundary line of South Carolina, then a west line to the Mississippi, to 

be drawn from the head, spring, or source of the said branch or 

stream of Tugalo River, which extends to the highest northern latitude; 

thence down the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall 

intersect the northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north 

latitude, south by a line drawn due east from the termination of the 

line last mentioned, in the latitude of thirty-one degrees north of the 

equator to the middle of the river Apalachicola or Chatahoochee; thence 

along the middle thereof, to its junction with Flint River; thence 

straight to the head of Saint Mary's River, and thence, along the middle 

of Saint Mary's River, to the Atlantic Ocean, and from thence to the 

mouth or inlet of Savannah River, the place of beginning, including 

and comprehending all the lands and waters within the said limits, 

boundaries, and jurisdictional rights; and also all the islands within 

twenty leagues of the seacoast.

In 1802 articles of agreement were entered into 

whereby Georgia ceded to the United States the lands 

west of its present boundaries, and the United States 

ceded to Georgia the eastern part of the South Carolina cession of 1787. (See South Carolina, above.)

The following extracts (Georgia act of Apr. 24, 1802) 

show the limits of the two cessions:

The State of Georgia cedes to the United States all the right, 

title, and claim which the said State has to the jurisdiction and soil 

of the lands situated within the boundaries of the United States, 

south of the State of Tennessee and west of a line beginning on the 

western bank of the Chatahouchie River where the same crosses the 

boundary line between the United States and Spain; running thence 

up the said River Chatahouchie, and along the western bank thereof 

to the great bend thereof, next above the place where a certain creek 

or river, called "Uchee" (being thte first considerable stream on the 

western side, above the Cussetas and Coweta towns), empties into 

the Chatahouchie River; thence in a direct line to Nickajack, on 

Tennessee River; thence crossing the said last-mentioned river, and 

thence running up the said Tennessee River and along the western 

bank thereof to the southern boundary line of the State of Tennessee. 

*******

The United States * * * cede to the State of Georgia * ** the 

lands * * * situated south of the southern boundaries of the States of
Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and east of the boundary line 

herein above described as the eastern boundary of the terriotry 

ceded by Georgia to the United States.

For lands ceded to the United States, Georgia was to 

be paid $1,250,000 from the net proceeds of land to be 

sold. (Donaldson, 1884, p. 80.)

For a history of the boundary between Georgia and 

South Carolina, see South Carolina, page 99.

The history of the boundary between North Carolina 

and Georgia has already been given. (See p. 97.) 

It may be proper, however, to add that this line (the 

35th degree of north latitude) was fixed by the cession, 

above detailed, from the United States to Georgia of 

that part of the South Carolina cession east of the 

present western boundary of Georgia.

A long controversy ensued between Georgia and 

North Carolina regarding the boundary, with no results 

until 1810, when Georgia empowered its governor to 

employ Andrew Ellicott to ascertain the true location 

of the 35th degree of latitude. Ellicott did so, and the 

point fixed by him was approved by both States. 

(Cobb, 1851, p. 150.)

The boundary between Georgia and Tennessee, 

established in 1818, is described as follows: 18

101

"Tennessee Laws, 1817-1820, v. 2, p. 475; Georgia Laws, 1810-1819, p. 

1217; see also Haywood, 1823, p. 13. The description given by Haywood 

differs slightly in wording from the others, but the essential features are 

the same. A copy of the map of the survey is on file in the office of the 

Georgia Secretary of State, Surveyor General Department.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

GEORGIA

Beginning at a point in the true parallel of the thirty-fifth degree 

of north latitude, as found by James Camak, mathematician on the part 

of the State of Georgia, and James S. Gaines, mathematician on the 

part of the State of Tennessee, on a rock about two feet high, four 

inches thick, and fifteen inches broad, engraved on the north side 

thus: "June 1st, 1818; var. 6% east," and on the south side thus: 

"Geo. lat. 35 north; J. Camak," which rock stands one mile and 

twenty-eight poles from the south bank of the Tennessee river, due 

south from near the center of the old Indian town of Nickajack, and 

near the top of the Nickajack Mountain, at the supposed corner of 

the states of Georgia and Alabama; thence running due east, leaving 

old D. Ross two miles and eighteen yards in the State of Tennessee, 

and leaving the house of John Ross about two hundred yards in the 

State of Georgia, and the house of David McNair one mile and onefourth of a mile in the State of Tennessee, with blazed and mile-marked 

trees, lessening the variation of the compass by degrees, closing it at 

the termination of the line on the top of the Unicoi Mountain at five 

and one-half degrees.

Another line for the boundary between Georgia 

and Tennessee, based on new observations for latitude, was run in 1826 by James Camak, along a 

parallel about 37.9 chains north of the line run by him 

in 1818, but apparently it was not accepted by either 

State as the true line. Attempts have been made by 

Georgia to have the line relocated, but the line as run

FIGURE 22.— 

Historical 

diagram of 

Georgia.
102

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

in 1818 still stands as the accepted boundary, although 

in places it is a mile south of the 35th parallel.

The Georgia Code Annotated, Sec. 15-103, gives 

this description for the Georgia and North Carolina 

and the Georgia and Tennessee boundaries: "The 

boundary between Georgia and North Carolina and 

Georgia and Tennessee shall be the line described as 

the 35th parallel of north latitude, from the point of its 

intersection by the River Chattooga west to the place 

called Nickajack" (Ga. Laws 1887, p. 105).

In 1971 a boundary commission "was appointed by 

the Georgia Legislature to study and relocate this 35th 

parallel of north latitude. Cooperation with the States 

of North Carolina and Tennessee was sought without 

success. A hearing was held that year before the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 

Rockville, Maryland. Georgia was commended for 

her research and accurate data. The commission was 

abolished in 1972.

The present boundary between South Carolina and 

Georgia is thus described (Janes, 1876, p. 120'):

Beginning at the mouth of the Savannah River; along the river to 

the junction of the Kiowee, and along the Tugaloo to the junction 

of the Tallula and Chattooga; thence along the Chattooga to a point 

on the 35th parallel of north latitude, at the union of the northern 

boundary of South Carolina and the southern boundary of North 

Carolina. The general course is about N. 35° W., and the .length, in 

a direct line, about 247 miles. It terminates at Ellicott's Rock, on the 

Chattooga River, marked "Lat. 35°, A.D. 1813, N.C., S.C."

This line, in conformity with the treaty of Beaufort, separates 

Georgia from South Carolina (all Ihe islands of the river Savannah, 

Tugaloo, and Chattooga being reserved to Georgia) (259 U.S. 516).

The boundary between Georgia and Florida was 

fixed by the treaty of 1783, between the United States 

and Great Britain, substantially as at present, namely:

Commencing in the middle of the Apalachiocola or Catahouche 

River, on the thirty-first degree of north latitude; thence along the 

middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River; thence straight 

to the head of Saint Marys River, and thence down the middle of that 

river to the Atlantic Ocean.

This boundary was affirmed by the treaty of 1795 

between the United States and Spain.

In 1799 Andrew Ellicott, as commissioner for the 

United States, was directed to survey and mark this 

line from the Mississippi to the Atlantic Ocean (fig. 23). 

From a point near the Mississippi, determined by him 

as on the 31st parallel, he ran a line due east to a 

point near the mouth of the Flint River, the latitude of 

which he determined as 30°42'42.8" N., where he was

FIGURE 23. Ellicott's Stone, a 2^-foot-high sandstone 

marker located a few miles north of Mobile, Alabama, has been designated a National Historical 

Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Socity of Civil Engineers. It is the only visible reminder of a famous boundary survey made in 1799, 

led by Maj. Andrew Ellicott, which established the 

31st parallel border between the United States and 

West Florida. (Photograph courtesy of the American Society of Civil Engineers.)

forced to stop work because of hostile Indians. He then 

proceeded by water to the St. Marys River and up that 

river to what he took to be the source of its longest 

branch, where he erected a large mound, the latitude 

of which he reported as "about 30°34' N." (Ellicott, 

1814). 19

Ellicott's line along the 31st parallel marked the 

boundary between the United States and the Spanish 

possessions in Florida. "Ellicott's stone," on this line 

(see fig. 23), is the initial point of the St. Stephens 

meridian and base line of the public land surveys. Its 

geodetic position is: lat 30°59'51.463" E., long 88°01' 

21.076" W. (1927 N.A.D.).

The line joining these two marks had not yet been 

surveyed when Spain ceded the Floridas to the United 

States in 1819. The uncertainty regarding the position 

of this boundary was the cause of many disputes, 

which became more acute as the country became more 

thickly settled. Georgia claimed that the headwaters 

of the St. Marys were at the source of a southern 

branch. This claim if conceded would give additional 

territory to that State variously estimated at 800 to 

2,355 square miles. On the other hand, the U.S. commissioners maintained that the real source of the St. 

Marys was 2 miles north of the Ellicott mound.

Apparently Georgia, at least temporarily, accepted 

the Ellicott mound as the proper eastern terminus of the

19 Ellicott's journal relating to this survey, including maps, was published in 1803 by Budd & Bartram, for Thomas Dobson, at the Stone House, 

41 South Second Street, Philadelphia, and again in 1814 by William Fry, 

of Philadephia. Second edition published 1962, by Quadrangle Books, Inc., 

Chicago.
straight boundary, and in 1820 had the "Watson line" 

run between the two marks established by Ellicott.

In 1825 a second line was run by D. F. McNeil, a 

contract surveyor for the U.S. General Land Office, and 

this line although not formally accepted by the General 

Land Office, was looked upon for more than 20 years 

as the proper location of the boundary.

In 1826 Congress authorized the survey and marking 

of a line which

shall be run straight from the junction of said rivers Chatahoochie and 

Flint to the point designated as the head of Saint Marys River.

Georgia, not content with the McNeil line, continued 

to press her claims and in 1827 passed an act forbidding any surveys of public land in the disputed territory (south of the Ellicott mound line) without authority 

of law.

In 1846 both Georgia and Florida consented to the 

appointment of commissioners who should fix the 

boundary, and this action resulted in 1859 in the 

running of the "Orr and Whitner line" between the 

mouth of the Flint River and the Ellicott mound on the 

St. Marys. The line as then marked was accepted by 

Florida in 1861 and by Georgia in 1866.

All three lines described are indicated on township 

plats of the General Land Office in Florida book 43. 20

The southern boundary of Georgia is thus described 

(Janes, 1876, p. 121; Georgia Code, 1873, p. 7; Florida 

Code, 1872):

Thence down the western bank of the river [Chattahoochee] at 

high water mark to its junction with Flint River, at a point now four 

chains below the actual junction—latitude 30°42'42", longitude 

80°53'15". The average direction of this line is about S. 6° E., and 

distance about 150 miles direct. About 130 miles it separates Georgia 

from Alabama, and the remaining 20 miles from Florida.

Thence along Orr and Whitner's line, S. 87°17'22" E. (average 

direction), 158-28/80 miles, to a point 37 links north of Ellicott's 

mound, on St. Marys River.

In 1970, the States of Georgia and Florida agreed to 

extend their common boundary into the Atlantic. The 

provisions of the agreement call for a line beginning 

at a point 37 links (a link is 1/100 of a chain, which 

is 66 feet) north of Ellicott's mound. Thence the boundary continues down the center of the river to the ocean; 

thence along the middle of the presently existing St. 

Marys entrance navigation channel to the point of 

intersection with a hypothetical line connecting the 

seaward extremities of the jetties now protecting the 

channel; thence in continuation to a control point 

(lat 30°42'45.6" N., long 81°24'15.9" W.); and thence 

due east to the line as now or hereafter fixed by 

Congress as the seaward limit of Georgia and Florida; 

such boundary was to be extended on the same true

103

20 For copies of official documents, Federal and State, relating to this 

boundary, of dates from 1789 to 1846, see U.S. Congress (1855), a book 

of more than 400 pages; also see the records in the office of the Secretary of State of Georgia, Surveyor General Department.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

GEORGIA

90° bearing so far as a need for further delineation 

may arise. The boundary was approved by Congress 

on October 22, 1970. Congress instructed the Secretary of Commerce to survey and properly mark the 

line by suitable monuments, and also so much of the 

interior boundary as is considered necessary by the 

two States (84 Stat 1094).

The reference to the boundary following the west 

bank of the Chattahoochee is erroneous. The Georgia 

Supreme Court, in 1930, stated that the boundary between Georgia and Florida follows the middle of the 

river (Southeastern Reporter, 1930, v. 154, p. 255). The 

court cited the treaties of 1783, between the United 

States and Great Britain, and of 1795 between the 

United States and Spain, which fixed the National 

Boundary.

In 1872 Congress passed an act to confirm the titles 

to land "between the line run by Georgia, known as 

the Watson line, and the Orr and Whitner line, established as the true boundary between the said 

States" (Marshall, 1910, p. 170).

The line between Georgia and Alabama was fixed 

by the act of cession from Georgia to the United 

States in 1802. (See p. 100.) In 1822-25 Georgia, desiring to have the line run from the Chattahoochee to 

the point where it strikes the Tennessee line, appointed 

commissioners for that purpose and requested the 

cooperation of Alabama and the United States; the 

latter, however, took no action.

It had been ascertained by actual survey in running 

the random line that the first great bend in the river 

next above the mouth of the Uchee, from which a right 

line would run to Nickajack without touching the river, 

was the Big Shoal or Millers Bend, and this the commissioners on the part of Georgia contended was the 

bend at which the line should begin (Georgia Laws, 

1826, p. 209).

In this contention the commissioners from Alabama 

refused to concur; consequently in 1826 the line was 

run from Nickajack to Millers Bend by the Georgia commissioners alone. Alabama protested against this line 

and made repeated efforts to reopen negotiations concerning it, to all of which Georgia steadily refused to 

accede, until finally, January 24, 1840, the Legislature 

of Alabama passed the following joint resolution:

Resolved, That the State of Alabama will and do hereby, accept as 

the true dividing line between this State and that of Georgia, the line 

which was run and marked out by the commissioners of Georgia in
104

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

1826, beginning at what is called Millers Bend, on the Chattahoochee 

River; thence along said marked line to Nickajack.

The line is described in the Code of Alabama (1876, 

p. 189) in the following words:

The boundary line between Alabama and Georgia commences on 

the west side of the Chattahoochee River at the point where it 

enters the State of Florida; from thence up the river, along the western 

branch thereof, to the point on Millers Bend next above the place 

where the Uchee Creek empties into such river; thence in a direct 

line to Nickajack.

The description of the western boundary of Georgia 

follows: (Janes, 1876, p. 121)

From Nickajack the line between Georgia and Alabama runs south 

9°30' east to Millers Bend, on the Chattahoochee River, about 146 

miles. Thence down the western bank of the river at high-water mark 

to its junction with Flint River, at a point now four chains below the 

actual junction, latitude 30°42'42", longitude 80°53'15". The average 

direction of this line is about south 6° east, and distance about 150 

miles direct.

The U.S. Supreme Court (13 Howard 381 and 23 

Howard 505; see also 2-60 U.S. 628) decreed regarding 

the river boundary between Georgia and Alabama that

The boundary line runs up the river on and along its western 

bank * * * the water line impressed upon the bank above the slope 

is the line * * * Both bank and' bed are to be ascertained by inspection, and the line is where the action of the water has permanently 

marked itself upon the soil. * * *

We must reject, altogether, the attempt to trace the line by either 

ordinary low water or low water. These terms are only predicable 

of those parts of rivers within the ebb and flow of the tides, * * * The 

permanent fast-land bank is referred to as governing the line. And 

where the bank is fairly marked by the water, that water level will 

show at all places where the line is.

FLORIDA

Florida was originally settled by the Spaniards and 

was held as a Spanish Province for nearly 200 years. 

In 1763 it was ceded by Spain to Great Britain, which 

divided it into the two Provinces of East Florida and 

West Florida, separated by the Apalachicola River. 

East Florida had the same northern boundary as the 

present State (fig. 22), and West Florida at first had 

a northern boundary on the 31st parallel, but in 1764 

the Province was extended northward to the paralled 

through the mouth of Yassous River (now the Yazoo), 

said to be in lat 32°28' N (Lowery and McCardle, 1891, 

p. 108; Donaldson, 1884, p. 108). Geological Survey 

maps show an old mouth of the Yazoo in lat 32° 22' N.

The peace treaty concluded in 1782 between the 

United States and Great Britain specified the 31st parallel as the boundary between the United States and 

West Florida, but by a separate article provided as 

follows (Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 584):

It is hereby understood and agreed that in case Great Britain, at 

the conclusion of the present war, shall recover or be put in possession of West Florida, the line of north boundary between the said 

province and the United States shall be a line drawn from the mouth 

of the river Yassous, where it unites with the Mississippi, due east 

to the river Apalachicola.

In 1783 Great Britain retroceded Florida to Spain 

without a definite settlement of the northern boundary 

of West Florida, which at once became a matter of 

dispute between the United Stated and Spain. Spain 

claimed the territory as far north as the parallel 

through the mouth of the Yassous; the United States 

claimed the 31st parallel as the boundary under the 

treaties of 1782 and 1783, and on that parallel it was 

fixed by the treaty with Spain signed October 27, 1795. 

(Chambers, 1898; Fairbanks, 1871, p. 209; Fuller, 1906. 

See also 13 Howard 406.)

Not only was the northern boundary of West Florida 

in dispute, but after the Louisiana purchase of 1803 

the United States claimed the entire area east to the 

Perdido River. (See p. 24.) The act of February 12, 

1813 (3 Stat. L. 472) authorized the President to occupy 

that area and appropriate $20,000 for carrying the act 

into effect.

Although the Spanish treaty concluded February 22, 

1819, was not in full effect until February 22, 1821 (see 

p. 27), Congress, by act of March 3, 1819 (Stat. L. 523), 

authorized the President to take possession of the 

Floridas and to establish a temporary government 

therein.

By an act approved March 30, 1822 (3 Stat. L. 654), 

the territory east of the Mississippi River ceded to- the 

United States by Spain was made the Territory of 

Florida, embracing the same area as the present State. 

On March 3, 1845, Florida was admitted to the Union 

as an independent State (5 Stat. L. 742).

For a history of the northern boundary of Florida, see 

Georgia pages 102, 103.

In 1831 Congress passed an act relating to the 

boundary between Florida and Alabama (4 Stat. L. 

479), from which the following is an extract:

That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause to be run and marked the boundary line between the 

state of Alabama and the territory of Florida, by the surveyors-general 

of Alabama and Florida, on the thirty-first degree of north latitude.

In 1847 the agreement of commissioners previously 

appointed by Florida and Alabama was ratified, and 

the line is described as follows (Florida Acts and 

Resolutions, 1848, 3d sess., p. 36, Tallahassee):

Commencing on the Chattahoochee River near a place known as 

"Irwin's Mills" and running west to the Perdido, marked throughout 

by blazes on the trees; and also by mounds of earth thrown up on 

the line, at distances of 1 mile, more or less, from each other, and 

commonly known as the "mound line," or "Ellicott's line."
This line was run in 1799 by Andrew Ellicott. It was 

retraced and re-marked in 1853-54 by B. F. Whitner, 

Jr., and again retraced in 1911, by authority of an act 

of Congress (36 Stat. L 844) approved June 25, 1910. 

The examiner in 1911 reported (U.S. Cong., 1911, p. 

19) that

Many of the mounds erected by Whitner in reestablishing the Ellicott 

line are in perfect condition and are the best evidence remaining of 

the original surveys in the vicinity.

The line between the two States is given in general 

terms in the Florida Code as follows:

Commencing at the mouth of the Perdido River, from thence up the 

middle of said river to where it intersects the south boundary line of 

the State of Alabama and the thirty-first degree of north latitude; then 

due east to the Chattahoochee River.

In 1953, the States of Florida and Alabama agreed to 

define their boundary at the mouth of the Perdido River 

and extend it seaward into the Gulf of Mexico as permitted by the Submerged Lands Act. The compact provided that the boundary should pass through a control 

point at lat 30°16'53" N., long 87°3r06" W. From 

this point it runs due north to 30°17'02" N., and due 

south to a point 1000 feet from the control point. From 

the north end of this line, the boundary extends up the 

river in a straight line to a point at lat 30°18'00" N., 

long 87°27'08" W., and from there to a point on the 

centerline of the Intracoastal Canal at long 87°27'00" 

W. The seaward boundary extends S. 0°01'00" W. 

from the point at the south end of the line through the 

control point to the seaward limit of each respective 

State.

Congress approved this agreement on May 6, 1954 

(68 Stat. 77).

MISSISSIPPI

By an act approved April 7, 1798 (1 Stat. 549), Congress authorized the establishment of Mississippi Territory, the boundaries of which were thus described:

All that tract of country bounded on the west by the Mississippi, 

on the north by a line to be drawn due east from the Yasous [now 

called the Yazoo] to the Chatahouchee; on the east by the Chatahouchee; and on the south by the thirty-first degree of north latitude.

But as jurisdiction over this area was claimed by 

Georgia, the act provided for the appointment of commissioners to determine and adjust Georgia's claims, 

which were "declared to be as firm and available as if 

this act had never been made."

Georgia ceded its rights in this area to the United 

States in 1802. (See p. 100'.) South Carolina having 

also ceded to the United States its claims to territory 

west of its present limits, the General Government in 

1804, by an act of Congress (2 Stat. L. 305), annexed 

to the Mississippi Territory the tract of country lying 

north of the Territory and south of Tennessee and

105

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MISSISSIPPI

bounded on the east by Georgia and on the west by 

Louisiana.

In 1812 the United States added to Mississippi Territory all the lands lying east of the Pearl River, west of 

the Perdido, and south of the 31st degree of latitude 

(2 Stat. L. 734). The United States claimed this area 

as part of the Louisiana Purchase but had acquiesced 

in its temporary occupancy by Spain. By proclamation 

dated October 27, 1810, the President declared that 

possession should be taken on behalf of the United 

States and directed the Governor of Orleans Territory 

to assume control of it. (Thorpe, 1909, v. 3, p. 1375.)

By these additions the Mississippi Territory was 

made to comprise what is now included in Alabama 

and Mississippi.

On December 10, 1817, the western part of the Mississippi Teritory was made a State and admitted into 

the Union, by resolution of December 10, 1817 (3 Stat. 

L. 472); its boundaries were (see fig. 24) given in the 

enabling act of March 1, 1817, as follows 21 :

Beginning on he river Mississippi at the point where the southern 

boundary of the State of Tennessee strikes the same, thence east 

along the said boundary line to the Tennessee river, thence up the 

same to the mouth of Bear Creek, thence by a direct line to the 

northwest corner of the county of Washington, thence due south to 

the Gulf of Mexico, thence westwardly, including all the islands within 

six leagues of the shore, to the most eastern junction of Pearl river 

with Lake Borgne, thence up said river to the thirty-first degree of 

north latitude; thence west along said degree of latitude to the 

Mississippi river; thence up the same to the beginning.

A more detailed description of the boundaries of 

Mississippi is given in Article 2, Section 3 of the Mississippi Constitution as published in the Mississippi 

Code of 1972:

The limits and boundaries of the state of Mississippi are as follows, 

to-wit: Beginning on the Mississippi river (meaning thereby the center 

of said river or thread of the stream) where the southern boundary 

line of the state of Tennessee strikes the same, as run by B. A. 

Ludlow, D. W. Connelly, and W. Petrie, commissioners appointed for 

that purpose on the part of the state of Mississippi, A. D., 1837, and 

J. D. Graham and Austin Miller, commissioners appointed for that 

purpose on the part of the state of Tennessee; thence east along the 

said boundary line of the state of Tennessee to a point on the west 

bank of the Tennessee river, six four-pole chains south of and above 

the mouth of Yellow creek; thence up the said river to the mouth of 

Bear Creek; thence by a direct line to what was formerly the 

northwest corner of the county of Washington, Alabama; thence on 

a direct line to a point ten miles east of the Pascagoula river on the 

Gulf of Mexico; thence westwardly, including all the islands within 

six leagues of the shore, to the most eastern junction of the Pearl

3 Stat L 48.
106

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

river with Lake Borgne; then up said Pearl river to the thirty-first 

degree of north latitude; then west along said degree of latitude to 

the middle or thread of the stream of the Mississippi river; thence up 

the middle of the Mississippi river, or thread of the stream, to the 

place of beginning, including all islands lying east of the thread of 

the stream of said river, and also including all lands which were at 

any time heretofore a part of the state.

For further information concerning the eastern boundary, see Alabama, page 109.

In 1819 the line between Mississippi and Tennessee 

was run by commissioners. In 1833 the Legislature of 

Tennessee passed an act (Laws of Tennessee, 1833, p. 

52) defining the south boundary as the line run in 1830 

by John Thompson, commissioner acting for Tennessee, 

but Mississippi refused to accept the line as thus 

marked.22 In 1837 the line was again run by commissioners from two States and ratified by the legislatures. 

The commissioners' report was as follows (Tennessee 

laws, 1837, p. 27):

at the basis meridian of the Chickasaw surveys, and terminating at a 

point on the east bank of the Mississippi river (opposite Cow Island) 

sixteen chains north of Thompson's line.

By joint resolutions (35 Slot. L. 1160, 1161) approved 

January 26, 1909, Congress authorized Mississippi and 

Louisiana and Mississippi and Arkansas to fix the river 

boundary lines between them and to cede the one to 

the other any tracts of land that had been separated 

from the main body of either State by changes in the 

channel of Mississippi River.23

The change in the location of the river channel 

caused by the avulsion of 1912-13 at Albemarle Bend 

(about 15 miles north of Vicksburg) was referred to the 

U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the boundary 

between the two States would remain as it was before 

the avulsion occurred (283 U.S. 791). The river is now 

(1975) considerably west of its former position.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a decision dated February 26, 1974, ruled that an area known as Luna Bar 

was formed by accretion resulting from a gradual 

westward movement of the Mississippi River, and was 

therefore a part of the State of Mississippi (415 U.S. 302).

In the Mississippi State Code the river boundary is 

described as "the Mississippi River (meaning thereby 

the center of said river or thread of stream)."

Commencing at a point on the west bank of the Tennessee river 

six four-pole chains south, or above the mouth of Yellow Creek, and

LOUISIANA

The original territory of Louisiana was acquired from

about three-quarters of a mile north of the line known as "Thompson's T-I /r, nn , ,, „ , T ,„,-,., ,. r

,. „ , . . , . , , ,. . u , TV. ' v France. (See p. 23 and fig. 3. In 1804 a portion of line, and twenty-six chains and ten links north of Thompson s line ________

^ Similar authority was granted to Missouri and Kansas and to Oregon

Laws of Tennessee for 1833, p. 122, and Resolution 9 for reference and Washington in 1910 (36 Stat. L. 881; see also 211 U.S. 127 and 214 

to the Walker line. U.S. 217).

100 KILOMETRES

FIGURE 24.—Historical diagram of 

Mississippi.
this territory comprising part of the present State of 

Louisiana and the area south of lat 31° N. eastward 

to the Perdido, claimed by the United States as a part 

of the Louisiana Purchase, was organized into a Territory under the name of Orleans, and the rest of the 

Louisiana Purchase was named the District of Louisiana 

(2 Stat. 283). This name was changed to the Territory 

of Louisiana by act of March 3, 1805 (2 Stat. 331). By 

act of Congress of April 8, 1812 (2 Stat. 702), effective 

April 30, the Territory of Orleans, except the area north 

and east of Lake Pontchartrain, which was added by 

a later act, was admitted as a State under the name 

of Louisiana, and by the act of June 4, 1812, the name 

of the Territory of Louisiana was changed to Missouri 

Territory. (See fig. 27.) In the same year the limits of 

the State were enlarged on the southeast to their present extent (2 Stat. 708). The United States claim to the 

area between the Sabine and the Mississippi was not 

recognized by Spain until 1819.

The act approved March 26, 1804, (2 Stat. 283) defines 

the Territory of Orleans as

all that portion of country, ceded by France to the United. States under 

the name of Louisiana, which lies south of the Mississippi territory, 

and of an east and west line to commence on the Mississippi river, 

at the thirty-third degree of north latitude, and to extend west to the 

western boundary of the said cession, shall constitute a Territory of 

the United States, under the name of the territory of Orleans.

The following clause from the act admitting Louisiana 

as a State defines its original boundaries:

beginning at the mouth of the river Sabine; thence by a line to 

be drawn along the middle of said river, including all islands, to the 

thirty-second degree of latitude; thence due north, to the northernmost part of the thirty-third degree of north latitude; thence along the 

said parallel of latitude to the river Mississippi; thence down the said 

river to the river Iberville, and from thence along the middle of the 

said river and lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the Gulf of Mexico; 

thence, bounded by the said gulf, to the place of beginning, including 

all islands within three leagues of the coast.

A case was brought in the Supreme Court by Texas 

against Louisiana to establish the location of the boundary in the Sabine River. The Court adopted the report 

of the Special Master, who recommended that the 

boundary is the geographic middle of the river and that 

Louisiana held all islands in the eastern half of the 

river and those that have existed in the western half 

since 1812 (410 U.S. 702).

The Court then held that the United States "should 

be requested to present any claims it may have to 

any of the islands in the western half of the Sabine 

* * *" Subsequently Louisiana moved to enlarge the 

reference of the Special Master to include the establishment of Louisiana's lateral boundary with Texas in 

the Gulf of Mexico. The United States recommended 

enlargement of the Special Master's reference to include the extension of that boundary to the seaward

107

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

LOUISIANA

limit of Texas' 9-mile grant under the Submerged Lands 

Act. The case is to be argued in the October term of 

the Supreme Court in 1975. Information on the past 

actions in the case and the position of the United States 

is set forth in the pretrial brief presented by the Department of Justice in May 1974.

The Iberville River is now known as Bayou Manchac. 

(See p. 23.)

An act approved April 14, 1812 (2 Stat. 706), made 

the following addition to Louisiana:

Beginning at the junction of the Iberville with the river Mississippi, 

thence along the middle of the Iberville, he river Amite, and of the 

lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the eastern mouth of the Pearl 

River; thence up the eastern branch of Pearl River to the thirty-first 

degree of north latitude; thence along the said degree of latitude to 

the river Mississippi; thence down the said river to the place of 

beginning, shall become and form a part of the State of Louisiana.

This change in the boundary, whereby an area of 

more than 5,000' square miles was added to the State, 

required acceptance by the legislature before it became effective. (See fig. 25.)

The question has often been asked why the State 

boundary as fixed by the act of April 8, 1812, was not 

made to include the area added a few days later. When 

the enabling act of February 20, 1811, was under consideration, it was proposed to include in the new State 

all or part of West Florida as described in the treaty 

of 1763 between Spain and Great Britain, but because 

of numerous objections this area was purposely 

omitted. The matter was brought up in the constitutional convention of January 1812, when it was again 

proposed to include the West Florida area east to the 

Perdido River, but the proposition was voted down, 

presumably because the enlarged area would include 

too many Anglo-American inhabitants, the objectors 

being largely among the Creoles of Louisiana (Cox, 

1918, p. 548, 599, 601, 604).

A few days later, however, the convention sent a 

memorial to Congress asking that the West Florida 

area, west of the Pearl River, be at once made a part 

of the proposed State. This request was refused, as it 

was deemed best to provide for the change in a separate bill. The principal reasons for this action were 

that it gave the people of the new State an opportunity 

for accepting or refusing the addition as they saw fit, 

and although the United States was in actual possession of the area, the title was in dispute and according
108

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

to the presidential proclamation of October 27, 1810, 

was subject to "amicable negotiation." 24

The water boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana south of the Pearl River is thus described (202 

U.S. 58; see also 202 U.S. 1):

the deep water channel sailing line emerging from the most 

eastern mouth of Pearl River into Lake B'orgne and extending through 

the northeast corner of Lake Borgne, north of Half Moon or Grand 

Island, thence east and south through Mississippi Sound, through 

South Pass between Cat Island and Isle a Pitre, to the Gulf of 

Mexico, * * *.

The north boundary of the Territory of Orleans (now 

the State of Louisiana) was surveyed in 1806, presumably along the 33d parallel, from the west bank of the 

Mississippi River to the east bank of the Red River, 

a reported distance of 147 miles 49 chains. Most of 

the marks were blazed trees. This location of the line 

was accepted in 1841 as the State boundary. From 

mile 101 to the Red River this line was resurveyed and 

re-marked in 1841. Other parts of the line have been 

resurveyed as part of the regular work of the General 

Land Office. West of the Red River the line was surveyed in 1839. The western 6 miles was resurveyed in 

1895, and a stone post 48 inches long and 10 inches 

square was placed on the Texas line to mark the northwest corner of the State.

21 For references to Congressional debates on this subject, see "Annals 

of Congress" (Pub. in 1853), llth Gong., 3d sess., p. 486; 12th Gong., 1st 

sess., v. 1, p. 186-194, 1159; v. 2, p. 1185-12T6.

The Geological Survey has located points on this line 

as follows: Near east end of line, lat 33°00'16.5" N., 

long 91°13'21.2" W.; near Arkana, lat 33°01'11.0" N., 

long 93°40'24.7" W.; \% miles east of the northwest 

comer of the State, lat 33°01'09.7" N., long 94°01'18.6" 

W. For reference to the survey of the west boundary, 

see Texas, page

ALABAMA

On March 3, 1817, by an act of Congress, Alabama 

Territory was formed from the eastern part of Mississippi Territory. Alabama was admitted into the Union 

by resolution dated December 14, 1819. The enabling 

act of March 2, 1819 (3 Stat. L. 490), describes the 

boundaries as follows:

* * * beginning at the point where the line of the thirty-first degree 

of north latitude intersects the Perdido river; thence east to the 

western boundary line of the state of Georgia; thence along said line 

to the southern boundary line of the state of Tennessee; thence west 

along said boundary line to the Tennessee river; 25 thence up the same 

to the mouth of Bear creek; thence by a direct line to the northwest 

corner of Washington county; thence due south to the Gulf of Mexico; 

thence eastwardly, including all the islands within six leagues of the 

shore, to the Perdido river; and thence up the same to the beginning.

Section 3 of the enabling act provided that

it should be the duty of the surveyor of the lands of the United States 

south of the state of Tennessee, and the surveyor of the public lands 

in the Alabama territory, to run and cut out the line of demarcation, 

between the state of Mississippi and the state to be formed of the 

Alabama territory; and if it should appear to said surveyors, that so 

much of said line designated in the preceding section, running d<ue 

south, from the north-west corner of "Washington county to the Gulf 

of Mexico, will encroach on the counties of Wayne, Green, or Jackson, 

in said state of Mississippi, then the same shall be so altered as to run 

in a direct line from the north-west corner of Washington county to 

a point on the Gulf of Mexico, ten miles east of the mouth of the river 

Pascagola.

2r> The western crossing of the Tennessee River is intended.

FIGURE 25.—Historical diagram of 

Louisiana.
That part of the Alabama-Mississippi boundary 

from the mouth of Bear Creek, on the Tennessee River, 

southerly to the northwest corner of what was then 

Washington County, Ala., was surveyed by James W. 

Exum, U.S. deputy surveyor, in 1820 under the direction of John Coffee and Thomas Freeman. The field 

notes and plats of this survey, which were approved 

by John Coffee on October 12, 1820, are filed in the 

Records of the General Land Office, now in the custody 

of the National Archives and Records Service. A trial 

line was run northerly from the stump of an oak tree 

20 feet tall which marked the corner of the county. The 

true bearing of this part of the boundary was found 

to be N. 2°08' E. The final line was run on that course, 

and posts were established at each mile, the measured distance being 204 miles 30 chains.

The part of the boundary between the line described 

above and the Gulf of Mexico was also surveyed in 

1820 under the direction of Thomas Freeman.26 From 

this survey it was found that

the experimental line encroached on the Counties of Wayne, Green 

and Jackson in the State of Mississippi & * * * falls on the Gulf of 

Mexico six miles, 22 chains & 54 links East of 1he Mouth of the river 

or Bay of Pascagola * * * we have determined to alter said line to 

a point on the Gulf of Mexico three miles, 57 chains 5. 46 links East 

of the experimental line, * * * which will be ten miles east of the 

mouth of the river or Bay of Pascagola, and there fix permanently 

the termination of the boundary line between the States of Mississippi 

& Alabama.

The final line was run and marked as above described for a distance of a little more than 102 miles, and 

a terminal mound was established about 3 miles from 

the Gulf, further progress being prevented by swamps. 

The entire line was cleared, all nearby trees were 

blazed, posts were set at each mile, and at important 

points mounds of earth 12 feet at the base and 5 feet 

high were erected.

The boundary between Alabama and Mississippi is 

described as follows (Whitefield, 1906, p. 244):

[Beginning at] a point on the west bank of the Tennessee river, 

six four-pole chains south of and above the mouth of Yellow creek;, 

thence up the said river to the mouth of Bear creek; thence by a 

direct line to what was formerly the northwest corner of the county 

of Washington, (Ala.); thence in a direct line to a point ten miles east 

of the Pascagoula river, on the Gulf of Mexico:

The boundary between Alabama and Tennessee is 

by statute the 35th parallel of north latitude (see North 

Carolina, p. 97); from Nickajack (see Georgia, p. 103) 

the line runs (Keys and Wood, 1877, p. 189)

west along the southern boundary line of the state of Tennessee 

crossing the Tennessee river, and on to second intersection of said 

river by said line.

In October, 1807, Thomas Freeman made sextant 

observations for latitude a short distance east of the

109

28 See unpublished report by John Coffee and Thomas Freeman, dated 

May 29, 1820, and field notes on file in the records of the General Land 

Office.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

TENNESSEE

Elk River, near long 87° W. He marked a point which 

he estimated was on the 35th parallel, the north boundary of the area then called the Mississippi Territory, 

and ran the line between the Elk River and the old 

Cherokee line, a distance of about 30 miles. In 1817 

the line was extended westward to the Tennessee River 

a measured distance of a little more than 7lVz miles. 

Between 1822 and 1839 this boundary line was run 

eastward as far as the northwest corner of Georgia. 

The notes of these surveys are in the Alabama field 

notebooks of the General Land Office.

For the history of the boundary between Alabama 

and Georgia, see Georgia, page 103; and for the history 

of the boundary between Alabama and Florida, see 

Florida, page 102.

The northeast corner of Alabama, as now marked, is 

more than a mile south of the 35th parallel. The north 

boundary crosses the 35th parallel near long 87°20' W. 

and at the northwest corner of the State it is about half 

a mile north of its proper position as defined by statute. The latitude and longitude of a number of points 

on the western part of the north boundary are given 

in U.S. Geological Survey Bulletins 216, 276, 440, and 

551 (Gannett, 1903, 1905; R. B. Marshall, 1910, 1914).

TENNESSEE

Tennessee was originally a part of North Carolina. 

In 1784 the Legislature of North Carolina passed an act 

of cession to the United States of its western counties. 

Although the act was soon afterward repealed, the 

people of Greene, Sullivan, and Washington Counties 

(now eastern Tennessee), believing themselves to be 

without proper government and inadequately defended 

against the Indians, revolted in 1785 and proceeded to 

organize an independent State to be called Franklin. 

A constitution was adopted, and a governor and a 

legislature were elected. It was planned to invite the 

inhabitants of adjoining areas now forming parts of 

Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, 

and Alabama to join the movement and thus create a 

large State; but the continued opposition of North 

Carolina finally prevailed, and in 1788 North Carolina 

again gained control. (Haywood, 1823, p. 142-175; Am. 

Hist. Rev., 1903, v. 8, p. 271-293.)

North Carolina in 1790 again passed an act ceding 

her western lands to the United States. The cession was 

accepted by act of Congress approved on April 2 of that 

year, and a government was provided for in "An act for
110

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

the government of the territory of the United States 

south of the Ohio River" (1 Stat. L. 123). The boundaries 

(fig. 21) described in the act of cession are substantially 

those of the State of Tennessee at the present day. 

(Carroll, 1903, p. 240-243; Staunton, 1860, p. 211-220; 

Shannon, 1917, v. 1, p. 33-62.)

Tennessee was admitted to the Union as a State by 

act approved June 1, 1796. The act of admission defined it as "the whole of the territory ceded to the 

United States by the State of North Carolina" (1 Stat. 

L. 491).

For the history of the eastern boundary, see North 

Carolina, page 98; for the southern boundary, see 

Georgia, pages 101, 102; Alabama, page 109; and Mississippi, page 105.

The middle of the Mississippi River became the western boundary of this area by the treaty of peace of 

1783.

Virginia and North Carolina, prior to the creation of 

the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, appointed commissioners—Messrs. Walker and Henderson—to run 

and mark their common boundary on the parallel of lat 

36°30' N. From a point on the top of the Cumberland 

Mountains, now the southeast comer of Kentucky, 

Walker ran and marked the line to a point on the 

Tennessee River. This line, called Walker's line, was 

regarded for many years as the dividing line between 

Kentucky and Tennessee. It has since been ascertained, 

however, that Walker's line was about 3 minutes 

north of lat 36° 30' N.

The Indian title to the land west of the Tennessee 

River being extinguished by the treaty of 1819, the 

Legislature of Kentucky appointed Robert Alexander 

and Luke Munsell to ascertain the true point of lat 36° 

30' N. on the Mississippi and to run and mark a line 

east on that parallel, which was done as far east as 

the Tennessee (Carroll, 1903, p. 240-243).

In 1820 commissioners were appointed by Kentucky 

and Tennessee to settle the boundary. Their report, 

ratified by the States and approved by Congress May 

12, 1820, is in part as follows (Haywood, 1823, p. 485; 

Carroll, 1903, p. 240; 3 Stat. L. 609. For reference to 

the 1826 survey of this line by Thomas J. Matthews, 

see Henry, 1920, p. 177-184).

The line of boundary and separation between the States of Kentucky and Tennessee shall be as follows, to wit: The line run by the 

Virginia commissioners, in the years 1779 and 1780, commonly called 

Walker's line, as the same is reputed, understood, and acted upon by 

the said States, their respective officers and citizens, from the southeastern corner of Kentucky to the Tennessee liver; thence with and 

up said river to the point where the line of Alexander and Munsell, 

run by them in the last year under the authority of an act of the 

legislature of Kentucky entitled an act to run the boundary line 

between this state and the state of Tennessee, west of the Tennessee 

river, approved February the 8th, 1819, would cross said river; and 

thence with the said line of Alexander and Munsell to the termination 

thereof on the Mississippi river, below New Madrid.

In 1858-59 commissioners were appointed by Kentucky and Tennessee to rerun this line. The report of 

the commission on the part of Tennessee, giving 

courses, bearings, and milestones erected can be found 

in the State statutes (Thompson and Steger, 1873, p. 

223-243). The report of the commission on the part of 

Kentucky, including latitudes and a map of the line, 

was printed at Frankfurt by the State printer, in 1860, 

as a pamphlet of 98 octavo pages. Between Cumberland Gap and the Tennessee River the line is from 5 3/4 

to 12 miles north of lat 36° 30' N. As a result of this and 

other errors in the location of its boundaries, Tennessee 

gained about 2,500 square miles of territory that it 

would not have had if the lines had been correctly 

located.

The line was run from the Mississippi eastward to 

the Tennessee, thence down that river to a point at approximate lat 36°40'45" N., and thence eastward; it 

followed the old Walker line wherever identifiable, and 

where no marks were known it was run to points where 

the Walker line was reputed to be. At the southwest 

corner of Virginia is an offset from the Walker line, 

which had been adopted for the Kentucky boundary, 

to the compromise line agreed on by Virginia and 

Tennessee in 1803. The line was continued to the 

northeast corner of the State and thence about IVz 

miles southwest to the North Carolina line, a total distance of about 432 miles.

There are many angles and offsets in the line east 

of the Tennessee River that can scarcely be attributed 

to errors in surveying. It seems, however, that the 

commissioners who first ran the line between Virginia 

and North Carolina (the Byrd line) and the Tennessee 

north boundary (the Walker line) were allowed to 

change the lines at their discretion provided the commissioners for both States agreed; consequently they 

ran the line on an irregular course to accommodate influential inhabitants along the boundary who desired 

to remain in one State or the other. (For a comprehensive history of this line, see Garrett, 1884.)

By act of January 28, 1901, Tennessee ceded the 

north half of the main street in the old town of Bristol 

to Virginia. This cession was accepted by Virginia 

February 9, 1901, and approved by Congress March 

3, 1901. (31 Stat. L 1465. See 190 U.S. 75 for reference 

to this cession.)

For a history of the boundary between Virginia and 

Tennessee, see Virginia, page 95.
An excellent article by Park Marshall on the boundary lines of Tennessee has been published by the State 

geological survey (Marshall, 1918, p. 90-108).

Geographic positions on the Tennessee-Virginia 

boundary have been determined by the U.S. Coast and 

Geodetic Survey as follows: 2r

A stone post 24 inches long, set 20 inches in the 

ground, on Holston Mountain a short distance northwest of Sutherland, at lot 36°36'51.2" N. and long 81° 

49'36.3" W. This station is very near the State line if 

not on it. The observer who located it stated:

The sketch submitted with the report of the commissioners who 

ran out the State line in 1858 shows an offset of about 1% miles 

between Bristol and this station. The tree marks are found on the 

straight line east of the offset point but are said not to be continuous; and blocks have been cut from some trees showing the age 

of 1802 or 1803 and have been crossed out. The only line marked 

through is that with this offset. Blocks with these erased marks can 

be had in Bristol, in the possession of Mr. Huffacre [1894].

I have found a stone post on this line in the valley of Beaver Dam 

Creek, about 1 Vi miles above the village of Damascus and about 2 

miles east of this station. I traced the line from this stone west 

to the highest point it crosses on Holston Mountain, where the station is established, and found several trees marked by both commissioners (1802, or 1803, and 1858) easily recognized at this date. The 

line of 1802 or 1803 is called the "diamond line," from the method 

of marking always thus ••. , while the marks of 1858 are always "

In Bristol, Tenn.-Va., lat 36°35'41.6" N., long 82° 

10'41.6" W., the State line passes 15 feet south of the 

Baptist Church steeple.

On a ridge about 5 miles west of Bristol, lat 36°35' 

42.1" N., long 82°15'54.5" W.

About 3 miles north of Kingsport, Tenn., lot 36°35' 

39.9" N., long 82°35'35.8" W.

On Clinch Mountain, about 4 miles southeast of Fairview, Va., lot 36°35'37.3" N., long 82°49'49.4" W.

On the crest of Powell Mountain, about 8 miles 

northeast of Sedalia, Tenn., lat 36°35'38.0" N., long 

83°10'32.3" W.

About 3 miles south of Ewing, Va., lat 36°35'50.50" 

N., long 83°27'52.6" W.

The following positions are on the Tennessee-Kentucky boundary (1927 N.A.D.):

Nine miles north of Oneida, Tenn., lat 36°35'51.86" 

N., long 84°34'16.02" W.

Boundary monument 48, along Byrdstown-Albany 

Road, lat 36°37'23.35" N., long 85°07'06.45" W.

Boundary monument 27, 0.5 miles south of Keysburg, 

lat 36°38'37.62" N., long 87°01'00.20" W.

State-line monument 2 (known locally as Puckett 

Rock) is about 7 miles south of Hickman, along Dyersburg Road, at lat 36°30'22,66" N., long 89°15'26.52" W.

Ill

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES

OHIO

27 See 190 U.S. 64 for report of commissioners who resurveyed this line 

in 1902-3.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky was included in the original limits of Virginia (fig. 21) and was a part of Augusta County, which 

was formed in 1738. In 1769 Botetourt County was 

created from a portion of Augusta County; in 1772, 

Fincastle from Botetourt; in 1776, Kentucky from Fincastle. The boundaries of these counties are described 

by Hening (1821, v. 9; 1822, v. 10).

In 1789 Virginia passed an act giving consent that 

the district of Kentucky be formed into a new State. 

Accordingly, by an act of Congress approved February 

4, 1791, effective June 1, 1792 (1 Stat. 189), Kentucky 

was admitted into the Union with substantially its present boundaries.

The cession by Virginia to the United States of the 

territory northwest of the Ohio, in 1784, made the 

north bank of that river the dividing line, and consequently it became the north boundary of the State 

of Kentucky, the exact line being fixed by the lowwater stage of the river (5 Wheaton 374). The western 

boundary/ the middle of the Mississippi, was the line 

fixed by the treaty of peace in 1783.

The Supreme Court decided in 1820 (5 Wheaton 374), 

in a suit before it for the possession as a part of Kentucky of a tract of land on the north side of the Ohio, 

which at high water became an island, that

No land can be considered an island unless it is surrounded by 

water at all times. The same tract of land can not be sometimes in 

Kentucky and sometimes in Indiana, according to the rise and fall of 

the river. It must be always in the one State or the other.

For a history of the boundary between Kentucky and 

Virginia and West Virginia, see Virginia, page 94; for 

the boundary between Kentucky and Tennessee, see 

Tennessee, page 110.

A peculiar aspect of the extreme southwest corner 

of Kentucky is that owing to a double bend in the 

Mississippi River, an area of about 10 square miles 

belonging to Kentucky cannot be reached from the 

rest of the State without passing through a part of 

Missouri or Tennessee.

OHIO

Ohio was the first State formed from the original 

"Territory northwest of the River Ohio." The congressional enabling act, approved April 30, 1802 (2 Stat. 

L. 173), contained certain provisos with which the con-

»> The legal name for this State is "The Commonwealth of Kentucky."
112

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

stitution of the proposed State must comply. It seems 

evident, therefore, that the constitution as framed required the approval of Congress before it became effective.

The constitutional convention completed its labors 

November 29, 1802; the constitution was referred to 

Congress and first considered in the Senate in January 

1803. Apparently it complied with the provisos of the 

enabling act, for under date of February 19, 1803, an 

act was approved "to provide for the due execution of 

the laws of the United States within the State of Ohio" 

(2 Stat. L. 201). In this act, reference was made to the 

action of the convention, thus virtually approving the 

constitution as submitted, although it provided for a 

change in the boundary described in the enabling act. 

Referring to the constitution as adopted, this act states, 

"whereby the said State became one of the United 

States of America." An act approved February 21, 1806 

(2 Stat. L. 350), appropriated money for the payment 

of salaries of the governor, secretary, and judges of the 

"late Territory" of Ohio from November 29, 1802, to 

"the first Tuesday in March, 1803" (March 1).

It would therefore appear that March 1, 1803, was 

the date on which Congress assumed that Ohio statehood came into full effect. In further confirmation of 

this conclusion, it should be noted that the Territorial 

delegate in Congress retained his seat until March 1, 

1803, and the first general assembly of the State convened on the same date. (Mag. Am. Hist., October 1887, 

p. 306-316; Tannehill, 1920, p. 9.)

In view of the conflicting evidence as to the date of 

Ohio's admission to the Union, it is not surprising that 

various dates are claimed as correct. However, the 

congressional act signed by the President February 

19, 1803, referred to above, says in part:

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled. That all the laws 

of the United States which are not locally inapplicable, shall have 

the same force and effect within the said State of Ohio as elsewhere 

within the United States.

The formal wording of this part of the act would 

imply congressional approval to the entrance of Ohio 

into the Union, and it is probable that February 19, 

1803, should be accepted as the date.

The limits of the State as given in the enabling act 

are as follows (2 Stat. L. 173):

bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania line, on the south 

by the Ohio River, to the mouth of the Great Miami river, on the

west by the line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, 

aforesaid, and on the north by an east and west line, drawn through 

the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east after intersecting 

the due north line aforesaid, from the mouth of the Great Miami until 

it shall intersect Lake Erie or the territorial line, and thence with the 

same through Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line, aforesaid: Provided, 

that Congress shall be at liberty at any time hereafter, either to 

attach all the territory lying east of the line to be drawn due north 

from the mouth of the Miami, aforesaid, to the territorial line, and 

north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme 

of Lake Michigan, running east as aforesaid to Lake Erie, to the aforesaid State, or dispose of it otherwise, in conformity to the fifth article 

of compact between the original States, and the people and Slates 

to be formed in the territory northwest of the river Ohio.

In the constitution of Ohio, article 7, section 6, the 

boundaries are described in the same words used in 

the enabling act but with the following proviso:

Provided always, and it is hereby fully understood and declared l>y thin convention, that if the southerly bend or extreme of 

Lake Michigan should extend so far south, that a line drawn due east 

from it should not intersect Lake Erie, or if it should intersect said 

Lake Erie east of the mouth of the Miami River [now Maumee River] 

of the Lake, then, and in that case, with the assent of the Congress of 

the United States, the northern boundary of this State shall be established by, and extending to, a direct line running from the southern 

extremity of Lake Michigan to the most northerly cape of the1 Miami 

Bay, after intersecting the due north line from the mouth of the 

Great Miami River as aforesaid; thence northeast to the territorial line, 

and by the said territorial line to the Pennsylvania line.

The framers of the Ohio constitution had good reason 

for believing that the description of the northern boundary given in the enabling act was based on inaccurate 

maps 20 and that this description, if adhered to, would 

deprive the State of a large area that Congress intended it should have, and for this reason they inserted the proviso in the constitution. Ohio was admitted to the Union as a State without specific acceptance or rejection by Congress of this proviso.

In 1812 Congress authorized the survey of the line 

(2 Stat. L. 741) as described in the enabling act of 1802, 

but the work was not undertaken until several years 

later.

Lines were run in 1817 by William Harris, under the 

direction of the surveyor general of Ohio, presumably 

by authority of the act of 1812—first a random or trial 

line due east from the southern extremity of Lake 

Michigan to the western Ohio line and another from 

the most northerly cape of Maumee Bay west and 

south to the due east line. Manuscript copies of the 

notes and plats of these lines are filed in the General 

Land Office. From the data thus obtained, a true line 

was then run for the northern boundary of Ohio as 

described in the State constitution, on which 71 marks 

were established at mile intervals. This line is from 

5 to 7 miles north of the due east line from the southern 

extremity of Lake Michigan. (See fig. 31.)

29 See Lake Michigan as shown on the Mitchell map; also fig. 31; many 

other maps published .prior to 1800 showed the lake in the same relative 

position.
When news of this survey reached the Governor of 

Michigan, it naturally called forth vigorous protests from 

him as well as from other residents of the Territory. 

After considerable fruitless discussion a committee was 

sent from Michigan to Washington to seek redress, 

with the result that an order was given to run the line 

as authorized by the act of 1812. This survey was 

executed by Surveyor Fulton in 1818. He ran the 

north boundary due east from the southern extremity 

of Lake Michigan. 30 Congress neither confirmed nor 

rejected it. Ohio, as was to be expected, refused to 

accept it.

In order to have data for settling the dispute, Congress in 1832 (4 Stat. L. 596) ordered the determination 

of latitude and longitude at important points on the 

two lines; the positions of eight stations were found, 

but apparently no use was made of them. As time 

passed the boundary disputes grew more bitter until 

a crisis was reached in February, 1835, when the Ohio 

Legislature passed a resolution declaring the northern 

line to be the true boundary of the State and ordering 

that the State's jurisdiction be extended to that line. 

Armed troops were assembled by both sides, and 

civil war seemed imminent. The President, Congress, 

and the courts were called on to settle the trouble, and 

a commission was sent from Washington in the hope 

of effecting a compromise. (Way, 1869; Faris, 1926.) 

Finally better judgment prevailed; Michigan was induced to suspend hostile actions, principally from the 

hope of statehood with increased territory on the north 

and a share in the allotment of public funds. Ohio on 

her part had every expectation of obtaining the coveted 

territory, and so this bloodless war came to an end.

Michigan Territory had for several years had a population large enough for admission to the Union as a 

State, but action was delayed because of the boundary dispute.

On June 15, 1836, an act was approved to establish 

the northern boundary of Ohio and admit Michigan as 

a State (5 Stat. L. 49), provided the new State, by vote 

of a convention called for the purpose, accepted the 

boundary as thus described:

* * * the northern boundary line of the State of Ohio shall be established at and shall be a direct line drawn from the southern extremity 

of Lake Michigan, to the most northerly cape of the Maumee (Miami) 

Bay, after that line, so drawn, shall intersect the eastern boundary 

line of the State of Indiana; and from the said north cape of the said 

bay, northeast to the boundary line between the United States and 

the Province of Upper Canada, in Lake Erie; and thence, with the said 

last-mentioned line, to its intersection with the western line of 

the State of Pennsylvania.

The line as above established was the line which had 

been surveyed and marked by Harris in 1817, and it 

was confirmed by congressional act of June 23, 1836

113

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES

OHIO

(5 Stat. L. 56), which thereby gave Ohio full control 

over an area of 520 square miles, long in dispute.

The first Michigan convention voted against the acceptance of this boundary, but another one voted for 

its acceptance in December 1836. The line as surveyed 

and marked in 1817 thus became the northern boundary of Ohio.

Parts of the line as marked in 1817 were retraced 

and re-marked in 1837 and 1842 by the General Land 

Office. 31

In 1915 the legislatures of the two States authorized 

the resurvey and monumenting of the line. All existing 

marks of the previous surveys were to be recovered, 

and where none existed straight lines were to be run 

between known points. The survey was commenced at 

the northwest corner of Ohio, which, being in a public 

road, was marked by a large granite block set 12 

inches below the road surface and by a granite "witness" post 12 by 12 inches in section and 5 !/2 feet long 

set on the line 20 feet east of the corner. The position 

of this corner, which is on the Indiana line, is lat 41°41' 

45.88" N., long 84°48'21.66" W. The line is somewhat 

irregular; sections of it range from N. 85°27' E. to N. 

89°41' E. and the mean is about N. 87°55' E., true bearing. Boundary post 47 is at lat 41°43'15.88" N., long 

83°51'33.36" W. These points have been tied into the 

triangulation of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

and are on 1927 N.A.D.

The last post set on the line (no. 71) is about 900 

feet from the shore of Maumee Bay, and its position is 

lat 41°43'56.63" N., long 83°27'16.97" W. The position of each of the other posts and the distance and 

bearing from each to the next are set forth in the Ohio 

State report of 1916, which gives a historical sketch 

of the line. (Sherman, 1916-33, v. 1; Soule, 1897, p. 346- 

378; U.S. Congress, 1835.)

The boundary between Ohio and Michigan in Lake 

Erie was further defined by the U.S. Supreme Court 

in 1973 (410 US 420). To pass the line through the most 

northerly cape of Maumee Bay as it was located in 

1836, as required by the act admitting Michigan as a 

State (see above), the Court defined a line extending 

from post no. 71 on a true bearing N. 87°49'44" E. to 

the point of intersection with a line on a true bearing 

of S. 45° W. from the center of the circular seawall

30 The field notes of both the Fulton and Harris surveys are on file 

in the U.S. National Archives.

31 The General Land Office was combined with the Grazing Service in 

1946 to form the Bureau of Land Management, a bureau of the Department of the Interior.
114

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

The south boundary is the low-water line on the 

north bank of the Ohio.

For a description of the east boundary, see Pennsylvania, page 83.

on Turtle Island. From Turtle Island the line continues N. 45° E. to the international boundary.

The west boundary of Ohio is that fixed by the enabling act—a line due north from the mouth of the 

Miami River.32 It was surveyed and marked in 1799 

from the south end northward to Fort Recovery as the 

first principal meridian of the General Land Office. 

(See fig. 26.) This line was extended to the present 

northwest corner of the State in 1817.

33 The present mouth of the Miami River is a short distance east of the 

mouth in 1799.

INDIANA

By the act approved May 7, 1800, to take effect on 

and after July 4 of that year, the "Territory northwest 

of the River Ohio" was divided into two parts, the 

eastern part to retain the old name, the western part 

to become the Territory of Indiana. (See fig. 26.) The 

description of the boundary line between these two 

Territories is given in the act (2 Stat. L. 58) as follows:

That from and after the fourth day of July next, all that part of the 

territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River, which lies 

to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth 

of Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence

95" 93°

4<f

100 0 100 ____200 KILOMETRES

FIGURE 26.—Historical diagram of 

Indiana.
north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United 

States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, 

constitute a separate Territory, and be called Indiana Territory. 

* # * * * * # 

That whenever that part of the territory of the United States which 

lies to the eastward of a line beginning at the mouth of the Great 

Miami river, and running thence due north to the territorial line 

between the United States and Canada, shall be erected into an 

independent state, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing 

with the original states, thenceforth said line shall become and remain 

permanently the boundary line between such State and the Indiana 

Territory, anything in this act contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

The line from the Ohio River running northeastward 

to Fort Recovery was the boundary of an Indian cession 

established by the "Greenville treaty" of 1795 (Royce, 

1899, p. 654).

In the Ohio enabling act (of 1802) provision was 

made for the addition to Indiana Territory of a triangular strip of land between Ohio and that Territory 

and of that part of the Territory northwest of the River 

Ohio north of the limits of the new State (Ohio) and 

east of Indiana (2 Stat. L. 174), as follows:

All that part of the territory of the United States northwest of the 

river Ohio heretofore included in the eastern division of said territory, 

and not included within the boundary herein prescribed for the said 

state, is hereby attached to and made a part of the Indiana territory.

The admission of Ohio as a State removed from 

Indiana Territory a narrow strip about IVi miles wide 

north of Fort Recovery. (See fig. 26.)

On June 30, 1805 (2 Stat. L 309), by an act approved 

January 11, 1805, the northeastern part of Indiana 

Territory was cut off and organized as Michigan Territory. For the divisional line between the two Territories, 

see Michigan, page 127.

On March 1, 1809, by an act approved February 3, 

1809, Indiana Territory was again divided, and the 

western part was organized as Illinois Territory (2 Stat. 

L. 514). For a description of the line separating these 

two Territories, see Illinois, page 116.

On December 11, 1816, Indiana was admitted as a 

State with the limits as given in the following extract 

from the enabling act (3 Stat. L. 289), approved April 

19, 1816, which have not since been changed:

the said State shall consist of all the territory included within the 

following boundaries, to wit: Bounded on the east, by the meridian 

line which forms the western boundary of the State of Ohio; on the 

South, by the river Ohio, from the mouth of the Great Miami River, 

to the mouth of the River Wabash; on the west by a line drawn along 

the middle of the Wabash, from its mouth to a point where a due 

north line drawn from the town of Vincennes, would last touch the 

northwestern shore of the said river; and from thence by a due north 

line, until the same shall intersect an east and west line drawn 

through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of lake Michigan; on the north by the said east and west line until the same shall 

intersect the first-mentioned meridian line which forms the western 

boundary of the state of Ohio.

115

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

INDIANA

A provision in this act required that the boundaries 

as therein described be ratified by a constitutional convention to be called; otherwise they would be fixed as 

described in article 5 of the ordinance of 1787. By ratifying them, June 29, 1816, Indiana missed an opportunity for including in its limits a considerably larger 

territory than it now has. There was a similar proviso 

in the enabling act of 1818 for Illinois.

The north boundary of Indiana is parallel to and 10 

miles north of the line which runs due east from the 

southern extremity of Lake Michigan (3 Stat. L. 289). A 

survey of this line was made in 1827 in accordance 

with the congressional act of March 2 of that year. 33 The 

original plat of the survey was filed in the surveyor 

general's office in Chillicothe, Ohio, and a copy in the 

General Land Office in Washington. The approximate 

latitude as determined in 1827 is 41°47'43" N., but 

measurements by the Geological Survey near the east 

end (Marshall, 1916, p. 305) give the latitude as 41°45'- 

33" N. The mark nearest Lake Michigan is in lot 41°- 

45'36.07" N., long 86°46'03.36" W. (1927 N.A.D.). Parts 

of this line were retraced in 1828, 1834, 1839, and 1842 

by the General Land Office.

For a description of the east boundary, see Ohio, 

page 114. For a description of the west boundary, see 

Illinois page 116.

The south boundary is the low-water line on the north 

side of the Ohio River. This interpretation was given 

by the Supreme Court (18 U.S. 374) to the phrase 

"northwest of the river Ohio" in the cession to the 

United States by Virginia of its territory on the northerly side of the river. This was reaffirmed in an opinion 

in Indiana v. Kentucky, (136 U.S. 479) in 1890. The 

low-water line of 1792 was fixed as the true boundary, 

this being the date of Kentucky's admission to the 

Union.

In 1942 and 1943, the two States passed acts with 

identical descriptions of surveys of the 1942 low-water 

line. Congress approved these acts on June 29, 1943 

(57 Stat. 248).

A report from the Indiana State Highway Commission 

in 1969 gives the results of an exhaustive study of the 

location of the low-water line in 1792. Old surveys, records, and maps were consulted, and the report concludes that the boundary as of that date could be 

recovered.

*>4 Stat. L. 237. For map and description, see U.S. Gong, (1828).
116

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

ILLINOIS

Illinois Territory, originally part of the Territory 

northwest of the Ohio River and subsequently a part 

of Indiana Territory, was organized by act of February 

3, 1809 (2 Stat. L 514), effective March 1, 1809. The 

following clause from the act separating it from 

Indiana Territory defines its boundary (see fig. 26):

from and after the first day of March next, all that part of the 

Indiana territory which lies west of the Wabash river, and a direct 

line drawn from the said Wabash river and Post Vincennes, due north 

to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for 

the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, 

and be called Illinois.

Illinois was admitted as a State with its present 

boundaries by resolution approved December 3, 1818 

(3 Stat. 536). The enabling act defines these boundaries 

as follows (3 Stat. 429):

the said State shall consist of all the territory included within 

the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the mouth of the 

Wabash River; thence up the same and with the line of Indiana, to the 

northwest corner of said state; thence, east with the line of the same 

state, to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle 

of said lake to the north latitude forty-two degrees thirty minutes; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi river; and thence 

down along the middle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio 

River; and thence up the latter river along its northwestern shore to 

the beginning: * * *.

The eastern boundary of Illinois was ordered surveyed in 1810 in connection with the work of the 

General Land Office. In 1821 the Legislatures of Indiana 

and Illinois ordered a survey of their common boundary. A commissioner representing each State was appointed, and the line was run and marked with wooden 

posts the same year from a point "opist the Vincennes 

Hotell on the N.W. Bank of Wabash river" northward 

to Lake Michigan. There is a signed copy of the field 

notes in the Indiana State Library at Indianapolis.

The Geological Survey determined the position of 

a large stone post on the north bank of the Wabash 

where the State boundary line leaves the river as lat 

39°20'57.6" N., long 87°3.1'52.9" W. At lat 41°17'53" 

N., the longitude of the line is 87°31'36.5" W.

The northern boundary was surveyed and marked in 

1831-32 by Commissioners Lucius Lyon, representing 

the United States, and John Messinger, representing 

Illinois. The field notes of this survey are in the National Archives. The position on the east side of the 

Mississippi of a point in lat 42°30' N., having been 

found by observation, a stone about 7 feet long and of

an estimated weight of 5 tons was set in the ground 

on the high-water line. The stone was marked "Illinois" 

on its south side and "Michigan latitude 42°30' N." on 

its north side. (The Mississippi River Commission later 

located either this stone or one on the State line near 

it and determined its latitude as 42°30'29.3" N.) From 

this point the line was run east to the fourth principal 

meridian of the General Land Office, where a large 

mound of earth was erected, and was continued east 

to the Rock River. Observations then taken showed 

that the line was 54" too far north. An offset was taken 

the proper distance to the south, and a post was set on 

the east bank of the river, 81 miles 31 chains 9 links 

from the Mississippi, from which the line was extended 

(with frequent astronomic observations) to Lake Michigan, where an oak post 12 inches square and 9 feet 

long was set 5 feet in the ground at a point about 1 

chain from the lakeshore. Recent observations show 

that this end of the marked line is about half a mile 

south of the parallel of 42° 30'. The total length of the 

boundary as measured is 144 miles 48 chains 80' links. 

A post was also set on the east bank of the Fox River 

125 miles 9 chains 10 links from the initial point. There 

is a signed copy of the report and notes in the files 

of the General Land Office. 34 The line west of the 

Rock River was later rerun and placed in a corrected 

position.

On April 18 and 19, 1881, the Mississippi River cut 

across a narrow strip of land near the town of Kaskaskia, 111., and formed a new channel 4 miles east of its 

former position, thereby leaving an area of about 27 

square miles on the west side of the river that belongs 

to Illinois (Burnham, 1914). 35

A decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on the boundary in this area as a result of an action, Illinois v. 

Missouri, was decreed in 1970. The Court's decision 

gives courses and distances along the boundary from 

the centerline of the present main channel of the Mississippi River at the southeast corner of Kaskaskia 

Island to the centerline north of Beaver Island. Beaver 

and Kaskaskia Islands are confirmed to Illinois, and 

two bodies of land identified as "Cottonwoods" and 

"Roth Island" are confirmed to Missouri (399 U.S. 146).

The parts of the northern and eastern boundaries of 

Illinois in Lake Michigan are as follows: The north 

line of the State runs due east from the last point 

marked on land (lat 42°29'37" N., nearly) to the middle 

of the lake, a distance of about 40 miles. The east line 

then follows the middle of the lake southward for about 

52 miles, to the Indiana line (which there runs east and 

west through a point 10 miles north of the southernmost part of the lake). The Illinois line then runs due

M Boundaries, no. 22. See Gannett (1907) and R. B. Marshall (1914; 

1916), for latitude and longitude of points on this line.

35 For a map of the area, see the U.S. Geol. Survey map of the Kaskaskia quadrangle, 111.-Mo.
west for about 17 miles to the northwest comer of 

Indiana, which is about IVz miles from land, thence 

south about 3V2 miles along the Indiana line to the 

lake shore.

Definition of the common boundaries of Michigan, 

Illinois, and Indiana in Lake Michigan by geodetic positions was advocated by these States in 1967. The matter 

was discussed but no definite proposals were formulated. The procedure would be to reference the computed points of intersection to monumented points on 

shore (see Wisconsin, p. 130).

MISSOURI

The name of the Territory of Louisiana was changed 

in 1812 (2 Stat. L. 743) to Territory of Missouri. At that 

time the Territory included all the original Louisiana 

Purchase, except the State of Louisiana. (See fig. 27.)

Missouri was declared a State on August 10, 1821, 

by presidential proclamation under authority of the 

joint resolution of Congress of March 2, 1821 (3 Stat. 

L. 645, 797), with boundaries as defined in the enabling 

act of March 6, 1820 (3 Stat. L. 545), as follows:

Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi river, on the parallel of 

thirty-six degrees of north latitude; thence west along that parallel of

117

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MISSOURI

latitude, to the St. Francois river; thence up, and following the course 

of that river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel 

of latitude of thiry-six degrees and thirty minutes; 30 thence west, along 

the same, to a point where the said parallel is intersected by a 

meridian line passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas 

river, where the same empties into the Missouri river, thence from 

the point aforesaid north, along the said meridian line, to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of 

the river Des Moines, making the said line to correspond with the 

Indian boundary line; thence east from the point of intersection last 

aforesaid, along the same parallel of latitude, to the middle of the 

main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence down andi along the 

middle of the main channel of the said river Des Moines, to the 

mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi river; thence 

due east to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river; 

thence down, and following the course of the Mississippi river, in the 

middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of beginning.

The peculiar jog or "panhandle" at the southeast

30 This line (36°30') has since been known as the Missouri Compromise 

line.

115° 113° 111° 109° 107° 105° !03° 101* 99° 97° 35° 93° 91° S9° 07°

FIGURE 27.—Historical diagram of 

Missouri. 100 0 100 200 300 400 KILOMETRES
118

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

corner of the State, between the Mississippi and St. 

Francis Rivers, is said to be the result of efforts of a 

prominent property owner who lived south of the parrallel of 36°30' to have his plantation included in the 

new State (Violette, 1918, p. 111).

In 1836 the boundaries were extended on the northwest to the Missouri River, as described in the following 

act of the legislature amendatory to the constitution 

of 1820 (Thorpe, 1909, v. 4, p. 2170):

That the boundary of the State be so altered and extended as to 

include all that tract of land lying on the north side of the Missouri 

River and west of the present boundary of this State, so that the same 

shall be bounded on the south by the middle of the main channel of 

the Missouri River and on the north by the present northern boundary 

line of the State, as established by the constitution, when the same 

is continued in a right line to the west, or to include so much of said 

tract of land as Congress may assent.

This act was approved by Congress on June 7, 1836, 

and was declared in effect by presidential proclamation of March 28, 1837. The following is an extract from 

the act (5 Stat. L. 34).

That when the Indian title to all the lands lying between the 

State of Missouri and the Missouri river shall be extinguished, the 

jurisdiction over said lands shall be hereby ceded to the State of 

Missouri, and the western boundary of said State shall be then 

extended to the Missouri river.

The north boundary of Missouri was surveyed and 

marked in part in 1816 and the remainder in 1850 

under the General Land Office.37

The Territory remaining after the formation of the 

State bore the name of Missouri for many years. In 

1834 the part north of the State of Missouri and east 

of the Missouri and White Earth Rivers was annexed 

to the Territory of Michigan. (For further history of 

this portion, see Michigan, p. 127; Iowa, p. 131; Minnesota, p. 133; and Dakota, p. 134.) In 1854 Kansas 

and Nebraska Territories were formed, absorbing the 

remainder. (See Kansas, p. 138, and Nebraska, p. 136.)

The following are the boundaries of Missouri as at 

present established by statute: The east boundary is 

the middle of the main channel of -the Mississippi (138 

U.S. 226) from the mouth of the Des Moines to its point 

of intersection with the 36th parallel of latitude; the 

south boundary begins at the latter point and runs 

west on the 36th parallel to the St. Francis River, thence 

up the midchannel of that river to the parallel of 36° 30',

thence west on that parallel to its intersection by a 

meridian passing through the middle of the mouth of 

the Kansas River; the west boundary is the last-mentioned meridian as far north as the mouth of the Kansas River, thence it follows northwestward the midchannel of the Missouri River to the parallel of latitude 

passing through the rapids of the Des Moines River, 

which is approximately the parallel of 40°35'; the north 

boundary is the last-mentioned parallel as far east as 

its point of intersection with the Des Moines River, 

whence it follows the midchannel of the Des Moines 

River southward to its mouth.

In 1939 the States of Missouri and Iowa agreed to 

change their common boundary in the Des Moines 

River to the midchannel as it then existed. This was 

approved by Congress on August 10, 1939 (53 Stat. 

1345).

A similar agreement with Kansas along the Missouri River from the 40th parallel south to the mouth 

of the Kansas River was approved by Congress on 

August 3, 1950 (64 Stat. 397), Exchange of State sovereignty over affected lands was made effective beginning at midnight following the congressional action.

For the survey of the south boundary, see Arkansas, 

page 120; and for the north boundary, see Iowa, pages 

131, 133.

The west boundary of Missouri south of the mouth 

of the Kansas River was surveyed in 1823, and a large 

stone post was set to mark the southwest corner of 

the State, at a point which sextant observations showed 

to be in lat 36°30' N. This position as determined by 

the Geological Survey in 1906 is lat 36°29'58.0" N., 

long 94°37'02.9" W. (Marshall, 1910, p. 488). The 1823 

survey of the south boundary of the State was begun at 

this stone. In 1845 a mound of earth, which had a 10- 

foot base and was 5 feet high, was placed at a point 

4.83 chains farther south.

The west boundary of the State was resurveyed and 

remarked in 1844-45.38

A dispute concerning the river boundary between 

Missouri and Nebraska was settled in 1904 by the 

Supreme Court (196 U.S. 23; 197 U.S. 577), which reaffirmed the old rule that a sudden change in the 

course of a river does not affect a boundary line.

ARKANSAS

Arkansaw 39 Territory was formed by act of March 2, 

1819, effective July 4, 1819, from a part of Missouri

37 Nearly all the boundaries of the States west of the Mississippi were 

surveyed under the direction of the General Land Office, most of them 

by contract surveyors. The field notes and plats of these surveys Kave 

been cataloged, and most of them are now on file in the National Archives.

38 For geographic positions of three State-line points near Kansas City, 

see Baldwin (1915, p. 31).

30 This is the original spelling. A concurrent resolution passed by the 

Legislature of Arkansas in April, 1881 (Laws of 1881, p. 216-217), declared 

that in the opinion of that body the State name "should be pronounced 

in three syllables with the final V silent, the 'a' in each syllable with 

the Italian sound and the accent on the first and last syllables." The 

discussions which led to the passage of this act are given in Rose 

(1908, v. 2, p. 462-477).
Territory. (See fig. 28.) The following clause from the 

act (3 Stat. L. 474) establishing it defines its limits in 

part:

* * * all that part of the Territory of Missouri which lies south of a 

line, beginning on the Mississippi River, at thirty-six degrees, north 

latitude, running thence west to the river St. Francois; thence up the 

same to thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude; and thence 

west to the western territorial boundary line; shall, for the purposes 

of a territorial government, constitute a separate territory and be 

called the Arkansaw Territory.

In 1824 on act was passed by Congress fixing the 

western boundary of the Territory. This was as follows 

(4 Stat. L. 40):

* the western boundary line of the territory of Arkansas shall 

begin at a point forty miles west of the southwest corner of the 

State of Missouri and run south to the right bank of the Red River, and 

thence down the river and with the Mexican boundary to the line 

of the State of Louisiana.

Four years later, in 1828, an act defined the southern 

boundary as

commencing on the right bank of the Mississippi River at latitude 

thirty-three degrees north, and running due west on that parallel of 

latitude to where a line running due north from latitude thirty-two 

degrees north, on the Sabine River, will intersect the same (4 Stat. 

L. 276).

The treaty with the Cherokee Indians (7 Stat. L. 31.1) 

signed May 6, 1828, contained the following article:

The western boundary of Arkansas shall be, and the same is, 

hereby defined viz: A line shall be run, commencing on Red river, 

at the point where the Eastern Choctaw line strikes said river, and 

run due north with said line to the river Arkansas; thence in a direct 

line ot the South West corner of Missouri.

119

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

ARKANSAS

The eastern Choctaw line referred to was fixed by 

the treaty with the Choctaw Nation of January 20, 1825, 

as beginning on the Arkansas River "one hundred 

paces east of Fort Smith, and running thence due 

south to the Red River." (Kappler, 1903, v. 2.)

Arkansas was admitted as a State on June 15, 1836. 

The enabling act (5 Stat. L, 50) approved on that 

date describes the boundaries as follows:

beginning in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river, 

on the parallel of thirty-six degrees north latitude, running from thence 

west, with the said parallel of latitude, to the S'aint Francis river; 

thence up the middle of the main channel of said river to the parallel 

of thirtty-six degrees thirty minutes north; from thence west to the 

southwest corner of the State of Missouri; and from thence to be 

bounded on the west, to the north bank of Red River, by the lines 

described in the first article of the treaty between the United States 

and the Cherokee nation of Indians, west of the Mississippi, made 

and concluded at the city of Washington, on the 26th day of May,40 in 

the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight; 

and to be bounded on the south side of Red river by the Mexican 

boundary line, to the northwest corner of the State of Louisiana; 

thence east with the Louisiana State line, to the middle of the main 

channel of the Mississippi River; thence up the middle of the main 

channel of the said river, to the thirty-sixth degree of north latitude, the point of beginning.

40 This is an error; the date was May 6.

99' 97' 90'

FIGURE 28.—Historical diagram of Arkansas.
120

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

In the State constitutions for 1836, 1854, 1868, and 

1874 the boundaries were described but without material change from the description given in the enabling 

act. The constitution of 1868 refers to an island in the 

Mississippi named Belle Point Island as belonging to 

Arkansas, and the constitution of 1874 includes this 

clause: "and all other land originally surveyed and 

included as a part of the Territory or State of Arkanssas."

An act of Congress approved February 10', 1905, 

changed the western boundary of Arkansas near Fort 

Smith so as to include in that State a portion of the 

Indian Territory (about one-fifth of a square mile), the 

boundaries of which were described (33 Stat. L. 714) 

as follows (see fig. 36):

Beginning at a point on the south bank of the Arkansas River one 

hundred paces east of old Fort Staith, where the western boundary 

line of the State of Arkansas crosses the said river, and running 

southwesterly along the south bank of the Arkansas River to the mouth 

of the Poteau; thence at right angles with the Poteau River to the 

center of the current of said river; thence southerly up the middle of 

the current of the Poteau River (except where the Arkansas State line 

intersects the Poteau River) to a point in the middle of the current 

of the Poteau River opposite the mouth of Mill Creek, and where it is 

intersected by the middle of the current of Mill Creek; thence up the 

middle of Mill Creek to the Arkansas State line; thence northerly along 

the Arkansas State line to the point of beginning.

By order of the U.S. Supreme Court (252 U.S. 344) 

commissioners in 1920 surveyed and marked a portion 

of the Arkansas-Mississippi State line, commencing 

about 1 mile below Friars Point, Miss., on an abandoned bed of the Mississippi River left dry by the 

avulsion of .1848. The line inclosed an area of about 

5 square miles on the east side of the Mississippi as it 

now flows; the area was awarded to Arkansas (256 

U.S. 28).

On March 7, 1876, the Mississippi changed the location of its main channel at a place about 20 miles up 

the river from Memphis, since known as "the Centennial Cut-off." The Mississippi, before this cut-off occurred, flowed northeastward along the west side of 

Brandywine Island, Ark. At the time of the avulsion the 

whole volume of the river with a head of 7 or 8 feet 

cut through a narrow neck of land, overcame the current flowing northeastward, and swept it backward 

for about 4 miles, thus reversing the direction of flow 

and forming a new main channel. An area of about 

5 square miles of Arkansas land was left on the east 

side of the river, and 25 square miles of land belonging

to Tennessee on the west side. In order to determine 

the proper location of the boundary between the two 

States at this place, Arkansas brought suit in the U.S. 

Supreme Court against Tennessee, which was argued 

in the October term, 1917. The report of this case (246 

U.S. 158) gives a great many references to court decisions regarding water boundaries in general. Three 

commissioners were appointed in 1918 (247 U.S. 461) 

to survey the line. Their report, filed May 24, 1921, 

was confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court November 

16, 1925 (269 U.S. 152; 271 U.S. 629).

The north boundary of Arkansas was surveyed in 

1823. This line was not accepted. Further surveys in 

1843 and 1846 commenced at a point near the Mississippi whose latitude from sextant observations was determined at 36° N. The marks consisted of tree blazes, 

wooden posts, and mounds of earth and stone. The 

1843-46 line, which differed materially from that previously marked, was accepted by the legislatures and 

ratified by congressional act of February 15, 1848 (9 

Stat. L. 211). Copies of the field notes of both lines are 

in the General Land Office records.

The part of the west boundary south of the Arkansas 

River was surveyed and marked in 1825, and that 

from Old Fort Smith to the southwest corner of Missouri, in 1831. That part of the west boundary south of 

the Red River was surveyed by the joint commission 

named by Texas and the United States in 1841 (see 

Texas, p. 122).

A resurvey of the west boundary was commenced 

in 1857, but after the surveyors had run it 8 miles due 

south from the Arkansas River they were directed to 

return to Fort Smith and to retrace the line of the previous survey, which had been found to diverge to the 

west (U.S. Cong., 1868).

A resurvey and re-marking of the entire west boundary was authorized in 1875 (18 Stat. L, 476). This work, 

which was completed in 1877, showed that the lines 

from Old Fort Smith both southward and northward 

diverged to the west, thereby adding to the area of 

Arkansas more than 200 square miles, the boundarymark on the Red River being 4 miles 16 chains west 

of a due south line from Old Fort Smith (U.S. Cong., 

1879). The.Cherokee and Choctaw Indians were paid 

for the land of which they had been thus wrongfully 

deprived (Arkansas Hist. Assoc., 1908, p. 211-236).

For a description of the south boundary, see Louisiana, p. 108.

TEXAS

Texas declared its independence of Mexico in 1835. 

In 1836 the Congress of the Republic of Texas defined 

the boundaries as extending south and west to the 

Rio Grande and northward from the source of that
river to the 42d parallel, the eastern and northern 

limits coinciding with the western boundary of the 

United States as laid down in the treaty with Spain in 

1819. This area comprised all of the former Mexican 

States of Coahuila and Texas. The boundary as fixed 

by the treaty of 1819 was reaffirmed by treaty with 

Mexico concluded January 12, 1828, Mexico having in 

the meantime gained its independence from Spain. 

These boundaries (9 Stat. 447) were formally recognized by the U.S. act of September 9, 1850. (See p. 49 

and fig. 29; see also Spillman, 1902 and 1904.)

Article 3 of the Mexican treaty of 1828 provided for 

the appointment of commissioners to survey and mark 

the land part of the boundary from the mouth of the 

Sabine River to the Arkansas River, to determine the 

latitude and longitude of the source of the Arkansas, 

and to mark the line of the 42d parallel to the South

121

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

TEXAS

Sea, but no commission was appointed under that 

treaty, and the line was not marked north of the Red 

River.

A treaty between the United States and the Republic 

of Texas, proclaimed in 1838, acknowledged the "treaty 

of limits" signed by Mexico and the United States in 

1828 as binding upon Texas, which was then a part 

of Mexico, and provided for the marking of the boundary (Malloy, 1910, v. 2, p. 1779). The eastern boundary 

of the Republic of Texas, which followed the west bank

107° 105° 103° 101° 99° 97° 95° 93°

107

FIGURE 29.—Historical diagram of Texas. 100 0 100 200 300 KILOMETRES
122

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

of the Sabine River, was surveyed in 1840 by a joint 

commission representing the United States and Texas 

from the Gulf of Mexico to Logons Ferry, the observed 

latitude of which was found to be 31°58'24" N. and the 

longitude, 94°00'02.4" W. The initial mark of this survey was a mound of earth 50 feet in diameter and 

about 7 feet high on the shore of the Gull the position 

of which was reported as lat 29°41'27.5" N., long 93°- 

50'14.2" W. (T. M. Marshall, 1914, chap. 12.) See 

Louisiana, page 106.

In the following year another commission ran the line 

northward along the Sabine River to the 32d parallel 

as determined from astronomic observations, thence 

along a true-north line to the south bank of the Red 

River. Mounds were erected at 1-mile intervals on the 

meridian boundary, the measured length of which was 

found to be a little less than 106V2 miles. The original 

plats of this survey are on file in the U.S. State Department, and the General Land Office has copies. The 

field notes were probably filed in the War Department.41 The approximate longitude of the meridian line 

at lat 33°06'30" N. is 94°02'35.1" W.

In a joint resolution approved March 1, 1845, Congress gave its consent for the erection of Texas into 

a State, provided certain conditions and "guarantees" 

were accepted, one of which was as follows (5 Start. 

L 797):

New States, of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in 

addition to said State of Texas, and having sufficient population, may 

hereafter, by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory 

thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of 

the Federal constitution.

Texas does not appear, however, to have acquired 

by this proviso any advantages over other States, as 

it merely can give its "consent" to a division of its 

area, the right to make the recommendation or request 

for the division apparently resting with Congress.

On December 25, 1845, Texas was admitted as a 

State (9 Stat. L. 108).

In 1848 the eastern boundary was extended slightly 

as noted in the following extract (9 Stat. L. 245):

That this Congress consents that the legislature of the State of 

Texas may extend her eastern boundary so as to include within her 

limits one-half of Sabine Pass, one-half of Sabine Lake, also one-half 

of Sabine River, from its mouth as far north as the thirty-second 

degree of north latitude.

In 1850 the State sold to the U.S. Government for the

sum of $10 million, payable in stock bearing 5 percent 

interest for 14 years, that part lying north of the parallel 

of 36°30' from long 100° west of Greenwich to long 

103° and west of long 103° as far south as the parallel 

of 32° (9 Stat. L. 446; see also 9 Stat L. 1005).

The northern boundary of Texas from the 100th 

meridian westward is thus described in an act of Congress of June 5, 1858, authorizing the marking of the 

boundary lines between the territories of the United 

States and the State of Texas (11 Stat. L. 310):

Beginning at the point where the one hundredth degree of longitude 

west from Greenwich''' crosses Red River, and running thence north 

to the point where said one hundredth degree of longitude intersects 

the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude; and 

thence west with the said parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty 

minutes north latitude to the point where it intersects the one hundred and third degree of longitude west from Greenwich; andi thence 

south with the said one hundred and third degree of longitude to 

the thirty-second parallel of north latitude; and thence west with said 

thirty-second degree of north latitude to the Rio Grande.

For more than 50 years the title to an area of about 

2,380 square miles was in dispute between the State of 

Texas and the United States. This area, formerly known 

as Greer County, is east of the 100th meridian and 

between the two main forks of the Red River, which 

branch in approximately 99° 12' west longitude. (See 

fig. 36.) Texas claimed that the North Fork of the Red 

River is the main stream and the one referred to in the 

description of the boundary in the Spanish treaty of 

1819, and the United States claimed the South Fork as 

the proper location of the boundary. After years of litigation the Supreme Court on March 16, 1896, decided 

(162 U.S. 90) that

the territory east of the 100th meridian of longitude, west and south 

of the river now known as the North Fork of Red River, and north of 

a line following westward, as prescribed by the treaty of 1819 between 

the United States and Spain, the course, and- along the south bank, 

both of Red River and of the river now known as the Prairie' Dog 

Town Fork or South Fork of Red River until such line meets the 100th 

meridian of longitude—which territory is sometimes called Greer 

County—constitutes no part of the territory properly included within 

or rightfully belonging to Texas at the time of the admission of that 

State into the Union, and is not within the limits nor under the jurisdiction of the State, but is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of 

the United States of America.

The Supreme Court records of this case, which cover 

more than 1,000 printed pages, are summarized in the 

decree of 36 pages. These documents contain much 

historical matter relating to the northern and eastern 

boundary of Texas, and also contain copies of a number of old maps. (Baker, 1902, p. 31-35.)

One clause of the decree places the boundary line 

on the south bank of the Red River, where it was believed old treaties and other official descriptions of the 

line intended it should be placed.43

41 The journal of the commission and some excellent maps oi the 

survey were published in U.S. Gong. (1842).

•l'2 See footnote 40, p. 27, for reference to 100th meridian west of London. 

K See reference to the "right bank of the Red River" in the act of 1824, 

defining the west boundary of Arkansas, p. 119.
Briefs in a suit by Oklahoma against Texas were 

submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court at its October 

term, 1920, and the decision, rendered April 11, 1921, 

reaffirmed the former decision making the south bank 

of the Red River the boundary, and in a decision 

rendered January 15, 1923 (260 U.S. 631), as to what 

constituted the south bank, it was stated that

the bank intended by the treaty provision is the water-washed and 

relatively permanent elevation or acclivity at the outer line of the 

river bed which separates the bed from the adjacent upland, * * * 

and that the boundary intended is on and along the bank at the 

average or mean level attained by the waters in the periods when 

they reach and wash the bank without overflowing it.

The bed of the stream was defined as including

all of the area which is kept practically bare of vegetation by the 

wash of the waters of the river from year to year * * * 

and excluding

the lateral valleys which have the characteristics of relatively fast 

land and usually are covered by upland grasses and vegetation, although temporarily overflowed in exceptional instances when the 

river is at flood.

A survey of the boundary, in accordance with this 

decision, ordered by the court, was completed, and 

the final report of the commissioners was accepted and 

confirmed April 25, 1927 (274 U.S. 714).

An excellent historical review of this boundary dispute is given by Isaiah Bowman (1923, p. 161-189)," 

who states that the Red River case is "the most complicated boundary dispute on record anywhere."

Surveys for the Texas boundary on the 100th meridian west of Greenwich were made in whole or in part 

under the direction of the General Land Office in 1859, 

1860, 1873, 1875, 1902, and 1903, but none of these 

was accepted as fixing the boundary.

In 1892 the State of Texas employed an astronomer 

to determine "with the utmost care the location of the 

100th meridian [west of Greenwich] at its intersection 

with Red River." As a result of the work thus authorized, it was reported that the initial monument of 1859 

was 45.11 seconds of longitude west of the true meridian. (Baker, 1902, p. 31-35.)

The position of this point was redetermined in 1902 

from astronomic observations and reported as 3,699.7 

feet (44.24") west of the 100th meridian. A stone post 

10 by 10 by 45 inches in size was placed on the 

meridian at a point 1,563 feet north of the Red River 

(U.S. Cong., 1902, p. 8).

The line marked as the 100th meridian boundary was 

retraced in 1903 by the General Land Office from the 

Red River north to the assumed position of the parallel 

of 36°30' (U.S. Cong., 1905b, p. 4), and at a point computed to be on the true meridian a large concrete pier 

was erected marked on the southwest face "36°30/ N.L.,

123

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

TEXAS

100° W.L., 1903." This pier is 243 feet north and 1,756 

feet east from the east end of the Cimarron base line of 

the General Land Office. In 1881 a large stone was 

placed at that point and marked as being the northeast corner of Texas.

Neither Congress nor the State of Texas had approved any of the surveys for the 100th meridian; consequently none had any legal status (U.S. Cong., 1905, 

p. 10).

In October, 1926, the U.S. Supreme Court decreed 45 

that neither the boundary survey of 1859-60 nor the 

location of the 100th meridian in 1902-3 could be accepted as establishing the boundary and ordered that 

a new survey be made.

In order to locate the line with all possible exactness, 

the commissioner appointed by the court decided to 

place it on the geodetic meridian (1927 N.A.D.; see p. 

5) determined from first-order triangulation by the 

Coast and Geodetic Survey, and 20 stations were established by that survey on or near its assumed position.

The marking of the boundary line was commenced 

in 1928 at a point 340.28 feet east from the 1902 mark 

near the Red River and extended south to a point near 

the "cut bank" on the south side of the river, where 

a large reinforced-concrete monument was built; a reference mark on the meridian was placed at a point 

351.2 feet farther south. From the cut-bank mark the 

line was run due north for a distance of 133.6 miles, 

checked in position at each of the 20 geodetic stations, 

and closed on an eastward extension of the 36°30' 

parallel boundary line as determined by Clark in 

1860. There are now 160 concrete monuments on the 

line, each having a lettered metal tablet set in its 

upper surface. The line as thus established was approved by the U.S. Supreme Court March 17, 1930 

(281 U.S. 109).

The mark set in 1929 for the northeast corner of Texas 

is in lat 36°29'59.56" N., long 100WOO-.00" west of 

Greenwich and is 286.5 feet southeast of the mark of 

1903. The geodetic line as now marked is 4,040 feet east 

of the south end of the 1859-60 line and about 880 feet 

east of the north end of the line as marked in 1859-60 

and retraced in 1873. The strip of land included be-

« A brief review of this boundary dispute and an extensive report (;with 

maps) on the investigations made for fixing the position of the boundary 

are given in Texas Univ. Bull. 2327, 1923.

45 272 U.S. 21. This decree gives a detailed history of the various surveys for the establishment of the 100th meridian. See also a brief history 

of the surveys in General Land Office Service Bull., December 1926, p. 315.
124

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

tween these two lines has an area of about 44.6 square 

miles and was determined by the Supreme Court 

boundary decision to be in Texas and not in Oklahoma.40

The northern line of the "panhandle" of Texas, which 

is the southern boundary of the "public-land strip," was 

fixed by statute at lat 36°30' N.

It was surveyed in 1860 by John H. Clark, boundary 

commissioner, United States and Texas. Sixteen monuments were erected on this boundary line. Monument 

10 on this line is in lat 36°29'59.56" N., long 101 °05' 

17.00" W. This location of the north boundary and the 

location of the 103d meridian boundary were confirmed 

by Congress and by Texas in 1891 (26 Stat. L. 948, 971; 

U.S. Cong., 1905, p. 13-18).

The location of the west boundary of Texas (fig. 30), 

which by statute is the 103d meridian, has been the 

cause of many disputes. The southern part of the line 

for about 69 miles and the northern part for about 172 

miles were reported as surveyed and marked in 1859 

by J. H. Clark, leaving an unmarked gap of about 69 

miles. Most of the marks were merely mounds of earth; 

a few were stones or piles of stone, and some of these 

were identified many years thereafter. Later surveys 

indicate that the north end of the line is in long 103° 

02'28.04" W. and lat 36°31'01.45" N. (1927 N.A.D.). The 

south end is in long 103°03'55.02" W. and lat 31°59' 

58.52" N. (astronomic). There is therefore a discrepancy 

of about 1 1/2 miles between the two parts of the line, 

both being west of their proper positions (Baker, 1902); 

but these lines as well as that following the 32d 

parallel, having been accepted by the United States 

and Texas, are the legal boundary lines.

A joint resolution of Congress February 16, 1911 

(36 Stat. L. 1455), declared that "these boundary lines 

as run and marked by John H. Clark in 1859-60 " 7 shall 

remain the true boundary lines of Texas and New 

Mexico." The lines were described as following the 

103d meridian and 32d parallel as "determined by 

Clark," and commissioners were authorized to act for 

Texas and the United States to re-mark the northsouth line so far as it could be identified; where no 

marks were found or where surveys had not been 

made, straight lines were to be run joining recovered 

points.

a For other data relating to this survey, see the commissioners' report 

to the Supreme Court dated July 15, 1929 (281 U.S. 109). 

47 See report by J. H. Clark (1882) commissioner.

In accordance with this act, surveys were run south 

from the known location of the north boundary mark, 

to the 34th parallel, to which Clark claimed to have 

run, and north from the identified mark established by 

Clark for the intersection of the 32d parallel and the 

103d meridian, to the 33d parallel. Between the 32d 

and the 34th parallels a straight line was run which 

bears N. 1°00'42" E. Large concrete monuments (fig. 

49) were established at a number of points, and other 

substantial marks were placed at each mile.

The 32d parallel boundary was also rerun in 1911; 

its length as measured was a little more than 209 miles. 

The latitude of this line near Clark monument 1, east of 

the Rio Grande, is 32°00'00.37" N. as determined from 

astronomic observations in 1903. At milepost 53 (resurvey of 1911) the geodetic position is lat 31°59'59.93" 

N., long 103°58'02.53" W. Milepost 61 is in lat 31°59' 

59.40" N., long 104°06'13.18" W. The notes and plats 

of these surveys are on file in the General Land Office.

The southern boundary of Texas is a part of the 

international boundary between the United States and 

Mexico and as defined by the treaty of 1848 and reaffirmed by the treaty of 1853 follows the middle of 

the deepest channel of the Rio Grande from the Gulf 

of Mexico to the southern boundary of New Mexico. A 

survey of this boundary was made in 1852-53. The 

report was published in 1857. It is generally referred 

to as the Emory report on the survey of the Mexican 

boundary (Emory, 1857b).

A convention, concluded November 12, 1884, provided for resurveys of parts of the boundary where 

important changes in the position of the river had 

occurred (Malloy, 1913, v. 1, p. 1159). This agreement 

stated that:

The dividing line shall * * * follow the center of the normal channel 

of the rivers named, notwithstanding any alterations * * * effected 

by natural causes through the slow and gradual erosion * * * and not 

by the abandonment of an existing bed1 and the opening of the new 

one.

Any other change wrought by the force of the current, * * shall 

produce no change in the dividing line as fixed by the surveys of * * * 

1852, but the line then fixed shall continue to follow the middle of 

the original channel bed, even though this should be wholly dry.

Modifications of the articles of the convention of 1884 

were made by the convention of 1905 (Malloy, 1910, 

v. 1, p. 1199). The latter agreement provided for the 

solution of some of the problems raised by the earlier 

convention that were due to numerous changes in the 

position of the "normal channel" as follows:

Whereas * * * it has been observed that there is a typical class 

of changes effected in the bed of the Rio Grande, in which, owing to 

slow and gradual erosion, coupled with avulsion, said river abandons 

its old channel and there are separated from it small portions of land 

known as "bancos" bounded by the said old bed, and which, according to the terms of * * * the Convention of 1884, remain subject to 

the dominion and jurisdiction of the country 'from which they have 

been separated.
125

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES

TEXAS

Whereas said "bancos" are left at a distance from the new river 

bed, and by reason of the successive deposits of alluvium, the old 

channel is becoming effaced, the land of said "bancos" becomes confused with the land of the "bancos" contiguous thereto, thus giving 

rise to difficulties and controversies, * " *

Whereas the labors of the International Boundary Commission, undertaken with the object of fixing the boundary line with reference to 

the "bancos," have demonstrated that the application to these "bancos"

of the principle established in the Convention of 1884 renders simplifying, complicates the said boundary line beween the two 

difficult the solution of the controversies mentioned, and, instead of countries; * * *

FIGURE 30.-Photograph taken from a satellite (Apollo 26A'-3807) at an altitude of 199 nautical miles shows 

the boundary between New Mexico and the panhandle of Texas. The land-use pattern in the two States 

changes at the State line. This print was produced from a 70-mm color infrared transparency. The principal point is at lat 33°42" N and long 103°01' W. Photograph courtesy of National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration.
126

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Article 1 refers to maps made from surveys of 

58 bancos along the lower Rio Grande which the convention eliminates, those on the right bank of the river 

passing to Mexico and those on the left bank to the 

United States.

Article 2 is in part:

The International Commission shall, in the future, be guided by the 

principle of elimination of the bancos established in the foregoing 

articles * * * There are hereby excepted from this provision the 

portions of land segregated by the change in the bed of the said rivers 

having an area of over two hundred and fifty hectares [618 acres, 

or nearly a square mile], or a population of over two hundred souls, 

and which shall not be considered as bancos for the purposes of this 

treaty and shall not be eliminated, the old bed of the river remaining, 

therefore, the boundary in such cases.

Article 3 required that other bancos be surveyed and 

that suitable marks be placed in the abandoned riverbed. Over the years, since the convention of 1905, 

more than 200 detached tracts along the river, called 

bancos under the terms of the agreement, have been 

eliminated. Some 10,000 acres, formerly on the U.S. 

side, passed to Mexican sovereignty while nearly 

18,000 acres, formerly on the Mexican side, passed to 

the United States. (U.S. Dept. State, 1963b.)

A convention between Mexico and the United States 

for the rectification of the Rio Grande in the El PasoJuarez Valley was concluded at Mexico City on February 1, 1933. (See also Boggs, 1940, p. 67-70.) The agreement was ratified by the respective Governments, and 

had for its purposes the protection of the valley from 

flood dangers and the stabilization of the international 

boundary. The work was carried out under the direction of the International Boundary Commission.

The canalization of the river, from a point below 

El Paso to the head of Box Canyon, shortened its course 

from 155 miles to 88 miles between these points. The 

gradient was thus increased from 1.8 to 3.2 feet per 

mile. The new channel is a series of tangents connected 

by smooth curves and should prevent further meanderings of the river.

The convention ordered that "the axis of the1 rectified 

channel shall be the international boundary line." 

Each Government agreed to surrender to the other such 

parcels of its land as would fall on the opposite side of 

the new channel. This provision called for the exchange of a considerable area of land, and each Government agreed to acquire the land within its borders 

at the time for transfer to the other "in absolute sovereignty and ownership." The engineering work on 

this project was completed in 1938.

The rectification and stabilization project left in dispute an area of less than a square mile in the city of 

El Paso. An attempt was made to settle this question 

by arbitration in 1911. When the Commission made its 

award, the United States claimed it was invalid as, 

among other things, it disregarded the well-established 

legal principle that a boundary moves with the river 

when the movement is due to erosion and deposition 

rather than an avulsion.

Through the years, many efforts have been made 

to find a solution to the problem that would satisfy 

both sides. A convention concluded between Mexico 

and the United States on August 29, 1963, provided 

for the rectification of the Rio Grande in the manner 

of the 1933 project.

The relocated boundary follows a new channel which 

approximates the position of the river in 1864. This 

involved the purchase by the United States from its 

citizens of some 630 acres for transfer to Mexico, and 

the transfer of 193 acres by Mexico on the north end 

of the Cordova tract to the United States. The Cordova 

tract of 386 acres had been cut off from Mexico1 in 1899 

by a relocation of the river to control floods. It remained under Mexican sovereignty, but utilization of 

the physically detached area was difficult.

The estimated value of the land and improvements 

acquired by the United States is $20 million. The costs 

of the canalization and the replacement of the six existing bridges was borne equally by both Governments. 

The new channel is concrete lined and of a size to 

carry 18,000 cubic feet per second with 3.3 feet of 

freeboard. The minimum radius of curvature is 1,640 

feet. It is expected that the new channel, 4.3 miles in 

length, will prevent further movement of the bed of the 

Rio Grande.

Ratifications of the convention were exchanged by 

the two Governments on January 14, 1964 (15 UST 21; 

TIAS 5515).

The present boundary lines of Texas are described 

as follows: Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico, at the outlet of Sabine Lake, the line passes northward through 

the middle of Sabine Lake and up the middle of the 

Sabine River 48 to the point where the river intersects 

the parallel of 32°; thence north along the meridian of 

that point of intersection to the point where that meridian intersects the Red River; thence up the south bank 

of the Red River along the south fork to the 100th 

meridian west of Greenwich; thence north on that 

meridian to the parallel of 36°30'; west on that parallel 

to the meridian of 103° as marked; thence south along

«An act of Congress, July 5, 1848 (9 Stat. L. 245), gave Texas the right 

to extend its boundary into the Sabine River and Lake to coincide with 

the west boundary of Louisiana.
the 103d meridian to the parallel of latitude of 32°; 

thence west on that parallel to its point of intersection 

with the Rio Grande; thence down the midchannel of 

the Rio Grande to the boundary line between the United 

States and Mexico; thence following that line see p. 27) 

to the Gulf.

The extension of the international boundary into the 

Gulf of Mexico is defined by the treaty signed Novem- 

• ber 23, 1970. It provides that the seaward boundary 

shall begin at the mouth of the Rio Grande and pass to 

a fixed point at lat 25°57'22.18" N., long 97°08'19.76" 

W.; and thence by the arc of a great circle to a point 

12 nautical miles from the baseline used in ,the delineation of the shore (lat 25°58'30.57" N.; long 96° 

55'27.37" W.). See page 44 on "Territorial Waters" 

(TIAS 7313).

Further provisions of the same treaty provide solutions for boundary problems in both the Rio Grande 

and the Colorado Rivers. Article I provides for changes 

in the location of the channel in the Preside and 

Hidalgo, Texas, areas by engineering works; the new 

channel to become the boundary. The transfer of sovereignty following the purchase of private lands by 

the two governments is to be effected in the manner 

discussed in the "elimination of the bancos" referred 

to above.

Article III B provides that one of the contracting 

States may restore the river to its previous position 

when it has lost territory by an avulsion. Such restoration is to be done by the State losing the land, at its 

own expense, after notifying the other State. The restoration must be done within 3 years, and the area involved must not be over 250 hectares nor the number 

of inhabitants affected more than 100.

Other provisions set up guidelines for action on the 

part of the contracting parties and the boundary commission for solution of problems caused by the shifting 

of the river bed.

Monuments are required to be placed on international bridges over the Rio Grande and the Colorado, 

exactly over the boundary and changed in position if 

the movement of the river bed makes it necessary.

The construction of Falcon and Amistad Dams on 

the lower Rio Grande left the international boundary 

at the bottom of the reservoirs. To mark the lines of 

jurisdiction through the reservoirs, 15 monuments were 

set directly above the old channel, and their positions 

were determined by surveying. These monuments extend some 23 miles through Falcon reservoir. The legal 

boundary is then represented by a series of tangents 

connecting these points. (Minute 199 of the International 

Boundary Commission, Dec. 15, 1953.) In Amistad 

Reservoir, the line is marked by 28 floats in a distance 

of 20 miles (Minute 232, dated May 9, 1968).

127

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MICHIGAN

MICHIGAN

Michigan was organized as a Territory June 30, 1805, 

from the northeastern part of Indiana Territory. (See 

fig. 31.) The following clause from the act dividing 

Indiana Territory defines its limits (2 Stat. L. 309):

* * * from and after the thirtieth day of June next, all that part of 

the Indiana territory which lies north of a line drawn east from the 

southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan, until it shall intersect 

Lake Erie, and east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend 

through the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence 

due north to the northern boundary of the United States, shall, for 

the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, 

and be called Michigan.

The enabling act for Illinois, passed in 1818, contained a provision transferring to Michigan Territory 

the portion of Illinois Territory not included in the State 

of that name and also an area of 5,880 square miles 

north of lat 42°30' N., then a part of Indiana Territory. 

The following is the text of the clause referred to (3 

Stat. L. 431):

* * * all that part of the territory of the United States lying 

north of the State of Indiana, and which was included in the former 

Indiana territory, together with that part of the Illinois territory which 

is situated north of and not included within the boundaries prescribed 

by this act, to the state thereby authorized to be formed, shall be, 

and hereby is, attached to and made a part of the Michigan territory.

On June 28, 1834, an act was passed extending the 

limits of the Territory of Michigan to Missouri River. 

The clause of the act relating to this area is as follows 

(4 Stat. L. 701):

* * * all that part of the territory of the United States bounded on the 

east by the Mississippi River, on the south by the state of Missouri, 

and a line drawn due west from the northwest corner of said state 

to the Missouri river; on the southwest and west by the Missouri river 

and the White Earth river, falling into the same; and on the north, by 

the northern boundary of the United States, shall be, and hereby is, 

for the purpose of temporary government, attached' to and made a 

part of, the territory of Michigan.

Michigan was admitted to the Union on January 26, 

1837 (5 Stat. L. 144), with the proviso and boundaries 

given in the enabling act (5 Stat. L. 49) as follows:

Provided, always, and this admission is upon the express condition, that the said State shall consist of and have jurisdiction over all 

the territory included within the following boundaries, and over none 

other, to wit:

Beginning at the point where the above-described northern boundary of the State of Ohio intersects the eastern boundary of the 

State of Indiana, and running thence with the said boundary line of 

Ohio, as described in the first section of this act, until it intersects 

the boundary line between the United States and Canada in Lake
128

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Erie; thence with the said boundary line between the United States 

and Canada, through the Detroit river, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior, 

to a point where the said line last touches Lake Superior; thence in 

a direct line through Lake Superior to the mouth of the Montreal river; 

thence through the middle of the main channel of the said river 

Montreal, to the middle of the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct 

line to the nearest headwater of the Menomonie river; thence through 

the middle of that fork of the said river first touched by the said line, 

to the main channel of the said Menomonie river; thence down the 

center of the main channel of the same, to the center of the most 

usual ship channel of the Green bay of Lake Michigan; thence through 

the center of the most usual ship channel of the said bay to the middle 

of Lake Michigan; thence through the middle of Lake Michigan, to 

the northern boundary of the State of Indiana, as that line was established by the act of Congress of the nineteenth of April, eighteen 

hundred and sixteen; thence due east, with the north boundary line 

of the said State of Indiana, to the northeast corner thereof; and thence 

south, with the east boundary line of Indiana to the place of beginning.

Wisconsin Territory was formed in 1836 from the 

western part of Michigan Territory.

When the Territory of Wisconsin was organized, it 

was supposed that there was an almost continuous 

water-boundary line between Michigan and Wisconsin from Green Bay to Lake Superior. Congress in 1838 

ordered the running and marking of this boundary 

(5 Stat. L. 244), but it was soon discovered that the line 

could not be run as described, for the head of the 

Montreal River is more than 50 miles from the Lake 

of the Desert (now called Lac Vieux Desert), which was 

supposed to be its source. It was therefore recommended that the boundary location be changed to the 

position later described in the Wisconsin enabling act 

of 1846 (9 Stat. L. 56-57), and in greater detail in the 

Michigan constitution of 1850, which reads as follows 

(Thorpe, 1909, v. 4, p. 1945):

* * * through Lake Superior to the mouth of the Montreal river; 

thence through the middle of the main channel of the said river 

Montreal to the head waters thereof; thence in a direct line to the 

center of the channel between Middle and South islands in the Lake 

of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the southern shore of Lake 

Brule; thence along said southern shore and down the river Brule 

to the main channel of the Menominee river; thence down the center 

of the main channel of the same to the center of the most usual ship 

channel of the Green Bay of Lake Michigan.

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin was organized as a Territory July 3, 1836, 

and admitted as a State May 29, 1848.

40 For a general description of the boundaries of Wisconsin and a 

historical sketch of the acts by which they were fixed, see Thwaites 

(1888, v. 11, ip. 451-501).

99° 97° 95° 93° 91° B9 87° 85° 83°

100 200 KILOMETRES

FIGURE 31.—Historical diagram of Michigan.
As originally constituted its area comprised all that 

part of the former Territory of Michigan which lay west 

of the present limits of the State of Michigan. (See fig. 

31.) The limits are defined in the act for its organization as follows (5 Stat. L. 11):

Bounded on the east, by a line drawn from the northeast corner 

of the State of Illinois, through the middle of Lake Michigan, to a 

point in the middle of said lake, and opposite the main channel of 

Green Bay; and through said channel and Green Bay to the mouth 

of the Menomonie river; thence through the middle of the main 

channel of said river, to that head of said river nearest to the Lake 

of the Desert; 60 thence in a direct line to the middle of said lake; 

thence through the middle of the main channel of the Montreal river, 

to its mouth; thence with a direct line across Lake Superior to where 

the terriorial line of the United States last touches said lake northwest; thence on the north with the said territorial line to the Whiteearth river; on the west, by a line from the said boundary line following down the middle of the main channel of White-earth river to the 

Missouri river, and down the middle of the main channel of the 

Missouri river to a point due west from the northwest corner of the 

State of Missouri; and on the south, from said point, due east to the 

northwest corner of the State of Missouri; and thence with the boundaries of the States of Missouri and Illinois, as already fixed by acts 

of Congress.

In 1838, all that part of the territory lying west of 

the Mississippi and of a line drawn due north from 

its source to the international boundary—that is, all 

that part which was originally comprised in the 

Louisiana Purchase and the Red River drainage basin 

south of the 49th parallel—was organized as the Territory of Iowa. See Iowa, p. 131.)

The enabling act dated August 6, 1846, provided for 

the admission of Wisconsin as a State. The boundaries 

were described as follows:

Beginning at the northeast corner of the State of Illinois, that is 

to say, at a point in the center of Lake Michigan where the line of 

forty two degrees and thirty minutes of north latitude crosses the 

same, thence running with the boundary line of the State of Michigan, 

through Lake Michigan, Green Bay, to the mouth of the Menominee 

River; thence up the channel of said river to the Brule River, thence 

up said last mentioned river to Lake Brule; thence along the southern 

shore of Lake Brule in a direct line to the channel between middle 

and south islands in the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line 

to the headwaters of the Montreal River, as marked upon the survey 

made by Captain Cramm; thence down the main channel of the 

Montreal River to the middle of Lake Superior; thence through the 

center of Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Louis River; thence 

up the main channel of said river to the first rapids in the same, 

above the Indian village, according to Nicollet's map; thence due 

south to the main branch of the River St. Croix; thence down the 

main channel of said river to the Mississippi; thence down the main 

channel of that river to the northwest corner of the State of Illinois; 

thence due east with the northern''boundary of the State of Illinois 

to the place of beginning * * *.

The straight parts of the boundary were surveyed 

and marked, in 1847, from a point where the Balsam 

River and the Pine River unite to form the Montreal, 

S. 74°27' E. to the Lake of the Desert, a distance of 50

129

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

WISCONSIN

miles 67 chains 6 links. The southern part of the line 

begins at the lower end of Lake Brule and runs N. 

59°38' W. for 13 miles 37 chains 66 links to an intersection with the former line in the Lake of the Desert. 

The notes pertaining to this line can be found in the 

General Land Office files.

Suit was commenced by Michigan in the U.S. 

Supreme Court in October 1923 for a redetermination 

of the Michigan-Wisconsin boundary, the claim being 

made that the surveys of 1840-47 were not in accord 

with the descriptions. The change from the previously 

accepted boundary to that proposed by Michigan 

would have resulted in a loss to Wisconsin of about 

255,000 acres of land, but the Court by decree dated 

March 1, 1926 (270 U.S. 295; 272 U.S. 398), confirmed 

Wisconsin's title to the disputed area, principally 

because

The rule, long settled and never doubted by this court, is that long 

acquiescence by one State in the possession of territory by another 

and in the exercise of sovereignty and dominion over it is conclusive 

of the latter's title and rightful authority.

A resurvey of the Michigan-Wisconsin line was completed in 1929 by commissioners representing the two 

States. There are now 160 concrete monuments on this 

65-mile line. This work was executed in accordance 

with the Supreme Court decree of November 22, 1926.

The boundary from the Lake Brule to the mouth of 

the Menominee is practically that described in the 

enabling act and

follows the channels of the Brule and Menominee wherever they are 

free from islands; * * * wherever islands are encountered above 

Quinnesec Falls the line follows the channel nearest the Wisconsin 

mainland, so as to throw all such islands into Michigan; and 

wherever islands are encountered below Quinnesec Falls the line 

follows the channel nearest the Michigan mainland, so as to throw 

all such islands into Wisconsin.

Through Green Bay the line was fixed as claimed 

by Wisconsin and includes in that State Washington, 

Detroit, Plum, Rock, and some smaller islands.51

A further decree of the Supreme Court, handed down 

in 1936 (297 U.S. 547), confirmed the earlier decree and 

defined the boundary through Green Bay to the middle 

of Lake Michigan by bearings and distances. Following this, the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota entered into a compact to define angle points 

along their common boundaries that fall in the Great

50 This translation of the French name "Lac Vieux Desert" is misleading. 

The French word "desert" refers to a clearing, an open space, a wild 

and solitary place, not to an area devoid of vegetation from lack of water.

m For a historical description of this boundary and notes relating to 

the settlement of the dispute by the U.S. Supreme Court, see Martin 

(1930, p. 106-163).
130

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Lakes or bays adjoining them, and to reference these 

points by suitable marks along the shore, the geodetic 

positions of which were to be determined.

To define the boundary between Michigan and Wisconsin in the middle of Lake Michigan, as required by 

the enabling acts admitting these States,seven points 

were selected and named A to G, and their geodetic 

positions were published. Point A is on an eastward 

continuation of the Illinois-Wisconsin boundary. Point 

G is at the centerline of the lake where the boundary 

through Green Bay intersects it.

The geodetic coordinates of the seven points are:

Point Latitude (N.) Longitude (W.)

A ____________________ 42°29'37" 87 ? 01'15"

B ______________________ 43°22'50" 87°08'50"

C ____________________ 43°42'00" 87°07'20"

D —————________________ 44°07'55" 87°00'45"

E ____________________ 44°52'50" 86°41'10"

F ——————_______________ 45°05'20" 86°29'30"

G ————_______________ 45°14'10" 86°14'55"

Two points were selected to define the boundary for

Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in Lake Superior.

This line extends from the international boundary at

the point where it enters Pigeon Bay to the point where

the Michigan-Wisconsin boundary enters the Montreal

River. These points were labeled N and M. Their

coordinates are:

Point Latitude (N.) Longitude (W.)

M ____________________ 46°34'05" 90°25'05"

N _______________________ 48°00'50" 89"29'00"

The line between Wisconsin and Minnesota, being 

described in the enabling act admitting Wisconsin as 

passing "through the center of Lake Superior to the 

mouth of the St. Louis River" is defined by four points, 

A to D. Point A is at the midpoint of line M'-N. Point D 

is referenced to the ends of the breakwaters at the 

entrance to the Duluth Superior Harbor. The geodetic 

coordinates of these points are:

Point Latitude (N.) Longilude (W.)

A __..___________..__ 47°17'30" 89°57'00"

B ________________ 47°18'35" 90°39'15"

C ____________.._ 46°54'10" 91°31'25"

D ________________ 46°42'39.875" 92°00'24.571"

All these points representing the centerline of Lake 

Michigan or Lake Superior are defined as equidistant 

from two points on the opposite shorelines, except point 

G, which had been fixed by a U.S. Supreme Court 

decree of March 12, 1936. The true azimuths and 

distances, in statute miles between successive points, 

are given in the compact (fig. 32).

This agreement on the boundaries of the three States 

was approved by Congress in 1948 (62 Stat. 1152).

On March 3, 1847, a supplementary act for the admission of Wisconsin was passed by Congress, in 

which the western boundary of the proposed State was 

described as follows:

That the assent of Congress is hereby given to the change of 

boundary proposed in the first article of said constitution, to wit: 

leaving the boundary line prescribed in the act of Congress entitled 

"An Act to enable the People of Wisconsin Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of such State 

into the Union," at the first rapids in the river St. Louis; thence in a 

direct line southwardly to a point fifteen miles east of the most 

easterly point of Lake St. Croix; thence due south to the main channel 

of the Mississippi River or Lake Pepin; thence down the said main 

channel, as prescribed in said act.

Had this act been accepted, it would have given the 

State an area considerably less than it now has.

The first constitution, completed December 16, 1846 

(Quaife, 1919, p. 732-753), accepted the boundaries as 

described in the enabling act of August 6, 1846, but 

proposed that Congress consent to the change as described in the later act above referred to. This constitution was rejected by popular vote April 5, 1847 

(14,119 ayes, 20,231 noes)—not, however, because of 

unsatisfactory boundaries.

A second constitution dated February 1, 1848, with 

the boundaries also as described in the act of August 

6, 1846, was accepted by the people but with the 

proviso (art. 2, sec. 1) that, if Congress approved, the 

boundary line should run southwesterly from the foot of 

the rapids of the St. Louis River to the mouth of the Rum 

River, thence down the Mississippi River as previously 

described. This boundary would have added materially 

to the area of the State had it been accepted by Congress.

Congress accepted the constitution dated February

I, 1848, without action on the proviso and by act approved May 29, 1848 (9 Stat. L. 233), admitted Wisconsin as a State.

The admission of Wisconsin to statehood left an area 

of more than 30,000 square miles west of the St. Croix 

River, east and north of the Mississippi River, practically without a government. The settlers organized a 

temporary government and elected a Delegate to Congress who was admitted as the representative of the 

"Territory of Wisconsin." This area became a part of 

the Territory of Minnesota by congressional act of 

March 3, 1849.

The State of Minnesota in 1916 instituted a suit 

against Wisconsin in the U.S. Supreme Court to have 

that part of the State boundary line from St. Louis 

Bay up the St. Louis River to the falls near Fond du 

Lac finally determined. The Court handed down an 

opinion March 8, 1920 (252 U.S. 273), and on October

II, 1920 (254 U.S. 14), appointed commissioners to
survey and mark the line. The survey was made on ice 

during the winter of 1920-21, and the commissioners' 

report was confirmed by the Court February 7, 1922. 

The line surveyed (258 U.S. 149) was 18.4 miles in 

length and was almost entirely over water. Rectangular 

coordinates were computed for each angle, and suitable 

reference marks were established on shore.

In 1917, Wisconsin and Minnesota agreed to change 

their boundary in the Mississippi River by the exchange of two islands. Wisconsin ceded Island No. 72 

opposite the City of Winona to Minnesota (Wisconsin 

Laws, 1917). Minnesota, in return, ceded Baron's Island 

(now Pettibone Park) opposite the City of LaCrosse, to 

Wisconsin (Minnesota Laws, 1917). Congress approved 

the exchange (40 Stat 959).

The meridian boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota from the St. Louis River to the St. Croix River 

was surveyed and marked in 1852 under the General 

Land Office, by George R. Stuntz, deputy surveyor. 

(General Land Office, Wisconsin field notes, v. 37, 133.)

For the southern boundary, see Illinois, page 116.

IOWA

Iowa was organized as a Territory by act of June 

12, 1838, effective July 3, from a portion of Wisconsin 

Territory. (See figs. 27, and 31.) The limits were defined as follows in the act (5 Stat. L, 235) creating it:

* * * all that part of the present Territory of Wisconsin which lies 

west of the Mississippi river, and west of a line drawn due north 

from the headwaters or sources of the Mississippi to the Territorial 

line.

The approximate position of the outlet of Lake Itasca, 

which is generally accepted as the source of the Mississippi see footnote 35, p. 25), is lat 47°15V3' N., long 

95°12y2' W. The river runs northwestward for about 6 

miles before it turns east. The north-south boundary 

line across the western part of the Lake of the Woods 

is in long 95°09'11.6" W.(p. 14).

The lawmakers in Congress in writing the act creating the Territory of Iowa evidently had in mind their 

troubles over the Ohio-Michigan boundary, and to 

avoid any future question as to the power of Congress 

they reserved the right to divide the new Territory into 

two or more Territories or to attach any part of it to 

any other State or Territory.

The following clause from an act passed in 1839 

(5 Stat. L. 357) is supplementary to the act above quoted:

That the middle or center of the main channel of the river Mississippi 

shall be deemed, and is hereby declared, to be the eastern boundary 

line of the Territory of Iowa, so far or to such extent as the said 

Territory is bounded eastwardly by or upon said river.

On March 3, 1845, an act was approved for the admission of Iowa to the Union as a State, but the act 

required that the assent of the people of Iowa be given

131

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES

IOWA

to it by popular vote. In this act (5 Stat. L. 742) the 

boundaries were given as follows:

That the following shall be the boundaries of the said Slate of Iowa, 

to wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Des Moines river, at the middle 

of the Mississippi, thence by the middle of the channel of that river 

to a parallel of latitude passing through the mouth of the Mankato 

or Blue-Earth river [lat 44° 10' N.], thence west along the said 

parallel of latitude to a point where it is intersected by a meridian 

line, seventeen degrees and thirty minutes west of the meridian of 

Washington city, thence due south to the northern boundary line of 

the State of Missouri, thence eastwardly following that boundary 

to the point at which the same intersects the Des Moines river, thence 

by the middle of the channel of that river to the place of beginning.

These boundaries were not acceptable to the people 

and by a popular vote were rejected.

Another constitutional convention was held in May 

1846, and Congress passed an act (9 Stat. L. 52), approved August 4, 1846, which fixed the boundaries, in 

accordance with the wishes of the people, as follows:

Beginning in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River 

at a point due east of the middle of the mouth of the main channel of 

the Des Moines River; thence up the middle of the main channel of 

the said Des Moines River to a point on said river where the northern 

boundary line of the State of Missouri, as established by the constitution of that State, adopted June twelfth, eighteen hundred and 

twenty, crosses the said middle of the main channel of the said Des 

Moines River; thence westwardly along the said northern boundary 

line of the State of Missouri, as established at the time aforesaid, until 

an extension of said line intersect the middle of the main channel of 

the Missouri River, thence up the middle of the main channel of the 

said Missouri River, to a point opposite the middle of the main channel 

of the Big Sioux River, according to Nicollet's map; thence up the 

main channel of the said Big Sioux River, according to said map, until 

it is intersected by the parallel of forty-three degrees and thirty 

minutes north latitude; thence east along said parallel of forty-three 

degrees and thirty minutes, until said parallel intersect the middle 

of the main channel of the Mississippi River; thence down the middle 

of the main channel of said Mississippi River to the place of beginning.

Iowa was finally declared admitted to full statehood by act of December 28, 1846 (James, 1897, p. 163- 

173; 9 Stat. L. 117).

The admission of Iowa appears to have left a large 

area to the north and west unattached, which so remained until Minnesota Territory was organized, in 

1849.

The act of August 4, 1846, directed that a long-standing dispute between Missouri and Iowa Territory regarding their common boundary (U.S. Cong., 1839b) be 

referred to the U.S. Supreme Court for adjudication. The 

area claimed by both was a strip of land about 10 

miles wide and 200 miles long, north of the present 

boundary. Missouri maintained that the clause in that
49

49°

47

INDIANA

87°

SCALE 1:3 500000 

50 150 MILES

50 100 150 KILOMETRES
•* FIGURE 32.—Boundaries of Michigan, Wisconsin, and 

Minnesota in Lake Superior and Lake Michigan as 

defined by agreement among the three States.

State's enabling act, "the rapids of the river Des 

Moines," referred to rapids in the river of that name 

and not to rapids of a similar name in the Mississippi, 

also that the Indian boundary line run and marked in 

1816 by authority of the United States, known as the 

Sullivan line, was erroneously established. A line 

claimed by Missouri was run by J. C. Brown in 1837 

by order of the State legislature.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1849 that the 

Sullivan line of 1816 is the correct boundary and 

ordered that it be resurveyed. The report of the commissioners appointed by the Court to re-mark the line 

was accepted in 1851. 52

So many of the marks on this line as established in 

1850 had become lost or destroyed that the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896 ordered that certain parts be reestablished, especially those between mileposts 50 

and 55. (160 U.S. 688.) Accordingly 20 miles of line was 

resurveyed by officers of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic 

Survey in 1896, and durable monuments of granite or 

iron were established thereon. 53

The geographic position of milepost 40 was determined as lot 40°34.4' N., long 95°51' W. and that of 

No. 60 as lat 40'°34.6' N., long 93°28' W.

The survey of the north boundary of Iowa on the 

parallel of 43°30', authorized by congressional act of 

March 3, 1849,. was completed in 1852. The position 

for each end of the line and for several intermediate 

points was determined astronomically. 54

In 1943 the States of Iowa and Nebraska agreed to 

alter their common boundary to coincide with the main 

channel of the Missouri River as it was at that time. 

This compact .was approved by Congress on July 12, 

1943. (57 Stat. 494.)

A similar agreement had been made with Missouri 

in 1939 along the Des Moines River. (See p. 118.)

MINNESOTA

The Territory of Minnesota was organized on March 

3, 1849. It comprised the portion of the former Territory 

of Iowa outside the limits of the present State of Iowa 

and extended east to the west boundary line of Wisconsin. (See fig. 31.) The terms of the act creating this 

Territory (9 Stat. L. 403), so far as they relate to its 

boundary, are as follows:

all that part of the territory of the United States which lies within the

133

c2 For a history of the line, discussion of the case, report of commissioners, and description of the survey, see 7 Howard 660 and 10 Howard 1.

53 For a full report, which contains extracts from notes of previous 

surveys, see 165 U.S. 118, and U.S. Coast and Geod. Survey (1896, p. 

51).

54 For an illustrated description of the survey of this line, see Iowa, 

Dept. of History and Archives (1929, p. 483-503).

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MINNESOTA

following limits, to wit: Beginning in the Mississippi River, at the 

point where the line of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes of north 

latitude crosses the same; thence running due west on said line, which 

is the northern boundary of the State of Iowa, to the northwest corner 

of the said State of Iowa; thence southerly along the western boundary 

of said State to the point where said boundary strikes the Missouri 

River; thence up the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River 

to the mouth of the White-earth River; thence up the middle of the 

main channel of the White-earth River to the boundary line between 

the possessions of the United States and Great Britain; thence east 

and south of east along the boundary line between the possessions 

of the United States and Great Britain to Lake Superior; thence in a 

straight line to the northernmost point of the State of Wisconsin in 

Lake Superior; thence along the western boundary line of said State 

of Wisconsin to the Mississippi River; thence down the main channel 

of said river to the place of' beginning.

Minnesota was admitted as a State on May 11, 

1858, with the same boundaries that it has at present 

(11 Stat. L 285). These are given in the enabling act 

(11 Stat. L. 166) as follows:

Beginning at the point in the center of the main channel of the 

Red River of the North, where the boundary line between the United 

States and the British Possessions crosses the same; thence up the 

main channel of said river to that of the Bois des Sioux River; thence 

[up] the main channel of said river to Lake Travers; thence up the 

center of said lake to the southern extremity thereof; thence in a 

direct line to the head of Big Stone Lake; thence through its center 

to its outlet; thence by a due south line to the north line of 

the S'tate of Iowa; thence east along the northern boundary of said 

State to the main channel of the Mississippi River; thence up the main 

channel of said river, and following the boundary line of the State 

of Wisconsin, until the same intersects the Saint Louis River; thence 

down said river to and through Lake Superior, on the boundary line 

of Wisconsin and Michigan, until it intersections the dividing line 

between the United States and the British Possessions; thence 

up Pigeon River, and following said dividing line, to the place of 

beginning.

The western boundary line from the Big Sioux River 

to the Minnesota River was surveyed and marked in 

1859-60 under the General Land Office. (See p. 20 

for the survey of the northern boundary, p. 131 for 

the survey of the eastern boundary, and Iowa for the 

survey of the southern boundary.)

The western boundary of Minnesota from Lake 

Traverse to Big Stone Lake was meandered, and the 

line from Big Stone Lake to the Iowa line, a distance 

of 124 miles 5.23 chains, was surveyed and marked in 

1859 under the General Land Office. (Winchell, 1905.)

North of the 49th parallel and separated from the 

main part of Minnesota by the Lake of the Woods is 

a land area of nearly 124 square miles, 55 including a

55 This area as given on General Land Office township plats amounts 

to 123.87 square miles.
134

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

number of small islands, which became U.S. territory 

by the treaties of 1783 and 1818. (See p. 12, 14.) The 

inclusion of this area in the United States resulted 

from the use of inaccurate maps by the treaty makers 

and has been described as a "politico-geographical 

curiosity of a boundary that a glance at the map will 

show, that no one could have foreseen, and that would 

be inexplicable without some knowledge of the steps in 

the process by which it was brought about." (Internat. 

Joint Comm., United States and Canada, 1917, p. 140.)

By agreement between the States of Minnesota and 

North Dakota and by the approval of Congress, about 

20 acres of land were transferred to North Dakota, 

August 25, 1961 (75 Stat. 399). This parcel of land is 

near the city of Fargo. Moving the channel of the Red 

River to provide flood control cut off a bend of the 

river and thus made access from Minnesota difficult.

For the boundary with Wisconsin, see p. 130.

NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTH DAKOTA

The Territory of Dakota was organized on March 2, 

1861, from parts of Minnesota and Nebraska Territories. (See figs. 33, 34, 35.) The following extract from 

the act of organization (12 Stat. L. 239) defines its 

original limits:

* * * all that part of the territory of the United States included within the following limits, namely: commencing at a point in the main 

channel of the Red River of the North where the forty-ninth degree 

of north latitude crosses he same; thence up the main channel of the 

same and along the boundary of the State of Minnesota to Big Stone 

Lake; thence along the boundary line of the said Slate of Minnesota, 

to the Iowa line; thence along the boundary line of the State of Iowa 

to the point of intersection between the Big Sioux and Missouri rivers; 

thence up the Missouri river, and along the boundary line of the 

Territory of Nebraska to the mouth of the Niobrara or Running Water 

river; thence following up the same, in the middle of the main 

channel thereof, to the mouth of the Keha Paha or Turtle Hill river; 

thence up said river to the forty-third parallel of north latitude; 

thence due "west to the present boundary of the Territory of Washington; thence along the boundary line of Washington Territory, to the 

forty-ninth degree of north latitude; thence east along said forty-ninth 

degree of north latitude to the place of beginning, be, and the same 

is hereby, organized into a temporary government by the name of 

the Territory of Dakota.

In 1863 the Territory of Idaho was formed, its area 

having been taken from Washington, Dakota, and 

Nebraska. (See Idaho, p. 156.)

In 1864, in the act creating Montana Territory, the 

area described in the following paragraph was temporarily restored to the jurisdiction of Dakota (13 Stat. 

L. 92).

That, until congress shall otherwise direct, all that part of the 

Territory of Idaho included within the following boundaries, to wit: 

Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the thirty-third 

degree of longitude west from Washington with the forty-first degree 

of north latitude; thence along said thirty-third degree of longitude 

to the crest of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward along the said 

crest of the Rocky Mountains to its intersection with the forty-fourth 

degree and thirty minutes of north latitude; thence eastward along 

said forty-fourth degree thirty minutes north latitude to the thirtyfourth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence northward 

along said thirty-fourth degree of longitude to its intersection with 

the forty-fifth degree north latitude; thence eastward along said 

forty-fifth degree of north latitude to its intersection with the twentyseventh degree of longitude west from Washington; thence south 

along said twenty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington 

to the forty-first degree north latitude; thence west along said 

forty-first degree of latitude to the place of beginning, shall be, and 

is hereby, incorporated temporarily into and made part of the Territory 

of Dakota.

All but a small part of this area was included in the 

Territory of Wyoming in 1868.

In 1870 and 1882 small areas were transferred to 

Nebraska. (See p. 137, 138.) In 1873 an area of about 2 

square miles was transferred to Montana. (See p. 150.)

By the enabling act of February 22, 1889 (25 Stat. 

L. 676), the Territory of Dakota was divided into two 

parts, North Dakota and South Dakota:

The area comprising the Territory of Dakota shall * * * be divided 

on the line of the seventh standard parallel produced due west to the 

western boundary of said Territory; * * *.

Each part, having adopted a constitution, was declared admitted as a State by presidential proclamation, dated November 2, 1889.

The boundary line between North and South Dakota, 

which is the seventh standard parallel north, of the 

public-land survey, was surveyed and marked in 1891- 

92. (See fig. 33.) The marks are placed at each half 

mile and are substantial cut-stone posts 7 feet long 

by 10 inches square at top, set SVz feet in the ground. 

The initials of the States are cut on the north and 

south sides, and the mile numbers are on the east. The 

first mark was placed 9 chains west of the Bois des 

Sioux River bed. The measured distance to the east 

bank of the Missouri was 190 miles 8.25 chains. At a 

distance of 360 miles 45.35 chains, the east boundary 

of Montana was intersected at a point 48.35 chains 

north of its milepost 65. The Montana line at this place 

was found to bear rOl'30" to the west.

Boundary post 333, which is near the west end of 

this line, is in lat 45°56'42.64" N. and long 103°28'- 

21.85" W., 1927 N.A.D. Where the Chicago & North 

Western Railway crosses this boundary, the lattitude 

is 45°56'07.7" N. and the longitude is 98°07'42.1" W. 

Near the east end of the line the latitude of a point was 

found to be 45°56'09.7" N. (Marshall, 1916, p. 296.) 

The northeast corner of North Dakota, which is in the 

middle of the Red River where it crosses the 49thparallel boundary, is in long 97°13'42.58" W.
BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTH DAKOTA 135

'

'' ' '

,T ,' i. .5;, •;; 'iii4^miiiimiilHlfltlfK^iitii

FIGURE 33.—Township plat showing the relation of the public land surveys to the boundaries of North Dakota,

South Dakota, and Montana.
136

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Milestone 4 on the Wyoming-South Dakota line was 

located by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1912; 

it is at lat 43°03'30.61" N. and long 104°03'10.07" W.

The west boundary of South Dakota as far north as 

the northeast comer of Wyoming, lat 45° N., was 

surveyed in 1877, commencing at a post set in 1869 

for the northwest corner of Nebraska. That part of the 

boundary north of lat 45° N. was surveyed in 1885. 

(See p. 150.) The entire west boundary of the State was 

resurveyed in 1904 and marked with 6-foot stone posts 

at each mile except from the 39th to the 104th, inclusive, 

which were marked with iron posts for the Black Hills 

National Forest. The measured distance to the northeast 

corner of Wyoming was 139 miles 8.78 chains, and to 

the northwest corner of South Dakota, 204 miles 48.26 

chains. From the northeast corner of Wyoming to the 

southeast corner of Montana the line runs east a distance of 70.68 chains. This jog in the State line is due 

to errors in the location of the 27th meridian as determined from two widely separated stations; the position brought down from the north (see Montana, east 

boundary, p. 150) is 41.6" too far east, and that brought 

up from the south (see Nebraska, 41st parallel boundary, p. 138) is 23.3" too far west.

115°

NEBRASKA

The Territory of Nebraska was formed on May 30, 

1854, from the northwestern part of Missouri Territory. 

Its original limits are defined as follows in the act of 

organization (see fig. 35; 10 Stat. L. 277):

Beginning at a point in the Missouri Rver where the fortieth parallel 

of north latitude crosses the same; then west on said parallel to the 

east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit of the Rocky 

Mounains; thence on said summit northward to the forty-ninth parallel 

of north latitude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary 

of the territory of Minnesota; thence southward on said boundary to 

the Missouri River; thence down the main channel of said river to 

the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, created into a 

temporary government by the name of the Territory of Nebraska.

This area was reduced in 1861 by the formation of 

the Territories of Colorado and Dakota and further reduced in 1863 by the formation of the Territory of 

Idaho. (See Colorado, p. 141, Dakota, p. 134, and Idaho, 

p. 156.)

In 1861, in the act creating the Territory of Dakota, 

a small area was added to the west end of Nebraska. 

The following is the text of the act making this addition 

(12 Stat. L. 244):

115'

FIGURE 34.—Historical diagram of North Dakota and South Dakota.
That, until Congress shall otherwise direct, the portion of the Territories of Utah and Washingon between the forty-first and forty-third 

degrees of north laitude, and east of the thirty-third meridian of longitude west from Washington, shall be, and is hereby, incorporated 

into and made a part of the Territory of Nebraska.

The act for the admission of Nebraska to the Union 

was passed by Congress February 9, 1867, over a 

presidential veto, and, the conditions having been accepted by the people, statehood was declared in effect 

by proclamation of the President dated March 1, 1867 

(14 Stat. L. 391, 821).

The limits of the State are defined as follows in the 

enabling act (13 Stat. L. 47), approved April 19, 1864.

That the said state of Nebraska shall consist of all the territory included 

within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at a point formed 

by the intersection of the western boundary of the state of Missouri 

with the fortieth degree of north latitude; extending thence due west 

along said fortieth degree of north latitude to a point formed by its 

intersection with the twenty-fifth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence north along said twenty-fifth degree of longitude to 

a point formed by its intersection with the forty-first degree of north 

latitude; thence west along said forty-first degree of north latitude 

to a point formed by its intersection with the twenty-sevenh degree 

of longitude west from Washington; thence north along said twentyseventh degree of west longitude to a point formed by its intersection 

with the forty-third degree of north latitude; thence east along said, 

forty-third degree of north latitude to the Reya Paha [Keyapaha] 

river; thenoe down the middle of the channel of said river, "with its 

meanderings, to its junction with the Niobara river; thence down the 

middle of the channel of said Niobara river, and following the meandering thereof, to its junction with the Missouri river; thence down 

the middle of the channel of said Missouri river, and following he 

meanderings thereof, to the place of beginning.

137

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NEBRASKA

As the result of a sudden change in the course of 

the Missouri, an area of about 5 square miles, which 

had previously been a part of Dakota Territory, was 

left on the Nebraska side of the river a short distance 

above Sioux City, Iowa. (See fig. 35.) To avoid future 

complications, this tract was given to Nebraska by an 

act approved April 28, 1870, "to redefine a portion of 

the boundary line between the State of Nebraska and 

the Territory of Dakota," as follows (16 Stat. L. 93):

That so soon as the State of Nebraska, through her legislature, has 

given her consent thereto, the centre of the main channel of the 

Missouri River shall be the boundary line between the State of 

Nebraska and the Territory of Dakota, between the following points, 

to wit: Commencing at a point in the centre of said main channel, 

north of the west line of section twenty four in township twenty 

nine north, of range eight east of the sixth principal meridian, and 

running along the same to a point west of the most northerly portion 

of fractional section seventeen, of said township twenty nine north, 

of range nine east of said meridian, in the State of Nebraska.

For plat showing the changes, see General Land 

Office files, Nebraska township plats, volume 9. This 

change was approved by Nebraska by acts of February 9, 1871.

FIGURE 35.—Historical 

diagram of Nebraska. 200 KILOMETRES
138

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

In 1882 an act was passed transferring to this State 

from Dakota a small area lying between the Keya 

Paha River and the 43d parallel of latitude. The following is an extract from this act (22 Stat. 35):

That the northern boundary of the State of Nebraska shall be, and 

hereby is, subject to the provisions hereinafer contained, extended 

so as to include all that portion of the Territory of Dakota lying south 

of the forty-third parallel of north latitude and east of the Keyapaha 

River and west of the main channel of the Missouri River.

In 1943, the States of Iowa and Nebraska agreed to 

make their common boundary coincide with the main 

channel of the Missouri River as it existed at that time. 

(See p. 133.)

By act of March 1, 1905, Congress approved the compact between Nebraska and South Dakota, fixing the 

boundary south of Union County, S. Dak., in the middle 

of the main channel of the Missouri River as it then 

existed.

The north boundary of Nebraska from the middle of 

the Keya Paha westward was surveyed in 1874, after 

the proper position for the 43d parallel had been found 

from an astronomic station near the east end of the 

line. In 1893 this line was retraced, and 7-foot cut-stone 

posts were placed at each mile and half-mile corner 

on the line as established in 1874. The stone set in 

1869 for the northwest corner of the State was also replaced by one of the 7-foot posts. The reported length 

of this line was 224 miles 12.13 chains.

The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey determined positions for mile-posts 56 and 222^ in 1912. The 1927 

N.A.D. position of milepost 56 is lot 42°59'53.37" N., 

long 100°45'04.67" W., and that of milepost 222!/2 is 

lat 43°00'06.15" N., long 104W02.73" W.

In 1893 the north boundary from the Keya Paha River 

eastward was surveyed and marked with 7-foot cutstone posts, and the distance was given as 57 miles 

72.70 chains to a terminal mark 72.82 chains from highwater mark on the west bank of the Missouri River.

The west boundary of Nebraska, including the part 

along the 41st parallel, was surveyed in 1869 under 

the direction of the General Land Office. The initial 

astronomic station was at Julesburg, Colo., the position 

of which was taken as lat 40°59'01.56" N. and Jong 

25°18'30.90" W. of Washington. From this station a 

line was measured due north 89.65 chains to the computed position of the 41st parallel, thence due east 16 

miles 10.47 chains to the computed position of the 25th 

degree of longitude west from Washington, where a

6-foot limestone corner post was established. From this 

point a random line was run due south to the calculated position of the 40th parallel as determined by 

astronomic observations. At the point thus found, a 

limestone post 6 feet long by 1 foot square at top, appropriately marked, was set in a mound of earth, from 

which the line was run north, and marks (most of 

them wooden posts) were set for each mile, a distance 

of 68 miles 79.59 chains to the 41st parallel mark.

From the Julesburg meridian mark on the 41st 

parallel, the line was run west to the intersection with 

the 27th meridian, a total distance on the parallel of 

104 miles 72.07 chains. The correct position of the 27th 

meridian was found from a telegraphic determination 

of longitude at a station 8 miles 49.45 chains east. From 

the intersection of the 41st parallel and the 27th meridian, where a 6-foot stone post was set, the line was 

run northward on the 27th meridian to the northwest 

corner of Nebraska.

The Nebraska-Wyoming line was retraced in 1908 

and re-marked with granite posts 6 feet long and 10 

inches square at the top, each set 3 feet in the ground 

and marked with "WYO" on the west, "NEB" on the 

east, and the mile number on the south. The measured 

length of this line was 139 miles 22.43 chains.

For a description of the survey of the south boundary, 

see Kansas.

KANSAS

The Territory of Kansas was organized on May 30, 

1854, from a part of Missouri Territory. (See fig. 27.) 

The following clause from the act of organization defines its limits: 56

* * * all that part of the Territory of the United States included wihin 

the following limits, except such portions thereof as are hereinafter 

expressly exempted from the operations of this act, to wit: beginning 

at a point on the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where 

the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence 

west on said parallel to the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence 

north on said boundary to latitude thirty-eight; thence following said 

boundary westward to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on 

the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward on said summit 

to the fortieth parallel of latitude; thence east on said parallel to the 

western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence south with the 

western boundary of said State to the place of beginning, be, and the 

same is hereby, created into a temporary government by the name 

of the Territory of Kansas.

Kansas was admitted into the Union on January 29, 

1861, with its present boundaries, which are thus defined in the enabling act (12 Stat. L 126):

* * * the said State shall consist of all the territory included within 

the following boundaries, to wit: beginning at a point on the western 

boundary of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of 

north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the 

twenty-fifth meridian longitude west from Washington; thence north

50 10 Stat. L. 283. The exoepted parts were Indian lands.
on said meridian to the fortieth parallel of latitude; thence east on 

said parallel to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence 

south with the western boundary of said State to the place of 

beginning.

It is noteworthy that Kansas was the first State to 

be admitted to the Union having a meridional boundary referred to the Washington meridian.

The part of Kansas Territory west of the 25th Washington meridian, detached by this act, was made a part 

of the Territory of Colorado 30 days later.

The southern boundary of Kansas was surveyed in 

1857. The initial point on the 37th parallel was found 

from astronomic observations on the Kansas-Missouri 

boundary line in long 94°40'26.3" W. and was checked 

by observations at 10 other astronomic stations. Marks 

were left at irregular intervals.

The General Land Office resurveyed this line from 

the 166th mile to the 226th mile in 1872 and from he 

207th mile to the 268th mile in 1873.

Two boundary stones were located by triangulation 

in 1902 on the Kansas-Oklahoma line—boundary stone 

160, a sandstone post 5 by 12 by 20 inches, projecting 

about 9 inches above ground, marked "160" on top, 

"K" on the north side, and "I T" on the south side, in 

lat 36°50'55.03" N., long 97°54'01.75" W.; and boundary stone 163, a stone marked as above described 

except that "163" is the number on top, in lat 36°59'- 

54.78" N., long 97°57'16.23" W. These values are as 

corrected to 1927 N.A.D.

The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1935 determined the position of the southeast corner of Kansas 

as lat 36°59'54.75" N., long 94°37'03.74" W.

The boundary between Kansas and Nebraska is the 

base line of the sixth principal meridian, which was 

used for land surveys in the two States. The survey of 

the boundary was begun in 1854, and 108 miles of line 

west of the Missouri River were run and marked; the 

marks with few exceptions were small wooden posts 

or stones. The initial position for the 40th parallel was 

found by calculation and measurement from an astronomic station (lat. 40°01'10.3" N.) on the east side of 

the Missouri about 2Vz miles southeast of the mouth 

of the Nemaha. An initial monument for this line, made 

of cast iron, was set up in 1855 at a point 52.55 chains 

west of the right bank of the Missouri, the marks on 

which are "NEBRASKA" on the north, "1854" on the 

east, "40° N LAT" on the west, and "KANSAS" on the 

south. This line was resurveyed and re-marked in 

1855-56, and the marks on the former line were destroyed. From the 108th mile the line was extended 

west to the Rocky Mountains in 1858-59 as a base of 

the land survey. (See General Land Office files, Kansas 

exterior plats, v. 4, p. 2.)

For the eastern boundary, see Missouri (p. 118).

139

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

OKLAHOMA

The western boundary of Kansas was surveyed in 

1872 and was reestablished from the 174th milepost 

south to the Oklahoma line in 1908 by the General 

Land Office. Most of the marks left were small stones. 

Several marks on this line have been connected with 

triangulation stations, giving the following results:

Boundary mark Latitude (N.) Longitude (W )

68 x _________ 39°00'22. 6' 102°02'45. 1'

73V2 1 ________ 38°55'31. 0' 102°02'43. 4'

78 J __________ 38°51'30. 1' 102°02'42. 5'

83 1 _________ 38°47'09. 3' 102°02'41. 8'

130 - _________ 38°06'01. 5' 102°02'41. 5'

140" _________ 37°57'18. 0' 102°02'38. 4'

1 U.S. Coast and Geod. Survey Kept, for 1902, p. 253.

a U.S. Geol. Survey 18th Ann. Kept., pt. 1, p. 184.

OKLAHOMA

The Territory of Oklahoma was organized under the 

act of May 2, 1890, from the western part of the Indian 

Territory. (See p. 51 and fig. 36.) Its limits as originally 

constituted were set forth in the act as follows (26 

Stat. L. 81-82):

That all that portion of the United States now known as the Indian 

Territory, except so much of the same as is actually occupied by the 

five civilized tribes, and the Indian tribes within the Quapaw Indian 

Agency, and except the unoccupied part of the Cherokee outlet, together with that portion of the United States known as the Public Land 

Strip [Donaldson, 1884, p. 462, 1187], is hereby erected into temporary government by the name of the Territory of Oklahoma. The 

portion of the Indian Territory included in said Territory of Oklahoma 

is bounded by a line drawn as follows: Commencing at a point where 

the ninety-eighth meridian crosses the Red River; thence by said 

meridian to the point where it crosses the Canadian River; thence 

along said river to the west line of the Seminole country; thence 

along said line to the north fork of the Canadian River; thence down 

said river to the west line of the Creek country, thence along said 

line to the northwest corner of the Creek country; thence along the 

north line of the Creek country, to the ninety-sixth meridian; thence 

northward by said meridian to the southern boundary line of Kansas; 

thence west along said line to the Arkansas River; thence down said 

river to the north line of the land occupied by the Ponca tribe of 

Indians, from which point the line runs so as to include all the lands 

occupied by the Ponca, Tonkawa, Otoe, and Missouria, and the Pawnee 

tribes of Indians until it strikes the south line of the Cherokee Outlet, 

which it follows westward to the east line of the State of Texas; thence 

by the boundary line of the State of Texas to the point of beginning; 

the Public Land Strip which is included in said Territory of Oklahoma 

is bounded east by the one hundredth meridian, south by Texas, west 

by New Mexico, north by Colorado and Kansas. Whenever the interest 

of the Cheerokee Indians in the land known as the Cherokee outlet 

shall have been extinguished and the President shall make proclamation thereof, said outlet shall thereupon and without further legislation become a part of the Territory of Oklahoma. Any other lands 

within the Indian Territory not embraced within these boundaries, 

shall hereafter become a part of the Territory of Oklahoma whenever 

the Indian nation or tribe owning such lands shall signify to the
140

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

President of the United States in legal manner its assent that such 

lands shall so become a part of said Territory of Oklahoma, and the 

President shall thereupon make proclamation to that effect.

The Public Land Strip was a rectangular part of the 

land ceded to the United States by Texas that lay south 

of Kansas and east of New Mexico. For many years 

this area (5,740 square miles) was popularly known as 

"No Man's Land." Its west boundary, which has been 

generally accepted as the Cimarron meridian as established by the General Land Office in 1881, is 34.25 

miles in length. The latitude and longitude of the north 

end of this boundary, which is the northeast corner of 

New Mexico, are 37°00'00.47" N. and 103°00'06.63" 

W., 1927 N.A.D.

The U.S. Supreme Court having decreed that the 

area east of the 100th meridian and between the two 

main forks of the Red River did not belong to Texas 

(see p. 122), Congress, on May 4, 1896, enacted (29 

Stat. L 113)

That, the portion of the Territory of Oklahoma bounded by the 

North Fork of the Red River and the State of Texas, heretofore known

as Greer County, Texas, be and the same is hereby established as 

Greer County, Oklahoma.

The 98th meridian, which was then part of the west 

boundary of Indian Territory, was marked by the Geological Survey in 1899 with iron posts set in concrete.

The Cherokee Outlet originally comprised an area of 

more than 12,000 square miles south of the south 

boundary of Kansas, west of the 96th meridian, north 

of an east-west line through the mouth of the Cimarron 

River, and east of the 100th meridian; this area was 

reserved for the use of Indians while traveling to visit 

their friends in the West. The rights of the Indians in 

this area were extinguished by treaty (27 Stat. L, 640), 

dated December 19, 1891, ratified by Congress March 

3, 1893, and proclaimed by the President August 19 

of the same year; the treaty became effective at 12 

o'clock noon of the 16th of September. This area thereby became a part of the Territory of Oklahoma in accordance with the act of May 2, 1890, and was open 

to settlers. The Cherokee Outlet was not the same as 

the Cherokee strip. The Cherokee strip was a part of 

the Cherokee country about 2 l/2 miles wide just north 

of the 37th parallel, now a part of Kansas.

On June 16, 1906, an enabling act for the admission 

of Oklahoma as a State was passed by Congress (34 

Stat. L 267), the new State to consist of

all that part of the area of the United States now constituting the 

Territory of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory as at present described.

fP<3rt °J, ori&nal Territory of

HEROgEE OUTLET 

dditLon of 1893

100 MILES 

100 KILOMETRES

FIGURE 36.—Historical diagram of Oklahoma.
The bounds of the Indian Territory, as defined in 

the act of March 1, 1889, were as follows (25 Stat. L. 

783):

North by the State of Kansas, east by the States of Missouri and 

Arkansas, south by the State of Texas, and west by the State of Texas 

and the Territory of New Mexico.

The people of the two Territories having adopted a 

constitution, the President, by proclamation dated 

November 16, 1907, declared the admission to statehood complete (35 Stat. L. 2160).

For descriptions of the boundaries of the State of 

Oklahoma as now marked, see Arkansas, page 120; 

Missouri, page 118; Texas, page 122; Kansas, page 139; 

and Colorado, below. Gittinger (1917) contains many 

references to boundaries as well as a history of the 

changes in the territory from 1803 to 1906.

A set of diagrams illustrating various stages in the 

change of the Oklahoma area from Indian ownership 

to statehood was prepared by George Pamley and 

printed by the Webb Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, 

in 1917.

COLORADO

A concerted attempt was made in 1958 to organize 

the "State of Jefferson," which was to include the present area of Colorado together with large areas now 

within the limits of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah; 

but by popular vote in 1859 it was decided to organize a Territorial government instead. A governor and 

a legislature were elected and held office until 1861, 

when the Territory of Colorado was established by act 

of Congress (Paxson, 1904, p. 92; Smiley, 1901, chap. 

32; Campbell, 1922, p. 62-65).

Colorado was organized as a Territory on February 

28, 1861 (12 Stat. L. 172), with the same boundaries as 

at present, being made up from parts of the Territories 

of Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska. (See figs. 

27, 45, 47.) The name given to this Territory in the bill as 

it passed the House was Idaho; but it was changed to 

Colorado in the Senate.

The boundaries were described in an enabling act 

(13 Stat. L. 33), approved March 21, 1864, as follows:

That the said state of Colorado shall consist of all the territory 

included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at a 

point formed by the intersection of the thirty-seventh degree of 

north latitude with the twenty-fifth degree of longitude west from 

Washington; extending thence due "west along said thirty-seventh 

degree of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with 

the thirty-second degree of longitude' west from Washington; thence 

due north along said thirty-second degree of west longitude to a 

point formed by its intersection with the forty-first degree of north 

latitude; thence due east along said forty-first degree of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the twenty-fifth degree 

of longitude west from Washington; thence due south along said 

twenty-fifth degree of west longitude.

141

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

COLORADO

A constitution formed by a convention held in 1864 

in accordance with this act was rejected by popular 

vote; a second constitution formed by another convention, in 1865, was accepted by a small majority. Congress at its next session passed an act for the admission of Colorado to statehood, but it was vetoed in May, 

1866, by the President. The principal reasons given for 

this action were scanty population and the small majority resulting from the second vote (3,030 against 

2,875). Furthermore, it was stated that the second voting 

was held without legal authority. Another act for the 

admission of Colorado was vetoed in 1867 for reasons 

similar to those previously given. (U.S. Cong., 1897, 

p. 413-416, 483, 489; Thorpe, 1909, v. 1, p. 470.)

A third enabling act (18 Stat. L, pt. 3, 474), without 

change in boundaries, was approved March 3, 1875. 

The conditions of the act having been complied with, 

the President by proclamation dated August 1, 1876, 

declared the admission complete.

For reference to the survey and marking of the east 

boundary, see Kansas, page 139; and for the north 

boundary, see Nebraska, page 138, and Wyoming, 

page 145.

The south boundary of Colorado was surveyed in 

1858-59 from the southeast corner west to the 103d 

meridian, by Macomb.

The act of March 3, 1873 (17 Stat. L. 517) provided 

for the survey of the eastern part of the south boundary of Colorado from the southeast corner of the State 

to the 103d meridian and also for the survey of so 

much of the east boundary of New Mexico as lies between the northwest corner of Texas and the 37th 

parallel of north latitude. These surveys were made by 

John G. Major, U.S. deputy surveyor, in 1873 and 1874, 

and were approved by the Commissioner of the General and Office July 29, 1874. The field notes are filed 

in the Cartographic Records Division, National Archives 

and Records Service. A survey of the boundary line 

between Colorado and New Mexico from the 103d 

meridian westward was authorized by act of Congress 

approved March 2, 1867. This line was surveyed and 

marked in 1868 by E. N. Darling, U.S. surveyor, presumably on the 37th parallel of latitude; but subsequent 

investigations in the vicinity of Edith, Colo., showed 

that between the sixth and eighth astronomical monuments " (there were 11 in all), gross errors in alinement 

and measurement existed, there being an offset or jog

57 For descriptions of nine of these stations, see Beall (1926, p. 154—155).
142

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

of nearly half a mile in the vicinity of the 212th mile 

mark.

To locate the line where original marks were missing, the State of Colorado, in 1901 (Colorado Session 

Laws of 1901, chap. 37), appropriated funds for the reestablishment of the Darling line between the sixth and 

eighth astronomical monuments. The act required that 

the field notes and plats be filed with the secretary of 

state of Colorado, to be accepted as conclusive evidence in all cases in Colorado courts in which this part 

of the southern boundary was in question. This work, 

done in 1901, by State authority alone, was not accepted or approved by Congress and was therefore 

not binding on New Mexico, which was then a Territory.

In 1902 Congress authorized the resurvey of the entire line between the State of Colorado and the Territories of New Mexico and Oklahoma. 58 This survey was 

executed by H. B. Carpenter in 1902-3, but the joint 

resolution passed by Congress for its acceptance as the 

legal boundary was vetoed by the President. 59 The 

Carpenter line differs materially from the Darling line, 

being considerably north of it in certain places and 

south of it in others. At the east end the Carpenter line 

is more than half a mile north of the southern boundary 

as surveyed in 1858. On October 13, 1919, permission 

was granted to the State of New Mexico by the U.S. 

Supreme Court to file a suit against the State of Colorado for a settlement of this boundary dispute. The 

opinion of the Court, dated January 26, 1925 was in 

favor of Colorado and a resurvey of the boundary line 

as marked by Darling in 1868 was ordered (267 U.S. 

41). The Court held that the Darling line was the correct one because of its original acceptance by Colorado and by the Federal Government, regardless of 

its errors and the temporary use of the Carpenter line 

by the General Land Office. After the veto of the resolution for the acceptance of the Carpenter line, it was 

no longer used for the survey of the public lands. The 

decision of the Court was that the Darling line should 

be reestablished from what monuments could be found.

M 32 Stat. 552. See U^S. Cong. (1905a) for a description, of this and the 

Darling surveys.

50 The veto message appears in the Congressional Record December 19, 

1908, p. 451-452. The reason given for the veto was that Colorado had 

not accepted the line and probably would not do so, as it would take 

from that State a strip of land for nearly its whole length in which there 

were a considerable number of settlers and five .post offices. The discussion that preceded the passage of the joint resolution by the House is 

given in the Congressional Record December 12, 1908.

In 1917, a part of the line had been rerun by W. C. 

Perkins of the General Land Office. This part was between Darling's mileposts 202 and 241, east of his 

astronomic station 8. The Perkins line was monumented 

with iron posts, and was accepted by the court.

The Court appointed Arthur D. Kidder of the Bureau 

of Land Management (then the General Land Office), 

as commissioner to resurvey the Darling line. (A meridian telescope that he used in his work is shown in 

fig. 37.) He supervised the fieldwork, which was delayed in execution owing to shortage of funds, the 

costs being paid by the States concerned. The report 

was prepared by Joseph C. Thoma, who was appointed 

commissioner following Mr. Kidder's death in 1958. The 

final report was submitted in three parts on February 

15, May 2, and June 1, 1960. It was approved by the 

Supreme Court on October 24, 1960 (364 U.S. 296).

The instructions of the Court were that the Macomb 

and the Preston monuments were to be controlling 

points in the survey. The former monument had been 

set in 1859 in the survey mentioned above. The latter 

was set by Levi S. Preston in 1900 when he retraced 

the Major line 2Vz miles eastward to the northeast 

corner of New Mexico. (See Oklahoma, p. 140.)

Kidder began at the Macomb monument, which he 

replaced by a concrete monument with a bronze tablet. 

From this point (lat 37°00'00.29" N., long 103°02'49.97" 

W., 1927 N.A.D.) he first ran the line east to the Preston 

monument and then west, retracing Darling's line. He 

tied to all the Darling monuments he could find, setting concrete posts with bronze tablets each mile on 

the line between them. The iron posts set by Perkins 

were taken up, set in concrete, and replaced in their 

original position. He destroyed all the Carpenter monuments he found, except those known to have been used 

as points of reference for local surveys. Such monuments were preserved, and only marks identifying 

them as boundary markers were removed.

The closure at the west end of the line was on the 

point established by Robbins in 1875. (See New Mexico, 

p. 163.) This mark is deserving of more than passing 

notice, as it is the only one in the United States that 

is the common corner of four States. A new stone was 

set by Page and Lutz in 1899, replacing the original, 

which they had found damaged. In 1931, Everett H. 

Kimmell, surveyor of the General Land Office, replaced 

the stone with a concrete monument now there. Its 

geodetic position is lat 36°59'56.30" N., long 109°02'- 

40.24" W. (1927 N.A.D.).

Because of the unique character of this boundary 

marker, the Department of the Interior placed an ornamental concrete slab around the monument in 1962. It 

is 28 feet square and is oriented with the cardinal directions. The names Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New
Mexico with the seal of each State appear in the proper 

quadrants. (See fig. 38.)

This position was used as a starting point in 1879 for 

the survey of the west boundary of Colorado. The survey runs north to the Wyoming line, a measured distance of 276 miles 51.66 chains. It was expected that 

this line would intersect the south boundary of Wyoming about 30 chains west of the 261st mile mark, but 

the line as run was nearly 1 mile farther west (262 miles 

28.58 chains). A sandstone block 30 by 20 by 6 inches 

was set 18 inches in the ground at this point and 

marked "WYO" on the northeast, "COL 32° W L" on 

the southeast, and "UTAH 41, N L" on the southwest 

face.

143

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

COLORADO

The explorations of John Wesley Powell, Director of 

the U.S. Geological Survey from 1881-94, added to the 

knowledge of the topography crossed by boundary surveys of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming (figs. 39, 40).

The Colorado-Utah line was retraced in 1885 and remarked with stone or cedar posts from the south end 

as far north as milepost 209. Between mileposts 81 and

FIGURE 37. Meridan Telescope used by 

Arthur D. Kidder, astronomer and surveyor of the General Land Office ,in 

1902-03, for determination of longitude 

of boundaries of New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas by astronomical observations.
144

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

89 the line was found to diverge toward the west 

7° 10', an error which at least in part accounts for the 

failure to close as expected on the Wyoming line. The 

initial mark of this line was thus described in 1885: A 

stone 7 feet by 12 by 6 inches set 3 feet in the ground, 

and marked on the northeast face "COLO 37° N L," on 

the southeast "N NEX 32° W L," on the southwest 

"ARIZONA," and on the northwest "UTAH 1875."

Between the 100th and 110th miles the positions of 

two boundary marks were determined by the Coast and 

Geodetic Survey in 1893 (Bowie, 1914, p. 100), one in 

lat 38°27'46.16" N., long 109°03'33.52" W., and the

other in lat 38°33'56.41" N., long 109°03'33.66" W. (1927 

N.A.D.). These longitudes show that the line in this locality is nearly half a mile west of its statute position.

WYOMING

Wyoming was organized as a Territory on July 25, 

1868, from an area previously included in the Territories of Dakota, Idaho, and Utah. Its limits, which are 

the same as originally established, are defined in the 

following clause from the act creating it (15 Stat. L. 

178):

That all that part of the United States described as follows: Commencing at the intersection of the twenty-seventh meridian of longitude west from Washington with the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, and running thence west to the thirty-fourth meridian of west 

longitude, thence south to the forty-first degree of north latitude, 

thence east to the twenty-seventh meridian of west longitude, and 

thence north to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, 

organized into a temporary government by the name of the' Territory 

of Wyoming.

^•'^'^^•-

FIGURE 38. Junction of four States: Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.
Wyoming was admitted as a State by act of July 

10, 1890, with boundaries as above described (see fig. 

34, 26 Stat. L. 222), but it was

Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall repeal or affect

any act of Congress relating to the Yellowstone National Park, or

the reservation of the park as now defined, or as may be hereafter

defined or extended or the power of the United States over it; * * *

Wyoming has the right to serve criminal or civil writs 

in its portion of the park, but otherwise the United 

States has exclusive jurisdiction and control over it 

(26 Stat. L. 73). The original boundaries of the park were 

given in the act establishing it, dated March 1, 1872 (17 

Stat. L. 32). Extensions were made by act approved 

March 1, 1929.

The north boundary of Wyoming was surveyed in 

1879-80 under the General Land Office. Beginning at a 

post set in 1874 for the northwest corner of the State, 

the line was run eastward, checked by a number of 

observations for latitude, for a distance reported as 347 

miles 43 chains. The marks were nearly all wooden 

posts in small mounds of earth. The eastern terminus 

of this line was on the meridian of 27° west of Washington as marked in 1877. The mark left at this corner 

was replaced in 1904 by a 6-foot stone post, the geographic position of which is lat 44°59'51.45" N., long 

104°03'25.77" W., 1927 N.A.D. (Bo'wie, 1914, p. 93.)

The survey of the south boundary of Wyoming was 

made under the direction of the General Land Office in 

1873. Beginning at a mark established in 1869 for the 

intersection of the 41st parallel and the 27th meridian 

west of Washington, the line was run westward, 

checked by six astronomic determinations of latitudes, 

to the computed location for the 34th meridian west of 

Washington. To find the proper position for this meridian, an astronomic station was established at Evanston, Wyo., the longitude of which was found to be 

33°55'20.69" west of Washington. From this point a 

line was run due south to a mark on the boundary 

and thence west 4 miles 4.54 chains, to a point where 

an 8-foot sandstone post, appropriately marked, was 

set 3 feet in the ground and surrounded by a pile of 

rocks. The measured length of the south boundary of 

Wyoming was found to be 367 miles 48.81 chains.

Geographic positions on this boundary have been 

determined as follows: Boundary mark 44, a sandstone post projecting 4 feet above ground stands about 

11 miles west of south from Qheyenne in lat 40°59'53.71" 

N. and long 104°53'33.58" W (1927 N.A.D.). This is said 

to be the only permanent boundary mark for several 

miles in either direction. Milepost 239 has been tied 

in to the triangulation of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic 

Survey. Its position is lat 41°00'00.23" N. and long 

108°36'16.98" W. The position of the stone that marks 

the southwest corner of Wyoming is lat 40°59'52.52" N., 

long 111°02'45.90" W. (Wilson and others, 1901, p. 202.)

145

BOUNDARY LINES OF TrtE STATES 

MONTANA

A considerable part of the south boundary of Wyoming 

has been retraced by the General Land Office in connection with the surveys of public lands.

The west boundary of Wyoming was surveyed and 

marked in 1874. Beginning at the mark of 1873 at the 

southwest corner of the State, the line runs due north 

for a measured distance of 277 miles 72.66 chains to 

a point where a 30-inch pine post 10 feet long was set 

3 feet in the ground and surrounded by a mound of 

earth and stone. The position for the intersection with 

the south boundary of Idaho as marked in 1871 was 

41.38 chains north of the 69-mile point and 55.70 chains 

west of the mark previously established for the initial 

point of the Utah-Idaho boundary survey.

MONTANA

The Territory of Montana was organized by act of 

May 26, 1864, from a portion of Idaho. Its limits (figs. 

34, 43), which have been changed but slightly, are 

given as follows in the organizing act (13 Stat. L. 86):

That all that part of the territory of the United States included 

within the limits, to wit: Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the twenty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington with the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; thence due west 

on said forty-fifth degree of latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the thirty-fourth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence due south along said thirty-fourth degree of longitude to 

its intersection with the forty-fourth degree and thirty minutes of 

north latitude; thence due west along said forty-fourth degree and 

thirty minutes of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection 

with the crest of the Rocky Mountains; thence following the crest 

of the Rocky Mountains northward till its intersection with the Bitter 

Root Mountains; thence northward along the crest of said Bitter 

Root Mountains to its intersection with the thirty-ninth degree of 

longitude west from Washington; thence along said thirty-ninth degree of longitude northward to the boundary line of the British 

possessions; thence eastward along said boundary line to the twentyseventh degree of longitude west from Washington; thence southward along said twenty-seventh degree of longitude to the place 

of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, created intoa a temporary 

government by the name of the Territory of Montana.

Figure 41 shows the vista along part of the boundary 

between the United States and Canada along the 49th 

parallel near Gateway, Montana.

This act took from Idaho an area bounded in part on 

the south by the 45th parallel and on the west by the 

Bitterroot Mountains. The creation of Wyoming Territory in 1868 took from Dakota Territory the greater 

part of the area that had been restored to it by the 

Montana act, which extended west to the Continental
146 BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES
BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MONTANA 147

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148 BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

_WYO_MI_NG \ "UTAH" JWYOMING 

COLORADO" "T

FIGURE 40.—Boundaries of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado as surveyed.
BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

MONTANA 149

FIGURE 41. Boundary between the United States and Canada along the 49th parallel near Gateway, Montana. The vista is cleared to a distance of 10 feet on either side of the line and recleared as necessary. 

Photo by International Boundary Commission.
150

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Divide and north to the point where the divide intersected the parallel of 44°30', but left a triangular area 

of about l !/2 square miles west of long 34° W., south 

of lat 44°30' N., and east of the Continental Divide that 

still belonged to Dakota. This area was given to Montana by the act of 1873, which described it as follows 

(see fig. 23; 17 Stat. L. 464):

That all that portion of Dakota Territory lying west of the one 

hundred and eleventh meridian of longitude which, by an erroneous 

definition of the boundaries of said Territory by a former act of 

Congress, remains detached and distant from Dakota proper some 

two hundred miles, be, and the same is hereby, attached to the 

adjoining territory of Montana.

The act should have described the area as being west 

of the 34th meridian west of Washington instead of 

west of the 111 th meridian, for the Greenwich meridian 

was not mentioned in the former act.

The enabling act (25 Stat. L. 676), which included 

also provisions for the admission of North Dakota, South 

Dakota, and Washington, fixed their boundaries "as at 

present described."

The presidential proclamation announcing the admission of Montana as a State was dated November 8, 

1889.

The south boundary of Montana was surveyed and 

marked in 1879-80, under the General Land Office.

The land included in Yellowstone National Park was 

set aside previous to the admission of the State of 

Montana. The north boundary of the park lies about 

two miles within the State, as does a part of its west 

boundary. This overlap causes an unusual situation 

as the area is not included in any county. The census 

of 1970 gives the number of inhabitants as 64. The 

area is 269 square miles. The legal status is described 

by the term "Exclusive Legislative Jurisdiction" in 

which the Federal government has received all the 

authority of the State except the right to serve process 

resulting from activities which occurred off the land 

involved.

See Idaho, page 157, and Wyoming, page 145.

That part of the west boundary between the crest 

of the Bitterroot Mountains and the Canadian border 

was surveyed and marked in 1898-99 by the U.S. 

Geological Survey. (For a detailed report of this work, 

see Goode, 1900.)

In the attempt to place the boundary on the 39th 

meridian west of Washington, the surveyor used an 

astronomic datum, with the initial point at Spokane.

He measured a five-mile base line along a tangent 

of the Northern Pacific Railroad east of the city and 

then triangulated across the panhandle of Idaho. The 

position of boundary post 12 of this line has been determined by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey to be 

lat 48°52'33.48" N., long 116°02'52.99" W., 1927 N.A.D. 

This position is some 600 feet east of the 39th meridian. 

(Goode, 1900.)

The remainder of the western boundary was surveyed and marked by stone or 3-inch round iron posts 

in 1904-6 under the General Land Office. The total 

measured length of the Idaho-Montana boundary line 

from the Canadian border to the Wyoming line is 

about 738 miles, of which the first 70.7 miles is the 

meridional line, the next 355 miles is along the crest 

of the Bitterroot Mountains, and the remaining 312 miles 

along the Continental Divide. The west boundary of 

the Yellowstone National Park crosses this line about 

2!/s miles west of the Wyoming line.

For reference to the survey of the northern boundary, 

see page 21.

The survey of the east boundary of Montana on the 

27th meridian west of Washington was undertaken in 

1885; the initial position had been found by measurement from an astronomic station on the Northern Pacific 

Railway 6 miles 28.51 chains to the west, where an 

exchange of time signals had been made by telegraph. 

From the point thus found a random line was run south 

to the 45th parallel. The mark at the northeast corner 

of Wyoming on this parallel, as established in 1880, 

was reported to be 70.68 chains west of the 27th meridian as fixed by the random line. A point for the 

intersection of the 45th parallel and the 27th meridian 

(the southeast corner of Montana) was marked by a 

stone post. Both these corner marks were replaced in 

1904 by 6-foot cut-stone posts. See page 145 for the 

geographic position of the Wyoming comer.

From the point marked as the southeast corner of 

Montana, the line was run north to the 49th-parallel 

boundary, a measured distance of 276 miles 27.80 

chains. The Northern Pacific Railway was crossed at 

133 miles 63 chains; the Yellowstone River, between 

mileposts 195 and 196; and the Missouri River, between 

mileposts 207 and 208. Most of the marks on this line 

were wooden posts, many of which have since been 

destroyed. The part from the 193d to the 218th milepost was retraced in 1901, and the posts were found 

to be poorly alined, varying as much as 50 minutes 

to the east or west for a single mile.

The geographic position of the southeast corner of 

Montana is lat 44°59'53.19" N. and long 104°02'20.83" 

W. Farther north (at lat 47°12'41.45" N.) there is an 

accurately located boundary mark, the longitude of 

which is 104°02'39.88" W. This mark is an old oak 

post. (Bowie, 1914, p. 93, 94.) The longitude of the in-
tersection of the east boundary line with the northern 

boundary of the United States is 104°02'48.13" W. 

These values are for 1927 N.A.D.

CALIFORNIA

The act of September 9, 1850 (9 Stat. L. 452), admitting 

California into the Union reads in part as follows:

Whereas the people of California have presented a constitution and 

asked admission into the Union * * * Be it enacted * * * that the 

State of California hsall be one and is hereby declared to be one 

of the United States of America and admitted into the Union on 

an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever.

The constitution of California describes the boundaries of the State as follows (Thorpe, 1909, v. 1, p. 405): co

Commencing at the point of interseciton of forty-second degree of 

north latitude with the one hundred and twentieth degree of longitude west from Greenwich, and running south on the line of said 

one hundred and twentieth degree of west longitude until it intersects the thirty-ninth degree of north latitude; thence running in a 

straight line in a southeasterly direction to the river Colorado, at a 

point where it intersects the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude; thence down the middle of the channel of said river to the 

boundary line between the United States and Mexico as established 

by the treaty of May 30, 1848; thence running west and along said 

boundary line to the Pacific Ocean, and extending therein three 

English miles; running in a northwesterly direction and following 

the direction of the Pacific coast to the forty-second degree of north 

latitude; thence on the line of said forty-second degree of north 

latitude to the place of beginning. Also all the islands, harbors, and 

bays along and adjacent to the Pacific coast.

California is part of the territory acquired from Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, between the 

United States and Mexico, proclaimed July 4, 1848. 

From that date until December 20, 1849, when the State 

constitution was adopted and a governor elected, the 

future State was governed by the commanding officer 

of the U.S. military forces, Brigadier General Riley. 

Thus California never had the status of an organized 

territory, but was admitted directly into the Union.

To determine the proper position for the northeast 

corner of California (lat 42° N., long 120° W.), an 

astronomic station was established at Camp Bidwell, 

where more than 3,000 measurements of lunar distances were said to have been made for longitude in 

1868-69. The position for the corner was computed to be 

9 miles 56 chains north and 4 miles 78 chains east from 

the observatory. From the corner thus found, the line 

was run west a distance of 212 miles 28 chains to a 

terminal mark 12 chains from the shore of the Pacific 

Ocean. The 1927 N.A.D. position of this post is lat 

41°59'54.65" N., long 124°12'28.31" W. The mile marks 

along the line consisted of wooden posts or small stones 

having "O" cut on the north side, "C" on the south, 

and the mile number and date on the other sides. This 

survey was made by D. G. Major, U.S. deputy surveyor

151

60 For a brief review of the events that resulted in the adoption of 

the boundaries of California as at present fixed, and of attempts to 

change them, see Guinn (1905).

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

CALIFORNIA

and astronomer. The field notes are among the records 

of the General Land Office and are filed in the U.S 

National Archives.

The 120th meridian boundary between California 

and Nevada north of Lake Tahoe was first surveyed 

in 1860-63 and a second line was run in 1868. However, the official survey, which still governs, was made 

by W. A. Von Schmidt, U.S. deputy surveyor, in 1873. 

Von Schmidt went to Verdi to a station on the Central 

Pacific Railroad (now part of the Southern Pacific 

Lines) and established telegraphic communication with 

San Francisco, where there was an astronomic station. 

After determining his longitude by difference in time, 

he measured over to the 120th meridian and started 

north along it from Crystal Peak. When he reached 

Smokey Creek, he received instructions that his line 

must run south from the point established by Major 

in 1869 as the northeast corner of California, the mileposts to be numbered from that point. He therefore 

left his line and began a new one running south from 

Major's monument. Reaching, a point opposite the 

northend of his earlier line, he measured east and 

found the distance between the two lines to be 3 miles 

and 24.51 chains. Because he felt certain that his longitude determination on the railroad was much closer 

than that of the initial point on the Oregon border, he 

was inclined to accept the former, but hesitated to disregard his orders to begin at the corner set in 1869. In 

his report, he stated that after considering the fact that 

it was the intent of Congress that the boundary should 

be 120° west of Greenwich, he decided to set a new 

initial point on the 42d parallel.

Von Schmidt computed the convergence of the meridians for the difference in latitude and subtracted this 

value from the east-west distance between his two 

lines. He then surveyed east from Major's monument 

3 miles 18.73 chains to a point for the northeast corner 

of California where he set a post 8 feet long and 8 

inches square in a mound of stone. A triangulation 

station of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (Nev.- 

Calif.-Ore. Ecc.) is 117 feet southwest of the post marking the corner. The coordinates of this station are lat 

41°59'41.36" N., long 119°59'55.60" W. (1927 N.A.D.). 

The field notes and the report on this survey are in 

the U.S. National Archives.

From this point Von Schmidt ran the line south, 

setting mileposts on the boundary. He made a satisactory closure in the east-west direction with his line
152

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL. STATES

north from the railroad and continued to the north 

shore of Lake Tahoe.

The gap of more than 3 miles between the monuments of Major and Von Schmidt was not monumented. 

When the fractional township at the northeast corner 

of the State was surveyed in 1879, the north-south section lines were closed against the line between the 

two monuments. These closing corners serve to mark 

the State boundary.

The oblique boundary line between California and 

Nevada, from its northern terminus in Lake Tahoe to 

its southern terminus on the Colorado River at lat 35° N. 

was originally surveyed under authority of an act of 

Congress of 1860. Several surveyors took part in the 

work of surveying this line, among them Lt. Joseph C. 

Ives, who made astronomic observations for position 

at the Colorado River end of the line and on the south 

shore of Lake Tahoe. For determination of longitude 

at the Lake Tahoe site, he had the use of a telegraph 

line to San Francisco.

The first complete running of this boundary was by 

Von Schmidt in 1873. His mileposts were numbered in 

continuation of the line from the Oregon border, number 211 being near the southeast corner of the lake. 

He ran a random line, computing an azimuth to close 

on the position established by Lieutenant Ives. His 

closure on this point was 20 chains. He found that the 

river had changed its bed by a distance of a mile and 

a half. In reply to his request for instructions from the 

General Land Office, Von Schmidt was told he should 

make his own decision as to the intersection of the 

middle of the channel of the Colorado and the 35th 

parallel as he saw it at that time, inasmuch as the 

Ives survey had never been accepted.

Work on a resurvey of this boundary was initiated 

by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1893 and 

completed in 1899. No fieldwork was done in 1896 and 

1897. In the annual report of this agency for 1900 (Sinclair, 1901), it is stated that corrections to his random 

line were distributed by Von Schmidt only along the 

south one-third of his line. New determinations of latitude and longitude were made for the terminal points 

on the line. The position of the river channel at the 

35th parallel was chosen as a point midway between 

the cut banks between which the river meandered.

The random line for the new survey was put in by 

triangulation, beginning at the Lake Tahoe end. The 

final boundary marks were offset from this line, by

whatever amount the adjustment required. Most of the 

marks were wooden posts surrounded by a rock cairn 

3 to 5 feet high. In a total distance of 405 miles, 137 

monuments were set. These monuments, scribed with 

the letters "C" and "N" on the appropriate sides and 

the number on the northwest, mark the accepted boundary. Fifty marks of the 1873 survey were recovered. The 

line surveyed in 1873 crosses the Coast and Geodetic 

Survey line twice and at one place is over a mile 

northeast of it.

The principal islands claimed as part of the State 

of California are:

Santa Catalina and San Clemente, 20 to 50 miles off 

the coast, included in Los Angeles County.

San Nicolas, 60 miles from the coast, included in 

Ventura County.

Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel, 20 to 25 

miles from the coast, included in Santa Barbara 

County.

These and many smaller islands passed under the 

control of the United States in consequence of the 

treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The question of sovereignty over these islands has been raised several 

times, the claim being made that as they were not 

mentioned in the treaty of 1848, Mexico had not given 

up its title to them; but it is evident from the following 

references that it was generally understood after the 

treaty was signed that the islands were a part of the 

territory ceded to the United States.

A general assertion of jurisdiction of the "islands 

adjacent to the Pacific coast" was made in the State 

constitution of 1849, which was formally approved by 

Congress in 1850.

In an act of Congress approved August 31, 1852 (10 

Stat. L. 91), an appropriation was made for subdividing 

these islands, several of which were mentioned by 

name, "so that said islands may be readily disposed 

of under the laws of the United States."

The U.S. Supreme Court at its December term, 1859, 

decided a case relating to a land grant on the island 

of Santa Cruz (23 Howard 465), in which the claim was 

based on a Mexican grant of 1839. The question of 

jurisdiction of the United States over the island was not 

brought up, although it must have been considered.

Patents have been issued from time to time by the 

General Land Office for land on the several islands, 

and reservations have been made on behalf of the 

United States for lighthouses.

So far as can be ascertained, no formal adverse 

claim to these islands has ever been presented by 

Mexico, and in view of the foregoing facts it is certain 

that none can now be made with a hope for favorable 

consideration. (U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1895, p. 106.)

The south boundary of California from the Colorado 

River to the Pacific Ocean is also the international
boundary between the United States and Mexico. For 

description of the survey of this line by the joint international commission in 1849, see page 28.

Owing to the continual shifting of the bed of the 

Colorado River, the States of California and Arizona 

executed a compact on March 12, 1963, to fix their 

common boundary. The compact specified that a joint 

commission would define the boundary in such a manner that further movement of the river would not affect 

it. Near the south end of this boundary, the bed of the 

river has not been confined by the topography as it 

was farther north. Because determination of the position of the midchannel at the time California entered 

the Union would be difficult now, it was decided to 

place the boundary line in a position that would provide an equitable distribution of the land that had been 

affected by the movement of the riverbed. (See fig. 42.)

The compact called for the determination of the positions of 34 points by precise geodetic methods. The first 

of these points is at the center of the river where the 

California-Nevada boundary intersects it. The 34th 

point is at the international boundary with Mexico. 

Twelve of these stations are on structures over the 

river. Some 200 additional stations are identified on 

aerial photographs taken for the purpose, and their 

coordinates measured and computed by precise analytical photogrammetry.

Where successive points fall in the middle of the channel of the river, the boundary follows the stream rather 

than being a straight line between them, the aerial 

photographs being retained as evidence of the position. The controlling points are considered sufficiently 

close together and the river stabilized to the extent 

that no problems would arise. Congress approved the 

new boundary on August 11, 1966 (80 Stat. 340).

The revised boundary is described in detail with 

drawings, geodetic positions, and descriptions of angle 

points in Technical Bulletin No. 27 of the U.S. Coast 

and Geodetic Survey (Simmons, 1965).

The extension of the international boundary into the 

Pacific by treaty in 1972 (see page 46, territorial waters) provides that the boundary shall begin at the 

westernmost point of the mainland boundary. (See p. 

28, survey of the Mexican-California boundary.) It 

extends seaward to a point that is the intersection of 

two arcs of 12 nautical miles radius, struck from Point 

Loma in U.S. territory and the Coronado Islands in 

Mexico. The series of straight lines connecting the seaward extremity and the terminal point on shore are 

arcs of great circles. The straight lines represent a 

practical simplification of a line drawn in accordance 

with the principle of equidistance established by the 

Geneva Convention. The positions of the points where 

these straight lines intersect are shown on the chart 

annexed to the treaty document (TIAS 7313).

153

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

OREGON

OREGON

The Oregon region in early days was a source of 

many disputes (Mowry, 1902, chap. 7) between the 

United States and Great Britain, nearly to the point 

of war. It was claimed by the United States at different 

times as a part of the Louisiana Purchase, by right of 

discovery, and as a part of the Spanish cession.61 In 

the convention of 1818 with Great Britain, joint occupancy for 10 years was provided. This status continued 

until 1846, when Congress by resolution authorized the 

President to give notice of its discontinuance. The 

United States at that time claimed the area as far 

north as lat 54°40' N., but by the treaty with Great 

Britain of 1846 (see p. 18) the disputes regarding title 

were forever settled and the 49th parallel was made 

the northern boundary.

The Territory of Oregon was organized August 14, 

1848, with boundaries described as follows (see fig. 

43, 9 Stat. L. 323):

* * * all that part of the Territory of the United States which lies 

west of the summit of the Rocky Mountains, north of the fortysecond degree of north latitude, known as the Territory of Oregon, 

shall be organized into and constitute a temporary government by 

the name of the Territory of Oregon.

In 1853 the Territory was reduced by the formation 

of Washington Territory, and on February 14, 1859 (11 

Stat. L. 383), it was admitted as a State with its present 

limits. The boundaries were described in the State constitution of 1857 as follows (Thorpe, 1909, v. 5, p. 3015):

Beginning one marine league at sea due west from the point where 

the forty-second parallel of north latitude intersects the same; thence 

northerly, at the same distance from the line of the coast lying west 

and opposite the State, including all islands within the jurisdiction 

of the United States, to a point due west and opposite the middle of 

the north ship channel of the Columbia River; thence easterly to 

and up the middle channel of said river, and, where it is divided by 

islands, up the middle of the widest channel thereof, and in like 

manner up the middle of the main channel of Snake River to the 

mouth of the Owyhee River; thence due south to the parallel of 

latitude forty-two degrees north; thence west along said parallel to 

the place of beginning, including jurisdiction in civil and criminal 

cases upon the Columbia River and Snake River concurrently with 

States and Territories of which those rivers form a boundary in common with this State. But the Congress of the United States, in providing for the admission of this State into the Union, may make the 

said northern boundary conform to the act creating the Territory of 

Washington.

61 For a brief outline of the principles governing acquisition of -territory 

by discovery and occupation, see Queensland Geor. Jour., Brisbane, 

Australia, 1923, v. 38, p. 61. This article contains a reference to the 

Oregon dispute. See also Schafer (1911, p. 273-299) and Moore (1898, 

v. 1, chap. 7 and 8).
154 BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

114M5' 114° 30'

FIGURE 42.—The California—Arizona boundary as fixed by compact between the two States.
The U.S. act of February 14, 1859, concluded the 

description as follows (11 Stat. 383):

* * * to a point near Fort Walla-Walla, where the forty-sixth parallel 

of north latitude crosses said river; thence east on said parallel to 

the middle of the main channel of the Shoshonnes or Snake River; 

thence up the middle of main channel of said river, to the mouth 

of the Owyhee River; thence due south, to the parallel of latitude 

forty-two degrees north; thence west, along said parallel, to the 

place of beginning.

The Oregon-Washington boundary on the 46th parallel, between the Snake and Columbia Rivers, was 

surveyed and marked in 1863-64 under the direction 

of the General Land Office. The latitude used was 

derived from more than 500 observations with the sextant. Two observation stations were occupied, one near 

the foot of Cathedral Rock on the Columbia, the other 

near Cottonwood Creek on the west side of the Blue 

Mountains. A random line was run between them, 

which showed an apparent difference of latitude of 

4". The final line was run on the mean latitude. Marks 

were set at mile intervals for 42 miles east from the 

Columbia, then at irregular intervals over the Blue 

Mountains. The measured length of the line was 96 

miles 57 chains. The easternmost mark, which was 

placed 3 chains from the west bank of the Snake River, 

was a 7 1/2-foot post 12 inches in diameter, marked "W" 

on the north, "O" on the south, and "46 L 1868" on the 

east side; it was set in a 6-foot pile of stones.

By a joint resolution approved June 10, 1910, Congress gave its consent to Oregon and Washington to 

fix their common boundary in the Columbia River and 

to cede, the one to the other, islands the title to which 

had been in dispute. Owing to the continual shifting 

of the main channel of the Columbia River, it was decided to define the boundary by a series of tangents, 

the ends of which were recorded geodetic positions. A 

compact was made by the States of Oregon and Washington, and Congress approved the new boundary on 

July 31, 1958 (72 Stat. 455). These straight lines connect 

191 points between the mouth of the Columbia and the 

point where the boundary leaves the river and continues eastward along the 46th parallel. These lines approximate the channel of the river, and a point is established on the centerlines of bridges and dams crossing the river. Point number one, at the mouth of the 

Columbia River, is lat. 46°15'00" N., long. 124°05'00" 

W. (1927 N.A.D.) The seaward end of the boundary is 

1 marine league due west of this point (at the same 

latitude).

The meridian boundary between Idaho and Oregon 

from the middle of the main channel of the Snake 

River at the mouth of the Owyhee southward to the 

calculated position of the 42d parallel, was surveyed 

and marked in 1868 under the direction of the General 

Land Office. The latitude of the north end of this line

155

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

WASHINGTON

was determined from more than 300 sextant observations as 43°48'41.1" N. The position for the south end 

was also determined from sextant observations. The 

measured length of the line was 124 miles 17.2 chains. 

The marks consisted of wooden posts, small stones, or 

mounds of stone. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

in 1915 located a point on this line near its north end, 

the position of which is lat 43°43'21.34" N., long 117°01'- 

32.70" W. (1927 N.A.D.). For discussion of the south 

boundary, see California, p. 151, and Nevada, p. 158.

WASHINGTON

The Territory of Washington was organized March 

2, 1853, from a part of Oregon Territory. (See fig. 43.) 

Its original limits were defined in the following clause 

from the act of Congress creating it (10 Stat. L. 172):

That from and after the passage of this act all that portion of 

Oregon Territory lying and being south of the forty-ninth degree 

of north latitude, and north of the middle of the main channel of the 

Columbia River from its mouth to where the forty-sixth degree of 

north latitude crosses said river, near Fort Walla Walla, thence with 

said forty-sixth degree of latitude to the summit of the Rocky Mountains, be organized into and constitute a temporary government by 

the name of the Territory of Washington.

In 1859, on the formation of the State of Oregon, the 

residue of the Territory of Oregon, the part extending from the east boundary of the State to the crest of 

the Rocky Mountains, was added to Washington. This 

area, together with the part of Washington lying east 

of its present limits, was included in Idaho on the 

formation of that Territory in 1863.

The present boundaries of the State of Washington 

are as follows: Beginning at a point 1 marine league 

due west of a point at the mouth of the Columbia River, 

the boundaries follow a series of tangents which approximate the main channel of the river to its point of 

intersection with the 46th parallel of latitude (see 

Oregon, above); thence east on the 46th parallel to the 

Snake River; thence down the main channel of the 

Snake River to the mouth of the Clearwater; thence 

north on the meridian which passes through the mouth 

of the Clearwater to the boundary line between the 

United States and the British possessions; thence west 

with that boundary line to the Pacific. 02

Washington was declared admitted as a State by 

proclamation dated November 11, 1889, with its limits 

defined as above (25 Stat. L. 676). The enabling act

"See articles relating to the northern boundary in Elliott (1919a, b).
156

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

was dated February 22, 1889.

See page 20 for reference to the survey of the northern 

boundary, below for survey of the eastern boundary, 

and page 155 for the survey of the boundary on the 

46th parallel.

IDAHO

The Territory of Idaho was formed March 3, 1863, 

from parts of Washington, Dakota, and Nebraska. (See 

figs. 34, 35, 43, 44.) Its original limits, which included 

the present States of Idaho and Montana and all but 

the southwestern part of Wyoming, were given as follows in the act organizing the Territory: 63

That all that part of the territory of the United States included 

•within the following limits, to wit: beginning at a point in the 

middle channel of the Snake River where the northern boundary 

of Oregon intersects the same; then follow down said channel of 

Snake River to a point opposite the mouth of the Kooskooskia, or 

Clearwater River; thence due north to the forty-ninth parallel of 

latitude; thence east along said parallel to the twenty-seventh degree 

of longitude west of Washington; thence south along said degree 

of longitude to the northern boundary of Colorado Territory; thence

*> 12 Stat. L. 808. For historical sketch of the formation of the Territory 

oi Idaho see Washington University Historical Society (1930).

west along said boundary to the thirty-third degree of longitude west 

of Washington; thence north along said degree to the forty-second 

parallel of latitude; thence west along said parallel to the eastern 

boundary of the State of Oregon; thence north along said boundary 

to the place of beginning.

In 1864 the Territory of Montana was formed from a 

part of this area. (See p. 145.) From another part, 

together with a part transferred to Dakota by the act 

of 1864, the Territory of Wyoming was formed in 1868. 

These changes reduced the limits of Idaho to those 

described as follows in the act of admission to statehood, approved July 3, 1890 (26 Stat. L. 215):

Beginning at the intersection of the thirty-ninth meridian with the 

boundary line beween the United States and the British Possessions, 

then following said meridian south until it reaches the summit of 

the Bitter Root Mountains; thence southeastward along the crest of 

the Bitter Root range and the continental divide until it intersects the meridian of thirty-four degrees of longitude; thence southward on this meridian to the forty-second parallel of latitude; thence 

west on this parallel of latitude to its intersection with a meridian 

drawn through the mouth of the Owyhee River; north on this meridian to the mouth of the Owyhee River; thence down the mid-channel 

of the Snake River to the mouth of the Clearwater River; and 

thence north on the meridian which passes through the mouth of 

the Clearwater to the boundary line between the United States and 

the British Possessions, and east on said boundary line to the place 

of beginning.

The west boundary of Idaho from the mouth of the 

Clearwater to the 49th parallel was surveyed and 

marked in 1873 by Rollin I. Reeves under contract 

with the General Land Office. Mr. Reeves was very 

conscientious in his efforts to comply with the description set forth in the territorial act placing the boundary

IZ3°

ADD/TtON Of /8S9 

f/rom Oregon)

100 200 KILOMETRES

FIGURE 43.—Historical 

diagram of Washington.
on a meridian passing through the mouth of the Clearwater. This definition involved locating the point common to the centerlines of the main channel of both the 

Snake and the Clearwater. Several expedients were 

tried to locate this point, one being a floating keg tied 

by a rope to a stake at the point of land between the 

two rivers. The strong currents pulled the keg under. 

Finally, he was forced to select an approximate position. Three Government officials happened to be in 

Lewiston at the time, and the surveyor asked them to 

confirm his judgment, which they did.

Mr. Reeves was forced to stop work due to winter 

weather and lack of food supplies. He was only 1 mile 

short of reaching the Canadian boundary. This line was 

retraced by S. S. Gannett and C. L. Nelson of the U.S. 

Geological Survey in 1908. 6 '1 It was extended to the 

49th parallel and tied to international boundary monument 195. The line was marked by 177 stone or iron 

posts. Boundary monument 12 is at lot 46°35'57.06" N., 

long 117°02'19.47" W. (1927 N.A.D.).

The east meridian boundary, from the 42d parallel 

northward or a measured distance of 245 miles 56 V2 

chains, was surveyed in 1874 under the direction of the 

General Land Office, and a mark was set on the assumed crest of the Rocky Mountains (the Continental 

Divide) for the corner common to Idaho, Montana, and 

Wyoming. From this mark along the crest of the mountains to the intersection with the 39th Washington meridian, the survey was made in 1904-6 by the General

157

6i See Marshall (1911) for descriptions oi these surveys and a final 

report and plat of the line as retraced.

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

IDAHO

Land Office. The surveyor who ran the line in 1906 

found the tri-State mark about 6 miles too far north. 

He therefore replaced it with a new mark in the corrected position.

The 39th-meridian boundary (116°03'02,3" west of 

Greenwich) was mentioned on page 150. Ninety-two 

metal or stone marks were placed along a measured 

distance of 70.7 miles.

For reference to the northern boundary, see page 21, 

and for the southern boundary, see pages 158-160.

Yellowstone National Park is mainly in the State of 

Wyoming, but its western boundary lies in the States 

of Idaho and Montana, being 2y2 miles west of the 

Wyoming border. This land is under "Executive Legislative Jurisdiction" of the Federal Government. The 

term applies to situations wherein the Federal Government has received all the authority of the State except 

the right to serve process resulting from activities that 

occurred off the land involved.

In 1931, Congress granted its consent for the States 

of Idaho and Wyoming to adjust their common boundary (46 Stat. 1039). A commission was appointed consisting of an engineer from the Department of the In119° 117" 115° 113° 111° 109°____107°____105°_____103°

FIGURE 44.—Historical diagram of Idaho.

&- V fa Montana)
158

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

terior and one commissioner to represent each State. 

The commission held three hearings in the local communities in the area crossed by the boundary, to learn 

the desires of local residents.

Owing to the mountainous character of the region, 

there had been some agitation to adjust the boundary 

line so as to place each of two valleys entirely in one 

State or the other. At the hearings, the great majority 

of those present disapproved of any change. The commission so reported to Congress, and the matter was 

dropped (U.S. Cong., 1933, 2d Sess., S. Doc. 212). For 

the meridian boundary between Idaho and Oregon, 

see Oregon, p. 155.

Interesting reading on the early history of Idaho and 

its creation as a territory is found in "The Idaho Heritage," a collection of historical essays edited by Richard W. Etulain and Bert W. Marley. (Idaho State University Press, 1974.)

NEVADA

The Territory of Nevada, as organized by act of 

March 2, 1861, consisted of territory taken from Utah. 

(See fig. 45.) The following are the boundaries as 

described in the act (12 Stat. L. 209):

* beginning at the point of intersection of the forty-second degree 

of north latitude with the thirty-ninth degree of longitude west from 

Washington; thence running south on the line of said thirty-ninth 

degree of west longitude, until it intersects the northern boundary 

line of the Territory of New Mexico; thence due west to the dividing 

ridge separating the waters of Carson Valley from those that flow 

into the Pacific; thence on said ridge northwardly to the forty-first 

degree of north latitude; thence due north to the southern boundary 

of the State of Oregon; thence due east to the place of beginning.

The limits thus described included a small area to 

be taken from the State of California. It was therefore

Provided, That so much of the Territory within the present limits 

of the State of California shall not be included within this Territory 

until the State of California shall assent to the same.

California having failed to cede the territory west of 

the 120th meridian, 05 Congress by act of July 14, 1862 

(12 Stat. L. 575), added to Nevada a strip of land more 

than 50 miles wide, west of the 38th meridian from 

Washington and extending from the north line of New 

Mexico to the 42d parallel of latitude. The boundaries 

as described in the enabling act of March 21, 1864 

(13 Stat. L. 30), were as follows:

That the said state of Nevada shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at a 

point formed by the intersection of the thirty-eighth degree of longitude west from Washingon with the thirty-seventh degree of north 

latitude; thence due west along said thirty-seventh degree -of north 

latitude to the eastern boundary line of the state of California; thence 

in a northwesterly direction along the said eastern boundary line 

of the state of California to the forty-third degree of longitude west 

from Washington; thence north along said forty-third degree of west 

longitude and said eastern boundary line of the state of California 

to the forty-second degree of north latitude; thence due east along 

the said forty-second degree of north latitude to a point formed by 

its intersection with the aforesaid thirty-eighth degree of longitude 

west from Washington; thence due south down said thirty-eighth 

degree of west longitude to the place of beginning.

Nevada became a State by presidential proclamation dated October 31, 1864.

An act approved May 5, 1866, further enlarged the 

area of Nevada by the addition of territory taken from 

Utah and Arizona, described as follows (14 Stat. L. 43):

That, as provided for and consented to in the constitution of the 

State of Nevada, all that territory and tract of land adjoining the 

present eastern boundary of the State of Nevada, and lying between 

the thirty-seventh and the forty-second degrees of north latitude and 

west of the thirty-seventh degree of longitude west of Washington, 

is hereby added to and made a part of the State of Nevada.

That there is hereby added to and made a part of the State of 

Nevada all that extent of territory lying within the following 

boundaries, to wit: Commencing on the thirty-seventh degree of north 

latitude at the thirty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington, and running thence south on said degree of longitude to the 

middle of the river Colorado of the West; thence down the middle 

of said river to the eastern boundary of the State of California; thence 

northwesterly along said boundary of California to the thirty-seventh 

degree of north latitude; and thence east along said degree of latitude 

to the point of beginning.

The present State of Nevada according to statute CG 

is now bounded on the east by the 37th meridian of 

longitude west of Washington, on the south by the 

middle of Colorado River to the 35th parallel, on the 

southwest by the California line, on the west by the 

120th meridian of longitude, and on the north by the 

42d parallel.

The north boundary of Nevada was surveyed in 

1873 from an initial point on the Utah-Nevada line, 

whose latitude had been carefully determined in 

1871, westward to a post set in 1868 for the northeast 

corner of California. The measured distance was 310 

miles 48 chains. The marks placed on the line were 

mounds of earth, wooden posts, or small stones. This 

line passed the meridian boundary between Idaho and 

Oregon at 152 miles 72 chains from the northeast corner 

of Nevada and 4 chains south of the terminal mark 

of the 1868 survey.

The boundary following the middle of the Colorado 

was further defined between Davis Dam and the California-Nevada line by a compact between Nevada and

M See California Senate lour, for 1861, p. 630, and for 1862, p. 525.

TM Enabling act of 1864 (13 Stat. L. 43) with additions of 1866 (14 Stat. 

L. 43).
Arizona that was approved by Congress June 16, 1961 

(75 Stat. 93). It involves 31 points, chosen in the middle 

of the river as it was located at that time. Bearings 

and distances are given between successive points, 

and from monumented points which are horizontal control stations of the National Geodetic Survey or corners 

of the Public Land Survey.

The east boundary of Nevada, which follows the 37th 

meridian west of Washington, was surveyed in 1870. 

The longitude for the initial point was found by direct 

measurement east from Pilot Peak, whose latitude and 

longitude had been determined by triangulation from 

the Salt Lake City astronomic station. The assumed 

longitude of Pilot Peak was 114°04'55.4" west from 

Greenwich; the latest determination (1939) by the U.S. 

Geological Survey is 114°04'35.56" (1927 N.A.D.). The 

initial point thus selected for the boundary was in the 

middle of the track of the Central Pacific Railroad (now 

the Southern Pacific). From this point the line was run 

northward a measured distance of 46 miles 40 chains 

to a position which sextant observations indicated was 

the 42d parallel of latitude. In 1871 a long series of 

observations made with a zenith telescope showed that 

the mark at this point was too far north; consequently

159

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES

UTAH

it was moved south 1 mile 12 chains in 1873.

From the initial point the line was then run south to 

the Colorado River. At a point 1.16 chains south of the 

railroad track a granite shaft 8 feet high, its top dressed 

to 1 foot square and suitably marked, was placed in a 

pile of rocks, and 298 miles 56 chains south of the railroad a mark was set for the southwest comer of Utah. 

This mark was later found to be too far north and in 

1901 was moved 1 mile 31.51 chains south. (See p. 

160.) The distance as then measured, from the initial 

point on the railroad to the Colorado River, was 356 

miles 23.76 chains. This part of the line as well as that 

north of the railroad was marked with wooden posts, 

single stones, or mounds of earth and stones.

The following positions on the boundary line between 

Utah and Nevada have been determined by the U.S. 

Coast and Geodetic Survey (Bowie, 1914, p. 105-107):

Mark

Do - - _

Do _ _ _ _

Latitude (N.)

41°20'32.38"

41°01'15.92"

40°56'06.87"

40°55'24.36"

40°00'' 18 42"

Longitude (W.)

114°02'22.87"

114°02'27.74"

114°02'29.23"

114°02'29.37"

114°02'43.96"

Mark

Do ______

Do _ - _ _

Latitude (N.)

39°58'57.40"

39°53'46.16"

39°09'45.06"

38°00'50.90"

38°00'47.09"

Longitude (W.)

114°02'45.59"

114"02'25.17"

114°02'52.31"

114°02'49.31"

114°02'58.41"

For a discussion of the California-Nevada boundary, 

see California, p. 151, 152.

UTAH

The Mormons settled in Utah in 1847. In 1849 they 

organized a territorial government which they called 

Deseret, but a delegate sent to Congress was not recognized by that body.

Utah was established as a Territory by act of September 9, 1850, and included part of the area acquired 

from Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. (See 

fig. 45.) Its limits are given in the following extract from 

the act by which it was created (9 Stat. L. 453):

All that part of the territory of the United States included within 

the following limits, to wit: bounded on the west by the State of 

California, on the north by the Territory of Oregon, and on the 

east by the summit of the Rocky Mountains, and on the south by 

the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude, be, and the same is 

hereby, created into a temporary government, by the name of the 

Territory of Utah.

This area was reduced by the formation in 1861, of 

the Territories of Nevada (see p. 158) and Colorado

(see p. 141) and in 1862 and 1866 by the extensions 

eastward of the limits of the State of Nevada.

The present boundaries of Utah are by statute as 

follows: Commencing with the intersection of the 42d 

parallel of latitude with the 34th meridian of longitude 

west from Washington; running thence south on this 

meridian to the 41st parallel of latitude; thence east 'on 

this parallel to the 32d meridian of longitude; thence 

south on this meridian to its intersection with the 37th 

parallel of latitude; thence west upon this parallel of 

latitude to its intersection with the 37th meridian of 

longitude; thence north on this meridian to its intersection with the 42d parallel of latitude; thence east on 

the 42d parallel of latitude to the place of beginning.

The enabling act for Utah (28 Stat. L. 107), approved 

July 16, 1894, fixed its boundaries "as at present described." The admission to statehood was declared in 

effect by the President's proclamation of January 4, 

1896.

The Utah-Idaho line was surveyed and marked in 

1871 under the direction of the General Land Office. 

The initial point was fixed by reference to an astron-
160

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL. STATES

omical station near the Bear River. The position for the 

terminal mark was determined by a long series of 

observations for latitude with a zenith telescope. The 

initial mark was a wooden post Qi/2 feet by 12 inches 

by 7 inches, marked "34° WL" on" the east, "UTAH" 

on the southwest, "IDAHO" on the north west, and "42 

L 1871" on the north, which was surrounded by a large 

pile of stones. From this point a line was run due west 

a measured distance of 153 miles 56 chains to a point 

where an 8-foot cedar post was set in a mound of 

rocks and suitably marked for the common corners of 

Nevada and Utah on the Idaho line. A mark set in 

1870 for these corners was destroyed, the new mark 

being placed 1 mile 12 chains farther south.

The Utah-Arizona boundary, on the 37th parallel of 

latitude, was surveyed and marked in 1901. The mark 

set in 1870 for the southwest corner of Utah was destroyed, because observations for latitude showed that 

it was 1 mile 31.51 chains too far north. A new corner 

mark was established 7.88 chains south of the 300th 

mile mark of the Nevada boundary survey of 1870. 

This mark consisted of a sandstone post 6 feet by 16 

inches by 12 inches, set in a pile of stones and marked 

"NEVADA" on the northwest, "UTAH" on the northeast, "ARIZONA" on the southeast, and "37 N L 1901" 

on the southwest. The line was run thence due east, 

checked by five latitude stations,07 a measured distance 

of 277 miles 5.18 chains; the line intersected the post 

at the southwest corner of Colorado, set in 1875. The

mark for each mile of this line is a stone post or iron 

pipe. Between the 152d and 153d mile marks, the line 

passes over a sandstone butte, the summit of which 

rises about 1,000 feet above the plain. (See fig. 46.) 

Surveys by the General Land Office in 1927 show that 

there is a break in this line near long 110°30' W. (T. 43 

S., R. 13 E., Salt Lake base and meridian), milepost 197 

being 33 chains (2,178 feet) farther north than milepost 

199. 68

For reference to the survey of the west boundary of 

Utah, see Nevada, page 159; and for reference to the 

east boundary, see Colorado, page 143. For the boundary with Wyoming, see page 145. All these lines were 

run under the direction of the General Land Office.

NEW MEXICO

The original area of New Mexico was taken in part 

from the region transferred by Mexico to the United 

States by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo and in part 

from the territory ceded by Texas. (See p. 28, 122; figs. 

29, 47.) The act of Congress of September 9, 1850, fixing the northern boundary of the State of Texas west 

of the 103d meridian and providing for the payment of 

$10 million to that State for land to be ceded to the 

United States, provided also for the creation of the 

Territory of New Mexico, when the transaction with 

Texas was completed. The formation of this Territory 

was announced by presidential proclamation of December 13, 1850.

The boundaries fixed in the act of 1850 were thus 

described (9 Stat. L. 447):

That all that portion of the territory of the United States bounded 

as follows: Beginning at a point in the Colorado River, where the 

boundary line with the Republic .of Mexico crosses the same; thence 

eastwardly with the said boundary line to the Rio Grande; thence 

following the main channel of said river to the parallel of the thirty01 For descriptions of these stations, see Beall (1925, p. 259).

08 For further reading on the settlement oi Utah and its boundaries, 

see Brightman (1940, p. 87-95).

200 KILOMETRES FIGURE 45.—Historical diagram of Utah.
second degree of north latitude; thence east with said degree to its 

intersection with the one hundred and third degree of longitude 

west of Greenwich; thence north with said degree of longitude to 

the parallel of thirty-eighth degree of north latitude; thence west 

with said parallel to the summit of the Sierra Madre; thence south 

with the crest of said mountains to the thirty-seventh parallel of 

north latitude; thence west with said parallel to its intersection 

with the boundary line of the State of California; thence with said 

boundary line to the place of beginning be, and the same is hereby, 

erected into a temporary government by the name of the Territory 

of New Mexico.

There has been considerable uncertainty as to what 

mountain range was intended for the west boundary of 

New Mexico and the east boundary of Utah between 

lat 37° and 38° N. as fixed by the acts of 1850'. The 

name Sierra Madre used in the New Mexico act is one 

given to many widely separated mountain groups. 

Emory (1857b, p. 40) refers to Sierra Madre as a general 

name for the mountains along the Continental Divide. 

On some old maps the name is given to the nearest 

mountains east of the Rio Grande between 37° and 

38°. This group is now officially designated as a part

161

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NEW MEXICO

of the Rocky Mountain system. On other old maps the 

mountains west of the Rio Grande between 37° and 

38° are called Sierra Madre. These are now known 

as the San Juan Mountains and are a part of the Continental Divide.

On the Melish map of 1818 the Mexican State of New 

Mexico is shown as extending north to lat 38° N. and 

including the Rio Grande basin. The Carey and Lea 

map of 1822 gives the boundaries of New Mexico between lat 32° and 38° N. as irregular lines including 

the Rio Grande basin. The Tanner map of 1846 of the 

United States of Mexico shows the western line of New 

Mexico as extending to about long 107° 30' W. between 

lat 37° and 38° N. and including the drainage tributary

:_i:-

FIGURE 46. Butte on the Utah-Arizona State line.
162

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

to the Rio Grande. The Disturnell map of 1847, referred 

to in the treaty of 1848 with Mexico, shows New Mexico 

as extending north to lat 40° N. and west to long 

109° W., including the Rio Grande basin. A map of 

New Mexico compiled by 2d Lt. John C. Parke, published in 1851, shows the "Rocky Mountain Range" 

(referred to in the Utah act of 1850) between 37° and 

38° as east of the Rio Grande. An undated map by 

"E. Gilman, draftsman," printed at "P. S. Duval's Steam 

Lith. Press, Phila.," probably published between 1849 

and 1853, shows the boundary of New Mexico between 

37° and 38° at about long 108° W. and names the 

mountains Sierra Madre.

On an official map published by the War Department in 1859 entitled "Territory and Military Department of New Mexico, compiled in the Bureau of Top'1 

Engrs.," the New Mexico boundary between 37° and 

38° is plainly indicated as following the Continental 

Divide, west of the Rio Grande. On most other maps 

published between 1850 and 1960, the location of the 

New Mexico boundary is not indicated.

In fixing the summit of the Rocky Mountains as the 

eastern boundary of the Territory of Utah in the act of 

1850, the lawmakers probably assumed that the main 

range of the Rocky Mountains followed the Continental 

Divide through what was then an unexplored area.

The Rio Grande is a stream of great importance to

New Mexico, and the only apparent reason for assigning to the Territory of New Mexico land north of lat 

37° N. was to give it control of the Rio Grande basin. 

The Republic of Texas claimed an area as far west as 

the Rio Grande and from its source to the 42d parallel. 

The area north of the 32d parallel and west of the 103d 

meridian was sold by Texas to the United States in 

1850, and it would seem logical to give the Rio Grande 

basin, which is all south of the 38th parallel, to New 

Mexico. (See fig. 47.)

Mr. L. R. Hafen, historian, department of history, 

Colorado State Historical and Natural History Society, 

in a letter of December 1, 1924, published in Colorado 

magazine in May 1926, wrote as follows:

The San Luis Valley (through which the Rio Grande flows) was 

actually administered as a part of New Mexico from 1850 to 1861. 

The governor and superintendent of Indian affairs reports on this 

area. In his report of September 1, 1854, Governor Merriwether 

says that the Utahs of New Mexico inhabit "all the northern tributaries of the Rio Grande which lie in New Mexico and north of the 

37th parallel of latitude" (33d Cong., 2d sess., H. Ex. Doc. 1, Report 

of Commissioner of Indian Affairs to Secretary of the Interior). In 

1860 the superintendent in New Mexico reports that Agent Head has 

been placed in charge of the Tabahuaches band of Utahs and his 

agency located on the Conejos (west of the Rio Grande and north 

of 37°).

Fort Massachusetts, established in 1852 in the San Luis Valley, was 

under the jurisdiction of the Department of New Mexico. When 

Gunnison and Beckwith went through there in 1853 they spoke of 

the fort as being in New Mexico. G. H. Heap, accompanying Beale's 

expedition of the same year, speaks of the territory about Fort Massachusetts as the most fertile portion of New Mexico.

During the fifties a number of towns were founded in the San 

Luis Valley and were governed as parts of Taos County.

The national census of 1860 lists the towns of Costilla, Conejos, 

and others in San Luis Valley as parts of Taos County, N. Mex.

C O L 0 R A D

200 KILOMETRES

FIGURE 47.—Historical diagram of New 

Mexico.
This territory was enlarged on August 4, 1854, by the 

addition of the Gadsden Purchase (10 Stat. L. 575) and 

was reduced by the formation of Colorado Territory in 

1861 (p. 141) and Arizona Territory in 1863 (p. 165). 

The boundaries as thus changed are the same as those 

of present-day New Mexico and are described as follows: Beginning at the point of intersection of the 103d 

meridian of longitude west of Greenwich with the 37th 

parallel of latitude; running thence south to its point of 

intersection with the 32d parallel of latitude; thence 

west on this parallel to its intersection with the Rio 

Grande; thence southerly down thei main channel of 

the Rio Grande as it was September 9, 1850, to its point 

of intersection with the boundary line between the 

United States and Mexico; thence with this boundary 

to its intersection with the 32d meridian of longitude 

west from Washington; thence north along this meridian to the 37th parallel of latitude, and east along that 

parallel to the place of beginning.

The enabling act for the admission of New Mexico to 

the Union, dated June 16, 1906, included also provisions 

for the admission of Oklahoma and Arizona, the 

boundaries of each to be "as at present described." (34 

Stat. L., pt. 1, 267.) Further provisions for the admission 

of New Mexico were made by the act of June 20, 1910 

(36 Stat. L, pt. 1, 557), and by the joint resolution of 

August 21, 1911 (37 Stat. L., pt. 1, 39), which required 

the acceptance of the Texas-New Mexico boundary line 

as described in the joint resolution of February 16, 1911 

(p. 124). The proclamation by the President declaring 

New Mexico's admission to statehood in effect was 

dated January 6, 1912.

In 1874, John G. Major began his survey of the east 

boundary of New Mexico at the Johnson monument for 

the 103d meridian (see Colorado, p. 141), 57 miles 4.50 

chains west of the southeast corner of Colorado and 

142.00 chains west of the Macomb monument already 

referred to. Major then surveyed his line for the east 

boundary of New Mexico south 34 miles and 40 chains 

to a point which he designated the northwest corner of 

Texas. However, he did not find the true northwest 

corner of Texas established by John H. Clark. Subsequent retracements show that Major's line is 2 miles 

13.50 chains west of the northwest corner of Texas 

established by Clark and 4 miles 28.50 chains west of 

the Chaney and Smith position for the Cimarron meridian in long 103° W.

For reference to the New Mexico-Oklahoma line, see 

page 140; the New Mexico-Texas line, page 124; and 

the New Mexico-Colorado line, page 142.

From the south end of the Oklahoma-New Mexico 

boundary line, there is a jog in the New Mexico east 

line of about 2.1 miles westward along the Texas north 

line to long 103°02'28.27" W. (1927 N.A.D.).

163

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

NEW MEXICO

The line between New Mexico and Arizona was surveyed in 1875 under the direction of the General Land 

Office by C. Bobbins on a meridian determined by reference to a peak named The Needles, located by the 

Wheeler Survey in 1874. Bobbins refers to this point as 

the "southwest needle point of Wilson's Peak" and 

gives its position as lat 36°41'40.3" N., long 

108°50'26.1" W.09 This peak is now known as Ship 

Rock. The summit was considered to be inaccessible 

until 1940, but many climbers have reached the top 

since that time (Baars, 1972, p. 212). (See fig. 48.) It is 

an intersected point in the triangulation of the U.S. 

Coast and Geodetic Survey. The line was run west 

and north to the intersection of the 32d meridian west 

of Washington with the south boundary of Colorado as 

marked by Darling in 1868 (see p. 141). Bobbins' point 

was 1 mile 45 chains east of the earlier mark established for the southwest corner of Colorado and became the accepted location of "the four corners" (see 

p. 142). The position was marked by a sandstone 

monument and was used later in running the boundary 

between Colorado and Utah and that between Utah 

and Arizona. Because it was not possible to make 

astronomic observations from the boundary corner, a 

28-inch cottonwood tree a few hundred feet away was 

cut down and the stump used as a pedestal for the 

theodolite. Observations were made for latitude, azimuth, and time. The geodetic position of the monument 

has since been determined as lat 36°59'56.30" N., long 

109°02'40.24" W. (1927 N.A.D.).

From the monument, the line was surveyed south, 

with marks at mile intervals (most of them small stones 

inscribed "ARIZ" on the west side and "N MEX" on the 

east), a measured distance of 390 miles 48.31 chains 

to an intersection with the United States and Mexico 

boundary line. This intersection was marked by the 

1891-96 Mexican boundary survey with monument 71, 

whose position is given as lat 31°19'56.35" N., long 

109°02/ 56.82" W. (approximate 1927 N.A.D.).

For a description of the south boundary, see pages 

29 and 124. (See fig. 49.)

Suit was instituted in the U.S. Supreme Court in the 

October term, 1920, by New Mexico against Texas to 

have the boundary between the two States, south of 

lat 32° N., fixed at the midchannel of the Rio Grande

00 The -position given in Tables of Geographic Positions, from data 

gathered by parties of the U.S. Geographical Surveys west of the 100th 

Meridian, is lat 36°41'28.0" N., long 108°50'18.1" W. (Macomb, 1885, p. 22).

«FIGURE 48.—Ship Rock, N. Mex., point of departure for 

Arizona-New Mexico boundary survey. (Photograph by Josef Muench, Santa Barbara, Calif.)

165

FIGURE 49.—Marks on the tablet at the 

southeast corner of New Mexico.

as it flowed in 1850, when New Mexico was made a 

Territory; the New Mexico claim was that prior to an 

avulsion which occurred in 1864, the river was in many 

places east of its present position. In the case before 

the Supreme Court, both States agreed to the boundary 

being the midchannel as it was in 1850, but each presented a different map to show its location. The Court 

appointed a special master who filed a report that the 

correct boundary was as claimed by Texas. The intersection of this line with the 32d parallel was stated to 

be 750 feet west of Clark monument 1, reestablished 

by commissioners in 1911. (275 U.S. 279; 276 U.S. 559.) 

A commissioner was designated on April 9, 1928, to 

survey and mark the boundary, and his report (283 

U.S. 788) was confirmed by the Court on March 23, 

1931. There are now 105 concrete monuments on the 

line.

ARIZONA

Arizona was organized as a Territory by act of 

February 24, 1863, from the western part of the Territory of New Mexico (fig. 47) with boundaries described 

as follows (12 Stat. L 665):

That all that part of the present Territory of New Mexico situate 

west of a line running due south from the point where the southwest corner of the Territory of Colorado joins the northern boundary 

of the Territory of New Mexico to the southern boundary line of 

said Territory of New Mexico be, and the same is hereby, erected 

into a temporary government by the name of the Territory of Arizona.

In 1866 an area of approximately 11,600 square miles 

north of the middle of the Colorado River and west of 

the 37th meridian west from Washington was added to 

Nevada (14 Stat. L. 43).

BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES 

ALASKA

The admission of Arizona to the Union was provided 

for in acts of June 16, 1906 (34 Stat. L., pt. 1, p. 267), 

and June 20, 1910 (36 Stat. L., pt. 1, p. 570), and in a 

joint resolution approved August 21, 1911 (37 Stat. L., 

pt. 1, p. 39). It was declared in effect by proclamation 

dated February 14, 1912.

The present boundaries of Arizona are described as 

follows: Beginning at the point of intersection of the 

37th parallel of latitude with the 32d meridian of longitude west from Washington; thence south along this 

meridian to its intersection with the boundary line 

between the United States and Mexico; thence with this 

boundary to the Colorado River; thence up the middle 

of the main channel of the Colorado River to its point 

of intersection with the 37th meridian of longitude; 

north on this meridian to its intersection with the 37th 

parallel; and eastward along the 37th parallel to the 

place of beginning.

For reference to surveys of the boundaries, see pages 

29, 160, and 163.

The part of the boundary that lies in the Colorado 

River downstream from the mouth of the Gila River is 

also the international boundary with Mexico. (See the 

Gadsden Purchase, p. 29.) The treaty between the 

United States and Mexico signed November 23, 1970 

(TIAS 7313), has as one of its purposes to "Minimize 

the changes in the channels of these rivers [the Rio 

Grande and Colorado] and should these changes 

occur, attempt to resolve the problems arising therefrom promptly and equitably."

ALASKA

In 1946, at the general election, Alaskans voted in 

favor of statehood. In subsequent sessions of Congress, 

bills were introduced to admit Alaska to statehood. At 

a State election in 1955, delegates were chosen to meet 

and draft a constitution. This proposed constitution was 

approved by the voters in April 1956. An enabling act 

was passed by Congress and signed by the President 

on July 7, 1958 (72 Stat. 339). The Presidential proclamation admitting Alaska as the 49th State was issued 

on January 3, 1959.

The statehood act defines the boundaries of the State 

simply in these words:

The State of Alaska shall consist of all the territory, together with 

the territorial waters appurtenant thereto, now included in the Territory of Alaska.
166

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL. STATES

For a discussion of the boundaries of the Territory 

and their legal definition, see pages 29-33.

The question arose as to whether the waters of Cook 

Inlet were part of the territorial sea. Legal action 

brought a decision by the District Court (352 FS 850) 

which was confirmed by the Court of Appeals (497 F2 

155) to the effect that Cook Inlet is a historic bay and 

as such is territorial waters. Its seaward boundary is 

defined as extending from Cape Douglas to Point Gore 

and including the Barren Islands. The decision is 

awaiting review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The great size of Alaska and the difficulty of access 

to much of the terrain made the survey of the public 

lands on the rectangular system too costly. Such surveys on the ground were not needed over most of the 

area. It was desirable to be able to describe a parcel 

of land with reference to principal meridians and base 

lines as had been done in the conterminous 48 States. 

Additional initial points were selected and townships 

and ranges were referenced to them. (See. fig. 16.) 

This system is called protractions. The coordinate: 

values of any subdivision boundary are determined by 

computation according to the methods approved by the 

Bureau of Land Management.

It has been the policy of the Federal Government to 

give one or more sections of each township of the public lands to the States for their disposal and revenue. 

In the case of Alaska, more than 100 million acres is 

being conveyed to State ownership to meet its needs 

for revenue. The areas conveyed are referred to as 

"State Selections" and are generally in large blocks 

and conform to the rectangular system. Survey of the

exterior boundaries of these blocks is the responsibility 

of the Bureau of Land Management.

The constitution provides for minor civil divisions 

called boroughs. Eleven boroughs have been established (1975) around major centers of population. By 

far the greater part of the State is not included in any 

borough.

The census of 1960 gave the population of Alaska as 

226,167. This figure includes 43,081 Indians and Eskimos, who are U.S. citizens.

HAWAII

Statehood bills for Hawaii were introduced in Congress beginning in 1922. For various reasons, Congress 

was reluctant to make Hawaii a State, one being the 

fact that it is not contiguous to the continental United 

States. After the admission of Alaska, the objections 

seemed to carry less weight. A constitution had been 

drafted in 1950 and approved that year and again in 

1959. The statehood act was passed by the U.S. Senate 

on March 11, 1959, passed by the House on the following day, and signed by the President on March 18, 

1959 (73 Stat. 4). The Presidential proclamation admitting Hawaii as the 50th State was signed on August 

21, 1959.

the statehood act defines the State as including the 

following:

All the islands, together with their appurtenant reefs and territorial waters, included in the Territory of Hawaii on the date of the 

enactment' of this act, except Palmyra Island, Midway, Johnston, and 

Sand Islands, and Kingman Reef.

For a list of the islands included in the former Territory, see pages 33 and 34.

The population of Hawaii according to the 1960 census was 632,772. It is interesting to note that of this 

number, 203,455 are classed as Japanese, 114,405 as 

Hawaiian, 69,070 as Filipino, and 38,197 as Chinese. 

Ail these groups have U.S. citizenship.
GENERAL STATISTICS RELATING TO 

THE UNITED STATES

ORGANIZATION OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

The name "united States of America" was used in 

the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, and the 

use of the name "United States" for all State papers 

was ordered by the Continental Congress on September 9, 1776. The first of the "Articles of Confederation 

and perpetual Union * * *" of 1777, is "The stile of this 

Confederacy shall be The United States of America."

The Articles of Confederation were agreed to by 

delegates from the Thirteen Original Colonies on November 15, 1777. The defects in the form of government 

thereby instituted were so many that steps were soon 

taken to change it. A convention called in 1787 to draft 

a constitution for the United States completed its labors 

on September 17 of the same year. The Constitution of 

the United States of America was ratified and the 

Thirteen Original States became members of the Union 

on various dates between 1787 and 1790 (table 4).

Table 4.—Date and order of admission of the 50 States into the Union

167

1. Delaware ___Dec. 7, 1787

2. Pennsylvania _Dec. 12, 1787

3. New Jersey __Dec. 18, 1787

4. Georgia ____Jan. 2, 1788

5. Connecticut __Jan. 9, 1788

6. Massachusetts _Feb. 6, 1788

7. Maryland __Apr. 28, 1788

8. South Carolina _May 23, 1788

9. New

Hampshire __June 21, 1788

10. Virginia ____June 26, 1788

11. New York __July 26, 1788

12. North Carolina -Nov. 21, 1789

13. Rhode Island -May 29, 1790

14. Vermont ___Mar. 4, 1791

15. Kentucky ___June 1, 1792

16. Tennessee __June 1, 1796

17. Ohio _____Feb. 19, 1803

18. Louisiana ___Apr. 30', 1812

19. Indiana ____Dec. 11,1816

20. Mississippi __Dec. 10, 1817

21. Illinois ____Dec. 3, 1818

22. Alabama ___Dec. 14, 1819

23. Maine _____Mar. 15, 1820

24. Missouri ___Aug. 10, 1821

25. Arkansas ___June 15, 1836

26. Michigan ___Jan. 26, 1837

27. Florida _____Mar. 3, 1845

28. Texas _____Dec. 29, 1845

29. Iowa _____Dec. 28, 1846

30. Wisconsin __May 29, 1848

31. California ___Sept. 9 1850

32. Minnesota __May 11, 1858

33. Oregon ____Feb. 14, 1859

34. Kansas _____Jan. 29, 1861

35. West Virginia -June 19, 1863

36. Nevada ____Oct. 31, 1864

37. Nebraska ___Mar. 1, 1867

38. Colorado ___Aug. 1, 1876

39. North Dakota —Nov. 2, 1889

40. South Dakota __Nov. 2, 1889

41. Montana ____Nov. 8, 1889

42. Washington __Nov. 11,1889

43. Idaho ______July 3, 1890'

44. Wyoming __July 10, 1890

45. Utah ______Jan. 4, 1896

46. Oklahoma ___Nov. 16, 1907

47. New Mexico —Jan. 6, 1912

48. Arizona ____Feb. 14, 1912

49. Alaska _____Jan, 3, 1959

50. Hawaii _____Aug. 21, 1959

GENERAL STATISTICS RELATING TO 

THE UNITED STATES

States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and 

white; that the union be twenty stars [there were then 

20 States], white in a blue field," and that "on the 

admission of every new State into the Union, one star 

be added to the union of the flag" on the 4th of July 

following.

EARLY SESSIONS OF CONGRESS

The place and time of the early sessions of Congress 

are indicated below.

Continental Congress and Congress of the Confederation

Philadelphia _____________ Sept. 5, 1774, to Oct. 26, 1774.

Do ________________ May 10, 1775, to Dec. 12, 1776.

Baltimore _______________ Dec. 20, 1776, to Mar. 4, 1777.

Philadelphia _____________ Mar. 5, 1777, to Sept. 18, 1777.

Lancaster, Pa ____________ Sept. 27, 1777 (1 day only).

York, Pa _______________ Sept. 30, 1777, to June 27, 1778.

Philadelphia _____________ July 2, 1778, to June 21, 1783.

Princeton, N.J ___________ June 30, 1783, to Nov. 4, 1783.

Annapolis, Md __________ Nov. 26, 1783, to June 3, 1784.

Trenton, N.J ____________ Nov. 1, 1784, to Dec. 24, 1784.

New York City __________ Jan. 11, 1785, to Nov. 4, 1785.

Do ________________ Nov. 7, 1785, to Nov. 3, 1786.

Do ______________ Nov. 6, 1786, to Oct. 30, 1787.

Do _______________ Nov. 5, 1787, to Oct. 21, 1788.

Do _______________ Nov. 3, 1788, to Mar. 2, 1789.

U.S. Congress

New York City __________ Mar. 4, 1789, to Sept. 29, 1789. 

Do ________________ Jan. 4, 1790, to Aug. 12, 17901 .

Philadelphia was the meeting place for subsequent 

sessions from December 6, 1790, until November, 1800, 

when the seat of Government was moved to Washington. 71

AREAS OF THE STATES AND OVERSEAS 

TERRITORY

The following information relating to the area of the 

United States and its overseas territory has been assembled in tabular form for convenient reference. The 

areas are approximate only. Exact outlines of drainage

THE U.S. FLAG

71 1 Stat. L. 130. See "A Biographical Congressional Directory," U.S. 

61st Cong., 2d sess., S. Doc. 654, p. 25, 1913, and 69th Cong., 2d sess., 

H. Doc. 783, p. 31, 1928, for places and dates of meetings of the Con- 

_, iK.ijimnrrii tinental Congress. See annual Congressional Directory for dates and Congress, by act approved April 4, 1818, effective meetings of the u.s. Congress,- also u.s. 69th Cong., 1st sess., H. DOC. 

July 4, 1818, 80 ordered that "the flag of the United 398, P . 1062, 1927. u.s. 56th Cong., 2d sess., H. DOC. 552, 1901, gives

__________ illustrations of the eight buildings in which sessions of Congress were

'»3 Stat. L. 415. See also 1 Stat. L. 341 and Preble (1917). held.
168

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

basins of large rivers that form boundaries are in many 

places not well established even on the best maps.

Original area of the United States and areas of continental changes 

(except Alaska and Canal Zone)

Square miles

The territory of the United States, as recognized by Great 

Britain in 1783: The area limited by the present accepted northern boundary from eastern Maine to a 

point near the north-westernmost angle of the Lake of 

the Woods, thence by a direct line to the source of 

the Mississippi River, down that river to the 31st 

parallel of latitude, thence eastward along that parallel 

and the north line of Florida to the Atlantic Ocean (excluding the water surfaces of the Great Lakes, except 

Lake Michigan, and the Atlantic Ocean) _______ 1 869,735 

The parts of the Great Lakes on the international boundary which are under the jurisdiction of the United 

States _____________________________ 38,550 

A 3-mile strip along the Atlantic coast ___________ 5,000 

Louisiana Purchase, 1803: The part of the drainage basin 

of the Mississippi River west of that river, including 

the basin of the Missouri River and the area south of 

the 31st parallel between the Mississippi and Perdido 

Rivers:

South of the 49th parallel ________________ 2 909,130 

North of the 49th parallel _______________ 250 

Red River Basin and Lake of the Woods drainage: South 

of the 49th parallel, west of the head of the Mississippi 

River ________________________________ 48,080 

By treaty with Spain in 1819 the United States acquired 

East and West Florida, an area of 58,666 square miles,

Square miles

and areas west of the Mississippi River (principally in 

Louisiana) amounting to 22,834 square miles, but relinquished to Spain 97,150 square miles (of the Louisiana Purchase), or a net loss of ___________ 15,650

Texas, annexed in 1845 (including 95,650 sq mi of the

area relinquished to Spain in 1819) ___________ 388,687

Oregon Territory, title established in 1846 _________ 3 286,541

Mexican cession, 1848 (included 775 sq mi relinquished

to Spain in 1819) _______________________ "529,189

Gadsden Purchase, 1853 ____________________ 329,670

1 This value was obtained by adding the accepted areas of the 24 

States and the District of Columbia (723.947 sq mi) which lie wholly 

within the 1783 treaty limits, including the parts of Alabama (49,359 sq 

mi) and Mississippi (44,079 sq mi) north of lat 31° N. and the part oi Minnesota (29,950 sq mi) east of the Mississippi and Lake of the Woods 

lines. The Lake Michigan area (22,400 sq mi) was also included, as it is 

within the original cession.

a If it is assumed that the United States had no valid claim to the area 

south of lat 31° N. and between the Perdido and Mississippi Rivers, then 

this value should be reduced by an area of 13,433 sq mi and that amount 

added to the area of the Florida Purchase. Of the 13,433 sq mi, 2,639 sq 

mi is now a part of Alabama, 2,786 a part of Mississippi and 8,008 a 

part of Louisiana.

3 Areas from Bond, (1912, p. 13). chief clerk, General Land Office).

Table 5, showing land and water areas, is taken 

from the "Statistical Abstract of the United States," 

1962, published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The 

water areas include only "inland water" as defined 

below, and exclude those parts of the Great Lakes and 

certain other bodies of water under the jurisdiction of 

the United States.

The average or mean area of the 50 States is 72,303 

square miles.

Table 6 (p. 170) includes the areas of overseas territory of the United States. These figures also were taken 

from the "Statistical Abstract" of the U.S. Bureau of 

the Census.

Table 5.—Land and water area of the United Stales, by States

State(s)

Middle Atlantic

East North Central

Ohio

Illinois

Area,

Total

3,615,211

66,600

_ _ 33,218

9,281

9,613

8,267

1,209

5,012

102,207

49,108

7,790

45,309

248,662

41,315

36,180

56,337

in square miles

Land 1

3,548,974

63,118

31,015

8,991

9,280

7,877

1,053

4,902

99,929

47,471

7,475

44,983

245,190

41,065

36,074

55,867

Inland 

water "

66,237

3,482

2,203

290

333

390

156

110

2,278

1,637

315

326

3,472

250

106

470'
GENERAL STATISTICS RELATING TO 

THE UNITED STATES 169

Table 5.—Land and water area of the United States, by States—Continued

State(s)

Michigan -_________

Wisconsin _________

West North Central _____

Minnesota - ——— —— 

Iowa _ ——————— — 

Missouri ——————- 

North Dakota ______

South Dakota ______

Nebraska - —————— - 

Kansas _— ——— —

South Atlantic ______

Delaware __________

Maryland __________

District of Columbia 

Virginia — — —— _ 

West Virginia ___ 

North Carolina ___ 

South Carolina ——_. 

Georgia ——— — ____

Florida ____ —— — — _

East South Central _____.

Kentucky _ — — —— — 

Tennessee —————__ 

Alabama ————— — - 

Mississippi ________

West South Central ____

Arkansas __________

Louisiana _— —— ____

Oklahoma ——_____

Texas _—_ —— — _

Mountain ______________

Montana —— — _____

Idaho __— ———_- 

Wyoming _________

Colorado — — —— ___ 

New Mexico —— — _ 

Arizona ————— —— 

Utah ______________

Nevada — ——— — —

Pacific _______ —————

Washington ——___. 

Oregon — ———— - 

California —— — — —

Alaska ________- 

Hawaii ____________

Area, in square miles

Total

58,692

56,138

517,822

84,403

56,278

69,714

70,704

77,112

77,331

82,280

278,526

2,043

10,444

69

40,595

24,229

52,666

31,104

58,914

58,462

181,8

40,411

42,121

51,682

47,684

437,641

53,214

47,711

69,956

266,760

863,567

147,033

83,579

97,814

104,111

121,595

113,991

84,880

110,564

920,281

68,078

97,074

158,616

590,066

6,447

Land J

57,495

54,689

510,249

80,344

56,020

69,166

69,496

76,443

76,716

82,064

267,319

1,964

9,741

61

39,618

24,127

49,021

30,321

58,312

54,154

179,842

39,879

41,639

51,133

47,191

428,088

52,609

44,294

68,924

262,261

856,631

145,631

82,730

97,311

103,748

121,439

113,657

82,303

109,812

900,601

66,595

96,341

156,496

574,731

6,438

Inland 

water a

1,197

1,449

7,573

4,059

258

548

1,206

669

615

216

11,207

79

703

8

977

102

3,645

783

602

4,308

2,056

532

482

549

493

9,553

605

3,417

1,032

4,499

6,936

1,402

849

503

363

156

334

2,577

752

19,680

1,483

733

2,120

15,335

1 Dry land and land temporarily or partially covered by water, such 

as marshland, swamps, and river flood plains; streams, sloughs, estuaries, 

and ponds less than 40 acres in area.

2 Permanent inland water surface, such as lakes, reservoirs, and ponds 

having 40 acres or more of area; streams, sloughs, estuaries, and canals 

more than one-eighth of a statute mile in width; deeply indented embayments and sounds, and other coastal waters behind or sheltered by 

headlands or islands separated by less than 1 nautical mile of water; and 

islands of less than 40 acres of area. Does not include water surface of 

the oceans, bays, the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, Long Island 

Sound, Puget Sound, and the Straits of San Juan de Fuca and Georgia, 

lying within the jurisdiction of the United States.
170

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Table 6.—Area of the United States

Area,in square miles

Region

Total Land Inland 

water

The 50 States and the District of

Columbia _____________ 3,617,204 3,550,967 66,237 

Conterminous United States __ 3,020,691 2,969,798 50,893 

Overseas territory:

Puerto Rico ___________ 3,497 3,483 14

Virgin Islands of the United

States 133

212

76

647

132

onq

76

372

1

Q

0

275

GEOGRAPHIC CENTERS OF THE

CONTINENTAL. UNITED STATES AND THE

SEVERAL STATES'"

There being no generally accepted definition of 

"geographic center" and no completely satisfactory 

method for determining it, a State or country may have 

as many geographic centers as there are definitions of 

the term. The geographic center of an area may be 

defined as the center of gravity of the surface, or that

73 Other information on geographic centers is contained in Adams (1932, 

p. 586-587) and Culley (1949, p. 98-99).

point on which the surface of the area would balance 

if it were a plane of uniform thickness.

No marked or monumented point has been established by any Government agency as the geographic 

center of either the 50 States, the conterminous United 

States, or the North American Continent. However, a 

monument was erected in Lebanon, Kansas, by a 

group of citizens who hired engineers to determine the 

position of the geographic center of the United States.

Meades Ranch triangulation station, about 12 miles 

north of Lucas, Kansas, is sometimes confused with the 

geographic center of the United States. This triangulation station is the reference point for all property lines 

and city, county, State, and international boundaries 

on the North American Continent that are tied to the 

national triangulation networks of the United States, 

Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Its location is 

lat 39°12'26.686" N., long 98°32'30.506" W. This triangulation station is the base point or origin of geodetic positions and directions in the triangulation net 

of the United States because it is at the junction of the 

main east-west transcontinental triangulation arc 

stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast and 

the main north-south arc, which follows approximately 

the 98th meridian from the Canadian border to the Rio 

Grande. (See page 6.)

Because many factors, such as the curvature of the 

Earth, large bodies of water, and irregular surfaces, 

affect the determination of geographic centers, the 

locality of, the centers (table 7) should be considered 

as approximations only.

The geographic center of the conterminous United 

States (48 States) is near Lebanon, Smith County, Kansas. Its latitude is 39°50' N. and its longitude is 98°35' 

W. (Deetz, 1918, p. 57.)

Table 7.—Geographic centers of the several States

State County Locality

Alabama 

Alaska _

Chilton

Arizona _-

Arkansas

California

Yavapai

Pulaski

Madera

12 miles southwest of Clanton.

63°50' N., 152°00' W., 60 miles northwest of

Mount McKinley.

55 miles east-southeast of Prescott. 

12 miles northwest of Little Rock. 

38 miles east of Madera.

Colorado ________ Park ___________ 30 miles northwest of Pikes Peak.

Connecticut ______ Hartford _________ At East Berlin.

Delaware _______ Kent ___________ 11 miles south of Dover.

District of Columbia ___ _____________ Near Fourth and L Streets NW.

Florida __________ Hernando _________ 12 miles north-northwest of Brookville.

Georgia _________ Twiggs ________ 18 miles southwest of Macon.

Hawaii __________ Hawaii __________ 20° 15' N., 156°20' W., off Maui Island.

Idaho ___________ Custer ___________ At Custer, southwest of Challis.

Illinois ________ Logan ___________ 28 miles northeast of Springfield.

Indiana ___________ Boone ________...._ 14 miles north-northwest of Indianapolis.
GENERAL STATISTICS RELATING TO 1 rj -j

THE UNITED STATES

Table 7.—Geographic centers of the several States—Continued

State County Locality

Iowa ___——————__ Story ____————— 5 miles northeast of Ames.

Kansas _—______ Barton ________ 15 miles northeast of Great Bend.

Kentucky ——————__ Marion ——— — — —— _ 3 miles north-northwest of Lebanon.

Louisiana _————___ Avoyelles (parish) __. 3 miles southeast of Marksville.

Maine __——______ Piscataquis ______- 18 miles north of Dover.

Maryland ______ Prince Georges ___- 4% miles northwest of Davidsonville.

Massachusetts _____ Worcester __——— North part of city of Worcester.

Michigan _________ Wexford ________ 5 miles north-northwest of Cadillac.

Minnesota ——————__ Crow Wing _ — __ —— _ 10 miles southwest of Brainerd.

Mississippi ________ Leake _____——___ 9 miles west-northwest of Carthage.

Missouri ________ Miller ____-___ 20 miles southwest of Jefferson City.

Montana _—_______ Fergus ____— —— _ 12 miles west of Lewistown.

Nebraska ___„________ Custer ______________ 10 miles northwest of Broken Bow.

Nevada ———————___ Lander _ — — — — — __ 26 miles southeast of Austin.

New Hampshire ___ Belknap _______ 3 miles east of Ashland.

New Jersey ______ Mercer _________ 5 miles southeast of Trenton.

New Mexico ————__ Torrance -___—— — __ 12 miles south-southwest of Willard.

New York _______ Madison _______ 6 miles south-southeast of Oneida.

North Carolina _____ Chatham ______ 10 miles northwest of Sanford.

North Dakota — — _^__ Sheridan ___ — — — _ 5 miles southwest of McClusky.

Ohio ________ Delaware _______ 25 miles north-northeast of Columbus.

Oklahoma ______ Oklahoma ______ 8 miles north of Oklahoma City.

Oregon _________ Crook ________ 25 miles south-southeast of Prineville.

Pennsylvania ———___ Centre _____——__ 2% miles southwest of Bellefonte.

Rhode Island _ — _____ Kent ______ —— __ 1 mile south-southwest of Crompton.

South Carolina _____ Richland ___ — —— _ 13 miles southeast of Columbia.

South Dakota _____ Hughes ___—___ 8 miles northeast of Pierre.

Tennessee ————____ Rutherford ___ — — — 5 miles northeast of Murfreesboro.

Texas __-_______ McCulloch _____ 15 miles northeast of Brady.

Utah —_ ————___ Sanpete —_ — — _— 3 miles north of Manti.

Vermont _-______ Washington __-___ 3 miles east of Roxbury.

Virginia ________ Buckingham _______ 5 miles southwest of Buckingham.

Washington ______ Chelan ________ 10 miles west-southwest of Wenatchee.

West Virginia _____ Braxton _____-___ 4 miles east of Button.

Wisconsin _______ Wood ________ 9 miles southeast of Marshfield.

Wyoming ____________ Fremont ___„________ 58 miles east-northeast of Lander.

EXTREME AND MEAN ALTITUDES OF U.S. below sea leveL These two points' both in California,

	are only 86 miles apart. (See figs. 50, 51.) TERRITORY AND THE CONTINENTS T, /„ , ,. , ,. , , TM . . , ., 	The following list (table 9) is given to permit a cornThe following altitudes (table 8), which give the parison between altitudes in the United States and 

height of the land above sea level, unless otherwise those in other parts of the world. These figures are substated, were determined by the Geological Survey, ject to change as better maps become available. HowInasmuch as the United States is not entirely mapped, ever, the information on North America is accurate, 

the locations of the highest and lowest points, as well The altitude of Mount Everest was reported to the 

as the values given for some of the points, are doubtful National Geographic Society by Brigadier I. H. R. 

and are subject to change as the areas are mapped. Wilson, Surveyor General of India, as 29,028 feet. This 

The highest point within the conterminous 48 States determination was made by the Survey of India from 

is Mount Whitney—14,494 feet above sea level. The observations and calculations in 1952—54. An accurate 

lowest point of dry land is in Death Valley—282 feet altitude for the summit of a mountain as high and as
Highest and Lowest Points in the Conterminous United States, Both in California

and Only 86 Miles Apart

FIGURE 50 (above). Mount Whitney, 14,494 feet above sea level. View is from 

Owens Valley. (Photograph by Bruce Barnbaum, Los Angeles, Calif.)

FIGURE 51 (opposite). Two views of Death Valley:

Above, Badwater, the lowest area in the valley at 282 feet below sea level, 

and Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range in the background. (Photograph by Josef Muench, Santa Barbara, Calif.)

Below, View across sand dunes toward the Armagosa Range. (Photograph 

by Bruce Barnbaum, Los Angeles, Calif.)
'*'*" ''
174 BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

Table 8.—Extreme and mean altitudes in the United States and its overseas territory

[Corrected to February 1975]

Highest point

State or region

Colorado

District of Columbia __ 

Florida

Hawaii

Illinois

New York

Name

Humphreys Peak __ 

Magazine Mountain _

Mount Elbert

Mount Frissel, on south 

slope. 

On bright Road __

Sec. 30, T. 6 N., R. 

20 W.

Borah Peak

Franklin Township 

Sec. 3, T. 15 N., 

R. 1 W. 

T. 100 N., R. 44 W

Mount Sunflower Sec. 

12 T. 12 S., R. 43 W.

Backbone Mountain 

near Kempton, W. 

Va.

Mount Curwood Sec. 

30, T. 50 N., R. 

31 W.

Woodall Mountain near 

luka.

Johnson Township ___

White Mountains 

Boundary Peak.

High Point

Mount Marcv

County

Logan ——— — — _

Balboa District

Lake

Litchfield

Walton

Agat District _ _

Custer

Wallace

Garrett

Cook

Park

Kimball

Essex

Altitude Name 

(feet)

2,407 Gulf of Mexico

20,320 Pacific Ocean

3 12,633 Colorado River __ 

2,753 Ouachita River

2 14,494 Death Valley

s 1,205 Atlantic Ocean

14,431 Arkansas River _ _ _ 

2,380 Long Island Sound

345 Atlantic Ocean

4,784 do

3 1,329 Pacific Ocean

13,796 do

12,662 Snake River

1,235 Mississippi River _„_ 

1,257 Ohio River

5,268 Atlantic Ocean

3,360 do

3,491 do

1,980 Lake Erie

2,3011 Lake Superior

806 Gulf of Mexico

1,772 St. Francis River

12,799 Kootenai River

5,426 Southeast corner of 

State.

13,143 Colorado River

6,288 Atlantic Ocean

1,803 do

13,161 Red Bluff Reservoir _ 

5,344 Atlantic Ocean

Lowest point

County

Alexander ____

Montgomery _ _ 

Fulton

Clark

Eddy

A

Altitude 

(feet)

c

do

70

55

—282

Sea level 1 __ 

3,350

Sea level _ _ 

do

do

_ do ._ _

do _

do

do

710

279 3

320 "

480

700

257 3

—5

Sea level ___ 

do _

do _

572 3

602 s

Sea level _ _ 

230 s

1,800

840

470

do .

2,817

Sea level

.pproximate 

mean 

dtitude 

(feet)1

500 

1,900 

4,100 

650 

2,900

100 

6,800 

500

60 

150

100

600 

650 

1,990 

5,000

600 

700

1,100 

2,000

750

100 

600 

350

500 

900

1,200 

300

800 

3,400 

2,600

5,500

1,000 

250 

5,700 

1,000
GENERAL STATISTICS RELATING TO 

THE UNITED STATES 175

Table 8.—Extreme and mean altitudes in the United States and its overseas territory—Continued

[Corrected to February 1975]

Highest point Lowest point

State or region Name County

Altitude 

(feet)

Name County

Altitude 

(feet)

Approximate 

mean 

altitude 

(feet) 1

_ Mount Mitchell ____ Yancey ______ 6,684 Atlantic Ocean _.

__ White Butte _____ Slope _______ 3,506 Red River ___.

__ Campbell Hill _____ Logan ______ 1,550 Ohio River __.

__ Black Mesa ______ Cimarron _____ 4,973 Red River ___.

__ Mount Hood ——___ Clackamas-Hood 2 11,235 Pacific Ocean _.

	River.

Pennsylvania ______ Mount Davis ______ Somerset _____ 3,213 Delaware River __ Delaware _-__ ——do

North Carolina 

North Dakota _ 

Ohio ________

Oklahoma ____

Oregon _______

_________ Sea level __

Pembina ____ 750 ——_____

Hamilton ____ 433 3 _______

McCurtain ___ 300 ________

________ Sea level ___

700

1,900

850

1,300

3,300

1,100

Puerto Rico _____ Cerro de Punta ___

Rhode Island ______ Jerimoth Hill ______

Samoa ________ Lata _______

South Carolina __— Sassafras Mountain __

_ Ponce District __ 4,389

_ Providence ____ 812

_ Tau Island ____ "3,160

_ Pickens _____ 3,560

Atlantic Ocean ____ _________ -——do

____do ___________ ________„___„- ____do .

Pacific Ocean ____ ________ ——do

Atlantic Ocean __ _ ———— — — _ —-do .

200

South Dakota ______ Harney Peak ______ Pennington ___ 7,242 Big Stone Lake ___ Roberts _____ 962 ———__

Tennessee _______ Clingmans Dome __ Sevier ______ 6,643 Mississippi River __ Shelby ____ 182" _______

Texas ——_______ Guadalupe Peak ___ Culberson ____ 8,751 Gulf of Mexico ___ __________ Sea level ___

Utah ————————_—— Kings Peak ————__ Duchesne 

Vermont ———______ Mount Mansfield __ Lamoille .

13,528

4,393

Beaverdam Creek _ _ 

Lake Champlain __

Washington __ 2,180 ___ 

Franklin ____ 95 ______

Virginia —————_—— Mount Rogers ____ Grayson-Smyth __ 5,729 

Virgin Islands ___—— Crown Mountain ___ Island of St. 1,556

Thomas. 

Washington ———_—— Mount Rainier (fig. 52) Pierce ______ 14,410

Atlantic Ocean ____ __________ Sea level

__do _______ ______.._ do —

West Virginia _____ Spruce Knob _____ Pendleton 

Wisconsin ——_____ Timms Hill _______ Price __.

Pacific Ocean ____ ________ _—-do .

4,862 Potomac River ___ Jefferson _. __ 240 _.

1,952 Lake Michigan ___ __________ 581 !

Wyoming ________ Gannett Peak ____ Fremont 

United States ____ Mount McKinley ___ Alaska _

13,804 Belle Fourche River _ Crook _____ 3,100 _____ 

20,320 Death Valley ____ Inyo, Calif __ —282 ——_

350

2,200

900

1,700

6,100

1,000

950

750

1,700

1,500

1,050

6,700

2,500

iSee U.S. Geological Survey (1893, pt. 2, p. 284-289) for method of 

finding mean altitudes. 

'Coast and Geodetic Survey.

3 Corps of Engineers.

1 Mean sea level of the Pacific at Panama is 0.7 feet higher than mean 

sea level of the Atlantic at Colon.

Table 9.—Extremes of altitude in the continents

North America _ 

South America _

Africa

Highest point

Location

Mount McKinley, Alaska 

Mount Aconcagua, Argentina.

Mount El'brus, U.S.S.R., 

Caucasus Mountains. 

Mount Everest, Nepal __

Kibo Peak (Kilimanjaro), 

Tanganyika Territory. 

Mount Kosciusko, 

New South Wales. 

Vinson Massif Group, 

Ellsworth Mountains.

Lowest point

Feet 

above 

sea-level

20,320 

22,834

18,481 

29,028 

19,340 

7,316 

16,860

Location

Death Valley, Calif, (fig. 51). 

Salinas Grandes, Peninsula 

Valdez, Chubut Province, 

Argentina. 

Caspian Sea, U.S.S.R., and 

Iran. 

Dead Sea, Israel and Jordan 

(fig. 53). 

Qattara Depression, Egypt _

Lake Eyre, South Australia.

ApproxiFeet 

, , mate below 

mean sea- 

, alti- level tude

(feet)

282 2,000 

131 1,800

92 980 

1,286 3,000 

436 1,900 

39 1,000 

6,000
176

BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL. STATES

inaccessible as Everest is difficult to obtain. Corrections 

must be made to the observed altitude for refraction 

of the atmosphere, the shape of the geoid, and the 

varying amount of snow on the peak. For discussions 

of the height of Mount Everest, see De Graaff-Hunter 

(1955) and Gulatee (1954). (See fig. 54.)

The greatest ocean depth thus far discovered is in 

the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, about 200 miles 

southwest of Guam (lat 11°21' N., long 142°12' E.). It 

has been called the Challenger Deep. The depth, measured by soundings in 1957, is 6,033+ fathoms, or 

36,201 feet, and this value is generally accepted by 

scientific organizations. In 1960 the bathyscaph 

"Trieste" descended to the ocean floor in the same 

locality. It registered a depth of 5,967 fathoms 35,802 

feet. (For a description of this descent, see Record, 

1960, p. 224.) The greatest confirmed depth recorded in 

the Atlantic is 4,729 fathoms (28,374 feet). The position 

of this depth is in the Puerto Rico Trench, about 60

FIGURE 52. Mount Rainier, altitude 14,410 feet, highest point in the State of Washington. View is southwest 

looking at the Emmons Glacier and the White River Valley. (Photograph by Dwight R. Crandell.)
miles north of the eastern end of the Dominican Republic, at lat 19°35' N., long 68° 17' W. This measurefrom the U.S.S. Archerfish in 1961.

The table below (table 10) lists extreme points in the 

cardinal directions, considering first the 50 States, then 

the continental United States, and finally the conterminous 48 States.

The southernmost point in U.S. territory is Rose Island 

of the Samoan group—almost exactly 1,000 miles south 

of the Equator. Point Barrow, the extreme north point 

of Alaska, is nearly 5,000 miles north of the Equator. 

(See fig. 10.)

Alaska with its islands extends from 130° W., past 

the 180° line to 172i/2 ° E., or 57y2 ° of longitude. The 

difference in time (3 hr, 50 min) between these two 

extremes is greater than that between New York and 

San Francisco.

The following distances in statute miles are computed to mean sea level: (a) West Quoddy Head, 

Maine, along the parallel to the Pacific Ocean, 2,807 

miles; (b) the south point of Texas due north to the 

49th parallel, 1,598 miles; (c) West Quoddy Head, 

Maine, to Cape Wrangell, Alaska, 4,839 miles; (d) West 

Quoddy Head, Maine, to Kure Island, Hawaii, 5,788 

miles; (e) Mangrove Point, Fla., to Cape Wrangell, 

Alaska, 5,496 miles; (f) Mangrove Point, Fla., to Kure 

Island, Hawaii, 5,848 miles. The length of the northern 

boundary, excluding Alaska, is 3,987 miles; the Canadian-Alaskan boundary, 1,538 miles; and the Mexican

GENERAL STATISTICS RELATING TO 

THE UNITED STATES 177

boundary from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, 

approximately 1,933 miles.

The geographic positions of the following points are 

of interest:

Latitude (N). Longitude (W.)

Cape Mendocino, Calif. _____________ 40°27' 124°24'

Cape Sable, Fla. (on mainland) __________ 25°07' 81 °05'

Kure Island, Hawaii _________________ 28°25' 178°22'

Extreme south point of Texas ___________ 25°50' 97°24'

The two points farthest apart in the conterminous 48 

States are West Quoddy Head, Maine, and Point 

Arena, California. The distance between them is 2,897 

miles. From a point 10 miles south of Brunswick, Ga., 

to a point 12 miles south of San Diego, the distance is 

2,088 miles, which is the shortest distance between two 

points, one on the Atlantic and one on the Pacific.

The highest point in North America is Mount McKinley, in Alaska, 20,320 feet above sea level (frontispiece).

The highest point within the conterminous 48 States 

is Mount Whitney—14,495 feet above sea level. The 

lowest point of dry land is in Death Valley—282 feet 

below sea level. These two points, both in California, 

are only 86 miles apart. (See figs. 50, 51.)

Table 10.—Points of extreme latitude and longitude 

of the United States

The United States (50

States).

Continental United States

(49 States).

Conterminous United 

States (48 States).

Extreme point

Key West, Fla

West Quoddy Head, Maine

Cape Wrangell, Alaska (Attu Island) __ 

Lake of the Woods Projection, Minn __ 

Key West, Fla

Cape Alava, Wash

Direction

North

South

East

West

North

South

East

West _____ 

North __ 

South

East

West

Latitude 

(N.)

71°23'

18°56'

44°49'

52°55'

71°23'

24°33'

44°49'

52°55' 

49°23' 

24°33'

44°49'

48°10'

Longitude 

(W.)

1S6°29'

155°41'

66°57'

172°27'(E.)

156°29'

81°48'

66°57'

172°27'(E'.) 

95°09' 

81M8'

66°57'

124°44'
178

Highest and Lowest Points in the World.

FIGURE 53 (above). Dead Sea, Israel and Jordan, altitude 1,286 feet below 

sea level, lowest point of dry land on the Earth. (Photograph by Josef 

Muench, Santa Barbara, Calif.)

FIGURE 54 (opposite). Mount Everest in the Himalaya Mountains, altitude 

29,028 feet above sea level, highest point on the Earth. (Photograph by 

George Silk, Westport, Conn.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, Oscar S., 1932, Geographic centers: Mil. Engineer, v. 24. 

Alien, Percy S., 1920, Stewart's handbook of the Pacific islands:

Sydney, Australia, McCarron Stewart & Co. 

Arkansas Historical Association, 1908: Fayetteville, Arkansas Hist.

Assoc. Pubs., v. 2. 

Baars, Donald L., 1972, Red Rock Country: the Geologic History of the

Colorado Plateau: New York, Doubleday. 

Bacon, E. M., 1906, The Connecticut River and the valley of the

Connecticut: New York. 

Baker, J. H., 1887, in Minnesota Hist. Soc. Colln.: Minnesota Hist. Soc.,

v. 6, pt. 1. 

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———— 1903, State papers and correspondence bearing upon the purchase of the Territory of Louisiana: U.S. 57th Cong., 2d sess., H. 

Doc. 431.

———— 1905a, A communication from the Secretary of Interior relative 

to the reestablishment of the boundary line between the State of 

Colorado and the Territories of New Mexico and Oklahoma: U.S. 

58th Cong., 3d sess., S. Doc. 89.

———— 1905b, Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma boundary lines: U.S. 

59th Cong., 1st sess., H. Doc. 259.

———— 1907, Noncontiguous territory and Cuba: U.S. 59th Cong., 2d 

sess., S. Doc. 204.

———— 1909, Acts of the 59th Congress relative to noncontiguous 

territory: U.S. 61st Cong., 1st sess., S. Doc. 47.

———— 1911, Report on the southern boundary of Alabama: U.S. 61st 

Cong., 3d sess., H. Doc. 1413.

———— 1912, Acts of Congress relative to noncontiguous territory: 

U.S. 62d Cong., 2d sess., S, Doc. 306.

———— 1914, Acts of the 62d Congress relative to noncontiguous territory: U.S. 63d Cong., 1st sess., S. Doc. 173.

———— 1917, Cession of Danish West Indies: U.S. 64th Cong., 2d 

sess., H. Rept. 1505.

———'- 1923, Treaties, conventions * * * between the United States and

185

BIBLIOGRAPHY

other powers, 1910-1923: U.S. 67th Cong., 4th sess., S. Doc. 348,

v. 3, p. 2493-3918. 

U.S. Department of State, 1963a, United States and outlying areas, in

Geographic Rept. of the Geographer: U.S. Dept. State. 

———— 1963b, The Chamizal settlement: U.S. Dept. State. 

U.S. Department of the Interior, 1895, Decisions relating to the public

lands: U.S. Dept. Interior, v. 20.

U.S. Hydrographic Office, 1871, Publication 41; 1879, Publication 41a; 

1880, Publication 41b.

———— 1916, Pacific Islands pilot: U.S. Hydrog. Office Pub. 166.

———— 1949, Sailing directions for the West Indies: U.S. Hydrog. Office 

Pub. 128. v. 1.

———— 1951, Sailing directions for the West Indies: U.S. Hydrog. Office 

Pub. 129, v. 2.

———— 1952, Sailing directions for the east coasts of Central America

and Mexico [5th ed.]: U.S. Hydrog. Office Pub. 130.

Upham, George B., 1920, in Granite Monthly, New Hampshire State 

Magazine, January.

Vermont-New Hampshire Boundary Line Commission, 1934-36.

Violette, E. M., 1918, A history of Missouri: New York.

Washington University Historical Society, 1930, The North Idaho annexation issue: Washington Univ. State Hist. Soc. Quart., April.

Way, W. V., 1869, The facts and historical events of the Toledo war 

of 1835: Toledo.

Western Reserve University, 1923: Western Reserve Univ. Bull., 

August.

White, James, 19)4a, Boundary disputes and treaties: Toronto, 958 p.

———— 1914b, -I'H Canada and its provinces: Toronto.

Whitefield, A. H., Catchings, T. C., and Hardy, W. H., The Mississippi 

Code of 1906.

Whiting, Henry L., 1891, Report in relation to a portion of boundary 

line in dispute between the States of Maryland and Virginia, in 

Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey showing progress of the work during the fiscal year ending 

with June 1890: U.S. Coast and Geod. Survey, app. 11.

Williams, Samuel, 1794, Natural and civil history of Vermont: Walpole, 

N.H.

Williams, Samuel C., 1920, North Carolina-Tennessee boundary survey, 

1799: Tennessee Hist. Soc. Mag., July.

Wilson, H. M., Renshawe, J. H., Douglas, E. M., and Goode, R. U., 

1901, Results of primary triangulation and primary traverse, fiscal 

year 1900-01: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 181, 240 p.

Winchell, A. N., 1905, Minnesota's eastern, southern, and western 

boundaries: Minnesota Hist. Colln., v. 10.

Wisconsin Historical Society, 1888: Madison, Wisconsin Hist. Soc. 

Colln.
INDEX

Page 

Acadia, charter of 1603 ______...._ 55, 75

inclusion in Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691 ...____ 59, 66

Agana, Guam ———————————————— 36

Alabama, admission and boundaries -_ 108

boundaries, eastern .._______ 100, 103

northern _____________ 96, 108

southern _______________ 105

western ———-.———___._ 109

Alabama Territory ______________ 108

Alaska, admission ——_————___.. 165

boundaries ____________ 29, 31, 176

Canadian claims ____________ 31

Point Barrow ________________ 176

Alaska Purchase _____.________ 29

Alexandria, Md.-D.C. Boundary _____ 91

Alexandria, Va., temporary inclusion in

District of Columbia _____ 90 

American Samoa ___________ 36

Amistad Dam ..._______________ 127 

Annapolis, Nova Scotia ___________ 55

Antarctica _________________„___ 41

Antarctic Treaty _______________ 43 

Arbitration, Emperor of Germany, northwestern boundary of conterminous United States __ 18 

King of the Netherlands, northeastern 

boundary of conterminous 

United States _________ 15 

Area, average, for the 50 States _____ 168 

Arizona, admission and boundaries __ 165 

boundaries, eastern __________ 163 

northern —___________ 160, 163 

southern ——____________ 29

western _-_____.______ 153, 158 

Arizona Territory __________________ 54, 165

Arkansas, admission _____________ 106, 119

boundaries ______________________ 120

official spelling and pronunciation of

name ———__________ 118

Arkansaw Territory ____________ 51, 119 

Arrowsmith Map ______________ 51 

Ashaway River ____:___________ 71 

Ashburton, Lord, British-United States

boundary ____________ 17 

Astronomy, boundary location ________ 5

Augusta County, Va ___ — _________ 111

Avulsion, boundaries unchanged _ 4, 118, 163 

land separation, Arkansas ______ 120

Dakota Territory ___________ 137

Illinois -_-_—-__-_-_.—____ 116

Mexico __-__-_- — — 124, 125, 126

Texas ____________ 124, 125, 126

Vermont —————————————— 65

Azimuth, definition _______________ 71

B

Baker Island _________________ 41 

Baltimore, Lord ____________ 81, 84, 85 

Bancos in Rio Grande, elimination ___ 126 

Barbe-Marbois, testimony on limits of

Louisiana ———————————— 24 

Bay of Fundy, islands in _________ 12 

Beaver Island ________________ 116

Page 

Bedloes Island, N.Y. _____......._ 77

Belcher, Governor, New HampshireMassachusetts boundary __ 61 

Berkely, Lord John, New Jersey ____ 75, 79 

Bermuda Islands, part of Virginia Colony 93 

Bibliography ______________ 10, 260, 275 

Boston Corners and Boston Ten Towns,

NT. _______________ 70 

Botetourt County, Va ...__________ 111 

Boundary problems __ ———— _______ 2

Breda treaty _________________ 74 

Bureau of Land Management, formerly

General Land Office _____ 113 

records ________________________ 54

Burnt Swamp Corner, Rhode Island-Massachusetts boundary _____ 67 

Byrd, Admiral, Antarctica _____________ 41

Byrd, Col. William, North Carolina

boundary survey ___ _ ___ 97, 99

California, admission and boundaries __ 51, 151 

boundaries, eastern _______ 151, 152, 153

northern ——————————————— 151

southern ____________ 28, 153

geographic facts ———————————— 177

islands claimed __________________ 152

Canadian boundary. See Northern boundary of conterminous United 

States. 

Canalization, Rio Grande _____________ 126

Canton Island _________________ 41

Caroline Islands __________________ 44

Carpenter, H.B., Colorado boundary

survey _______________ 142

Carteret, Sir George, New Jersey ___ 75, 79 

Centers, geographic, United States and

the several States _______ 170 

Chain, survey measure _____________ 6

Challenger Deep, Pacific Ocean ____ 176 

Channels, boundaries in. See Water. 

Charles I of England, Maine granted to

Sir Ferdinando Gorges ____ 55

Charles II of England, Rhode Island and

Connecticut charters ____ 71, 72 

Chattooga River _______ ————————— __ 102

Cherokee Outlet, Oklahoma Territory ___ 140 

Choctaw line, Arkansas boundary ——— 119 

Christmas Island ___ ——— ____——— 41

Clark, J. H., Texas boundary surveys __ 124 

Clark, William, map showing boundary

of Louisiana Purchase ——— 26 

Collins, surveys of northern boundary of

conterminous United States. 64, 76 

Colorado, admission __ — _ — ______ — — 54, 141

boundaries, eastern ——_ — ____ — _— 139

northern ___________._. 138, 145 

southern _____.______ 141, 142 

western __________________ 143

Colorado River, California-Arizona boundary ___.___.——„—— 151, 153 

Colorado Territory ____________ 54, 141 

Columbia River, boundary defined by

series of tangents ._._——— 155 

British boundary claim ———————— 15

Page

Congress, place and time of early sessions ___--_--__ — — — ___— 167 

Connecticut, boundaries, eastern —__ 71, 72 

boundaries, marking specifications .. 10 

northern ——————————————— 69 

western _____________ 72, 73, 74 

cession of western lands __——— 47, 49, 74 

colonial grants ————————————— 72 

territorial exchange with New York__ 73 

Continental Congress, place and time of

sessions ———————————— 167

resolutions on western territory —— 1

Continental Divide, Montana boundary __ 150

supposed New Mexico boundary __ 161

Continental Shelf _______-_____ 46

Cordova tract, United States-Mexico

boundary ________________ 126

Corn Islands, Great and Little ________ 43

Corner, four States . —.......————— 142

Cottonwoods _____ — _ — _____ — ___— 116

Countries, establishing boundaries —._ 3 

Court decisions, references ____ —— —— _ 10

Crown Monument, New HampshireMaine-Canada boundary ____ 60, K'J

Crozat, Antoine de, Louisiana grant __ 23 

Cuba, U.S. naval base —___ ——— _ 43 

Culpeper, Lord, Virginia tract ________„ 93

Cutt, John, New Hampshire decree _____ 61

Dakota Territory, division into North and

South Dakota _________ 134 

formation _______ — _________ — — _ 134

land transfers ____________ 134, 136 

Darling line, Colorado boundary ...__ 141 

Daughters of the American Revolution, 

District of Columbia boundary _____ ——— -„_—————— 91

Deakins line, Maryland-Virginia boundary 88 

Definition of boundaries, methods ____ 3

Delaware, boundaries ___________ 79, 81, 84

Duke of York and William Penn ____ 75, 84

Maryland boundary, monument ___ 85 

Pennsylvania boundary, triangular

post _______________ 85 

settlers _____-- — ___--____ 75, 84 

State government formed __-_____ 84

Delaware River, Delaware-New Jersey

boundary __________ — ____ 79

Des Moines River, Iowa-Missouri boundary -____-__-__._ — ____._.. 118

Deseret, proposed territory ——————— 159 

Dexter and Hopkins line, Rhode Island

boundary ______---____ 71

Diego Garcia ———————————————— 43 

Disputes, boundaries between States,

settlement ____________ 3

District of Columbia, Alexandria retroceded to Virginia ——————— 90 

boundaries _________ ———— __ 90, 91 

counties ___________________ — — ____ 90

Maryland and Virginia cessions __ 88 

Disturnell, map of Mexico ______________ 28

Donaldson, quoted on Pennsylvania

boundaries ———..—————— 80

187
188 INDEX

Page 

Dutch trading companies, Delaware River 80

Hudson River 74

Ellicott, Andrew, surveys ___ 13, 78, 83, 101,

102, 103, 105 

Ellis Island, N.Y. _____________.____ 77

Ellsworth, Lincoln, Antarctica ______ 41 

El Paso, 1963 convention between the

United States and Mexico __ 126 

Enderbury Island — — ______._—— 41 

Erie triangle, Massachusetts and New

York claims ________ 49 

sold to Pennsylvania _____________ 83

survey of east line _____________ 78, 84

Etulian and Marley, "The Idaho

Heritage" ...________ 158

Faden map, Louisiana Purchase and

other boundaries __________ 25

Fair Haven, Vt., part ceded to New York 65 

Fairfax, Lord, Virginia tract ___.___ 93 

Fairfax Stone, Maryland boundary _____ 88, 94

Falcon Dam _____________________ 127

Fincastle County, Va., part becomes Kentucky ________________ 94, 111

Fire Lands of Connecticut __________ 48

Fishing, Continental Shelf _________ 46 

Flag, United States, congressional act __ 167 

Florida, admission __________________ 104

boundaries ____ 22, 47, 102, 103, 104, 105 

division into East and West Florida— 23 

geographic facts ________________ 177

treaties _______________ 104

Florida Purchase _______________ 26 

Florida Territory ______________ 104 

Fowler, A. T. ________________ 60 

France, Louisiana Purchase _______ 23 

Franklin, temporary State ________ 109

Freeman, Thomas, Alabama boundary

surveys _______________ 109

Fulton, Ohio boundary survey ______ 113

Gadsden Purchase, United States-Mexico

boundary _________________ 29

Gannett, S. S. _____________ 65, 157

Ganong, quoted on United States-Canada

boundary _____________ 18

Gast, Pierre du, Acadia charter _____ 55 

Gatun Lake area, Canal Zone ______ 39 

General Land Office, former name of

Bureau of Land Management 113 

records _ ——————— ___________ 54

Gente Hermosa Island ___________ 41

Geodetic computations, boundary location ______________ 5

Georgia, addition of 1763 _________ 100

addition of 1802 ____________ 100

boundaries, description _______ 100

eastern ______________ 99, 102

northern _______________ 97, 101

southern ___________ 102, 103

western ___________ 103, 104 

cession of western lands ______ 50, 51, 100

colonial charters __________________ 100

geographic facts ________________ 177

Georgia—Florida, seaward boundary __ 103 

Georgia, Strait of _______________18,21 

Germany, Emperor of, northwestern 

boundary of conterminous 

United States _________ 18 

Ghent treaty ____________________ 12 

Gila River ____ _ _____________________ 165

Gore, northeast corner of Vermont ______ 63

Page 

Gorges, Ferdinando, Province of Maine

sold by ____________ 59 

Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, Maine charter

granted to ——————————— 55 

Government of the United States, District of Columbia _____ 88 

organization and name ____________ 167

Government surveys, statute protecting

marks —————————————— 10 

Grand Manan Channel ——————_ —— .. 21 

Grand Manan Island _________________ 12

Great Britain, treaties:

1782 _____ _ ___________ _ 10

1783, 1794 _____ _ ___-_-__-____„ 12

1814 ___________________ 12 

1818 ____________________ 14

1842 „___-____ — __ — _-_-_______._ 17

1846 ____________________ 18 

1908, 1910 .____-______ — ____-__. 18, 20

1925 _ _ __________________ 21 

Great Corn Island ______________ 43

Great Lakes, northern boundary of conterminous United States ____ 12,

14, 20, 22 

Greenville treaty, boundary of Indiana

Territory _.___________ 115 

Greenwich meridian ———___—————— 3 

Greer County, added to Oklahoma ____ 140

dispute ____________________ 122 

Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty, United States

and Mexico __________ 28, 151 

Guam ____________________ 35, 36

Guano Islands _______________________ 40

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. naval base 43

H

Hafen, L. F., quoted on New Mexico

boundary ________________ 162

Hague Tribunal ____________________ 44

Hall's Stream, northern boundary of .conterminous United States ____ 17, 63

Hardwick, Lord Chancellor, quoted on

Delaware boundary _______ 85

Haro, Strait of _________________ 18, 21 

Harris, William, Ohio boundary survey__ 112 

Hawaii _________________ 33, 166, 177 

Hawaii Territory _________________ 33

Hazzen, Richard, New Hampshire-Massachusetts boundary survey __ 61 

Henderson's line, North Carolina-Virginia boundary _____________ 94

Henlopen, Cape ____________ 84, 85

Henry IV of France, Acadia charter __ 55, 74 

High-water line, definition _____________ 5

Honduras, Swan Islands ______________ 41

Hopton, Lord, Virginia grant __________ 93

Howland Island ______________________ 41

Hudson Bay territory, southern boundary 26 

Hunnewell Point, first Maine colony ____ 55

I

Iberville River, Bayou Manchac _ — ___ 23 

boundary between British and Spanish possessions ______ 23, 25

Louisiana boundary _____________ 23, 107

Idaho, admission ____________________ 156

boundaries, eastern _________ 157, 158

northern __________________ 23

southern _____________ 158, 159 

western _____________________ 155, 156

Idaho Territory, formation _____ 54, 134, 156

reduction of 1864 _________ 54, 145, 156

reduction of 1868 _______ 54, 144, 156

Illinois, admission and boundaries ____ 50, 116

Illinois Territory _______________ 50, 116

Page

Indian Stream Territory ______________ 63

Indian Territory _________ 51, 139, 141 

Indiana, admission ___————————— 50, 115

boundaries ______________________ 115

Indiana Territory _______________ 50, 115 

Inspection and repair of boundary marks 10 

International Boundary Commission ___— 20

The Official Maps _____———————— 22 

International Geophysical Year ____— 43 

Iowa, admission ______ — ______________ 51

boundaries _____________—___-__- 118, 131

Iowa Territory ______________ 51, 129, 131 

Islands, jurisdiction — ——— —————— 4 

Itasca, Lake _____-__„ — __ — ____..— 131

J

James I of England, New England charters ________________--- 55

Virginia charters ____ — _ — _________ 55, 92

Jarvis Island ___ — —————————————— 41 

lefferson, State of, proposed __________ 141

Johnston Atoll ________-_——————— 38 

Jones Point, District of Columbia, south

corner stone __———————— 90 

luan de Fuca, Strait of __._—_.._——— 18,21 

Junction, Snake and Clearwater Rivers-. 156

K

Kahoolawe, Hawaiian Islands —————— 34 

Kansas, admission ____ — _________ — __ 138

boundaries ___-__---——._———— 118, 138

Kansas Territory ____ ——— _————— 51, 138 

Kaskaskia Island — ——— ———————— 116 

Kauai, Hawaiian Islands ______________ 34

Kentucky, admission ——————————— 49, 111 

boundaries _________ 94, 110, 111, 115 

part separated by Mississippi River__ 111 

Kentucky County, Va. ________—94,111 

Key of all keys, District of Columbia — 91 

Keya Paha River, area added to Nebraska ____________-— 138

Kidder, Arthur D., Colorado boundary

survey ___________________ 142

Lake of the Woods, northern boundary of

conterminous United States, _ 12, 

14, 17, 21

Lake Superior, northern boundary of conterminous United States _-- 12, 

20, 128 

Lanai, Hawaiian Islands _____________ 34

Lands owned by the Thirteen Original

States -__ —— — __- —— ____- 47

La Salle, discoveries —————————— 23 

Latitudes, relation between degrees and

parallels _____________ 81

Little America, base ———————————— 41 

Little Corn Island ____________— 43 

London meridian ____________________ 27

London treaty ______________________ 12

Long Island, N.Y., granted to Duke of

York ____-__.__-___..... 74

Louisiana, addition of 1812 ________——— 27

admission _________________ 51, 107

boundaries ______________ 107, 108 

Louisiana, District of ________________ 51, 107

Louisiana Purchase ___-___-____-__-— 23

Louisiana Territory, change of name 107, 117 

Louisiana-Texas, Sabine River _________ 107

Luna Bar ____________________ 106

Lyon, Lucius, Illinois boundary survey- 116
INDEX 189

M

Page

Maine, admission ______________ 59 

boundaries ____ 12, 13, 15, 22, 59, 60, 61 

colonial grants ____________ 55, 59 

geographic facts ____________ 177 

Province of Massachusetts Bay _ 59 

Major, D. G., California-Oregon

boundary survey _______ 151 

Major, John G., New Mexico boundary

survey ________________ 163

Manchao Bayou, Iberville River ____ 23 

Manua Islands ________________________ 36

Mariana Islands _____________________ 36, 44

Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean _____ 176 

Mark 925, Lake of the Woods _____ 15 

Marking of boundaries _________ 10 

Marshall Islands __________________ 44

Martha's Vineyard, granted to Duke of

York _________________ 75

transferred to Massachusetts Bay _ 75

Martin's Vineyard. See Martha's Vineyard.

Maryland, boundaries ______ 85, 86, 87, 88

Lord Baltimore __________ 81, 84, 85

Virginia's claims ___________ 85, 93

Mason, Capt. John, New England grants 55, 61 

Mason and Dixon line, Charles Mason and

Jeremiah Dixon ___ 82, 83, 84, 85 

Massachusetts, Boston Corners ceded to

New York _-_________ 70 

boundaries _____..______ 62, 65, 66

Connecticut __..________ 69, 70

inspection and repair of marks. 10, 71

New York _____________ 70, 75

Rhode island _..__ 66, 67, 68, 69

cession of western lands ___ 47,48,49,70

colonial charters ___________ 66

investigation of Maine boundary

dispute ______________ 17 

Massachusetts Bay, colonial charters __ 66 

Maui, Hawaiian Islands _______ 34 

Maurepas, Lake, boundary between

British and Spanish possessions ______________ 23 

Meade, B. K., Delaware boundary ___ 85 

Melish map, northern boundary of conterminous United States ___ 26 

Messinger, John, Illinois boundary

survey _____________ 116

Metric system, adoption in United States 6

conversion tables _______________ 8

Micronesians _________________________ 44

Mexico, first cession to United

States __________ 27, 28, 151

Gadsden Purchase _________ 29

Michigan, admission __________ 76, 127

boundaries --_______ 22, 112, 113, 114,

127, 128, 129, 130

Michigan Territory ___________ 50, 127

Michler, Lt. N., Maryland-Virginia

boundary survey ____ — ___ 86

quoted on Fairfax Stone ____ —— _._ 94

Military base leases -____---_______ 43

Minnesota, admission ________________ 50, 133

boundaries ______ 22, 130, 131, 133, 134 

Minnesota Territory ________._ 50, 133

Mississippi, admission and boundaries __________ 105, 106, 109 

Mississippi Territory _______ 27, 50, 105, 108

Missouri, admission _________________ 51, 117

boundaries _____ 116, 117, 118, 120, 131 

Missouri Territory ___________ 51, 117, 118

Mitchell, George, New Hampshire-Massachusetts boundary survey __ 61 

Molokai, Hawaiian Islands ___—___ 34 

Monroe County, W. Va ______-_— 95 

Montana, admission ___ ———— ——— — 150 

boundaries ___________—— 23, 145 

Montana Territory _____________ 54, 145

Page 

Morrison, Charles, "Maryland Boundary

Disputes" _____________ 85

Mount Everest, Nepal __________ 171

Mount St. Elias, Alaska boundary ___ 31 

Mount Whitney, Calif _______ 177

N

Nantuckett, granted to Duke of York__ 75

transferred to Massachusetts Bay __•_ 75

National Wild Life Association ______ 36

Naval base leases __-_____-_--_-__ 43

Navassa Island ______________ 40

Navigable water, boundaries in ______ 4

definition ____——_____——__ 4

Nebraska, admission ________-___ 137

boundaries ______ 118, 136, 137, 138, 139 

Nebraska Territory ____________ 51, 136

Nelson, C. L. __________________ 157

Netherlands, King of, northeastern

boundary of conterminous 

United States _________ 15 

Nevada, admission _______________ 54, 158

boundaries _ — __—_ 54, 151, 152, 158, 159 

Nevada Territory ____________ 54, 158

New Amsterdam ___________________ 74

New Brunswick _____________ 21

New Caeserea, former name of New

Jersey ____________ 79 

New Castle, Del., relation to Pennsylvania boundary _____ 80, 81, 82

New Connecticut, former name of

Vermont ________„______ 64

New Hampshire, boundaries, description 61 

boundaries, eastern ________ 59, 60, 61, 65

northern ____________ 17,22,63 

southern ____________ ——— _ 61

western ______________________ 63

colonial grants and jurisdiction ____ 61

New Hampshire grants, former name of

Vermont __________-.„______ 64

New Haven and Connecticut, colonies

united _____________ 72 

New Jersey, boundaries _______ 76, 79, 80

colonial grants ___________ — _____ 79

ownership ______ —— __ — __-——_____ 75

New Mexico, admission _______.____ 163

boundaries:

Arizona ____________ 163

Colorado ___-—__________ 141, 142

Mexico _____________ 23,28,29

Oklahoma ___________ 140

Texas __________________ 124 

New Mexico Territory ___________ 51, 160

New Sweden, Pennsylvania settlement. _ 80 

New York, Boston Corners and Boston

Ten Towns ________— 70

boundaries, Connecticut _ 10, 72, 73, 74, 75

length ________________ 22, 75

Massachusetts _______-__ 70, 75 

New Jersey _______-__ 76,77,79 

Pennsylvania _________-____„___ 78

Vermont ___________ 65, 75

cession of western lands —_-_ 47, 49, 75 

colonial grants _ —— _——____ —— --- 74, 75

New York Bay, jurisdiction ___ —— ____ 79

New Zealand _________________ 36

Nickojack __________________ 102 

Niihau, Hawaiian Islands ______________ 34

No Man's Land, Public Land Strip

known as _________________ 140

North American Datum, 1927 ______ 5

North Carolina, boundaries ____ 96, 97, 98, 99

cession of western lands ___ 47,48,50,97 

colonial grants ___________________ 96

separated from South Carolina ____ 96, 99

Virginia's claims __-_--_-_- — _____ 93

Page

North Dakota, admission and boundaries ___— __——_—_ 23,.134 

See also Dakota Territory. 

Northeastern boundary of conterminous

United States, British and 

United States claims ______ 15, 18 

marking ____ ————— _———————— 20

negotiations ____________________ 12, 15

treaties __________-______ 10, 17 

Northern boundary of conterminous

United States ___ 14, 18, 20, 177 

See also Great Lakes, Lake of the 

Woods, Northeastern boundary, Rocky Mountains, and 

St. Lawrence River. 

Nova Scotia. See Acadia.

Oahu, Hawaiian Islands ______________ 3.

Ohio, admission ___________ ————— _ 49, 112

boundaries _________ 83, 112, 113, 114 

Ohio-Michigan, boundary in Lake Erie- 113 

Oklahoma, admission ________________ 54, 140

boundaries, act describing ___ — __ 139 

Arkansas _____________ 119, 120

Colorado ,.___--___,-__-__.- 141, 142 

Kansas _______________- 139 

Missouri ___--_-_.__——— —— __ 118 

New Mexico _____________—_- 140

Texas __._—___ — __ 27, 122, 123, 124 

Oklahoma Territory _________________ 54, 139

One-hundredth meridian, Texas surveys 123 

Ontario, Province of, boundaries ______ 25

Oregon, admission ___ — _ —— — — _ 54, 153 

boundaries .____-_-_-._- 151, 153, 155, 158

Oregon region, boundaries ___________ 18, 20

British and United States claims 15, 18, 153 

relation to Louisiana Province _____ 23

ten-year agreement ________________ 14

Oregon Territory _____——__ ————— —— 153

Original limits, United States _.____ 1, 10

Orleans Territory _________________ 51, 107

Orr and Whitner line, George-Florida

boundary ______—————— 103

Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the_. 43 

Palmyra Island ______________ 34, 165 

Panama, conventions concerning Canal

Zone ____________ 38

Paitilla Point _____________- 39

Paris treaty, boundary provisions __—— 25 

Passamaquoddy Bay, ownership of

islands ______-______ 12,20

Pawcatuck River _____________- 72

Pemaquid, annexed to New England 59, 66, 75

granted to Earl of Stirling ————__ 55

sold to Duke of York _____.___ 59

Penn, William, Delaware ________ 84

Pennsylvania ___ ——— _ — ——— —— 80 

west New Jersey ______—___ — ____ 79

Pennsylvania, boundaries, description _ 80 

boundaries, northern and eastern__ 77

78, 79, 84 

southern, Delaware ___________ 81

Maryland _____.__.-___.__-__ 81,82

Virginia _______________ 83

western ___ ——— __——————— 83 

Erie triangle _________________ 84

granted to William Penn __ ——.——— 80 

Swedish settlement ____ ——— ______ 80

Perkins, W. C., Colorado boundary

survey _________ ——— _ — __ 142

Pigeon River. See Lake Superior.
190 INDEX

Page

Pontchartrain, Lake, boundary between 

British and Spanish possessions _.._________ 23

Plymouth Company, New England grant 55 

Pocomoke River and Sound, MarylandVirginia boundary _______ 87

Point Arena, Calif ____________ 177

Polynesians _.____________ 36

Port of New York District, boundaries. _ 79 

Portland Canal _______________ 31

Potomac River, District of Columbia

boundary __________ 90, 91

Virginia boundary _______. 86

Poultney River, land separation by avulsion _____________ 65 

Protection of boundary marks ______ 10 

Providence Plantations _______ 71

Public domain, origin ______________ 1, 47

payments to States from sale ______ 54

Public land, division into ranges and

townships _____________ 83

Public Land Strip, boundaries ______ 140

Publications showing boundary changes 54 

Puerto Rico _________________ 35

Quebec, Province of, boundaries _____ 25 

Quintipartite deed, division of New

Jersey ____________ 79 

Quiros Island _______________ 41 

Quita Sueno Bank ________________ 40

R

Reclaimed land, ownership ___________ 5

Rectangular system, land surveys ___ 54 

Red River basin, ownership ________ 25

Reeves, Rollin J., Idaho boundary

survey _________ 156, 157 

Rhode Island, boundaries, northern and

eastern ________ 66, 67, 68, 69

boundaries, western ___________ 71

colonial grants _____________ 71

Rio Grande, elimination of bancos 124, 125, 126 

limit of Louisiana Province ____ 23 

Rio Grande basin, inclusion in New

Mexico _______________ 162

Rivers, boundaries in. See Water. 

Robbins, C., New Mexico boundary

survey _________________ 163

Rocky Mountains, northern boundary of

conterminous United

States _________-.14,18,20

Roncador Cay _____________-______ 40

Rose Island ________________ 36

Rota _______________________ 44

Roth Island ______________ 116

Russia, Alaska purchased from ________ 177

Sabino peninsula, first Maine colony .__ 55 

Saffrey, Solomon, Massachusetts BayRhode Island boundary survey ____________ 66

St. Croix Island _______________ 40 

St. Croix River _______________ 12, 15 

St. John Island _______________ 40 

St. Lawrence River, northern boundary of

conterminous United States. 12 

St. Lawrence Seaway, northern boundary 

of conterminous United 

States ______________ 21 

Saint Marys River _________.____ 102

Saint Stephens Meridian _____________ 102

St. Thomas Island _____________ 40

Page 

Saipan _____________________ 44

Sale of public domain, payments to

States _____________ 54, 55 

Samoa Islands _______________ 36 

San Ildeionso, treaty on Louisiana __ 24 

Santa Catalina and other California

islands __________ 152

Scarborough and Calvert ______________ 87

Serrana Bank __—_ —— _________ 40

Shoreline, definition ________________ 5

South Carolina, boundaries, northern.. 96 

cession of western lands __ 47, 48, 50, 100 

colonial grants ___________ 96,99

separated from North Carolina ___ 96, 99 

Virginia's claims ———— — — ______ 93

South Dakota, admission and boundaries ___—______ 134, 136

Bee also Dakota Territory. 

South Sea, colonial grants extending

to _________ 6, 72, 93, 96, 100 

former name of Pacific Ocean _____ 93

Southern boundary of the United

States ______ 12, 23, 22, 27, 177 

Southwick jog, Massachusetts-Connecticut boundary _ ———— __— 69 

Spain, treaties:

1795 ___.-___-_ — .-. — _____— 22

1819 -___-__—____—_____- 27

1898 —_________________________ 35

Spokane, Wash, astronomic datum ___ 150 

States, boundary changes _________._ 3

geographic centers _____________ 170, 171

ownership of western lands —— 47 

Statute of limitations, possession of land 3 

Statutes, form of references ___________ 3

Stirling, Earl of, land grant —_________ 55

Streams, boundaries in. See Water. 

Submerged Lands Act — — — _ —— ___ 46 

Sullivan line, Iowa-Missouri boundary.- 133 

Supreme Court reports, form of references ______ — _____„___.__ 9

Swains Island —_ ——— —— ——— ——— 41

Swan Islands _________ — __ — ___ — __ 41

Swedish West India Co., Delaware

River settlement ___________ 80

Tennessee, admission __ — _______— 50, 110

boundaries, eastern ___ — ____ — __ 98

northern ____________ 94, 110

southern __________ 101, 108, 109 

western ____________________ 110

State of Franklin formed in _______ 109

Territorial Affairs, Office of ___________ 44

Territorial waters, jurisdiction ________ 44

Territories, boundary changes _________ 3

Territory northwest of Ohio River, boundaries and divisions ______-_-_- 49, 111, 114, 115

government _ —— ————— ———— -- 50 

Territory of the United States, additions 23 

Territory south of Ohio River, boundaries _____________________ 50

government _____________ — ____—— 109

Texas, admission ____ ——— ._-__-_-_ 51, 122

boundaries, eastern _ ——— ______ '107, 122

northern _____________ 27, 122, 123, 124

Greer County dispute _____ 122

seaward ______ — ___ — _____ — __ 46, 47

southwestern _ 23, 28, 124, 125, 126, 127 

western ______ — ___ — __ — _— 124

geographic facts _ — ———— ———— - 177 

land division and sale —________ 49, 122

Texas, Republic of _________ 27,51,120 

Thirteen Original Colonies __________;_ 1

Thoma, Joseph C., Colorado boundary

survey _____ — ___ — __ — __ 142

Page 

Thompson, David, British-United States

boundary survey __________ 14

Thompson, John, Tennessee-Mississippi

boundary survey ______ —— _ 106

Tiarks, J. L., British-United States boundary survey _______________ 14

TIAS ________________________ 43 

Tinian _________„_____________ 44

Treaties. See Great Britain and Spain.

Tree marking, Virginia county lines____ 95

Tri-State Rock, position _________ 79

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands __ 43 

Tutuila Islands ___________ 36

U

United Nations _________________ 44 

Ushur, John, Province of Maine __—— 59 

Utah, admission ________________ — _ 159

boundaries, description ___________ 159

eastern ______________ 143, 145 

northern and southern __ 145, 159, 160 

western __________________ 159

Utah Territory ________________ 51, 159

Utrecht treaty, Louisiana boundary ___ 26

V

Valentine, Vermont boundary survey__ 54, 76 

Verendrye brothers, exploration _ — — 25 

Vermont, admission __________________ 64

boundaries _______ 17, 22, 63, 64, 65

colonial grants _________.______ 64

Virgin Islands of the United States__ 39 

Virginia, boundaries, description _____ 92

boundaries, Kentucky _____________ 94

Maryland _____________ 86, 87, 88 

North Carolina ______ 96, 97, 98 

Tennessee _______-- 95, 110

West Virginia ______--_.__ 95, 96

cession of western lands _______ 47,49,95

charters ________________ 55, 92

land ceded for District of Columbia 88 

reduction in area ______————— 93

West Virginia separated ___—— 94, 95 

Virginia-North Carolina, mutual seaward

boundary _______ ————— - 98

Von Schmidt, A. W., California-Nevada

boundary survey ________ 151, 152

W

Wake Island _________________ 38 

Walker's line, Virginia-North Carolina

boundary ——__————— 95

Washington, admission and boundaries 155

boundaries, eastern _______________ 156

northern _____________ 18, 23 

southern ___________ —— __-__— 155

Washington meridian ________ 3, 27, 139 

Washington Territory ________ 51,155

Water, boundaries in __ 4, 90, 91, 104, 122, 123 

boundaries in, international _______ 18, 27

territorial _____________________ 44

Watkins Point, Maryland-Virginia

boundary ——__ ——— —— 86 

Watson line, Georgia boundary ______ 103

Webster-Ashburton treaty, United StatesBritish boundary ___________ 17

Wentworth, Gov. Benning, New Hampshire boundary ____ ———— -- 62

West Quoddy Head, Maine _______ 177 

West Virginia, admission _______ — -— 95

boundaries _________ 83, 88, 94, 95, 96 

Western Reserve of Connecticut in

Ohio _____,_______ 47,48 

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and

Connecticut claims ____ — __ 81
INDEX 191

Page Page Page

Wild Life Refuge ____________ 36 Wrentham, Mass., Rhode Island bound- Y

Wilkes, Lt. Charles, Antarctica _______ 41 ary ____________________ 66

Wi'.flj^-i-.sd^'ssjfln..,.--.. _. »__, 3.1, 123,130 WvTroa.^u.v__r°sift'.=, 1 i ___ . uu, ../, 1.5 Yaawws.J.H'Wanv.ii-u ra^, ,u,._,- ln/1

northeastern ___________ 129 northern ._____________ 145 diction _________ 145, 150, 157

southern ________________ 116 western ______________ 145, 157 York, Duke of .___._______ 59, 74, 80, 81

western .___________ 130, 131 southern ____..________ 145

Wisconsin Territory ____________ 50 Yellowstone National Park __ 145, 150, 157 Z

Woodward, Nathaniel, Massachusetts Bay- Wyoming Territory _________________ 54, 144

Rhode Island boundary sur- Wyoming Valley, Pa., claimed by Con- Zero milestone, public highways ____ 92

vey ——————————————— 66 necticut _ ——— — ___-__- 81 Zones, degrees of latitude ________ 81

	•ft U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1976 O-211-9U