The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1881-06-04
THE B3UNDARY LINE

We find n the st. Paul Press an &C.
count Of o great work, the marking of
the boz iary zine between the United
States and British territory. The work
is now finished for the whole northern
and northwestern frontier of the
United States, except as to the Territory
Of Alaska ccded by Russia to us under
the treaty Of Ghent we have been estab-
fishing our northern boundary with Great
Britain until year or two ago, when the
work was finally completed by joint
commission consisting Of Maj. Donald R.
Cameron, royal artillery, Capt. S. Ander-
son, royal engineers, for Great Britain,
and Archibald Campbell and Captain J.
Twining, United States army, for our
government. The commission expert
enced difficulty in discharging their
duties, from the errors committed by for
mer commissioners. In April, 1870,
while engaged in locating military
reservation for post near Pembina, our
engineers discovered that the commonly
received boundary line between the Brit
ish possessions and the United States at
that place was 4,700 feet south of the
forty-ninth parallel, and if run on west
from such an initial point, would throw
the fort of the Hudson Bay Company at
Pembina into the United States. Here
was indeed difficulty, and the officers
at once communicated the facts to their
government. The President, Gen. Grant,
sent information to the British govern
ment, which requested the consent Of the
United States to occupy the fort of the
Hudson Bay Company until the matter
could be determined. OF course, such a
reasonable request was at once granted
The President then sent message to
Congress, recommending the establish
ment of a joint commission to fix the true
boundary line between the two countries,
and Congress assisted, appropriating
100000 by joint resolution to carry out
the work. The appropriation was not
available until 1872, when the work was
begun, as above stated, by joint COM
mission of the two governments. The
northern boundary is marked by stone
cairns, iron pillars, wood pillars, earth
mounds and timber posts. A stone cairn
is y feet by s feet, an earth mound 7
feet by fourteen feet, an iron pillar 5 feet
high, s inches square at the bottom and
inches at the top, timber posts 5 feet
high and s inches square. There are 3S2
OF these marks between the Lake of the
WOODS and the base of the Rocky Noun
tains. That portion of the boundary
which lies east and west of the Red river
valley is marked by cast-iron pillars at
even mile intervals. The British placed
one every two miles, and the United
States one between each British post.
Our pillars or markers We're made at
Detroit, Mich. They are hollow iron
castings, three-eights of an inch in thick
ness, in the form OF truncated pyramid,
eight feet high, eight inches square at the
bottom and four inches at the top as be-
fore stated. They have at the top
solid pyramidal cap, and at the bottom
an octagonal hange one inch in thickness.
Upon the opposite faces are cast in let
ters two inches high, the inscriptions.
Convention of London, and October
90, 1915" The Inscriptions begin about
four feet six inches above the base, and
read upwards. The interior of the hol-
low posts are filled with well-seasoned
cedar posts sawed to fit, and securely
spiked through spike holes cast in the
pillars for the purpose. The average
weight of each pillar when completed is
eighty-five pounds. The pillars are all
set four feet in the ground with their in
scription faces on the north and south
and the earth is well settled and stamped
about them. For the wooden posts we'll
seasoned logs are selected, and the por-
tion above the ground painted red, to
prevent the swelling and shrinking.
These posts do very well, but the Indians
cut them down for fuel, and nothing but
iron will last very long. Where the line
crosses the lakes, monuments of stone
have been built, the bases being in some
places eighteen feet under water and the
tops projecting eight feet above the lakes
surface at high-water mark. In forests
the line is marked by telling timber rod
wide and clearing away the underbrush.
The work of cutting through the timbered
swamps was very great, but it has been
well done and the boundary distinctly
marked by the Commissioners the1whole
distance from Michigan to Alaska.