The Red Cloud chief., 1892-04-15
A BOUNDARIES.
Not Infrequently Difficulties Arise Con.
corning Them.


Not Infrequently Difhculties Arise Con
corning Them.
After n of the Emperor Napoleon's
great victories the English prime min.
lister, looking at a map of Europe. said
mournfully, Roll up the map; it will
not be wanted these ten years"
What he meant was that it would be
ten years before the fighting over the
boundaries of the European states came
to an end. And in fact these boundaries
have been fought over since then for
nearly eight times ten years, and are
likely to be still further and radically
altered in the coming decades
This fact makes it interesting to ask
how the states of our W Union came
to fix their boundaries, and how claims
which often confiicted were ~peaceably
adjusted.
When territories are admitted nova.
days as states, like Washington. or
North and South Dakota, the answer 10
easy. The United States government
controls the land originally, and on
gress fixes the limits both of the terri.
tory and of the state or states created
from it .
But the situation of the eastern states
at the start was very different When
their boundaries were first defined, they
were colonies unconnected with and
often hostile to one another. Nearly
oil OF them based their claims to terri
tory on vague grants from English
kings to explorers colonial companies,
or royal ~favorites As the interior land
was almost without value and little
sought after. and as the sea coast was
the only important district, the grants
were drawn with great carelessnesA
For instance. the original grant for
the colony of Connecticut included q
strip Of land from Long Island Sound
to the Pacific ocean Subsequently a
part of the same land, together with
territory given long before to Massa-
chusetts and New Hampshire. were in
cluded in the grant to New York.
Examples of rival claims to territory
might be given almost by the score.
What is o Vermont was claimed by
New York and New Hampshire; Ohio
was claimed by Connecticut and Vir-
glnia, and there were other disputes as
to territory in the south.
The wholes ale Connecticut grant
made trouble as far west as Ohio. where
until the year 800 the New England
state owned all the land along Lake
Erie. The name of the western Re-
serve" of Ohio is a reminder of a claim
that was not merely made but partially
allowed.
Massachusetts,, too, owned tho stoks
of Maine for two hundred years, after
which it generously surrendered i0s
claim. Virginia for years owned seo-
tions Of other states. and in fact at enc
time fairly divided with Connections he
ownership of Ohio So
Even when the general ownership Of
land was settled, the question % to
where the exact boundaries Of states
ran made trouble. Pennsylvanisisnd
Maryland quarreled SO bitterly, over
their boundary that bloodshed othrival
claimants on the border was Of constant
occurrence. but the dispute was settled
finally in 1867 by the running OF Mason
and Dixon's line, famous a CENTURY later
rs the boundary between freedom and
slavery.
In some states the d~iscoverySof mis-
takes in generally accepted boundary
lines has transferred impo,tSnt towns
from one state to anothet For in
stance. the citizens of PawEacket were
counted in Bristol count fMassachu-
sets. until 1861, when Q Aew survey
transferred Pawtucketto 3hode Island,
while a part of the novJgreat manu-
featuring city of Fall River, until then
supposed to be in RhodS Island, was
handed over TO Massachusetts,
Even with the accu-ste surveys Of
to-day. disputes arise cnfthe same per
question Ohn and Indiana
still hold rival and und titled boundary
claims Even where afiver runs along
the state borders trouble is not neces-
sarily averted; for tte question then
arises. Who owns tbefight to the river?
And if this owners3 il important. a.
In the case Of thu 6yster-beds in the
Potomac, between Maryland and vir
ginia. fierce quar,els follow, even in
these days.
Yet when We cen ider the warlike ex.
periences of EuropS in these very ques-
tons, with far lesScomplexity Of grants
and titles than Il our own states, it i
to the honor Of our country
results haPe been so peaceably
's Companion