Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-08
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and the impression prevailed among the parties
to the treaty that the Lake of the Woods
was tributary to Lake Superior and the st.
Lawrence system through chain of small
streams and lakes, when, in reality, that
lake sends its waters via Lake Winnepeg and
Nelson River into Hudson Bay, and the boat
men who passed out of Lake Superior into
the Lake oi the Woods were Obliged TO make
portage at the head of Pigeon River.
1t Is not necessary to quote the legal Ian
guage OF the treaty Of 1882. In substance,
1t says that the boundary which began with
the st. Croix River, on the east of Maine,
followed the watershed between the rivers of
that State and the ST. Lawrence, along the
iorty,ilfth parallel of latitude to where it cuts
the st. Lawrence. up the middle of that
river and the Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron
into. Superior, should enter Pigeon Bay and
River into the. Lake of the Woods, pass
through that sheet of water to the most
northwestery point thereof, and from there
take due west course to the Mississippi,
down the middle of that river to the thirty.
first parallel of latitude-about forty-five
miles north of Baton Rouge, La.--along that
parable, to the. Chattahoochee River, down
the middle OF that river to its junction with
the Flint River, and then straight east to the
head of st. Mary's River, and down that
stream to the Atlantic Ocean.
Thus the treaty defined the boundaries be-
tween the new nation OF the United States
and the French territory of Louisiana-the
eastern boundary of which extended from
the Lake of the Woods nearly to the Gulf of
Mexico-and the Spanish territory of Florida.
In making the northwest corner of the
Lake of the Woods the initial point from
which line should be traced ''due west to
the River Mississippi" the parties to the
treaty of 1882 seem to have confused the
Red River of the North with the Father of
Waters as they had confused the Lake of
the Woods with the St. Lawrence system,
and subsequent exploration revealed the fact
that the Mississippi was south OF the initial
point.
Soon after the confirmation of the treaty,
the Hon. Rufus King, on the part of the
United States, and Lord Hawkcsbury, ON the
part Of Great Britain, attempted to deter
mine the northwest corner Of the Lake of
the Woods, but after the purchase of Louisi-
ana from the French, the United States re-
jected their finding.
This purchase was made in 1903, and made
it necessary to again determine the boundary
between the American Republic and the pos
sessions of Great Britain. From Nova Scotia
to the Lake of the Woods it had already been
settled upon, but from the Lake. Of the
Woods to the Pacific coast it was underlined.
AT the close of the war of 1912, in the
treaty of Client the whole northern bound
airy from tbs. Atlantic to the Pacific was mi
nutely described.
By the second article of the document it
was agreed, 'eThat a line drawn from the
most northwestern point of the Lake of the
Woods, along the forty-ninth parallel of north
latitude; or II said point shall not be in the
forty ninth parallel of north latitude, then
that line drawn from 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 inter-
section due west along and with said parallel.
shall be. the line of dernarcation between the
Territories of the United States and those
OF his britannia Majesty and that said line
shall form the northern boundary of the
United States and the southern boundary of
the territories of his Britannia Majesty. from
the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Noun
tains"
VI course stony is synonymous with rocky,
and the Rocky Mountains are meant.
The monument marking the northwest cor
ner of the Lake of the Woods was erected in
October. 1924, by two British commissioners.
Dr. l. l.. Tiarks. astronomer, and David
Thompson.
There was no representative of the United
States associated with them, and our govern
ment adopted their action. The exact north
west angle being in a marsh and at the time
the observations were made, under water.
reference monument was erected ON adjacent
dry land.
This monument was built of poplar logs ON
an oak foundation. 1t was seven feet square