El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-13
Heroes In Boundary Work
Marking the Line In Alaska Has
Cost the United States
sum OF S75O,OOO.
Frederic }. Haslzin--

TASHINGTON. d. c., March IS.
! M When the United States
w purchased Alaska from Rus
/ STA it was believed that there never
/ could arise between it and Great
/ Britain a dispute over the boundary
I between the territory and British Co
/ lumoia- The boundary was fixed under
/ a treaty, made in 1925, between Rus
] STA and Great Britain one end Of il to
[ consist Of the 1s1st meridian. and the
I other end to be constituted by a line
! drawn across the summit Of several
{ mountain peaks. from Mount st. Elias
20 and through the Portland canal. So
/ sure were those interested that the
/ boundary was plainly fixed that
I Charles Sumner declared Il am glad
I to begin with what is clear and be-
yOnd question I refer to the bound
( aries fixed by the treaty"
Dispute Arose In ISIS.
| Concerning the 600 mile stretch
/ from the Arctic ocean southwark, with
/ the boundary consisting Of the 141st
meridian, there could be no dispute
I which could not be solved by careful
! measurements, but southwark Of that
| the other 500 mile stretch is made up
/ of an irregular boundary separating
I the Alaskan panhandle from the ter
/ ritOry OF British Columbia As far
I back as 1878 a dispute between Eng
| land and the United States arose and
! a mOdus vivendi with reference to the
.
| similar agreement composed for the
| time being the differences that arose
in 1893 relating to the country at the
head Of the Lynn canal
Negotiations for the permanent set
Element Of the disputed boundaries
were entered into shortly thereafter,
and these resulted in the negotiation
of a treaty in 1904, creating the
tribunal Of LOden, composed Of six
eminent jurists. three from each cOun-
try, which was to hear the evidence in
the case and to settle the controversy
once and for all This tribunal heard
the evidence. reached its decision, and
a commission to carry out its views
was appointed, all within eight months
after the signing OF the treaty
Gold Land Worth While.
Before the discovery Of gold in
Alaska few people bothered their heads
f. about boundaries in what seemed to
be q desOlate region where all the
land in dispute was not worth the
money and pains it would cost to set
tie the argument But when the rush
TO the klOndike began the Canadian
government constructed telegraph
overland to Dawson, While the United
States laid a cable from Seattle to
Sitka. and a telegraph line to Valdez
and Fort Egbert. 1t was then that
Alaska became worth considering and
the United States and Great Britain
pointed to different mountain peaks
as those referred to in the treaty OF
1925. with the result that the treaty
creating the tribunal Of London fol-
lowed apace-
Z. $. and Canada Cooperate.
The real work Of marking the
Alaskan boundary, under the direction
Of the Alaskan boundary commission,
fell upon the shoulders Of Thomas
Riggs. Jr.. the American engineer in
charge, and his associates. while
Canada had a similar party in the field
working in conjunction with them
Mr. Riggs was no new man when he
went TO Alaska to help tie a ground
boundary to the stars, and to fix 1t so
permanently and so definitely that
even though mountains were to re-
move themselves into the sea and val
leys' were to rise up into hills. that
boundary would still be fixed He had
hit the trair' when gold was discov-
cred in Alaska, and had wrestled with
the transportation problems upon
whose solution depends the opening
up Of this virgin empire Of natural
wealth.
Work Costs S75O.OOO.
The work Of marking the Alaskan
boundary viii have cost the United
states approximately S750,0O0 when it
is finished next year 1t represents
some Of the best boundary work in the
world, and the 500 mile section Of it
reaching from Mount St Elias to the
Arctic ocean. is the worlds longest I
exactly surveyed straight line. The
southern part Of this line had to be
run across mountains covered with
perpetual SHOWS and over glaciers Of
eternal ice But as the work prog
reSsed nOrthWard the elevation he
came lower and from the White river
to the Arctic there is a brief summer !
season free from ice and cold and q
region where game on the land and
game in the water abound in Drofu- &
thousands, Wide-antlered moose, carl
DOu and bear-and where, in the words !
Of Mr. Riggs. greyling are not caught I
with hook and line, but are kicked out 1
Of the water.
Clear Timber on Line.
The boundary is being marked by 4
clearing off all timber for a distance 1
Of ten feet on either side. At points
aluminium bronze monuments are set :
up to locate the exact position OF the .
line At important river crossings and [
along highways of travel these mon I
embedded in a ton OF concrete; at less !
important points monuments three feet /
nigh. planted in 1900 pound concrete I
bases. are set up. These points are
geodeticalIy determined. or located BY
the stars They viii serve as the basis {
of all future surveys.
While the line was being run the I
topographers were at work with their
plotting the country 4
around They climbed up to the tops
Of mountain peaks where they could
get a good view of the surrounding
country. and recorded on their plane
table sheets the elevations, the drain
age, and even the character Of the
timber A line of precise levels was
run by which the eleyation above the
sea Of any given point could be de-
termined. The resulting maps are I
said to be about the best example Of
the surveyors art that have been
made on any boundary.
Many Hnrdshfps Encountered.
The difficulty of running such
long line was perhaps greater than
any encountered in recent history. For
over 200 miles across perpetual snow
and primeval glaciers. the supplies of
the surveying party had to be car
ried on the backs of horses. Two miles
an honr and SIX nouns q daE ranresenL-