The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-12-17
OF MAY
MARK A ROUTE

Hearings in a dozen cities of both
countries by the United States ana
Canadian joint commission to consider
connecting the st. Lawrence river and
the Great Lakes by a canal system
awakened a new interest in the nearly
1000 miles of border that separates
this country from its %neighbOr TO the
north.
The boundary between the two great
EngliSh->pcaking countries OF America,
giving them joint ownership of some
OF the greatest lakes in the world, as
well as a river Of prime importance,
holds possibilities for development
overlooked by many Of the citizen
stockholders on both sides of the line.
The single scheme now under discus
sion for the construction of canals 10
handle ocean going ships foreshadoWs
a work that would rival In magnitude
and importance even the experimenting
engineering feats at Panama. With
huge canals connecting the waters Of
the Great Lakes and the st. Lawrence,
ships capable of negotiating any
weather could sail with the ore, coal
and grain Of the western United
States and Canada, directly to any
port Of the Seven seas.
Discussion by the two countries of
the feasibility of engaging Jointly
in the development Of their border
waters Is i'm contrast with some Of the
stormy Incidents in which the boun-
dairy has figured. Known in recent
years as "the border without forts"
and come at last to be regarded as a
line of amity and friendship, it is per-
haps not generally realized now that
until the cumulative efforts Of years
resulted not long ago in the settlement
Of some lOng-standing disputes. the
United States Canadian boundary was
the source of almost continual misun-
~derstanding. Many times there were
unpleasant Incidents, twice the coun-
tries were on the verge Of war, and for
we'll over a hundred years after the
close Of the Revolutionary war diplo-
mats, commissioners, and even neutral
kings and emperOrs acting as arbitra-
tors were kept busy trying to straight
en- out the many snarls into which a
border line can become tangled.
Much of the trouble in regard to the
boundary resulted from ignorance OF
the geography Of the country on the
part Of the early negotiators. The
st. CrOiX river which the earliest
treaty stated should form the eastern
line Of Maine at the very starting point
OF the international boundary was not
satisfactorily identified at first, end
this caused friction for some years.
A second geographical error-the as
sumption that the Lake Of the Woods
drained into Lake Superior-is resron-
sible for the rather indefinite bonn
dairy of small lakes and brooks be-
tween the two large lakes. The be-
lief that the Mississippi river had its
ource in Canada, and field notes in
accordance with that belief, brought
about the existence Of a tract Of land
of a hundred square miles, cut off on
q peninsula on the northern shore, Of
the Lake Of the Woods, practically sur
rounded by Canadian territory and
many miles across the water from 9TH
er land Of the United States.
In connection with still another
United States-Canadian boundar. -
that between southern Alaska and
British Columbia mistaken impress.
sion Of early Russian traders has Civ.
en- the United States a boundary run.
ming helter-skelter over foothills and
ridges when 1t was believed to follow
a mountain watershed, q logical geo.
graphical boundary.
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