Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-12-02
THE CANADIAN BORDER
Four Thousand Unguarded Miles
Form Northern Boundary
Line Once Badly Tangled As Result Of
Geographical Ignorance of Early
observation-disclosures Mistake
Created Illogical boundary

bIOHicnI boundary
Hearings now being held in a dozen
cities of both countries by the United
states and Canadian Joint commission 10
consider connecting the 81. Lawrence
River and the Great Lakes by n canal
system, awaken new interest in tho
| nearly 1000 miles of border that Separates
this country from its neighbor to tho
north" says u bulletin issued by the
National Geographic Society.
The boundary between the two great
Engish-speaking countries Of America"
continues the bulletin. giving them
joint ownership of some of the greatest
lakes in the world, as we'll as river
of prime Importance. holds possibilities
for development overlooked by many Of
the citizen-stoc kholders on both sides Of
the line. The single scheme now under
discussion for the construction Of canals
to handle ocean-going ships foreshadows
a work that would rival in magnitude
and importance even the epoch making
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.
0 Discussion by the two countries of the
feasibility of engaging jointly In the
development of their border waters Is
in contrast with some of the stormy In
cidents in which the boundary has flg-
ured. Known in recent years as the
border without forts and come at last
to be regarded as a line of amity and
friendship, 1t is perhaps 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 con-
tinual misunderstanding. Many times
there were unpleasant Incidents twice
the countries were on the verge of war,
and for well over q hundred years after
the close of the Revolutionary War Dip
lomats, commissioners, and even neutral
kings and emperors acting as arbitrator
were kept busy trying to straighten 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 tho
geography of the country on the part Of
the early negotiators. The st. CroiS
River which the earliest treaty stated
, should form the eastern line of Maine
at the very starting point of the nterna-
tional boundary was not satisfactorily
=
ton for some years.
"A second geographical error-the as
, sumption that the Lake of the Woods
drained into Lake Superior-is RESPONSE
bic for the rather indefinite boundary OF
{ small lakes and brooks between the two
; large lakes. The belief that the Misss-
> sippi River had its source in Canada,
, and field notes in accordance with that
( belief, has brought about the exist
square miles, cut off on a peninsula on
' the northern shore Of the Lake of tho
4 Woods, practically surrounded by Cana
e dian territory, and many miles across the
e water from other land of the United
r States.
In connection with still another
T United States-Canadian boundary-that
. between southern Alaska and British
Columbia-a mistaken impression Of early
Russian traders has given the United
L States a boundary running helter-ske-
ter over foothills and ridges when it was
believed to follow a mountain watershed,
a logical geographical boundary.
a From its eastern start in an arm OF
= Fundy, bay of titanic tides, to its west
4 ern end In the Straits of Fuca, entrance
to Puget Sound, the Canadian boundary
n embodies numerous features Of geograph-
q ical and scenic interest. 1t strikes
o through the great Maine woods, along
q the channel of the St. Lawrence and
v among it's Thousand Islands, up the
gorge and over the falls of Niagara,
q through the wide expanses and the mar
Z row straits of the Great Lakes, and
3 across the charming, forest-rmmed Lake
y of the Woods. Much OF the surveyed
t line west of the Lake of the Woods is
: over more or les featureless plains but
farther westward it drives with fine dis
regard for obstacles straight across ono
of the most rugged and majestic por-
lions of the Rockies to meet the Pacific
| through the island-strewn Puget Sound.
II This latter part of the line westward
: from the crest of the Rockies. was in
= dispute for 40 years. About 1t. in the
: presidential campaign of 1874 was fors-
: ed the ringing. alliterative slogan.
- 'Fifty-four forty or fight. In spite OF
:, the fact that the party which made the
:, slogan won the election, the newly
-. chosen administration signed a convep-
. ton In 1916 extending the forty-nlnth
parallel to the Pacific.
n The Canadian boundary between the
= Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is $500 miles
70 long more than twice the length OF the
a line which separated the United States
q from Mexico Well over half the Cana
II dian boundary is water. Overland the
II line is marked by pyramidal monuments
= Of aluminium bronze or iron from three
V to five feet high. at intervals of ap-
ia prox imately two miles. The long line OF
shafts, stretching out hundreds of miles
,e across plateaus and valleys, up noun
l. tain-sides and over high peaks, and along
81 narrow, straight swaths through tho
al heart of the forest country. tells story
+ of many obstacles overcome to trace
l. mans arbitrary lines on the face OF ns-
l. ture."