FIGURE 4.-Maine, showing the claims of the United States and Great Britain in 1827 and the present boundary.

776-664 O-66-3

miles along the highlands that divide the sources of the tributaries of the River St. John from the sources of the River Penobscot to a spot called Metjarmette Portage, near the source of the River Chaudiere.

From this point the line coincides with the line claimed by the United States as far as the northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River. Great Britain claimed one of several small streams to be the northwesternmost tributary of the Connecticut River, and the United States another.

The territory in dispute comprised an area of about 12,000 square miles. The British claims were based principally on a possible uncertainty as to the identity of the River St. Croix and the proper location of the "highlands."

The location of the source of the St. Croix was officially fixed by the declaration of commissioners in October, 1798. Its position as determined in 1899 is lat 45°56′37.007" N. and long 67°46′54.715" W. (U.S. Coast Geod. Survey, 1918, p. 30).

ARBITRATION BY KING OF THE NETHERLANDS

The King of the Netherlands was selected in 1829 by the two Governments as the arbiter, and each laid before him, in conformity with the provisions of the convention, all the evidence intended to be brought in support of its claim and two separate statements of the respective cases. His award, made in 1831, was as follows (Moore, 1898, p. 134-136):

We are of the opinion: That it will be suitable (il conviendra) to adopt, as the boundary of the two States, a line drawn due north from the source of the river St. Croix to the point where it intersects the middle of the thalweg of the river St. John; thence, the middle of the thalweg of that river, ascending it, to the point where the river St. Francis empties itself into the river St. John; thence, the middle of the thalweg of the river St. Francis, ascending it to the source of its southwesternmost branch, which source we indicate on the Map A" by the letter X, authenticated by the signature of our Minister of Foreign Affairs; thence, in a line drawn due west to the point where it unites with the line claimed by the United States of America and delineated on the Map A; thence, by said line to the point at which, according to said map, it coincides with that claimed by Great Britain; and thence, the line traced on the map by the two Powers to the northwesternmost source of Connecticut River.

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We are of the opinion that the stream situated farthest to the northwest, among these which fall into the northernmost of the three Lakes, the last of which bears the name of Connecticut Lake, must be considered as the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River.

23 The New York Public Library has a facsimile copy, 62 by 63 in., of the signed original map. Moore (1898) gives a corrected copy on a small scale.

We are of the opinion that it will be suitable to proceed to fresh operations to measure the observed latitude in order to mark out the boundary from river Connecticut along the parallel of the 45th degree of north latitude to the river Saint Lawrence, named in the treaties Iroquois or Cataraquy, in such a manner, however, that, in all cases, at the place called Rouse's Point the territory of the United States of America shall extend to the fort erected at that place, and shall include said fort and its Kilometrical radius.

However disposed the Government of the United States might have been to acquiesce in the decision of the arbiter, it had not the power to change the boundaries of a State without the consent of the State. Against that alteration, the State of Maine entered a solemn protest by resolution of January 19, 1832, and the Senate of the United States accordingly refused to give its assent to the award.

The arbitration of the King of the Netherlands having failed, fruitless negotiations ensued for a period of 11 years. Unsuccessful attempts were made to conclude an agreement preparatory to another arbitration. The subject became a matter of great irritation, collisions occurred in the contested territory, and for a time it seemed certain that the controversy would result in war between the two powers.

The Legislature of Maine placed a large sum at the disposal of the governor for the defense of the State's rights, and a bill was passed by Congress providing funds for the use of an army.

Massachusetts, being an interested party in the location of this boundary, appointed a committee to investigate the matter; its report was published March 20, 1838, as Senate Document 67.24 Gallatin (1840) presents an excellent discussion of this dispute from the point of view of the United States; his book presents a small-scale copy of "Map A." White (1914a) treats of this boundary from the British viewpoint.

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WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1842

In 1842, however, Great Britain gave proof, by the special mission of Lord Ashburton to the United States, of her desire for the preservation of peace and an amicable arrangement of the matter at issue. The subject of this mission was the settlement of not only the northeastern boundary but also the northern boundary west of the Rocky Mountains. Regarding the latter boundary, Lord Ashburton's instructions gave as the ultimatum of the British Government the boundary as above claimed (p. 22), and his mission had no result as far as this particular boundary was concerned. An agreement was reached, however, in regard to the northeastern boundary, which, the 24 See U.S. Cong. (1838) for a copy of report and map. See also, U.S. Cong. (1839a). For other references to this dispute, see Internat. Boundary Comm., United States and Canada (1925), and Faris (1926, chap. 1).

consent of the State of Maine having been obtained, was embodied in the treaty concluded August 9, 1842. The following is the text of the part of this treaty relating to the boundary (Malloy, 1910, v. 1, p. 651):

ARTICLE I. It is hereby agreed and declared that the line of boundary shall be as follows: Beginning at the monument at the source of the river St. Croix as designated and agreed to by the Commissioners under the fifth article of the treaty of 1794, between the Governments of the United States and Great Britain; thence north, following the exploring line run and marked by the surveyors of the two Governments in the years 1817 and 1818, under the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, to its intersection with the river St. John, and to the middle of the channel thereof; thence, up the middle of the main channel of the said river St. John, to the mouth of the river St. Francis; thence up the middle of the channel of the said river St. Francis, and of the lakes through which it flows, to the outlet of the Lake Pohenagamook; thence, southwesterly, in a straight line, to a point on the northwest branch of the river St. John, which point shall be ten miles distant from the main branch of the St. John, in a straight line, and in the nearest direction; but if the said point shall be found to be less than seven miles from the nearest point of the summit or crest of the highlands that divide those rivers which empty themselves into the river Saint Lawrence from those which fall into the river Saint John, then the said point shall be made to recede down the said northwest branch of the river St. John, to a point seven miles in a straight line from the said summit or crest; thence, in a straight line, in a course about south, eight degrees west, to the point where the parallel of latitude 46°25′ north intersects the southwest branch of the St. John's; thence, southerly, by the said branch, to the source thereof in the highlands at the Metjarmette portage; thence, down along the said highlands which divide the waters which empty themselves into the river Saint Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the head of Hall's Stream; thence, down the middle of said stream, till the line thus run intersects the old line of boundary surveyed and marked by Valentine and Collins, previously to the year 1774, as the 45th degree of north latitude, and which has been known and understood to be the line of actual division between the States of New York and Vermont on one side and the British province of Canada on the other; and from said point of intersection, west, along the said dividing line, as heretofore known and understood, to the Iroquois or St. Lawrence River.

ARTICLE II. It is moreover agreed, that, from the place where the joint Commissioners terminated their labors under the sixth article of the treaty of Ghent, to wit, at a point in the Neebish Channel, near Muddy Lake, the line shall run into and along the ship-channel between Saint Joseph and St. Tammany Islands, to the division of the channel at or near the head of St. Joseph's Island; thence, turning eastwardly and northwardly around the lower end of St. George's or Sugar Island, and following the middle of the channel which divides St. George's from St. Joseph's Island; thence up the east Neebish Channel, nearest to St. George's Island, through the middle of Lake George; thence, west of Jonas' Island, into St. Mary's River, to a point in the middle of that river, about one mile above St. George's or Sugar Island, so as to appropriate and assign the said island to the United States; thence, adopting the line traced on the maps by the Commissioners, thro' the river St. Mary and Lake Superior, to a point north of Ile Royale, in said lake, one hundred yards to the north and east of Ile Chapeau, which last-mentioned island lies near

the northeastern point of Ile Royale, where the line marked by the Commissioners terminates; and from the last-mentioned point, southwesterly, through the middle of the sound between Ile Royale and the northwestern mainland, to the mouth of Pigeon River, and up the said river, to and through the north and south Fowl Lakes, to the lakes of the height of land between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods; thence, along the water communication to Lake Saisaginaga, and through that lake; thence to and through Cypress Lake, Lac du Bois Blanc, Lac la Croix, Little Vermillion Lake, and Lake Namecan and through the several smaller lakes, straits, or streams, connecting the lakes here mentioned, to that point in Lac la Pluie, or Rainy Lake, at the Chaudière Falls, from which the Commissioners traced the line to the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods; thence, along the said line, to the said most northwestern point, being in latitude 49°23′55'' north, and in longitude 95°14′38" west from the observatory at Greenwich; thence, according to existing treaties, due south to its intersection with the 49th parallel of north latitude, and along that parallel to the Rocky Mountains. It being understood that all the water communications and all the usual portages along the line from Lake Superior to the Lake of the Woods, and also Grand Portage, from the shore of Lake Superior to the Pigeon River, as now actually used, shall be free and open to the use of the citizens and subjects of both countries.

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ARTICLE VII. It is further agreed that the channels in the river St. Lawrence, on both sides of the Long Sault Islands and of Barnhart Island, the channels in the river Detroit on both sides of the island Bois Blanc, and between that island and both the American and Canadian shores, and all the several channels and passages between the various islands lying near the junction of the river St. Clair with the lake of that name, shall be equally free and open to the ships, vessels, and boats of both parties."

By this treaty the United States obtained more than half of the disputed area, though nearly 1,000 square miles less than was awarded by the King of the Netherlands. The promise of reimbursement for the cost of surveys and other expenses, and the division of a large fund for timber cut in the disputed territory, no doubt influenced Maine in agreeing to the boundary as fixed by the treaty.

Commissioners acting under this treaty in 1843-1847 surveyed the boundary line to a point where the 45th parallel intersects the St. Lawrence (U.S. Cong., 1848; New York [State] Univ., 1884, v. 2, p. 53).

The wording of the part of the treaty of 1783 relating to the northeastern boundary and its intent are so obvious that it seems strange that there should have been a dispute continuing for nearly 60 years regarding its interpretation. An English writer in 1911 characterizes the action of Great Britain as an "attempted theft"

This is the position of the north mark as determined in 1824. See p. 21 for later determination.

By Article XXVI of the treaty with Great Britain of May 8, 1871, the St. Lawrence from its intersection with the 45th parallel to the sea was forever made "free and open for the purpose of commerce to the citizens of the United States."