APPENDIX II THE BOUNDARY TREATIES The Provisional Treaty of Peace between the United States and Great Britain, concluded November 30, 1782, and the Definitive Treaty of Peace between the United States and Great Britain, concluded September 3, 1783, both provided in identical terms, in the second article of each treaty, that the northern boundary of the United States should run "Thence through the said Lake [Lake of the Woods] to the most Northwestern Point thereof, and from thence on a due West Course to the River Mississippi." The Mississippi was recognized as the western boundary of the United States in the next words of the two treaties: "Thence by a Line to be drawn along the Middle of the said River Mississippi until it shall intersect the Northernmost Part of the thirty first Degree of North Latitude." The text of article II reads as follows: DEFINITIVE TREATY OF PEACE (Signed September 3, 1783; ratifications exchanged May 12, 1784) ARTICLE II And that all Disputes which might arise in future on the Subject of the Boundaries of the said United States, may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are and shall be their Boundaries, Viz. From the North West Angle of Nova Scotia, viz. That Angle which is formed by a Line drawn due North from the Source of Saint Croix River to the Highlands[,] along the said Highlands which divide those Rivers that empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the Northwestern-most Head of Connecticut River: Thence down along the middle of that River to the forty fifth Degree of North Latitude; From thence by a Line due West on said Latitude until it strikes the River Iroquois or Cataraquy; Thence along the middle of said River into Lake Ontario; through the Middle of said Lake until it strikes the Communication by Water between that Lake & Lake Erie; Thence along the middle of said Communication into Lake Erie; through the middle of said Lake, until it arrives at the Water Communication between that Lake & Lake Huron; Thence along the middle of said Water-Communication into the Lake Huron, thence through the middle of said Lake to the Water Communication between that Lake and Lake Superior, thence through Lake Superior Northward of the Isles Royal & Phelipeaux to the Long Lake; Thence through the Middle of said Long-Lake, and the Water Communication between it & the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; Thence through the said Lake to the most Northwestern Point thereof, and from thence on a due West Course to the River Mississippi, Thence by a Line to be drawn along the Middle of the said River Mississippi until it shall intersect the Northernmost Part of the thirty first Degree of North Latitude. South, by a Line to be drawn due East from the Determination of the Line last mentioned, in the Latitude of thirty one Degrees North of the Equator to the middle of the River Apalachicola or Catahouche. Thence along the middle thereof to its Junction with the Flint River; Thence strait to the Head of St. Mary's River, and thence down along the middle of St Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean. East, by a Line to be drawn along the Middle of the River St Croix, from its Mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its Source; and from its Source directly North to the aforesaid Highlands, which divide the 1 The text of the treaties has been taken from Treaties and other International Acts of the United States of America, vols. 2-5, edited by Hunter Miller, Department of State, Washington; 1931–1937. This differs from other published texts only in unimportant details of punctuation, capitalization, division into paragraphs, and order of precedence. Rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean, from those which fall into the River St. Lawrence; comprehending all Islands within twenty Leagues of any Part of the Shores of the United States, & lying between Lines to be drawn due East from the Points where the aforesaid Boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one Part and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch. the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such Islands as now are or heretofore have been within the Limits of the said Province of Nova Scotia. It was supposed by the framers of the treaties that the source of the Mississippi was far enough north for a due west line drawn from the most northwestern point of Lake of the Woods to intersect that river. Knowledge to the contrary was possibly in the possession of trappers and fur traders operating in the region, but if so, such knowledge had not been set down on published maps, and the famous Mitchell map, which was one of the maps used by the framers of the treaties, while it does not delineate the source of the Mississippi, carries the following note: "The head of the Mississippi is not yet known. It is supposed to arise about the 50th degree of latitude." It was not long until doubts arose in regard to the Mississippi's rising so far north and the uncertainty finds expression in article IV of the Jay Treaty concluded November 19, 1794, which reads: THE JAY TREATY. TREATY OF AMITY, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION Whereas it is uncertain whether the River Mississippi extends so far to the Northward as to be intersected by a Line to be drawn due West from the Lake of the woods in the manner mentioned in the Treaty of Peace between His Majesty and the United States, it is agreed, that measures shall be taken in Concert between His Majesty's Government in America, and the Government of the United States, for making a joint Survey of the said River, from one Degree of Latitude below the falls of St Anthony, to the principal Source or Sources of the said River, and also of the parts adjacent thereto, And that if on the result of such Survey it should appear that the said River would not be intersected by such a Line as is above mentioned; The two Parties will thereupon proceed by amicable negotiation to regulate the Boundary Line in that quarter as well as all other Points to be adjusted between the said Parties, according to Justice and mutual Convenience, and in Conformity, to the Intent of the said Treaty. The joint surveys provided for in the treaty were never made; but David Thompson, geographer for the North West Company (a fur-trading company) visited the source of the Mississippi in 1798 and made latitude observations which placed it far south of Lake of the Woods. The fifth article of a convention regarding boundaries, negotiated by Lord Hawkesbury and Rufus King on May 12, 1803, provided, that in view of the uncertainty as to the extent of the Mississippi northward, the boundary should be the "shortest line" that could be drawn "between the northwest point of the Lake of the Woods and the nearest source of the River Mississippi." This convention was never ratified. Before it was acted upon by the United States Senate the treaty between the United States and France of April 30, 1803, for the cession of Louisiana was confirmed. The territory of Louisiana acquired by this treaty and by the convention of the same date extended the possessions of the United States westward beyond the Mississippi River and eliminated the question as to the source of the Mississippi by introducing the question of a territorial delimitation between the possessions of Great Britain and the Louisiana territory. While it is generally conceded that the Louisiana territory extended westward to the Rocky Mountains, authorities are not in accord as to whether it extended west of the Rocky Mountains; but there were other grounds on which the United States claimed territory to the west thereof. At the same time, the British Government had equally valid claims to territory west of the Rocky Mountains. These claims of the two Governments are set forth in the Historical Sketch (appendix I, p. 178) in this report and are relevant here insomuch as they overlapped and thus were subjects of diplomatic negotiations between the two Governments for many years—to be precise, until the treaty of 1846 was concluded. After the conclusion of the Louisiana treaty, the United States Senate advised that the Hawkesbury-King convention relating to boundaries should be ratified without the fifth article. The British Government declined to accept such an amendment. Thus the question of the boundary westward from Lake of the Woods remained unsettled and was in suspense until 1807 when another endeavor was made to adjust it. On the 31st of December 1806, the commercial articles of the Jay Treaty being about to expire, Messrs. Monroe and Pinkney, as Commissioners of the United States, with Lords Holland and Aukland as British Commissioners, signed a treaty of amity and commerce. After this treaty was concluded the British Commissioners proposed certain additional and explanatory articles, the fifth of which provided that the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude should form the boundary westward from Lake of the Woods "as far as the territories of the United States extend in that quarter", provided that nothing in the article should be construed "to extend to the northwest coast of America or to the territories belonging to or claimed by either party, on the continent of America to the westward of the Stony Mountains." The United States Commissioners objected to the words "as far as the territories of the United States extend in that quarter", and proposed to omit them. The British Commissioners in turn proposed to substitute the words, "as far as their said respective territories extend in that quarter", and to this proposal the United States Commissioners assented. The proviso in regard to territories west of the Stony Mountains was accepted in the form in which it was proposed. The Government of the United States, however, expressed a desire for the omission of the proviso on the ground that it was unnecessary and could have "little other effect than as an offensive intimation to Spain" that the claims of the United States extended "to the Pacific Ocean." However "reasonable" such claims might be "compared with those of others," it was, said Mr. Madison, Secretary of State, impolitic especially at that time, to strengthen Spanish jealousies of the United States. These articles relating to boundaries, however, were not concluded, as President Jefferson refused to submit the treaty itself to the United States Senate on account of objections to the articles relating to amity and commerce. The question of this boundary next came up during the negotiations at Ghent leading up to the treaty of 1814. The United States plenipotentiaries proposed, in respect of this boundary, the article agreed on by the Commissioners of the United States and Great Britain in 1807. The British plenipotentiaries offered in turn the article first proposed by Lords Holland and Aukland, with an additional paragraph providing for free access by British subjects through the territory of the United States to the Mississippi, and for the free navigation of that river. The substance of an article so far as it related to the boundary line, was finally agreed upon; but the United States plenipotentiaries would not accede to the paragraph relating to the Mississippi, and the whole article was finally omitted from the treaty. The treaty as finally ratified did not refer to the section of the boundary under discussion other than to provide for the establishment of the Northwesternmost Point of Lake of the Woods in article VII which reads as follows: * TREATY OF PEACE AND AMITY (TREATY OF GHENT) (Signed at Ghent December 24, 1814; ratifications exchanged February 17, 1815) It is further agreed that the said two last mentioned Commissioners after they shall have executed the duties assigned to them in the preceding Article, shall be, and they are hereby, authorized upon their oaths impartially to fix and determine according to the true intent of the said Treaty of Peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty three, that part of the boundary between the dominions of the two Powers, which extends from the water communication between Lake Huron and Lake Superior to the most North Western point of the Lake of the Woods; to decide to which of the two Parties the several Islands lying in the Lakes, water communications, and Rivers forming the said boundary do respectively belong in conformity with the true intent of the said Treaty of Peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty three, and to cause such parts of the said boundary as require it to be surveyed and marked. The said Commissioners shall by a Report or declaration under their hands and seals, designate the boundary aforesaid, state their decision on the points thus referred to them, and particularize the Latitude and Longitude of the most North Western point of the Lake of the Woods, and of such other parts of the said boundary as they may deem proper. And both parties agree to consider such designation and decision as final and conclusive. And in the event of the said two Commissioners differing, or both or either of them refusing, declining, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations or statements shall be made by them or either of them, and such reference to a friendly Sovereign or State shall be made in all respects as in the latter part of the fourth Article is contained, and in as full a manner as if the same was herein repeated. No further attempt to settle this boundary was made until the negotiations were under way which resulted in the conclusion of the convention between the United States and Great Britain of October 20, 1818. In these negotiations the United States plenipotentiaries proposed that the line should follow the 49th parallel of north latitude due west to the Pacific Ocean and they set forth their claims to this line by the Louisiana purchase as far as the Rocky Mountains and by the rights of discovery, exploration, and settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. An agreement was readily reached as to the portion of the line east of the Rocky Mountains, but the British plenipotentiaries set up counterclaims to the territory west of the Rocky Mountains. They did not make any formal proposal for a boundary, but intimated, however, that the Columbia River was the most convenient line that could be adopted, and that they would not agree to any arrangement that would not give them a harbor at the mouth of the Columbia in common with the United States. At the fifth conference the British plenipotentiaries proposed an article to the effect that the country west of the Rocky Mountains lying between the 45th and 49th parallels of latitude should be open to the trade and commerce of both parties without prejudice to the claims of possession by either of them. The United States plenipotentiaries declined to accept the proposal as first made, but in the end an agreement along similar lines was reached which is embodied in article III of the convention. The agreement adopting the boundary east of the Rocky Mountains is set forth in article II of the convention adopted October 20, 1818, and reads as follows: CONVENTION OF 1818 (Signed October 20, 1818; ratifications exchanged January 30, 1819) It is agreed that a Line drawn from the most North Western Point of the Lake of the Woods, along the forty Ninth Parallel of North Latitude, or, if the said Point shall not be in the Forty Ninth Parallel of North Latitude, then that a Line drawn from the 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 Intersection due West along and with the said Parallel shall be the Line of Demarcation between the Territories of the United States, and those of His Britannic Majesty, and that the said Line shall form the Northern Boundary of the said Territories of the United States, and the Southern Boundary of the Territories of His Britannic Majesty, from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains. ARTICLE III It is agreed, that any Country that may be claimed by either Party on the North West Coast of America, Westward of the Stony Mountains, shall, together with it's Harbours, Bays, and Creeks, and the Navigation of all Rivers within the same, be free and open, for the term of ten Years from the date of the Signature of the present Convention, to the Vessels, Citizens, and Subjects of the Two Powers: it being well understood, that this Agreement is not to be construed to the Prejudice of any Claim, which either of the Two High Contracting Parties may have to any part of the said Country, nor shall it be taken to affect the Claims of any other Power or State to any part of the said Country; the only Object of The High Contracting Parties, in that respect, being to prevent disputes and differences amongst Themselves. It will be noted from the wording of article II that the latitude of the most northwestern point of Lake of the Woods was not known by the framers of the treaty. And it will be further noted that the line extends "from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains." These points are of interest as will appear later when we find the line described in the treaty of 1842 as running south from the most northwestern point of Lake of the Woods to the 49th parallel and find "Rocky Mountains" substituted for "Stony Mountains," and finally, in the treaty of 1908, find a further change to "Summit of the Rocky Mountains," as the terminus of this section of the boundary. By the treaty concluded February 22, 1819, between the United States and Spain, the United States acquired all of Spain's territorial rights in the Pacific northwest. This left Russia, Great Britain, and the United States as the contestants for territorial possession. Russia's claims to the Alaskan peninsula were well established |