and were not contested; but the southern limit of her claims was not definite and was a subject of controversy. Emperor Paul of Russia having named 55° of north latitude as the southern limit of certain commercial privileges to his RussianAmerican Company in 1799, the United States, at least, supposed that latitude to be the southern limit of Russia's claims. This supposition was upset however by the ukase of 1821 by which the Emperior of Russia assumed to exclude all foreigners from carrying on commerce and from navigating and fishing within a hundred Italian miles of the coast from Bering Strait down to the 51st parallel of north latitude. This ukase was necessarily founded upon and carried with it an assertion of title to all territory north of the 51st parallel. Both Great Britain and the United States protested against it. Russia accepted these protests in a friendly spirit and it was agreed that an effort should be made to settle the territorial claims of the parties by negotiation. The negotiations between the United States and Great Britain failed of results and the final outcome was that the United States and Great Britain carried on separate negotiations with Russia. These separate negotiations resulted in the treaty of 1824 between the United States and Russia, in which the southern boundary of Russia's claims was designated as 54°40′ of north latitude, and the convention of 1825 between Great Britain and Russia, in which the boundary line between the possessions of Great Britain and of Russia were delimited with the same southern limit of 54°40'. By these treaties Russia left it to the United States and Great Britain to settle between themselves their rival claims to territory south of 54°40′ of north latitude. In 1826, following suggestions from the British Government, negotiations were resumed between the United States and Great Britain. During these negotiations the British plenipotentiaries adhered substantially to the line of the Columbia River, offering the United States, north of that line, a small detached territory "bounded on the west by the ocean, on the north by Fuca's Straits, on the east by the entrance of Admiralty Inlet and the peninsula between that and Hoods Inlet, and on the south by a line drawn thence to Gray's Harbor on the ocean." The United States, while not announcing the 49th parallel as the most southern line that would be accepted, adhered to that line as a basis of negotiation. Failing to reach a settlement the negotiators concluded a convention on August 6, 1827, indefinitely extending the joint occupation provided for in article III of the treaty of 1818, which article was now nearing its 10-year limit. The convention was duly ratified and ratifications were exchanged April 2, 1828. The pertinent articles of the convention, viz, I, II, and III, read as follows: CONVENTION CONTINUING IN (Signed August 6, 1827; ratifications exchanged April 2, 1828) All the Provisions of the Third Article of the Convention concluded between the United States of America, and His Majesty The King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on the Twentieth of October 1818, shall be, and they are hereby, further indefinitely extended and continued in force, in the same manner as if all the Provisions of the said Article were herein specifically recited. ARTICLE II It shall be competent, however, to either of the Contracting Parties, in case either should think fit, at any time after the Twentieth of October 1828, on giving due notice of Twelve Months to the other Contracting Party, to annul and abrogate this Convention: and it shall, in such case, be accordingly entirely annulled and abrogated, after the expiration of the said term of notice. ARTICLE III Nothing contained in this Convention, or in the Third Article of the Convention of the Twentieth of October 1818, hereby continued in force, shall be construed to impair, or in any manner affect, the Claims which either of the Contracting Parties may have to any part of the Country Westward of the Stoney or Rocky Mountains. The continuance of the joint occupation proved to be inconvenient and irritating, and as time went on and the fertile valleys began to be settled, friction developed to a dangerous degree. The Webster-Ashburton Treaty, concluded on August 9, 1842, failed to adjust the dispute, though it settled other boundary questions that had long been subjects of controversy. It did, however, redefine the boundary from the most northwestern point of Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. The latitude and longitude of the most northwestern point of Lake of the Woods had been determined by official surveys in 18252 and were made use of in the language of the treaty. The term "Rocky Mountains" was used in this treaty in the place of the "Stony Mountains" of the treaty of 1818. The portion of the second article of the WebsterAshburton Treaty of 1842 which refers to this boundary reads as follows: * * 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. * * Returning to the negotiations concerning the boundary west of the Rocky Mountains: Following the treaty of 1842, efforts were made by the British Minister at Washington to renew negotiations but without results. On May 2, 1843, the American settlers in the "Oregon Territory" (the name by which this country had come to be known), set up a provisional government at a meeting held at Champoeg. The English Parliament had extended the colonial jurisdiction and civil laws of Canada to all British subjects on the Pacific coast. Thus there were two governments exercising jurisdiction in the same territory. In 1844 negotiations were again renewed by Mr. Richard Pakenham who had then become Minister to Washington. These negotiations were interrupted by the death of Mr. Upshur, then Secretary of State. After the lapse of several months the negotiations were resumed by Mr. John C. Calhoun who succeeded Mr. Upshur as Secretary of State. The proposals submitted by Mr. Calhoun on the part of the United States and by Mr. Pakenham on the part of Great Britain were substantially the same as those discussed in London in 1827. Mr. Calhoun, however, offered the 2 See location of most northwestern point of Lake of the Woods, p. 137. 49th parallel as an ultimatum. In January 1845, no agreement seemed possible, and Mr. Pakenham proposed submitting the dispute to arbitration. This proposal was declined by Mr. Calhoun. Meanwhile the controversy was becoming acute and the conditions in the territory becoming more intolerable. A movement had been made in Congress to erect a territorial government without defining the territorial limits over which its jurisdiction should extend. In May 1844 the Democratic Presidential Convention adopted a declaration popularly interpreted as meaning "fifty-four forty or fight," to the effect that the title of the United States "to the whole of the territory of Oregon" was "clear and unquestionable", and that "no part of the same ought to be ceded to England, or any other power." President Polk, in his inaugural address in March 1845, repeated the declaration in "the very same words with marks of quotation." The declaration aroused indignation in England, and war seemed imminent. President Polk, in consideration of the acts of his predecessors and the seriousness of the situation, deemed it to be his duty to make another effort to settle matters. Accordingly Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State under President Polk, on July 12, 1845, presented proposals of settlement to Mr. Pakenham who rejected them without referring them to his Government. Mr. Buchanan then withdrew the proposals which had been rejected. President Polk, in his annual message to Congress in December 1845, recommended that the notice required by the treaty of 1827 for the termination of the joint occupation be given. Mr. Pakenham's rejection of Mr. Buchanan's proposals without reference was not approved by the British Government, and Mr. Pakenham urged a renewal of the proposals. The renewal was refused by the President. Mr. Pakenham then urged that the question be submitted to arbitration. This was definitely rejected by Mr. Buchanan on the 3d of January 1846 on the ground that it assumed that the title to a portion of the territory was valid, and thus took for granted "the very question in dispute." Mr. Pakenham then offered to refer to arbitration the question of title in either of the two powers to the whole of the territory; this in turn was declined by Mr. Buchanan. On February 26, 1846, Mr. Buchanan took the matter up by letter with Mr. McLane, the American Minister, who was specially charged with the discussion of the question in London. Mr. McLane conferred personally with Lord Aberdeen with the result that new instructions were sent to Mr. Pakenham. On April 27 the President approved a joint resolution of Congress by which he was authorized "at his discretion" to give the requisite notice to terminate the joint occupation under the treaty of 1827. Notice of abrogation of the treaty was conveyed to Lord Aberdeen by Mr. McLane on May 22, 1846. On the 6th of June 1846 Mr. Pakenham presented to Mr. Buchanan a draft of a treaty. Before authorizing the Secretary of State to sign it, the President submitted this draft to the Senate. After three days' deliberation, the Senate by a vote of 37 to 12 advised the acceptance of the treaty as submitted. On June 15, 1846, the treaty was signed without the alteration of a single word. It was resubmitted to the Senate which gave its "advice and consent" by a vote of 41 to 14. The ratification of the treaty brought to a close the long drawn-out dispute as to territorial rights of possession. Other minor questions relative principally to property claims remained to be adjusted, and later, questions as to the definite location of the water boundary through Georgia, Haro, and Juan de Fuca Straits became the subject of further negotiations and conventions; but this report is not directly concerned with them. The text of the treaty is as follows: THE OREGON TREATY. TREATY ESTABLISHING THE BOUNDARY IN THE TERRITORY ON THE NORTHWEST COAST OF AMERICA LYING WESTWARD OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS (Signed June 15, 1846; ratifications exchanged July 17, 1846) The United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, deeming it to be desirable for the future welfare of both countries that the state of doubt and uncertainty which has hitherto prevailed respecting the sovereignty and government of the Territory on the northwest coast of America lying westward of the Rocky or Stony Mountains, should be finally terminated by an amicable compromise of the rights mutually asserted by the two Parties over the said Territory, have respectively named Plenipotentiaries to treat and agree concerning the terms of such settlement, that is to say: the President of the United States of America, has, on his part, furnished with Full Powers, James Buchanan, Secretary of State of the United States, and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has, on her part, appointed the Right Honorable Richard Pakenham, a Member of Her Majesty's most honorable Privy Council, and Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States; who, after having communicated to each other their respective full Powers found in good and due form have agreed upon and concluded the following articles: ARTICLE I From the point on the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude where the boundary laid down in existing treaties and conventions between the United States and Great Britain terminates, the line of boundary between the territories of the United States and those of Her Britannic Majesty shall be continued westward along the said forty-ninth parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island; and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca's Straits to the Pacific Ocean; provided, however, that the navigation of the whole of the said channel and Straits south of the forty ninth parallel of north latitude remain free and open to both Parties. ARTICLE II From the point at which the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude shall be found to intersect the great northern branch of the Columbia River, the navigation of the said branch shall be free and open to the Hudson's Bay Company and to all British subjects trading with the same, to the point where the said branch meets the main stream of the Columbia, and thence down the said main stream to the Ocean, with free access into and through the said River or Rivers, it being understood that all the usual portages along the line thus described shall in like manner be free and open. In navigating the said River or Rivers, British subjects with their goods and produce, shall be treated on the same footing as citizens of the United States; it being however always understood that nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing, or intended to prevent, the Government of the United States from making any regulations respecting the navigation of the said river or rivers, not inconsistent with the present treaty ARTICLE III In the future appropriation of the territory, south of the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, as provided in the first article of this Treaty, the possessory rights of the Hudson's Bay Company and of all British subjects who may be already in the occupation of land or other property, lawfully acquired within the said Territory, shall be respected 122824°-37-14 ARTICLE IV The farms, lands, and other property of every description belonging to the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company on the north side of the Columbia River, shall be confirmed to the said Company. In case however the situation of those farms and lands should be considered by the United States to be of public and political importance, and the United States' Government should signify a desire to obtain possession of the whole, or of any part thereof, the property so required shall be transferred to the said Government, at a proper valuation, to be agreed upon between the Parties. ARTICLE V The present Treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her Britannic Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London, at the expiration of six months from the date hereof, or sooner if possible. In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seals of their arms. Done at Washington the fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-six. [SEAL] [SEAL] JAMES BUCHANAN After the treaty of 1846 no further treaties or conventions pertaining to the boundary from the eastern shore of Georgia Strait to the Northwesternmost Point of Lake of the Woods were negotiated until 1908. The investigations, correspondence, concurrent action, and negotiations leading up to the treaty of 1908 are briefly treated in this appendix. The text of the treaty is given in the body of this report, pages 1 to 10. The boundary as defined in the treaty of 1846 was laid down and marked upon the ground by a joint Commission in 1858 to 1862, as described in appendix III. Across the Cascade and Rocky Mountains, however, the boundary was not marked continuously, and in some instances the marks were long distances apart. In the course of time these marks became obscure and difficult to find, and meanwhile the settlement and development of the adjacent territory created demands for a more adequate marking than had originally been made. As early as 1892 the Province of British Columbia called the attention of the Dominion Government to the necessity for a better definition of its southern boundary line to meet modern conditions, and in 1899 the attention of the Department of State of the United States was called to the fact that there were long intervals between monuments on the boundary west of the summit of the Rocky Mountains that had never been surveyed in any way. The discovery of minerals and the location of mineral claims in the border country led in 1900 to representations by the Province of British Columbia to the Dominion Government and by residents of the State of Washington to the United States Government, of the immediate necessity for a more thorough demarcation of the boundary on the ground. These representations were followed by correspondence between the two Governments which brought about an examination of the boundary line west of the summit of the Rocky Mountains by Canadian and United States engineers in 1901-2. The reports of these engineers to their Governments showed the reliability of the work done by the original Commissioners, that the locations of the original marks were recoverable, and that all that remained to be done in order to render the marking thoroughly effective for the requirements of the present and the future was the |