SEASON OF 1911-FROM THE MIDDLE FORK OF POPLAR RIVER TO THE WEST BRANCH OF SHORT CREEK; AND FROM THE EAST SLOPE OF THE TURTLE MOUNTAINS TO RED RIVER

CANADIAN PARTY

The Canadian party began operations in 1911 on the east slope of the Turtle Mountains and worked east to Red River, the terminus of this section of boundary allotted to them. This completed the Canadians' share of the survey of the 49th parallel boundary. The work, in addition to the usual survey operations, included the completion of the cutting of the boundary vista on the east slope of the Turtle Mountains and the cutting of vista for 12 miles through the wooded area of the Pembina Mountains.

The season's work covered a part of the section of the boundary where the Commission of 1872-76 had marked the boundary with cast-iron monuments. These had been placed at intervals of about 1 mile. Eighty-five of the castiron monuments (original numbers 70 to 154) were on this section of the boundary. About 27 percent of these monuments were found broken; many of the others were leaning and unstable. The broken ones were replaced by new cast-iron monuments and those in good condition were filled with concrete and reset in concrete bases. No additional or intermediate monuments were interpolated on this part of the line.

The season's work was seriously interfered with in September by an epidemic of typhoid. Fourteen of the party were affected and were sent to the hospital at Morden, Manitoba. Though several were seriously ill, there were fortunately no fatalities.

The party was in the field from April 27 to November 10.

The personnel of the party for the season was: Chief of party, J. J. McArthur, D. L.S.; assistants, J. W. Menzies, D. L. S., F. P. Steers, J. M. Sheppard, G. S. Raley, Charles Courtman, Fred Fulford, E.J. Linegar, J. M. Perrier, and J. A. Snow; United States representative, F. D. Granger.

UNITED STATES PARTY

The United States party began work in the spring of 1911 at the Middle Fork of Poplar River where they had discontinued work at the close of the season of 1910. All phases of the work were carried on simultaneously as in the past two years. The surveys and monumenting were completed to original mound 219 (now Monument 620), the end of the allotted section of boundary, where a junction was made with the work of the Canadian parties.

In addition to the above, the chief of party in charge of topographic work made a trip west of the summit of the Rocky Mountains and made some additional topographic surveys along the boundary on Point Roberts; between Blaine and Sumas, Washington; in the vicinity of Ferry and Molson, Washington; at Midway and at Myncaster, British Columbia; and at Eastport, Idaho, to bring the maps up to date, more particularly to show the highways and railroads constructed since the boundary surveys had been made.

At the close of the season the camp equipment was moved to Pembina on the Red River to be ready for work east of that point.

The work of this party, like that of the Canadians, was interrupted by sickness. A teamster contracted

smallpox. The camp was quarantined and all of the men in camp underwent vaccination. These measures prevented the spread of the disease, but the quarantine and sore arms of the vaccinated delayed work to a considerable extent.

The party was in the field from May 12 to October 14.

The personnel of the party was: Chiefs of party, E. C. Barnard and C. H. Sinclair; assistants, James H. Van Wagenen, E. R. Martin, Jesse Hill, C. W. Sterling, E. V. Perkinson, R. V. Utter, and R. K. Lynt; Canadian representative, George WhiteFraser, D. T. S.

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY

SEASON OF 1912 FROM RED RIVER TO LAKE OF THE WOODS; THE MERIDIAN LINE; AND MEASUREMENT OF BASES, ROCKY MOUNTAINS TO LAKE OF THE WOODS

During the season of 1912 the field work on the boundary from Georgia Strait to the Northwesternmost Point of Lake of the Woods was carried on entirely by United States parties.

At the beginning of the season the field work on the boundary from Red River to the Northwesternmost Point of Lake of the Woods, assigned to United States parties by the Commissioners, still remained to be done. Also, it had been found by office computation that the triangulation from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to Red River needed. strengthening by the measurement of additional base lines.

The additional base lines were measured by a special party. They not only measured new bases, but remeasured several bases laid out and measured at the time the triangulation was observed. In all, 15 bases, between the Rocky Mountains and the Red River, were measured and tied in to the triangulation. An additional base was measured near Warroad, Minnesota.

The base-measuring party was in the field from June 1 to August 26.

The section of the boundary from Red River to the Northwesternmost Point of Lake of the Woods, passing through large swampy and timbered areas, presented difficulties in transportation which necessitated changing to some extent the method and procedure used in the open prairie country to the westward. Movement by team and wagon along the boundary was impossible in the swamps during the summer season.

Anticipating this difficulty, a small party was sent out early in February to distribute monumenting material across the frozen swamps between Red River and Lake of the Woods. Teams and sleds were used. The cast-iron monuments, sand, and gravel were delivered at the monument sites and piled on rafts, made from poles, to keep them from sinking into the ooze when the swamps thawed. These preparations were finished in March.

The general survey was begun early in May at the Red River where the Canadian party had ended their work in 1911.

Upon entering the timbered swamps a few miles east of Red River, triangulation had to be carried forward from tall towers built so as to see over the tops of the timber. Many of the monuments in this area had to be located by traverse, and a continuous vista had to be cut along the line. Special methods had to be devised for running accurate levels through the swamps and for making accurate topographic surveys. All of the work was very much hampered by the difficulties of transportation and travel. Camp could not be moved along the line but had to be taken north several miles to a branch of the Canadian Northern (now Canadian National) Railway paralleling the boundary, thence eastward on the railroad, thence back to the boundary on some convenient sand ridge extending southward. Before reaching Lake of the Woods horse transportation was abandoned and work done entirely on foot from camps on the railroad, which approaches and crosses the boundary on its route to the south end of the lake. Travel on foot through the swamps was so laborious and disagreeable that only with great difficulty could laborers be kept on the job.

Work on the 49th parallel boundary was completed, with the exception of a small amount of triangulation, on September 17, and the party, with the exception of the triangulation unit, was transferred to the meridian boundary. Launches and small flat-bottomed boats were procured for transportation on Lake of the Woods and for surveying and mapping its shores.

On September 20 the party was in camp on Harrison Creek, Northwest Angle Inlet, at original Monument 2 (now Monument 924).

An immediate start was made on clearing the vista and making a topographic survey along the meridian boundary south from criginal Monument 1 (now Monu

ment 925) and on making a detailed topographic and hydrographic survey of the upper part of Northwest Angle Inlet from a point southeast of the northernmost monument of the meridian boundary to the Northwesternmost Point of Lake of the Woods." This work was completed as far south as the boundary crossing of Stony Creek by October 14. Weather conditions then became so severe as to prevent further work and the party on the meridian line withdrew from the field. Those engaged in triangulation on the 49th parallel boundary and two topographers mapping the shore line of Lake of the Woods remained in the field for a short time longer, the last leaving early in November.

The personnel of the United States party was: Chiefs of party, C. H. Sinclair, E. C. Barnard, O. B. French; assistants, James H. Van Wagenen, Jesse Hill, H. C. O. Clarke, E. V. Perkinson, R. K. Lynt, F. C. Warner, Hargraves Wood, W. V. Hagar, and E. R. Hand; Canadian representative, J. L. Rannie, D. L. S.

SEASON OF 1913-THE MERIDIAN LINE AND THE 49TH PARALLEL NEAR LAKE OF THE WOODS

The season of 1913 marked the conclusion of the field work of reestablishing and remonumenting the boundary from Georgia Strait to the Northwesternmost

parallel boundary and along the meridian boundary made it necessary to do much of the field work early in the season before the swamps thawed and the ice broke up on the lake. Accordingly, work was begun on January 2. A tote-road was opened along the meridian line and the cast-iron monuments, with the sand, gravel, and cement for setting them, were hauled by horse-drawn sleds from Warroad, Minnesota, over the frozen lake and the tote-road to the selected monument sites. Four monuments and the material for setting them were hauled over winter roads to sites on the 49th parallel boundary which had been impossible to reach with wagons the previous year.

17 See Commissioners' "Joint Report upon the Survey and Demarcation of the Boundary between the United States and Canada from the Northwesternmost Point of Lake of the Woods to Lake Superior", pages 39 to 41.