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Juarez) was incorrectly located on the map more than half a degree too far north and nearly 2° too far east.

In the absence of the chief surveyor the three other members of the commission agreed to accept the position of the south boundary of New Mexico as shown by the projection lines on the map (latitude 32° 22′); to run a line in that latitude 3° west from the Rio Grande and thence north until a branch of Gila River was intersected. In accordance with this decision a durable monument was erected on the bank of the Rio Grande, in latitude 32° 22′, and the running of the line westward was begun. (See fig. 19.) After 11° had been run the chief surveyor arrived, learned what had been done, and made a vigorous protest against this interpretation of the map. This protest, backed by that of the chief astronomer, caused the sudden stoppage of the work of running the line and the repudiation of the agreement by the United States Government.

The United States claimed that the boundary should be located with reference to the town of Paso-the only definite point for it named in the treaty. Under this claim, according to later observations, the south boundary of New Mexico would be placed at about latitude 31° 52', and it would extend west to longitude 109° 30'.

Negotiations followed, but no agreement had been reached before 1853, when the Gadsden Purchase made further discussion unnecessary.

GADSDEN PURCHASE.

On December 30, 1853, a second purchase was made of Mexico consisting of the strip of land lying south of Gila River in New Mexico and Arizona, the consideration being $10,000,000 in gold. This is known as the Gadsden Purchase, from the name of the United States commissioner, James Gadsden. The boundaries as established were as follows 7 (see figs. 1 and 19):

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ARTICLE I. The Mexican Republic agrees to designate the following as her true limits with the United States for the future: Retaining the same dividing line between the two Californias as already defined and established according to the fifth article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the limits between the two republics shall be as follows: Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the fifth article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; thence, as defined in the said article, up the middle of that river to the point where the parallel of 31° 47' north latitude crosses the same; thence due west one hundred miles; thence south to the parallel of 31° 20′ north latitude; thence along the said parallel of 31° 20′ to the 111th meridian of longitude west of Greenwich; thence in a straight line to a point on the Colorado River twenty English miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers; thence up the middle of the said river Colorado until it intersects the present line between the United States and Mexico.

47 Malloy, W. M, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 1121.

In the year following a commission was appointed for surveying and marking this line, under the United States commissioner, Maj. W. H. Emory. The line was run and marked in the year 1855, and the report was transmitted in the following year.

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As settlement increas d in the territory which this line traverses, it became evident that the line was insufficiently marked. Some of the monuments had disappeared, and there were many great areas of country in which no monuments had ever been placed, so that the necessity of rerunning and marking the line became apparent. For this purpose a commission was created in 1891, under which the line was recovered from the original monuments, as far as possible, and between these monuments was rerun and fully and durably marked. The report, with maps, profiles, and illustrations of the monuments, was published in 1898. (See Pl. I, B.)

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ALASKA PURCHASE.

Alaska was purchased from Russia, by a convention signed March 30, 1867. and proclaimed June 20, 1867, and was made a Territory by act of August 24, 1912.50 The boundaries of Alaska are described in the accompanying quotations from Article I of the convention 51 (see figs. 3 and 4):

Commencing from the southernmost point of the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, and between the 131st and 133d degree of west longitude (meridian of Greenwich,) the said line shall ascend to the north along the channel called Portland channel, as far as the point of the continent where it strikes the 56th degree of north latitude; from this last-mentioned point, the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude, (of the same meridian;) and finally, from the said point of intersection, the said meridian line of the 141st degree, in its prolongation as far as the Frozen ocean.

IV. With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in the preceding article, it is understood

1st. That the island called Prince of Wales Island shall belong wholly to Russia, (now, by this cession, to the United States).

2d. That whenever the summit of the mountains which extend in a direction parallel to the coast from the 56th degree of north latitude to the point of Intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude shall prove to be at the distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, the limit between the British possessions and the line of coast which is to belong to Russia as above mentioned (that is to say, the limit to the possessions ceded by this convention) shall be formed by a line parallel to the winding of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom.

34th Cong., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 135.

55th Cong., 2d sess., S. Doc. 247.

137 Stat. L., pt. 1, p. 512.

"Malloy, W. M., op. cit., vol. 2, p. 1521.

[graphic]

FIGURE 3.-Map of the United States showing possessions acquired since 1853,

The western limit within which the territories and dominion conveyed, are contained, passes through a point in Behring's straits on the parallel of sixty-five degrees thirty minutes north latitude, at its intersection by the meridian which passes midway between the islands of Krusenstern, or Ignalook, and the island of Ratmanoff, or Noonarbook, and proceeds due north, without limitation, into the same Frozen ocean. The same western limit, beginning at the same initial point, proceeds thence in a course nearly southwest, through Behring's straits and Behring's sea. so as to pass midway between the northwest point of the island of St. Lawrence and the southeast point of Cape Choukotski, to the meridian of one hundred and seventy-two west longitude; thence, from the intersection of that meridian, in a southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the island of Attou and the Copper island of the Kormandorski couplet or group, in the North Pacific ocean, to the meridian of one hundred and ninety-three degrees west longitude, so as to include in the territory conveyed the whole of the Aleutian islands east of that meridian.

The consideration paid for Alaska was $7,200,000 in gold.

There is no possibility of misinterpreting the language of the above convention as to the portion of the boundary running along the one hundred and forty-first meridian from the shore of the Arctic Ocean to a point near Mount St. Elias, but when the wealth of the area was recognized the claims of the United States as to the location of the part of the boundary from Mount St. Elias southeastward to the mouth of Portland Canal were questioned by Canadian authorities.

The coast of this part of Alaska is extremely broken, containing many fiords extending far inland, and no continuous range of mountains parallels the coast. It was for many years tacitly admitted by both sides that the second alternative of the treaty, that the boundary should be a line 10 marine leagues distant from the coast and following its windings, should be the one finally adopted when the question of marking the boundary arose. This position was taken by the United States and consistently followed from the time of the acquisition of the territory to the present. All maps, United States and Canadian, agreed on it. Many acts of sovereignty were performed by the United States within this territory, no question being raised by the Canadian authorities. The discovery of gold in the basin of the Yukon, in Canada, and the fact that the only feasible means of access to this region lay through United States territory made it extremely desirable for Canada to possess a port or ports on this coast as the starting points of routes to the Yukon mines, and it was only when this necessity appeared that any question arose concerning the interpretation of the definition of limits in the treaty.

The claim made by the British Government on behalf of Canada before a joint commission on the boundary in August, 1898, was that this portion of the boundary, instead of passing up Portland Canal, should pass up Pearse Canal, connecting with Portland Canal, up which it follows to the summit of the mountains nearest

to the coast, and then should follow them, regardless of the fact that they do not form a continuous range, crossing all the inlets of the sea up to Mount St. Elias. This claim was, of course, refused by the United States commissioners. A proposition made by the British commissioners to refer the matter to arbitration was also refused by the United States commissioners, on the ground that there was nothing to arbitrate, inasmuch as the territory in question was in the possession of the United States and had been for many years without dispute, such possession being in full accord with the terms of the treaty. The commission was then dissolved, the only outcome being an agreement that the summits of White and Chilkoot passes and a point upon the Chilkat, above Pyramid Harbor, were temporarily adopted as points upon the boundary.

The convention of January 24, 1903, created an Alaskan Boundary Tribunal, to consist of "six impartial jurists of repute," three to be selected by each of the two parties to the controversy, to attempt a settlement of this boundary question. The United States was represented by Messrs. Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge, and George Turner. The Canadian side was represented by Baron Alverstone, lord chief justice of England; Sir Louis A. Jetté and A. B. Aylesworth, of Canada. After argument and discussion the majority of the tribunal, consisting of Baron Alverstone and the three Americans on October 20, 1903, agreed on a boundary which satisfied the American claims. The boundary thus adopted may be defined as follows: It commences at Cape Muzon. Thence it crosses in a straight line to the mouth of Portland Channel [Canal], this entrance being west of Wales Island, and passes up the channel to the north of Wales and Pearse islands to the fifty-sixth parallel of latitude. Thence the line runs from one mountain summit to another, as shown on the accompanying map (fig. 4), passing above the heads of all fiords. At the head of Lynn Canal it traverses White and Chilkoot passes. Thence by a tortuous southwesterly course it reaches Mount Fairweather and thence follows the higher mountains around Yakutat Bay to Mount St. Elias.

Lack of accurate maps prevented the tribunal from describing in detail about 120 miles of the "coast boundary," but by an exchange of notes between the two Governments amicable arrangements were made for the selection by commissioners of additional summits as boundary marks.

The survey of the coast boundary, about 862 miles in length, was completed in 1914, and the line is marked by concrete monuments along the shores of Portland Canal, by 5-foot aluminum-bronze monuments in the valleys of streams crossed by conical monuments on easily accessible summits (see Pl. I, D and E) and by brass bolts

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