of Florida, and within one and thirty degrees of northern latitude, and so west in a direct line as far as the south seas aforesaid.

*

All that province, territory, or tract of land, scituate, lying or being within our dominions of America aforesaid; extending north and eastward, as far as the north end of Currituck river, or inlet, upon a strait westerly line to Wyonoak creek, which lies within or about the degrees of thirty-six and thirty minutes, northern latitude; and so west in a direct line as far as the South Seas. * * and south and westward, as far as the degrees of twenty-nine, inclusive, of northern latitude; and so west, in a direct line, as far as the SouthSeas;

The second charter fixed the northern boundary at approximately the present location of the northern boundary of North Carolina. Because of the great distance between the settlements in the northern and southern parts of the Province there was for many years a governor for each part. This condition finally resulted in the creation of separate Provinces, which became in full effect in 1729.86 Disputes regarding the division line commenced as early as 1732 and were not finally settled until 1813. In 1815 the unmarked portion of the line was surveyed and marked, and the location was ratified by the legislature the same year.87

The following are positions for road crossings on the North Carolina-South Carolina line: 88

In the constitution of North Carolina, adopted in 1776, this line is defined as stated in the subjoined extract: 89

beginning on the sea side at a cedar stake, at or near the mouth of Little River (being the southern extremity of Brunswick county,) and running from thence a northwest course, through the boundary house, which stands in thirtythree degrees fifty-six minutes, to thirty-five degree north latitude, and from thence a west course so far as is mentioned in the charter of King Charles the Second to the late Proprietors of Carolina. Therefore, all the territories, seas, waters, and harbours, with their appurtenances, lying between the line above

Thorpe, F. N., op. cit., vol. 5, p. 2762.

86 In 148 U. S. 506 the date on which the separation was approved by the Crown is given as 1732, but 1729 is the date given in South Carolina, resources and population, p. 425, State Board of Agriculture, 1883; also by Mills, Robert, Statutes of South Carolina, p. 182, and appendix, p. 34, Charleston, 1826.

87 See Cooper, Thomas, Statutes at Large of South Carolina, vol. 1, pp. 406-410, Columbia, 1836, for other details regarding this line.

88 U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 276, pp. 88-89, 1905; Bull. 310, pp. 65-66, 1907; Bull. 551, p. 281, 1914; Bull. 709, p. 877, 1923.

89 Thorpe, F. N., op. cit., vol. 5, p. 2789.

described, and the southern line of the State of Virginia, which begins on the sea shore, in thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and from thence runs west, agreeable to the said Charter of King Charles, are the right and property of the people of this State, to be held by them in sovereignty; any partial line, without the consent of the Legislature of this State, at any time thereafter directed or laid out in anywise notwithstanding.

* And provided also, That it shall not be construed so as to prevent the establishment of one or more governments westward of this State, by consent of the Legislature: *

On December 2, 1789, the Legislature of North Carolina passed an act ceding to the United States the western lands now constituting the State of Tennessee. (See fig. 10.) On February 25, 1790, the deed was offered, and on April 2, 1790, it was accepted by the United States. In the Revised Statutes of North Carolina the boundaries of the State are described as follows: The north boundary, the parallel of 36° 30′; the south boundary, a line running northwest from Goat Island, on the coast in latitude 33° 56', to the parallel of 35°, and thence along that parallel to Tennessee; and the west boundary is the Smoky Mountains. The intention had been from the earliest colonial times to establish the northern boundary upon the parallel of 36° 30'. This is the wording of every legislative act relating to it, and the errors of this boundary are due simply to errors in surveying.

The following description of the boundary lines of this State and of the various attempts made to locate them is taken from the report of the Geological Survey of North Carolina: 90

The first and only serious attempt to ascertain the northern boundary was that made in 1728 by Col. Wm. Byrd and others, commissioners on the part of the two colonies, acting under royal authority. From the account given by Byrd of this undertaking, it appears that they started from a point on the coast whose position they determined by observation to be in 36° 31' north latitude, and ran due west (correcting for the variation of the compass), to Nottoway [Blackwater] River, where they made an offset" of a half mile to the mouth of that stream, again running west. The line was run and marked 242 miles from the coast, to a point in Stokes County, on the upper waters of the Dan River (on Peter's Creek), the North Carolina commissioners accompanying the party only about two-thirds of the distance. Beyond this point the line was carried some 90 miles by another joint commission of the two colonies in 1749; this survey, terminating at Steep Rock Creek, on the east of Stone Mountain, and near the present northwest corner of the State, estimated to be 329 miles from the coast. In 1779 the line was taken up again at a point on Steep Rock Creek, determined by observation to be on the parallel of 36° 30′ (the marks of the previous survey having disappeared entirely), and carried west to and beyond Bristol, Tenn. This last is known as the Walker line [see p. 143], from one of the commissioners of Virginia.

Vol. 1, pp. 2-4, Raleigh, 1875.

1 This break in the line is in accordance with an agreement made in 1727 between the governors of the two colonies. Its measured length is 2,977 feet. For text of the agreement and abstract of report of the commissioners who ran part of the line in 1779-80 see 148 U. S. 507-510.

These lines were run and the latitude observations taken with very imperfect instruments, and the variation of the compass was little understood, so that it was not possible to trace a parallel of latitude. The line, besides was only marked on the trees and soon disappeared, and as the settlements were very scattered, the location soon became a matter of vague tradition and presently of contention and litigation, so that in 1858, at the instance of Virginia, commissioners were appointed to relocate the line from the end of the Byrd survey westward; but for some reason they did not act. In 1870 commissioners were again appointed by Virginia and similar action asked on the part of this State: and the proposition was renewed in 1871, but ineffectually as before. In all these numerous attempts to establish the line of division between the two colonies and States the intention and the specific instructions have been to ascertain and mark, as the boundary of the two States, the parallel of 36° 30'. The maps published toward the end of the last century by Jefferson and others give that parallel as the line, and the Bill of Rights of North Carolina claims that "all territory lying between the line above described (the line between North and South Carolina) and the southern line of the State of Virginia, which begins on the seashore in 36° 30′ north latitude, and from thence runs west, agreeably to the charter of King Charles, are the right and property of this State." But it appears from the operations of the United States Coast Survey at both ends of the line that the point of beginning on Currituck Inlet, instead of being, as so constantly assumed, in latitude 36° 30', or as determined by the surveyors in 1728, 36° 31′, is 36° 33' 15", and the western end (of “the Walker line," of 1779, at Bristol, Tenn.), 36° 34′ 25.5". [See p. 143 for later data.] It is stated in Byrd's Journal that the variation of the compass was ascertained to be a little less than 3° W. (The magnetic chart of the United States Coast Survey would make it E.) And no account is given of any subsequent correction, and if none was made at the end of the line surveyed by him the course would have been in error by nearly 3°, as the amount of variation in this State changes a little more than 1° for every 100 miles of easting and westing. So that the northern boundary of the State as run is not only not the parallel of 36° 30' but is far from coincident with any parallel of latitude and must be a succession of curves, with their concavities northward and connected at their ends by north and south offsets.

The southern boundary between this State and South Carolina and Georgia was first established by a joint colonial commission in 1735 to 1746. The commissioners ran a line from Goat Island, on the coast (in latitude 33° 56′, as supposed), northwest to the parallel of 35°, according to their observations, and then due west to within a few miles of the Catawba River, and here, at the old Salisbury and Charleston road, turned north along that road to the southeast corner of the Catawba Indian lands. This line, resurveyed in 1764, was afterward (in 1772) continued along the eastern and northern boundaries of the Catawba lands to the point where the latter intersects the Catawba River; thence along and up that river to the mouth of the South Fork of the Catawba, and thence due west, as supposed, to a point near the Blue Ridge. This part of the line was resurveyed and confirmed by commissioners under acts of Assembly of 1803, 1804, 1806, 1813, 1814, and 1815, and continued west to and along the Saluda Mountains and the Blue Ridge to the intersection of the "Cherokee boundary" of 1797, and thence in a direct line to the Chatooga River at its intersection with the parallel of 35°. From this point the line was run west to the Tennessee line, between this State and Georgia, in 1807,92 and confirmed and established by act of 1819.

2 This is an error. The line was run in 1819.

99

The boundary between this State and Tennessee was run according to the course designated in the act of 1789, entitled "An act for the purpose of ceding to the United States certain western lands therein described' (the State of Tennessee)—that is, along the crest of the Smoky Mountains, from the Virginia line to the Cataluche River (in Haywood County), in 1799, under act of 1796. It was continued from this point to the Georgia line in 1821. The commissioners who completed this line, at the date last mentioned, instead of following their instructions, diverged from the crest of the Smoky (Unaka) Mountains at the intersection of the Hiwassee turnpike and ran due South 93 to the Georgia line, thereby losing for the State the valuable mining region since known as Ducktown. And as to the southern boundary, the point of beginning on Goat Island is in latitude 33° 51′ 37'', as shown by the Coast Survey, and instead of running from Goat Island northwest to latitude of 35° and thence along that parallel, it appears, from the South Carolina geographical State survey of 1821-1825, that the course from the starting point is N. 47° 30′ W., and instead of pursuing the parallel of 35°, it turns west about 10 miles south of that line, and then, on approaching the Catawba River, turns northward, pursuing a zigzag line to the forks of the Catawba River, which is about 12 miles north of that parallel; and from this point to the mountains the boundary line (of 1772) runs, not west, but N. 88° W., bringing its western end about 17 miles too far north and reaching the (supposed) parallel of 35° at a distance of about 130 miles west of the Catawba River. The loss of territory to the State resulting from these singular deviations is probably between 500 and 1,000 square miles.

The United States Geological Survey has determined several approximate positions for points on the North Carolina-Virginia line, three of which are as follows:

Four latitude stations were established near the east end of this line by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1886–87.94 The following extract from the Tennessee constitution of 1796 defines the eastern boundary of that State, which is the western boundary of North Carolina, as it was intended to be run and marked: 94a Beginning on the extreme height of the Stone Mountain at the place where the line of Virginia intersects it, in latitude thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north; running thence along the extreme height of the said mountain to the place where Watauga River breaks through it; thence a direct course to the top of the Yellow Mountain, where Bright's road crosses the same; thence along the ridge of said mountain, between the waters of Doe River and the waters of Rock Creek, to the place where the road crosses the Iron Mountain; from thence along the extreme height of said mountain to where Nolichucky River runs through the same; thence to the top of the Bald Mountain; thence along the extreme height of said mountain to the Painted Rock, on French Broad River; thence along the highest ridge of said mountain to the place where it is called the Great Iron or Smoky Mountain; thence along the extreme height of said

93 Probably run on compass meridian; the line as marked actually runs about 6° west of true south:

For descriptions see U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Special Pub. 110, p. 228, 1925. sia Thorpe, F. N., op. cit., vol. 6, p. 8424.

mountain to the place where it is called Unicoi or Unaka Mountain between the Indian towns of Cowee and Old Chota; thence along the main ridge of the said mountain to the southern boundary of this State, as described in the act of cession of North Carolina to the United States of America.

*

Commissioners appointed by authority of the Legislature of North Carolina surveyed and marked a part of the Tennessee line in 1799. Beginning at the Virginia line they ran southwestward along the crest of the mountains to the highest pinnacle of the Smoky Mountains beyond the French Broad River, where they stopped. Neither Tennessee nor the United States was represented in this survey. A certified copy of the field notes was given to Tennessee in 1803, but it does not appear that the line as run was ratified by either State. North Carolina was, however, apparently bound by the action of its commissioners.

In 1819 North Carolina authorized the extension of the line of 1799,95 and in 1820 Tennessee took like action. The line was completed to the Georgia State line, and the extension was formally ratified by both States in 1821. The original map for the 1821 survey of the North Carolina-Tennessee line is said to be in the State archives in Nashville. The original notes by W. Davenport, surveyor, were lost for many years but were found in 1910 and copies were made, one of which is in the United States Geological Survey office.

In 1885 commissioners were appointed to rerun the part of the line of 1799 from Iron Mountain at Indian Grove Gap to the point where the Jonesboro and Asheville road passes over Bald Mountain. The line was run in 1886, but the commissioners failed to agree on a part of the line about 6 miles long near the Nolichucky River. The North Carolina commissioner followed as closely as possible the survey of 1799, but the Tennessee commissioner insisted on a line about a mile farther east. The report of the North Carolina commisioner is given in full in Document 22 of the North Carolina Legislature, session of 1887. No further action appears to have been taken by either State toward a settlement of this dispute, but in 1915 a suit involving the proper location of the boundary was decided in the Tennessee Supreme Court in favor of the line as marked by the North Carolina commissioner.96

The commissioners who surveyed the southern part of the west boundary of North Carolina in 1821 depended almost entirely on blazes on trees for their marks, and, although they did not run out the line as described by statute, the entire line as marked was accepted by the legislatures of the two States.

95 Laws of North Carolina for 1819, ch. 11.

See Thompson, F. M., Reports of cases in the Supreme Court of Tennessee, vol. 7, pp. 35-66, 1916 (Tennessee Repts., No. 134), for an account of this survey.