touch the northwestern shore of the said river; and from thence by a due north line, until the same shall intersect an east and west line drawn through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of lake Michigan; on the north by the said east and west line until the same shall intersect the first-mentioned meridian line which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio.

A provision in this act required that the boundaries as therein described be ratified by a constitutional convention to be called; otherwise they would be fixed as described in article 5 of the ordinance of 1787. By ratifying them, June 29, 1816, Indiana missed an opportunity for including in its limits a considerably larger territory than it now has. There was a similar proviso in the enabling act of 1818 for Illinois.

The north boundary of Indiana is parallel to and 10 miles north of the line which runs due east from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan (3 Stat. L. 289). A survey of this line was made in 1827 in accordance with the congressional act of March 2 of that year.33 The original plat of the survey was filed in the surveyor general's office in Chillicothe, Ohio, and a copy in the General Land Office in Washington. The approximate latitude as determined in 1827 is 41°47′43′′ N., but measurements by the Geological Survey near the east end (Marshall, 1916, p. 305) give the latitude as 41°45′33′′ N. The mark nearest Lake Michigan is in lat 41°45′36.07" N., long 86°46′03.36" W. (1927 N.A.D.). Parts of this line were retraced in 1828, 1834, 1839, and 1842 by the General Land Office.

For a description of the east boundary, see Ohio, page 180. For a description of the west boundary, see Illinois below.

The south boundary is the low-water line on the north side of the Ohio River.

ILLINOIS

Illinois Territory, originally part of the Territory northwest of the Ohio River and subsequently a part of Indiana Territory, was organized by act of February 3, 1809 (2 Stat. L. 514), effective March 1, 1809. The following clause from the act separating it from Indiana Territory defines its boundary (see fig. 18):

* * * from and after the first day of March next, all that part of the Indiana territory which lies west of the Wabash river, and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash river and Post Vincennes, due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called Illinois.

Illinois was admitted as a State with its present boundaries by resolution approved December 3, 1818 (3 Stat. 536). The enabling act defines these boundaries as follows (3 Stat. 429):

334 Stat. L. 237. For map and description, see U.S. Cong. (1828).

the said State shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Wabash River; thence up the same and with the line of Indiana, to the northwest corner of said state; thence, east with the line of the same state, to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle of said lake to the north latitude forty-two degrees thirty minutes; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi river; and thence down along the middle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio River; and thence up the latter river along its northwestern shore to the beginning: * *

The eastern boundary of Illinois was ordered surveyed in 1810 in connection with the work of the General Land Office. In 1821 the Legislatures of Indiana and Illinois ordered a survey of their common boundary. A commissioner representing each State was appointed, and the line was run and marked with wooden posts the same year from a point "opist the Vincennes Hotell on the N.W. Bank of Wabash river” northward to Lake Michigan. There is a signed copy of the field notes in the Indiana State Library at Indianapolis.

The Geological Survey determined the position of a large stone post on the north bank of the Wabash where the State boundary line leaves the river as lat 39°20′57.6'' N., long 87°31′52.9" W. At lat 41°17′53′′ N., the longitude of the line is 87°31′36.5" W.

The northern boundary was surveyed and marked in 1831-32 by Commissioners Lucius Lyon, representing the United States, and John Messinger, representing Illinois. The field notes of this survey are in the National Archives. The position on the east side of the Mississippi of a point in lat 42°30′ N., having been found by observation, a stone about 7 feet long and of an estimated weight of 5 tons was set in the ground on the high-water line. The stone was marked "Illinois" on its south side and "Michigan latitude 42°30′ N." on its north side. (The Mississippi River Commission later located either this stone or one on the State line near it and determined its latitude as 42°30′29.3" N.) From this point the line was run east to the fourth principal meridian of the General Land Office, where a large mound of earth was erected, and was continued east to the Rock River. Observations then taken showed that the line was 54" too far north. An offset was taken the proper distance to the south, and a post was set on the east bank of the river, 81 miles 31 chains 9 links from the Mississippi, from which the line was extended (with frequent astronomic observations) to Lake Michigan, where an oak post 12 inches square and 9 feet long was set 5 feet in the ground at a point about 1 chain from the lakeshore. Recent observations show that this end of the marked line is about half a mile south of the parallel of 42°30'. The total length of the boundary as measured is 144 miles 48 chains 80 links. A post was also set on the east bank of the Fox River 125 miles 9 chains 10 links from the initial point. There is a signed copy of the report and notes in the

files of the General Land Office.34 The line west of the Rock River was later rerun and placed in a corrected position.

On April 18 and 19, 1881, the Mississippi River cut across a narrow strip of land near the town of Kaskaskia, Ill., and formed a new channel 4 miles east of its former position, thereby leaving an area of about 27 square miles on the west side of the river that belongs to Illinois (Burnham, 1914).35

The parts of the northern and eastern boundaries of Illinois in Lake Michigan are as follows: The north line of the State runs due east from the last point marked on land (lat 42°29′37′′ N., nearly) to the middle of the lake, a distance of about 40 miles. The east line then follows the middle of the lake southward for about 52 miles, to the Indiana line (which there runs east and west through a point 10 miles north of the southernmost part of the lake). The Illinois line then runs due west for about 17 miles to the northwest corner of Indiana, which is about 111⁄2 miles from land, thence south about 31⁄2 miles along the Indiana line to the lake shore.

MISSOURI

The name of the Territory of Louisiana was changed in 1812 (2 Stat. L. 743) to Territory of Missouri. At that time the Territory included all the original Louisiana Purchase, except the State of Louisiana. (See fig. 19.)

Missouri was declared a State on August 10, 1821, by presidential proclamation under authority of the joint resolution of Congress of March 2, 1821 (3 Stat. L. 645, 797), with boundaries as defined in the enabling act of March 6, 1820 (3 Stat. L. 545), as follows:

Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi river, on the parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude; thence west along that parallel of latitude, to the St. Francois river; thence up, and following the course of that river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; 36 thence west, along the same, to a point where the said parallel is intersected by a meridian line passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas river, where the same empties into the Missouri river, thence from the point aforesaid north, along the said meridian line, to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines, making the said line to correspond with the Indian boundary line; thence east from the point of intersection last aforesaid, along the same parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence down and along the middle of the main channel of the said river Des Moines, to the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi

34 Boundaries, no. 22. See Gannett (1907) and R. B. Marshall (1914; 1916), for latitude and longitude of points on this line.

35 For a map of the area, see the U.S. Geol. Survey map of the Chester quadrangle. Ill.-Mo.

30 This line (36°30′) has since been known as the Missouri Compromise line.

river; thence due east to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence down, and following the course of the Mississippi river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of beginning.

The peculiar jog or "panhandle" at the southeast corner of the State, between the Mississippi and St. Francis Rivers, is said to be the result of efforts of a prominent property owner who lived south of the parallel of 36°30' to have his plantation included in the new State (Violette, 1918, p. 111).

In 1836 the boundaries were extended on the northwest to the Missouri River, as described in the following act of the legislature amendatory to the constitution of 1820 (Thorpe, 1909, v. 4, p. 2170):

That the boundary of the State be so altered and extended as to include all that tract of land lying on the north side of the Missouri River and west of the present boundary of this State, so that the same shall be bounded on the south by the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River and on the north by the present northern boundary line of the State, as established by the constitution, when the same is continued in a right line to the west, or to include so much of said tract of land as Congress may assent.

This act was approved by Congress on June 7, 1836, and was declared in effect by presidential proclamation of March 28, 1837. The following is an extract from the act (5 Stat. L. 34).

That when the Indian title to all the lands lying between the State of Missouri and the Missouri river shall be extinguished, the jurisdiction over said lands shall be hereby ceded to the State of Missouri, and the western boundary of said State shall be then extended to the Missouri river.

The north boundary of Missouri was surveyed and marked in part in 1816 and the remainder in 1850 under the General Land Office.37 The Territory remaining after the formation of the State bore the name of Missouri for many years. In 1834 the part north of the State of Missouri and east of the Missouri and White Earth Rivers was annexed to the Territory of Michigan. (For further history of this portion, see Michigan, p. 205; Iowa, p. 213; Minnesota, p. 214–215; and Dakota, p. 216.) In 1854 Kansas and Nebraska Territories were formed, absorbing the remainder. (See Kansas, p. 223, and Nebraska, p. 220.)

The following are the boundaries of Missouri as at present established by statute: The east boundary is the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi (138 U.S. 226) from the mouth of the Des Moines to its point of intersection with the 36th parallel of latitude; the south boundary begins at the latter point and runs west on the 36th parallel to the St. Francis River, thence up the midchannel of that river to the parallel of 36°30′, thence west on that parallel to its intersection by a meridian passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas River; the west boundary is the last-mentioned meridian as far north as the mouth of the Kansas River, thence it follows northwestward the midchannel of the Missouri River to the parallel of latitude passing through the rapids of the Des Moines River, which is approximately the parallel of 40°35′; the north boundary is the last-mentioned parallel as far east as its point of intersection with the Des Moines River, whence it follows the midchannel of the Des Moines River southward to its mouth.

Nearly all the boundaries of the States west of the Mississippi were surveyed under the direction of the General Land Office, most of them by contract surveyors. The field notes and plats of these surveys have been cataloged, and most of them are now on file in the National Archives.