In 1864 the Territory of Montana was formed from a part of this area. (See p. 234-235.) From another part, together with a part transferred to Dakota by the act of 1864, the Territory of Wyoming was formed in 1868. These changes reduced the limits of Idaho to those described as follows in the act of admission to statehood, approved July 3, 1890 (26 Stat. L. 215):

Beginning at the intersection of the thirty-ninth meridian with the boundary line between the United States and the British Possessions, then following said meridian south until it reaches the summit of the Bitter Root Mountains; thence southeastward along the crest of the Bitter Root range and the continental divide until it intersects the meridian of thirty-four degrees of longitude; thence southward on this meridian to the forty-second parallel of latitude; thence west on this parallel of latitude to its intersection with a meridian drawn through the mouth of the Owyhee River; north on this meridian to the mouth of the Owyhee River; thence down the mid-channel of the Snake River to the mouth of the Clearwater River; and thence north on the meridian which passes through the mouth of the Clearwater to the boundary line between the United States and the British Possessions, and east on said boundary line to the place of beginning.

The west boundary of Idaho from the mouth of the Clearwater to the 49th parallel was surveyed and marked in 1873 by Rollin J. Reeves under contract with the General Land Office. Mr. Reeves was very conscientious in his efforts to comply with the description set forth in the statehood act placing the boundary on a meridian passing through the mouth of the Clearwater. This definition involved locating the point common to the centerlines of the main channel of both the Snake and the Clearwater. Several expedients were tried to locate this point, one being a floating keg tied by a rope to a stake at the point of land between the two rivers. The strong currents pulled the keg under. Finally, he was forced to select an approximate position. Three Government officials happened to be in Lewiston at the time, and the surveyor asked them to confirm his judgment, which they did. This line was retraced and 177 stone or iron posts were set on it by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1908.64 Boundary monument 12 is at lat 46°35'57.06" N., long 117°02′19.47" W. (1927 N.A.D.).

The east meridian boundary, from the 42d parallel northward for a measured distance of 245 miles 562 chains, was surveyed in 1874 under the direction of the General Land Office, and a mark was set on the assumed crest of the Rocky Mountains (the Continental Divide) for the corner common to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. From this mark along the crest of the mountains to the intersection with the 39th Washington meridian, the survey was made in 1904-6 by the General Land Office. The surveyor who ran the line in 1906 found the tri-State mark about 6 miles too far north. He therefore replaced it with a new mark in the corrected position.

4 See Marshall (1911) for descriptions of these surveys and a final report and plat of the line as retraced.

The 39th-meridian boundary (116°03'02.3'' west of Greenwich) was mentioned on page 236. Ninety-two metal or stone marks were placed along a measured distance of 70.7 miles.

For reference to the northern boundary, see pages 30-31, and for the southern boundary, see pages 248 and 251.

In 1931, Congress granted its consent for the States of Idaho and Wyoming to adjust their common boundary (46 Stat. 1039). A commission was appointed consisting of an engineer from the Department of the Interior and one commissioner to represent each State. The commission held three hearings in the local communities in the area crossed by the boundary, to learn the desires of local residents.

Owing to the mountainous character of the region, there had been some agitation to adjust the boundary line so as to place each of two valleys entirely in one State or the other. At the hearings, the great majority of those present disapproved of any change. The commission so reported to Congress, and the matter was dropped (U.S. Cong., 1933, 2d Sess., S. Doc. 212.) For the meridian boundary between Idaho and Oregon, see Oregon, p. 243.

NEVADA

The Territory of Nevada, as organized by act of March 2, 1861, consisted of territory taken from Utah. (See fig. 29.) The following are the boundaries as described in the act (12 Stat. L. 209):

** beginning at the point of intersection of the forty-second degree of north latitude with the thirty-ninth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence running south on the line of said thirty-ninth degree of west longitude, until it intersects the northern boundary line of the Territory of New Mexico; thence due west to the dividing ridge separating the waters of Carson Valley from those that flow into the Pacific; thence on said dividing ridge northwardly to the forty-first degree of north latitude; thence due north to the southern boundary of the State of Oregon; thence due east to the place of beginning.

The limits thus described included a small area to be taken from the State of California. It was therefore

Provided, That so much of the Territory within the present limits of the State of California shall not be included within this Territory until the State of California shall assent to the same.

California having failed to cede the territory west of the 120th meridian,65 Congress by act of July 14, 1862 (12 Stat. L. 575), added to Nevada a strip of land more than 50 miles wide, west of the 38th meridian from Washington and extending from the north line of New Mexico to the 42d parallel of latitude. The boundaries as de

See California Senate Jour. for 1861, p. 630, and for 1862, p. 525.

776-664 O-66-17

scribed in the enabling act of March 21, 1864 (13 Stat. L. 30), were as follows:

That the said state of Nevada shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the thirty-eighth degree of longitude west from Washington with the thirty-seventh degree of north latitude; thence due west along said thirtyseventh degree of north latitude to the eastern boundary line of the state of California; thence in a northwesterly direction along the said eastern boundary line of the state of California to the forty-third degree of longitude west from Washington; thence north along said forty-third degree of west longitude and said eastern boundary line of the state of California to the forty-second degree of north latitude; thence due east along the said forty-second degree of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the aforesaid thirty-eighth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence due south down said thirtyeighth degree of west longitude to the place of beginning.

Nevada became a State by presidential proclamation dated October 31, 1864.

An act approved May 5, 1866, further enlarged the area of Nevada. by the addition of territory taken from Utah and Arizona, described as follows (14 Stat. L. 43):

That, as provided for and consented to in the constitution of the State of Nevada, all that territory and tract of land adjoining the present eastern boundary of the State of Nevada, and lying between the thirty-seventh and the fortysecond degrees of north latitude and west of the thirty-seventh degree of longitude west of Washington, is hereby added to and made a part of the State of Nevada.

That there is hereby added to and made a part of the State of Nevada all that extent of territory lying within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing on the thirty-seventh degree of north latitude at the thirty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington, and running thence south on said degree of longitude to the middle of the river Colorado of the West; thence down the middle of said river to the eastern boundary of the State of California; thence northwesterly along said boundary of California to the thirtyseventh degree of north latitude; and thence east along said degree of latitude to the point of beginning.

The present State of Nevada according to statute 66 is now bounded on the east by the 37th meridian of longitude west of Washington, on the south by the middle of Colorado River to the 35th parallel, on the southwest by the California line, on the west by the 120th meridian of longitude, and on the north by the 42d parallel.

The north boundary of Nevada was surveyed in 1873 from an initial point on the Utah-Nevada line, whose latitude had been carefully determined in 1871, westward to a post set in 1868 for the northeast corner of California. The measured distance was 310 miles 48 chains. The marks placed on the line were mounds of earth,

6 Enabling act of 1864 (13 Stat. L. 43) with additions of 1866 (14 Stat. L. 43).

wooden posts, or small stones. This line passed the meridian boundary between Idaho and Oregon at 152 miles 72 chains from the northeast corner of Nevada and 4 chains south of the terminal mark

of the 1868 survey.

The boundary following the middle of the Colorado was further defined between Davis Dam and the California-Nevada line by a compact between Nevada and Arizona that was approved by Congress June 16, 1961 (75 Stat. 93). It involves 31 points, connected by bearing and distance from monumented points.

The east boundary of Nevada, which follows the 37th meridian west of Washington, was surveyed in 1870. The longitude for the initial point was found by direct measurement east from Pilot Peak, whose latitude and longitude had been determined by triangulation from the Salt Lake City astronomic station. The assumed longitude of Pilot Peak was 114°04′55.4" west from Greenwich; the latest determination (1939) by the U.S. Geological Survey is 114°04′35.56′′ (1927 N.A.D.). The initial point thus selected for the boundary was in the middle of the track of the Central Pacific Railroad (now the Southern Pacific). From this point the line was run northward a measured distance of 46 miles 40 chains to a position which sextant observations indicated was the 42d parallel of latitude. In 1871 a long series of observations made with a zenith telescope showed that the mark at this point was too far north; consequently it was moved south 1 mile 12 chains in 1873.

From the initial point the line was then run south to the Colorado River. At a point 1.16 chains south of the railroad track a granite shaft 8 feet high, its top dressed to 1 foot square and suitably marked, was placed in a pile of rocks, and 298 miles 56 chains south of the railroad a mark was set for the southwest corner of Utah. This mark was later found to be too far north and in 1901 was moved 1 miles 31.51 chains south. (See p. 251.) The distance as then measured, from the initial point on the railroad to the Colorado River, was 356 miles 23.76 chains. This part of the line as well as that north of the railroad was marked with wooden posts, single stones, or mounds of earth and stones.

The following positions on the boundary line between Utah and Nevada have been determined by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (Bowie, 1914, p. 105-107):

For a discussion of the California-Nevada boundary, see California, p. 238-239.

UTAH

The Mormons settled in Utah in 1847. In 1849 they organized a territorial government which they called Deseret, but a delegate sent to Congress was not recognized by that body.

Utah was established as a Territory by act of September 9, 1850, and included part of the area acquired from Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. (See fig. 29.) Its limits are given in the following extract from the act by which it was created (9 Stat. L. 453):

All that part of the territory of the United States included within the following limits, to wit: bounded on the west by the State of California, on the north by the Territory of Oregon, and on the east by the summit of the Rocky Mountains. and on the south by the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude, be, and the same is hereby, created into a temporary government, by the name of the Territory of Utah.

This area was reduced by the formation, in 1861, of the Territories of Nevada (see p. 247) and Colorado (see p. 228) and in 1864 and 1866 by the extensions eastward of the limits of the State of Nevada.

The present boundaries of Utah are by statute as follows: Commencing with the intersection of the 42d parallel of latitude with the 34th meridian of longitude west from Washington; running thence south on this meridian to the 41st parallel of latitude; thence east on this parallel to the 32d meridian of longitude; thence south on this meridian to its intersection with the 37th parallel of latitude; thence west upon this parallel of latitude to its intersection with the 37th meridian of longitude; thence north on this meridian to its intersec