generally understood immediately after the treaty was signed that the islands were a part of the territory ceded to the United States. A general assertion of jurisdiction over the "islands adjacent to the Pacific coast" was made in the State constitution of 1849, which was formally approved by Congress in 1850. In an act of Congress approved August 31, 1852, an appropriation was made for subdividing these islands, several of which were mentioned by name, "so that said islands may be readily disposed of under the laws of the United States." The United States Supreme Court at its December term, 1859, decided a case relating to a land grant on the island of Santa Cruz," in which the claim was based on a Mexican grant of 1839. The question of jurisdiction of the United States over the island was not brought up, although it must have been considered. Patents have been issued from time to time by the General Land Office for land on the various islands, and reservations have been made on behalf of the United States for lighthouses. So far as can be ascertained no formal adverse claim to these islands has ever been presented by Mexico, and in view of the foregoing facts it is certain that none can now be made with a hope for favorable consideration.95 To determine the proper position for the northeast corner of California (latitude 42°, longitude 120°) an astronomic station was established at Camp Bidwell, where more than 3,000 measurements of lunar distances were said to have been made for longitude in 1868-69. The position for the corner was computed to be 9 miles 56 chains north and 4 miles 78 chains east of the observatory. From the corner thus found the line was run west a distance of 212 miles 28 chains to a terminal mark 12 chains from the shore of the Pacific Ocean. The marks consisted of wooden posts or small stones with "O" cut on the north side, "C" on the south, and the mile number and date on the other sides. 08 10 Stat. L. 91. 94 23 Howard 465. 9 See Land Dec., vol. 20, p. 106, Washington, 1895. REFERENCES. Nearly all boundaries of States west of the Mississippi, as well as those of many central and southern States, have been surveyed under the direction of the General Land Office. Notes of all such surveys and plats for most of them are on file in the General Land Office, Department of the Interior, in Washington, D. C., and copies of nearly all these records are in the offices of the surveyors general of the States concerned. Many of the field notes are in excellent form, in books especially prepared for them, and are illustrated by photographs or sketches. Other notes are in books of field notes with the regular township surveys. Many resurveys or retracements of short parts of boundary lines have been made, and many corners have been reestablished in connection with the regular surveys of the public lands which are not mentioned in the foregoing pages but are noted in the records of the General Land Office. The notes and plats are open to public inspection and are indexed so that reference to them is easy; or copies will be supplied to anyone on payment of nominal fees. Historical diagrams showing changes in State or national boundaries are to be found in many publications, a few of which are listed below: Lamberton, R. H., An historical atlas * from the dawn of history to the present time, 7th ed., New York, Townsend Mac Coun, 1884. Mac Coun, Townsend, An historical geography of the United States, rev. ed., New York, Silver Burdett & Co., 1901. The Century atlas. U. S. Bureau of Statistics, Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance of the United States for August, 1902. Stocking, S. W., Areas and political divisions of the United States, with map: Statistical atlas of the United States Bureau of the Census, Washington, 1874. ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNENT. The name แ united States of America" was used in the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, and the use of the name "United States " for all State papers was ordered by the Continental Congress on September 9, 1776. The first of the "Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union," etc., of 1777, is "The stile of this Confederacy shall be The United States of America." The Articles of Confederation, agreed to by delegates from the 13 original States on November 15, 1777, were ratified by the States on the dates given below. The defects in the form of government thereby instituted were so many that steps were soon taken to change it. A convention was called in 1787 to draft a constitution for the United States and completed its labors on September 17 of the same year. The Constitution of the United States of America was ratified and the States became members of the Union on various dates between 1787 and 1790. AREAS OF THE STATES AND OUTLYING POSSESSIONS. The following facts relating to the area of the United States and its outlying possessions have been assembled in tabular form for convenient reference. The areas are approximate only. Exact drainage basins of large rivers are in many places not well established even on the best of maps. Original area of the United States and areas of continental changes (except Alaska and Canal Zone). Square miles. The territory of the United States, as recognized by Great Britain in The parts of the Great Lakes under the jurisdiction of the United A 3-mile strip along the Atlantic coast- South of the forty-ninth parallel_ Red River basin and Lake of the Woods drainage: 845, 670 60,950 8,000 1 924, 279 13,000 South of the forty-ninth parallel, west of the head of Mississippi 47, 800 North of the forty-ninth parallel and south of the parallel through 11, 200 Areas from Bond, Frank (chief clerk, General Land Office), Louisiana and the Louisiana Purchase, p. 13, Washington, 1912. Square miles. By treaty with Spain in 1819 the United States acquired East and Texas annexed in 1845 (included 94,815' square miles of the area re- Oregon Territory, title established in 1846-- Mexican cession, 1848 (included 1,4771 square miles relinquished to Gadsden Purchase, 1853 The following areas of States are based on calculations by representatives of the General Land Office, the Geological Survey, and the Bureau of the Census.2 They do not include the part of the water area of the Great Lakes, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca that is under the jurisdiction of the United States. Areas of States and possessions of the United States, in square miles. a U. S. Geological Survey. • Governor of Zone. d U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1 Areas from Bond, Frank (chief clerk, General Land Office), Louisiana and the Territorial surveyor. Louisiana Purchase, p. 13, Washington, 1912. Fourteenth Census, vol. 1. 29313-23-15 Panama Canal Zone. Philippine Islands.. Samoa.. Virgin Islands of the a 206 b 6,406 € 527 d 114, 400 d 3, 435 a 75 d 133 Grand total for the United States: States. Outlying posses- 711,582 3,026,789 711,582 3,738,371 LENGTHS OF THE COAST BOUNDARY LINES OF THE SEVERAL STATES AND THE PRINCIPAL OUTLYING POSSESSIONS. The following lengths of the tidal shore lines of States bordering on the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean are taken from a bulletin of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, dated November, 1915. The figures give the length in statute miles in steps of 1 mile along the shore lines as represented on the best available maps and include the shore lines of bays and other bodies of water the width of whose entrance is greater than 1 mile, to points where these waters narrow to 1 mile, also the shore lines of bodies of tidal water more than 1 mile wide which lie close beside the main waters even though the width off the entrance is less than 1 mile. Lengths of tidal shore lines of the United States, in statute miles. The following are the lengths of tidal shore lines of the principal outlying possessions in steps of 3 miles: |